Colossians on Gnostic Asceticism

Paul had to deal with alternate "Christianities" that came about due to the syncretization of the gospel with certain Greek worldviews prevalent in the culture. The most prevalent were gnostic sects promoting a Platonic worldview that believed the problem of evil in the world was the physical world itself. The base desires of the body craved to use the physical world around it in an erroneous manner. Gnostics took hold of Christianity and adopted the idea that this erroneous way of using the world was sin and the way to rid oneself of sin was to remove the temptations of physical things/people/etc. from one's life as much as possible.

Paul addresses some of this thinking in Colossians 2. He first warns the Colossians not to be deceived by human reasoning that is void of substance in its understanding of how to achieve holiness (2:8). The Colossians are being built up in faith and strengthened by Christ who is God incarnate (vv. 6-9), and Christians have been filled with Him and His power as the ruler of all things through His overcoming of sin through the cross, so that the forces that would tempt them have been overcome in this way (vv. 10-15). In other words, the strength of the Christian to overcome sin is the cross, the new life He has given him through it, and being firm in one's faith as he lives in the gospel and teaching of Christianity with thanksgiving (i.e., using all things that once tempted rightly in thankfulness).

He then proceeds to reject anyone who judges another concerning their acceptance of things that might be tempting these Gentiles to return to their paganism: new moon festivals, rest days, feast days, foods once dedicated to other deities, etc. (vv. 16-19). These things were so closely connected to their former paganism that surely the wisdom of the world's holiness would be to rid oneself of them altogether. However, Paul argues that this is wrong-headed.

Instead, he tells them not to remove things that tempt one to sin, as though it will somehow help them to grow internally strong in their minds and spirits by removing something external from their situation. He states:

If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why do you submit to them as though you lived in the world? “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. Even though they have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and humility achieved by an unsparing treatment of the body – a wisdom with no true value – they in reality result in fleshly indulgence.(vv. 20-23)

Notice that this type of reasoning sounds very convincing, but its origin is human wisdom and not God, who would have Christians become strong from the inside-out. Hence, Christians are to meet those things that are potential temptations to reenter a life of unbelief with a life of faith and thanksgiving by surrounding themselves with those things if they choose, partaking in them in a manner that places the gospel and thanksgiving at the center of the situation. 

Notice also he ends by saying this corrupt doctrine ends with fleshly indulgence because a person never grows and learns how to deal with temptation from the inside. Once exposed to temptation again, he falls and enters into a life of sin because removing temptation never allowed him to become strong in his resistance of it.

The remedy for the alcoholic is not to remove alcohol, but to meet the temptation with strength provided by faith and thanksgiving toward Jesus Christ, the divine ruler over all things and the life-giving good news. In other words, what was misused before should be used now to worship Christ, and temptations are an opportunity to do so. As such, the Christian community can surround such an individual to give him strength and encouragement in the same without removing the created thing or person that may tempt him. 

The heretical idea of holiness is why children leave fundamentalist families and indulge in sin. It is why Amish children run to sin both in and outside the community. Removing temptations, including temptations here with which the Colossians have a history, as Paul says, "has no value."