1/2/19
Tom Lowe
IVD2 WHILE HAVING APPEARANCES OF WISDOM, SUCH PRACTICES HAVE NO VALUE (COL. 2:23)
Scripture: Colossians 2:23 (NIV)
Such 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.
Introduction:
The people who practice asceticism{1] have a “reputation” for spirituality, but the product does not live up to the promotion. I am amazed at the way educated people in America flock to see and hear gurus and other Eastern spiritual leaders whose teaching cannot change the human heart. This self-imposed worship is not the true worship of God, which must be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). Their humility is false, and their harsh disciplines accomplish nothing for the inner man.
Lesson IVD2
(2:23) Such regulations indeed have [are having] an appearance of wisdom{2], with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
People should be able to see a difference between the way Christians and non-Christians live. Still, we should not expect the instant maturity of new Christians. The Christian life is a process. Although we have a new nature, we don’t automatically have all good thoughts and attitudes when we become new people in Christ. But if we keep listening to God, we will be changing all the time. Change may be slow, but your life will change significantly if you trust God to change you.
Such regulations indeed have [are having] an appearance of wisdom{2]
While it is certainly better to exercise self-control than to yield to the physical appetites of the body, we must not think that self-control is necessarily spiritually motivated. The ascetics of many non-Christian religions give evidence of remarkable self-control. The stoics and their ascetic philosophy were well known in Paul’s day. Their supporters could duplicate any discipline that the Gnostic teachers cared to present.
The divine-human relationship does not rest on law but on God’s love and compassion (Rom. 5:6-8{4]; 9-16; Gal. 2:11-21). Regulations have a place; but such rules, like the things they deal with, are “bound for destruction”; ultimately they are only “human precepts” (2:22; Mark 7:7). They have an “appearance of wisdom,” a passing usefulness (2:23), but Jesus did not come with a system of laws?"the Sabbath is for people, not people for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). In any context, ancient or modern, this is quite a radical stance and by no means easily maintained. It nevertheless reflects well on both Jesus and Paul.
The answer to legalism is the spiritual reality we have in Christ. The answer to mysticism is the spiritual union with Christ, the Head of the Church. The answer to asceticism{1] is our position in Christ in death, burial, and resurrection.
with their self-imposed worship{3],
Paul admitted that from a human perspective, such an ascetic, self-made religion gives the appearance of wisdom. But the appearance is deceptive. Abstaining from certain things (food, drink, 2:16) and giving “harsh treatment to the body” do not have “any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
The ceremonial in religion can never satisfy the many-sided wants of humanity; since it pretends to have wisdom it does not possess and it is of no value in preventing the indulgence of the flesh. It may make a show of wisdom in “will-worship{3].” It insists on certain kinds of meats and drinks; of abstinence from this or that kind of food; on certain ritual observances as necessary in order to render due homage to God.
We can guard against man-made religions by asking these questions of any religious group:
1) Does it stress man-made rules and taboos rather than God’s grace?
2) Does it foster a critical spirit about others, or does it exercise discipline discretely and lovingly?
3) Does it stress formulas, secret knowledge, or special visions more than the Word of God?
4) Does it elevate self-righteousness, honoring those who keep the rules, rather than elevating Christ?
5) Does it neglect Christ’s universal church, claiming to be an elite group?
6) Does it teach humiliation of the body as a means to spiritual growth, rather than focusing on the growth of the whole person?
7) Does it disregard the family rather than holding it in high regard as the Bible does?
their false humility
Paul says that there is such a thing as “false humility.” When they talked about the worship of angels, both the Gnostics and Jews would have justified it by saying that God is so great and high and holy that we can never have direct access to Him and must be content to pray to the angels. But the great truth that Christianity preaches is, in fact, that the way to God is open to the humblest and simplest person. What we are dealing with here is “the pride that apes humility.” It is the pride that says, “I deny myself, and I don’t do these things. Just look at me. I’m really sprouting wings and I shine my halo every morning.” It is a pretense of wisdom to renounce all worldly wealth and success and profess to live in poverty and seclusion. But at the root of this profession may lay the most insidious pride. A self-conscious and dramatically acted humility is both degrading and detestable.
Paul says that this kind of attitude can lead to sinful pride. The man who is meticulous in his observance of special days, who keeps all the food laws, and who practices ascetic abstinence is in very grave danger of thinking he is exceptionally good and of looking down on other people. And it is a basic truth of Christianity that no man who thinks he is good is really good, least of all the man who thinks he is better than other people.
and their harsh treatment of the body,
Paul defended the preeminence of Jesus Christ, and he refuted the false doctrines of legalism{5], mysticism{6], and asceticism{1]. All that remains is for us to believe what he wrote and practice these spiritual principles. Here “harsh treatment of the body” could be something as simple as neglecting one’s body. This asceticism seems to have rested on the Oriental theory that matter is the source of evil. But this idea comes from human minds and it is wrong, for the Word of God states, “The body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and is to be honored and cherished, and all its just wants to be satisfied, in order that its best powers may be employed in the service of God. But the abuse of the body by starvation, preventable diseases, and squalid neglect is foolishness and sin.
but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
To be sure, such abstinence, such asceticism, might impress others as being deeply spiritual and prompted by divine wisdom. The truth is, such exercises in self-imposed piety and humility are self-centered, fixed on the very world of values they appear to deny. There is no lasting value in such spiritual practices; in fact, they perish in the very process. And they have absolutely no value in the real battle we face: checking self-indulgence?even though some are seduced into thinking that what they are doing is restraining self-indulgences.
Paul agrees that believers must put aside sinful desires, but that is the by-product of our new life in Christ, not the cause of it. Our salvation does not depend on our own discipline and rule-keeping but on the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.
The power of Christ in the life of the believer does more than merely restrain the desires of the flesh: it puts new desires within him. Nature determines appetite. The Christian has the very nature of God within (2 Pet. 1:4), and this means he has godly ambitions and desires. He does not need the law on the outside to control his appetites, because he has life on the inside. The harsh rules of the ascetics lack value in restraining sensual indulgence. If anything, they eventually bring out the worst instead of the best. To the Colossians, the discipline demanded by the false teachers seemed good, and legalism still attracts many people today. Following a long list of religious rules requires strong self-discipline, and can make a person appear moral, but religious rules cannot change a person’s heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
Summary
There are more ways to satisfy the flesh than feeding it. There are those who are vainly puffed up by a fleshly mind. The devil is a shrewd fellow; if he cannot cause a believer to become liberal or modernistic, he tries other methods to destroy the Christians testimony. There are various and sundry ways in which the devil can rob us of our reward, and it is almost beyond imagination what some people will do in order to be noticed?even in the field of religion! Men many times glory in being what their fellowman aspires to be, but do not have the nerve to attempt.
At the close of Chapter 2 let me say again: To practice man-made doctrines (“touch not, taste not, handle not”) indeed seems to show wisdom, and on the surface seems to show a will to worship, and denotes humility and surrender. However, if one is practicing “touch not, taste not, handle not” to please a minister, a church, a religion?or to please his own thinking?then that person is not glorifying God. Whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we do, we are to do it heartily as unto the Lord, and for His glory. Anything we do (or refrain from doing) to satisfy the flesh or bring honor to one’s self, is sin. “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Special Notes and Scripture
[1} Asceticism{1] is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their practices or continue to be part of their society, but typically adopt a frugal lifestyle, characterized by the renunciation of material possessions and physical pleasures, and time spent fasting while concentrating on the practice of religion or reflection upon spiritual matters.
[2} “appearance of wisdom” has also been translated as “show of wisdom”; better, “reputation for wisdom.”
[3} “self-imposed worship” [will-worship] is arbitrarily invented worship, would-be worship, devised by man’s own will, not God’s?Worship not required of them, the worship of angels. As we have seen, the Jews had a highly-developed doctrine of angels and the Gnostics believed in all kinds of intermediaries. They worshiped these, while the Christian knows that worship must be kept for God and for Jesus Christ.
[4} “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).
[5} Legalism holds that human beings are essentially bad because they are inherently selfish. No one, unless forced to, willingly sacrifices for another. According to the precepts of Legalism, if it is in one's best interest to kill another person, that person will most probably be killed. In order to prevent such deaths, a ruler had to create a body of laws which would direct people's natural inclination of self-interest toward the good of the state.
[6} Mysticism is a religion or religious belief based on union or communion with a deity, or divine being. Mysticism is what lets you transcend the physical to experience enlightenment
