The Error of Angel Worship and Legalism

Many things of this epistle have a difficult understanding because many do not know the underlying premise of the letter and the purpose of the apostle. And the premise is this: those who believed from among the Greeks were being drawn by other Greeks into Greek practices, while those from the Jews were exhorting the Jews to keep the law, as if grace were incomplete without the law. And the word was to the Greeks regarding them that it is right to worship angels, calling their gods to be angels; for the God being great and unapproachable to men, through these angels as mediators, to provide the energies to those in need. And they say, even the Scriptures know the benefit of the angels; for God also set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of angels of God, and Michael, ruler of the Jews (Dan 12:1), and the ruler of Persia is another angel (Dan 10:13). And again: behold, the ruler of the Greeks comes, and Jacob (Gen 32:24): the angel who rescues me (Ex 23:20), and in the Acts concerning the apostle Peter: his angel, they say, is (Acts 12:23), and the Lord concerning the children: do not prevent them from coming to me, because their angels always look upon the face of my Father who is in the heavens (Matt 18:10). For from all these, those who believed and those who disbelieved, Jews and Greeks were being drawn together, asserting that the grace through the Lord Jesus is superfluous, since the angels from eternity who are being persuaded to approach God are sufficient, and they said all observations are incomplete, thereby neglecting the observations from the Jews and Greeks toward this, which is the purpose of the apostles of this letter in hand.

And it is worthy to state the premise found in the epistle; for differently among the many are many things toward the Colossians perceived because the premise is not fully known, nor is the purpose of the apostle.

Those who had believed from among the Greeks were also drawing in the still-Greek people into Greek observances, desiring to; and those Jews who believed were persuading others to keep the law, as if grace were incomplete without the law. Besides these, both Greeks and Jews were persuading the Colossians to pay attention to angels; the Greeks, saying that their gods are angels, because indeed the one God is immeasurable and great, not reachable by men, but through these angels, as mediators, he provides benefits to those receiving them; but the Jews said that God set boundaries of nations according to a number of God's angels; thus also Michael is the ruler of the Jews, and thus the ruler of Persia stood against me. And again: behold, the ruler of the Greeks was coming, just as Jacob wrestled with the angel; the angel who rescued me from my youth, and in the general Acts concerning Peter: it is his angel, and the Lord; see that you do not despise one of these little ones, because their angels see the face of my Father who is in the heavens.

For from all these, those who believed and those who did not believe, both Jews and Greeks were bringing together the error that it is superfluous for there to be angels from eternity, those who were persuading people to lead them away, the grace which is through the Lord Jesus Christ being superfluous. And it is also incomplete to neglect the observances both among the Greeks and among the Jews. Toward these things is the aim for Paul, and these things are corrected. Because of this he says, 'beginning' (Col 1:2); it is necessary to note that in a few verses he often remembers Christ; for the one being set aside, he constantly makes remembrance, impressing upon the souls the longing toward him (Col 1:5–6). Already he shows them that the hope laid up for the resurrection and the kingdom was not established by the administration of angels, but by the presence of our Savior Jesus Christ. By saying 'through the word of truth' he shows how it is not without danger to be perverted...