[Do not let] … the worship of angels disqualify you.
Summary: This passage is a lot deeper than it looks. As we dive into the topic we discover surprising truths about the spiritual realm and about our own hope for salvation.
As we look at this passage, several questions come to mind.
- Why would anyone promote the idea of worshiping angels?
- What does the Bible say about worshiping angels?
- What does Paul mean by being disqualified?
The first question is impossible to answer because we can’t go back and ask whoever was doing it. Even if we could, the answer we got from them might not be the truth. We can guess, but it is only a guess, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is our response to such a suggestion.
The Bible has several examples of people being confronted with an angel. Sometimes, the “angel” is actually believed to be Jesus himself. Abraham’s story in Genesis includes an example:
“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.” (Genesis 18:1)
In cases like this, if a person worships the Lord, that is entirely appropriate. But angels are different. Angels, in some ways, are lesser beings, even than us. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes:
“Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” (1 Corinthians 6:3)
This is why, in Revelation, when John worships the angel, he is immediately reprimanded.
“At this I fell at his [the angel’s] feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 19:10)
So why would worshipping angels “disqualify” us, and what does that mean?
As it turns out, there is a great deal of variation in how this passage is translated. The sense I get from the original text is similar to other times when Paul refers to the Christian life as a “race.”*
Imaging that your life as a Christian is a race and you are running toward the prize which is Jesus. Every day you get up and your first thought is about Jesus! When you go to bed at night you are thinking about Jesus. In between your day is all about obeying Jesus. This is the Christian life.
Now imagine that someone comes along and points you to angels. “Worship these!,” they say. To look at angels (or anything else) is to look away from Jesus. To run towards angels is to run away from Jesus.
Do you see why Paul is concerned?
Application: Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus!
Food for Thought: How serious is Paul about us being disqualified if we turn aside from worshipping Jesus?
*See 1 Corinthians 9:24; Galatians 2:2, 5:7
Please click ‘’Continue Reading” for comments.
How serious is Paul about us being disqualified if we turn aside from worshipping Jesus?
Paul is the messenger, delivering the message as directed by God.
1 Corinthians 14:37
If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
Romans 18:25-26
Now to him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith.
2 Timothy 3:16
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2 Peter 1:21
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Thank you, Ron!
Good, solid answer. 🙂
Paul also uses the word disqualified in 1 Corinthians 9:27
1 Corinthians 9:27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
In the passage of 24-27, he uses the metaphor of an athlete that employs self-control and focused and determined movements so that they can obtain the prize (A relationship with God, through Christ, by making Christ Lord and serving Him in the real sense). And he ends the passage by stating that to not do this disqualifies him from “competing” (or serving Christ in the real sense).
So again in Colossians 2:18 Paul is stating something that is very serious: that worshipping angels (or anything else for that matter) we are disqualified from serving the Lord. Worship and service go hand in hand. One cannot worship and not serve. To try and “worship” and not serve is lip-service.
Luke 4:8
8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
and him only shall you serve.’”
To me it follows the same consistency that God has spoken in His Word:
Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before me.
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Colossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Well said, Chris.
Jesus’ response to Satan is especially appropriate.
I think this is well covered.
I will only add that this is why we should not allow those who worship angels to disqualify us, as the text says. They are not even worshipping the one true God exclusively. There is only one God : Yahweh the Father, Son and Spirit – one God in three Persons. Angels, as has been noted, are created beings, not the Creator.
Worshipping anything or anyone besides the Lord is worshipping a lie.
Isaiah 44: 6 – 20: Thus says the LORD,
the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last,
and there is no God but Me.
7Who then is like Me?
Let him say so!
Let him declare his case before Me,
since I established an ancient people.
Let him foretell the things to come,
and what is to take place.
8Do not tremble or fear.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are My witnesses!
Is there any God but Me?
There is no other Rock;
I know not one.”
9All makers of idols are nothing,
and the things they treasure are worthless.
Their witnesses fail to see or comprehend,
so they are put to shame.
10Who fashions a god or casts an idol
which profits him nothing?
11Behold, all his companions will be put to shame,
for the craftsmen themselves are only human.
Let them all assemble and take their stand;
they will all be brought to terror and shame.
12The blacksmith takes a tool
and labors over the coals;
he fashions an idol with hammers
and forges it with his strong arms.
Yet he grows hungry and loses his strength;
he fails to drink water and grows faint.
13The woodworker extends a measuring line;
he marks it out with a stylus;
he shapes it with chisels
and outlines it with a compass.
He fashions it in the likeness of man,
like man in all his glory,
that it may dwell in a shrine.
14He cuts down cedars
or retrieves a cypressc or oak.
He lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest.
He plants a laurel, and the rain makes it grow.
15It serves as fuel for man.
He takes some of it to warm himself,
and he kindles a fire
and bakes his bread.
He also fashions it into a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
16He burns half of it in the fire,
and he roasts meat on that half.
He eats the roast and is satisfied.
Indeed, he warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
17From the rest he makes a god, his graven image.
He bows down to it and worships;
he prays to it and says,
“Save me, for you are my god.”
18They do not comprehend or discern,
for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see
and closed their minds so they cannot understand.
19And no one considers in his heart,
no one has the knowledge or insight to say,
“I burned half of it in the fire,
and I baked bread on its coals;
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make something detestable with the rest of it?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
20He feeds on ashes.
His deluded heart has led him astray,
and he cannot deliver himself or say,
“Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Great passage, Rich!
“Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
Stated so plainly it is almost funny. Yet, this is no laughing matter.
WOW Rich, You picked a great Passage!
How serious is Paul about us being disqualified if we turn aside from worshipping Jesus?
Its like worshipping satan.
Interesting thought, Tim!