The Sufficiency of Christ – Part 3
Colossians 2:16-23
16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. 20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Trans: Therefore – Since Christ died for your sins and has given you a complete salvation, a complete forgiveness, and a complete victory over sin and the Devil…
I The Two Threats of a Complete Faith
Idea: Within the framework of religion there is a humanistic ideology that stands in contempt with biblical theology. Man has a terrible time accepting grace without some effort of his own. Furthermore, man has an instinctive nature that once he has received grace he must possess enough religion to retain his salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Nonetheless, throughout the ages, whether Christian or non-Christian, man has conjured up numerous rules, regulations, and standards to hold others captive to a system of religious thought and activity.
This is not to say that authentic faith does not have a guide or that salvation is without parameters. At the very heart of biblical Christianity there is an essential premise that Christ died to set us free from sin and death and from those things which hold us under the rule of pseudo-religion. And while there may be a fine line between religion and relationship, there is a distinguishing difference. A relationship is founded upon love and grace, where as religion is secured upon rules and regulations. In other words, the intention of religion is to suppress an individual while the intention of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to release an individual into an intimate relationship with God.
A Do Not Let Anyone Judge You
Word: judge – to take one to task; to condemn another w/ unfounded criticism.
Note: This is not the same kind of judgment that God requires of believers. A Christian is asked to judge not to condemn but to challenge, encourage, and relate to others. But in no way is a Christian ever allowed to judge another unto condemnation. When a Christian assesses a situation, it is to warn another, to rebuke another toward righteousness, or to separate them selves from sin unto God.
Quote: If I long to improve my brother, the first step toward doing so is to improve myself. Christina Rossetti
Idea: Do not let someone convince you that your faith is not genuine b/c you do not practice rituals.
Question: What are some rituals or standards employed by well-meaning believers and churches which are really nothing more than modern day Pharisee-ism?
Idea: Do not fall prey to the notion that salvation is based upon the things you do or don’t do or that your spirituality is less than that of others b/c you do not rigidly hold to their man-made liturgy.
B Do Not Let Anyone Disqualify You
Word: disqualify (katabraboo) to be ruled out by an umpire; to be deprived of the prize and have your joy stolen.
Truth: The ultimate goal of the one who judges with criticism is to cause another to stumble and be eliminated from the Christian race. While this motivation finds its roots sunk deep into the pits of Hell, the goal is to steal another’s joy in an attempt to have it for self.
Note: This is exactly what the Pharisee did. They went to great lengths to suppress the people, to steal their joy and to control their actions. The Pharisees enjoyed the benefits of forcing others to live within their rules and regulations. But this was more than a power trip, it was a pattern of misplaced conviction aimed at manipulating the masses in order to esteem self. And all false religion does this.
II The Three Amigos of Pseudo-Religion
A Legalism
Verse: 16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
Note: Legalism is the religion of human achievement. It argues that spirituality is based upon Christ plus human effort. It measures spirituality by how an individual conforms to man-made rules and regulations.
Custom: Religious Festival Annual festivals including Passover, Pentecost, Feast of Lights
New Moon Celebration A monthly sacrifice
Sabbath Day A weekly meeting of God’s people on a specific day (Saturday)
10 Reasons Christians are not bound to the Old Covenant
Excerpt from John McArthur’s Commentary on Colossians
1 The Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant and we under the New Covenant Heb. 8
2 The New Testament nowhere commands Christians to observe the Sabbath.
3 The early church met on Sunday celebrating the resurrection of Christ Acts 20
4 There is no Old Testament requirement for Gentiles to observe the Sabbath
5 There is no evidence or command of anyone keeping the Sabbath before Moses
6 The Jerusalem Council did not impose Sabbath keeping on the Gentile believers Acts 15
7 Paul warned the Gentiles about numerous sins, yet never once addressed the Sabbath
8 Paul rebuked the Gentiles for thinking that God expected them to observe the Sabbath Gal. 4
9 Paul taught that keeping the Sabbath was a matter of Christian liberty Rm. 14
10 The early church fathers taught that Christians were to worship on Sunday
Charge: Do not sacrifice your freedom in Christ for a set of man-made rules or become entangled in the trappings of human effort and legalistic systems of dogma. Don’t be bullied or intimidated by modern day Pharisees whose religious convictions are empty, ritualistic, and judgmental.
Word: shadow – Old Testament rituals and observances were but a dim outline of the New Testament redemptive truth that was to come in Christ. Animal sacrifices were a shadow of the ultimate sacrifice provided in Christ. Where the Old Testament sacrifice was insufficient and incomplete, Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient and complete – a final event.
B Mysticism
Verse: 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.
Note: Mysticism is the pursuit of a deeper or higher subjective religious experience. It is the belief that spiritual reality is perceived apart from the human intellect and natural senses. It is a hyper-spirituality based upon emotional experiences and supernatural visions that are internal and intuitive in nature. Mysticism derives its authority from self-actualization and personal enlightenment.
Word: goes into – to penetrate
false humility (tapeinophrosune) self abasement; usually rendered humility. They pretended to be humble but were actually ugly with pride and self contempt.
Idea: Speaking of a person who goes into a hyper-spiritual discourse in an attempt to disguise their actual spiritual identity.
Word: worship of angels – a heresy that plagued the Phrygian region for centuries. The Gnostics were teaching that there was a hierarchy of spiritual beings which in their system filled the whole universe. The main issue at hand was that this dogma denied the truth that there is only “one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ (1 Tm. 2:5). They taught that the angels ruled the day over Jesus Christ despised and crucified.
Word: Head (kephala) the one in charge. In this instant, it is a reference to Jesus the head of the church.
C Asceticism
Verse: 20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Note: Asceticism refers to the lifestyle one chooses that employs rigorous self-denial. They advocated poverty, starvation, and other forms of outward self abasement as a means to penalize the flesh and its evil inclinations in order to ascertain a level of self righteousness that they perceived would be pleasing to God.
Word: self-imposed – self chosen; a volitional choice
harsh treatment of the body – severe treatment to the point of masochistic
Note: Even today there is a sense of asceticism in the church. There is a belief that the pastor has to be poor in order to be humble and to serve. There has long been the notion that poverty is synonymous with spirituality. Similar ideas are found in all denominations. In the catholic church, one notion of asceticism is understood in the teaching that priests cannot marry.
Story: In the early church, Anthony, the founder of Christian monasticism, never changed his vest or washed his feet. Simeon Stylites spent the last 36 years of his life atop a 50 foot pillar. He mistakenly thought that the path to spirituality lay in exposing his body to the elements and withdrawing from the world.
Note: This is not to say that there is not an element of self denial within Christianity. But this doctrine of asceticism moves far beyond what Christ intended when he said put others before your self. Denying yourself and abusing your self are two completely different concepts.
Quote: Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than abandoning self. They will rather stick hooks in their backs and do the ‘swinging poojah’ than give up their sins and yield their wills. There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us and that is the power of the indwelling Christ. Ascetic religion is godless, for its practitioners essentially worship themselves.
III The One Important Foundational Reminder
Truth: You have died with Christ and have been raised in newness of life into a complete salvation.
Word: died (apethanete) died in desire; while you are alive physically, you are no longer lured or compelled by sin. You are no longer under the influence of sin.
Note: Christians are not to be intimidated by false human religions and philosophies which present themselves through legalism, mysticism, or asceticism. They are nothing more than “broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jer. 2:13)
1 Christianity is not a rule book religion.
2 Christianity is not an emotional or mystical experience devoid of intellect or truth.
3 Christianity is not about personal depravation but divine revelation.
Exegesis
16 Since Christ died for your sins and has given you a complete salvation, a complete forgiveness, and a complete victory over sin and the Devil do not let anyone take you to task or attempt to condemn you with unfounded criticism because of what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are Old Testament shadows or dim outlines of New Testament redemptive truths of the things that were to come found only in Christ. 18Do not let a single individual attempt to rule you out (like an umpire) or deprive of the prize God has for you, or attempt to steal your unquenchable joy because they put on a façade of false humility and because they worship angels. While these individuals may put on a hyper-spiritual act, let me remind and assure you, despite what they might try to convince you to believe, the angels are lower than Christ and their act is a fraud. Such people go to great lengths and into great detail about what they have seen, and they are puffed up with idle notions about who they are and how spiritual they really are. 19SSuch people have lost connection (they have been disconnected) with the Head, who is Jesus Christ, from whom the whole body of Christ (the church) is supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews. The church and the Christian grows and matures only because of God working in and through them. 20Since you have died in desire and are no longer lured or compelled by sin (You are no longer under the influence of sin) and because you are now planted in Christ and have become dead to the basic principles of this world, why do you live as though you still belonged to it? Why do you feel the urge to submit to its rules: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These are all destined to die a painful and hideous death with use, because they are based on human philosophies, ideologies, commands and teachings. 23Such rules and regulations indeed have an outward and humanistic appearance of wisdom (they sound great but are desperately incorrect and misleading) with their self-chosen idolatrous worship that exhibits false humility, self abasement, and the harsh and masochistic treatment of the body, but lacks any value in restraining sensual indulgence and in pursuing the heart and the will of God.
