4 The Exaltation of Christ Colossians 1:14–18 The main error of the Judaistic Gnostic heresy centered in its concept of the person and redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Through their exaltation of angelic mediators between God and man, the false teachers denied the real deity and humanity of the incarnate Son of God (2:18–19). Through their emphasis on legalism and intellectualism, they denied the efficacy of Christ’s substitutionary atonement and physical resurrection (2:13–17). They reduced Christ