Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Colossians 2:20-23 – Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Instead of “if,” read “since.” Since you died with Christ. Remember that Paul is writing to believers, and in the Bible, context means everything (along with the rules of grammar – but I really don’t want to get into that). Having said that, there is the possibility that Paul is showing them a particularly frustrating dilemma – not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord shall enter the Kingdom,” according to Jesus. What is required is true salvation based on God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ. None of the other things that the Judaizers (a group of professing Christians that insisted that Gentiles had to become Jewish and follow their rituals before you could be a Christian) taught is adequate. So unless they have truly repented of their sins and accepted the forgiveness that God offers, there is no salvation. For those who have, however, we died with Christ. These worldly, fleshly, legalistic principles have no power over us.

So the question is, “Are they saved?” Paul is asking these Colossians if they know beyond a shadow of doubt that they have surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Jesus. If they have, why are they bothering to follow the legalistic teachings of men when they have been set free? Eating certain foods or touching “unclean” things cannot affect your salvation. Maybe in human religions this makes you seem more pious in your own eyes. Maybe a little wiser to those who believe like you do. But these practices do not change your spiritual condition. It’s a bit like a man being in prison for years, and he cannot wait to get out. The day finally comes and he is released. No parole. No probation. He is completely exonerated, but ever night he returns to his jail cell. It makes no sense.

Paul says that there is “no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” What he means is that denying yourself these things does not change the desires of your heart. Only God can do that. In spiritual matters, quite often a play on an old saying is true: abstinence makes the heart grow fonder – of fleshly desires! Only a right relationship with the Father can set you free from the bondage of human desire.

Beware of False Teachers

Colossians 2:18-19 – Beware of False Teachers

Too many false teachers are trying to convince the Christian of their credentials and then lead them down the wrong path doctrinally – that has been a problem from the beginning. Even Jesus had to warn His future followers that false prophets are ravenous wolves disguised as sheep just waiting to devour them. The apostles dealt with them in the book of Acts. And now Paul is warning the Christians at Colossae. Guess what! They are still around today trying to tell us that salvation requires more than God’s grace that allows us to place our faith in Jesus. Whether it is some particular spiritual gift, a second blessing, or just an added ritual of some kind, if they tell you these things are necessary for salvation then they are false prophets.

Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets!” John said, “Test the spirits.” And Paul tells us that we must be keen observers and know the truth. We must discern the spirit that is within or else they may take us places we do not want to go. Keep this in mind: humble spirits are good, but false humility is a disguise; worshiping angels is not holy because we are only to worship the Creator, not the created; and every true prophet/teacher must be grounded in the Word and know what He is teaching. Sadly, too often, these men and women come into the church teaching things they didn’t see or hear from God. Why? Because their vanity has gotten the better of them. Because they are not holding fast to the Head of the Church – Jesus, and the enemy has led them astray. It is too easy to stray into false doctrine unless we stay firmly established in Christ. He is the One who gives us roots that nourish our spiritual lives. He is the brain that gives us direction and causes the body to function. He is the one that causes us to grow spiritually. So if the teacher is not firmly connected to the Head, how can he truly teach – or how can he teach the truth? He cannot, and it is our responsibility to turn away and not let him cheat us from the reward of knowing Truth.

 

 

Victory

Colossians 2:11-17 - Victory

A touchy subject: spiritual circumcision. No need for hands or medical instruments because Christ took care of it. He peeled back the fleshy – and sometimes crusty – layers of our hearts. We need to remember that the very reason that circumcision was commanded was to mark God’s people as His own. But we often forget -- or fail to realize -- that it did not serve as a sign to the rest of the world but as a reminder to His people. They belonged to God. Now the only mark necessary is Jesus’ blood – the blood poured out on Calvary’s cross that washed our sins away and forever sealed us as His own, and the only symbol required is baptism. But we have to be careful in our understanding of why baptism is necessary. It isn’t because baptism saves us that it is important but because it walks us through the process: crucified and buried with Jesus and raised to walk in a newness of life. What a powerful testimony to our souls and to those who witness this beautiful image! Every time we see a new believer immersed in the waters of baptism it should remind us of our own salvation experience, taking us back to the very cross of Jesus – reminding us that we were made alive by Him who can raise the dead. And we were dead! Dead in our trespasses in sins! Spiritually dead until He raised us through His forgiveness.

Here’s the key: once He had fulfilled the Law through His sacrificial death and resurrection, He crucified it. The very document that reveals our sin to us was nailed to a cross, and our sins were completely erased. Then, as if that were not enough, He took the principalities and powers of this world, the very powers that seek to condemn us, and He made them look like idiots. They thought they had won. They thought they had defeated the Father’s plan, and in the midst of their victory dance, Jesus arose! His victory – our victory – was complete.

 

His Grace Is All We Need!

Colossians 2:8-10 – His Grace is all we need

We are so easily deceived by persuasive words if we are not grounded in the truth. Simply put, listening to men’s persuasive (false) arguments will cheat you out of the blessed life Christ offers. Paul calls them vain philosophies and empty deceits. The Greeks were keen on philosophy, and many of the early church members had been saved out of the systems of belief that held a worldview totally contrary to Christianity. However, it is often difficult to completely let go of deeply held beliefs, so some of these found their way into the church. Perhaps they were dealing with teachers who didn’t truly believe in the deity of Christ and the sufficiency of His shed blood. Whatever the issue, the heresy was that salvation came from faith in Jesus plus something else. Traditions? Rituals?

Stuck on the traditions of men, certain groups demanded that Gentiles be circumcised in order to be saved. Others insisted that following Jewish dietary restrictions were required. Still others felt that following other traditions was an imperative, and some of these were extremely rigorous.  But the traditions of men stifle, imprison, and even kill us spiritually. Today we do the same things. We hold onto our traditions and demand others follow them as well. “If you don’t speak in tongues, you aren’t truly saved,” some say. “If you don’t believe exactly like I believe, you can’t be saved,” others say. “If you don’t worship the way that we worship, you can’t be saved.” Sadly, in our insistence, we are telling people that salvation isn’t by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. We are saying that His shed blood is not sufficient. But if we listen to the One Who was with God in the beginning, the One Who is God in the flesh, the triune God evidenced as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we will find life, freedom, and power – we will be COMPLETE! For He is power, and His grace is all we need!

Skyscraper or Shack?

Colossians 2:4-7 – Skyscraper or Shack?

A bank president once told me that when he trains his tellers to recognize counterfeit money, he never shows them a counterfeit bill. He makes them hold, count, touch, and smell the real thing. He said that the reason for this is once you know what the real thing feels like, you just know when a fake bill crosses your fingers. 

It is so easy to be deceived by persuasive words – unless we know the truth so deeply that we cannot be tricked. Paul said it this way: we will be deceived easily unless we are grounded in the faith and hope of Jesus. This is the mystery that has been revealed in Christ Jesus, and knowledge of the mystery, the fact that God the Father loves us so much that He made a way for us to know Him intimately, protects us from being led astray. You see, when we truly know Him and His truth, no amount of persuasive words can deceive us.

Paul knows! He knows that our only hope to survive the onslaught coming our way is to be rooted in Jesus. We received Him in faith, so we must live this life in faith. We surrendered to Him in obedience, we must then live in surrender and obedience. We received Him as a love-gift, so we must live as if every moment is that same gift of love. And as we do so, we are rooted/grounded/given a solid foundation upon which His Spirit builds us up! Skyscraper or shack? It’s our choice based on the faith by which we live. For that, we can be thankful.

A Burden to Encourage

Colossians 2:1-3 - A Burden to Encourage 

Paul is a man of many emotions. We have seen him grateful, hopeful, confident, and rejoicing. And as we begin chapter 2, Paul tells us that he agonizes over Christians that he has never met as well as those to whom he has had the opportunity to minister. What is his burden? That they will be encouraged in their hearts. Isn’t that amazing? This is a man who has been beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and left for dead, and he is broken-hearted because he knows they need encouragement. No doubt the struggles of the Christian life had brought many down – depression was a constant threat. Oftentimes, depression causes us to focus only on ourselves, and usually that focus is extremely negative. Thoughts that would never normally cross our minds capture us: thoughts of worthlessness and uselessness.

Even Christians need encouragement, and I’m here to tell you that encouragement comes through prayer. Yes, we need to pray, and we need others praying for us. But encouragement also comes from the fellowship of love that is centered in the family of God. Sadly, when we become discouraged, our first move is to pull away from the family, but we are truly knit together in love, fashioned into one body, and pulling away would require something as drastic as an amputation. And still, some do it, but as you read this, I want you to hear the truth and the passion in this next statement. The joy that comes from knowing that we are in this struggle together is indescribable. It isn’t a misery loves company kind of sentiment. It is the fellowship of soldiers fighting side-by-side. It is the loyalty of comrades lifting their brothers on their shoulders and carrying them into the future. Then add to that the supernatural enlightenment that comes as the Holy Spirit shows us the riches of His assurance and the understanding of the knowledge of the mystery that salvation is ours by God’s grace! As Dr. Chuck Kelly, President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, always says, “There is a Hebrew word that describes this feeling: WOW!”

When we are in Christ and He is in us, we have access to the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Him. In Him, we know everything we need to know about living the Christian life, a life of joy and victory, even when we are in the depths of depression. Thank you, Jesus, for these wonderful gifts!

That's Not Normal

Colossians 1:24-29 - That’s Not Normal!

Rejoicing in suffering is not normal. There is a psychological term for people like that – nut job. Okay, I admit that is not the technical term, but you get the idea. But for Paul, suffering for the Kingdom means becoming more like Jesus: suffering as He suffered for the church brings joy. What we have to understand is that there is a purpose and a power involved in this. The purpose is to preach the gospel to those who haven’t heard. The power is to reveal the mystery long-hidden but now made clear. What is that mystery? It is Christ in us, the hope of glory. In all my years as a Christian, I have never had anyone to adequately – at least in my opinion – explain this, but here is my attempt. Our hope of glory is the hope that cannot be obtained except through the shed blood of Jesus. God loves us so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross so that all who would accept the free gift of salvation would spend eternity with Him. In Him. In Christ Jesus. That is our hope of glory: Hope for today because if we are in Him we are safe and sound, assured of God’s love and provision. And His provision includes everything from our basic needs to our spiritual maturity. But it is also hope for tomorrow – actually for all eternity – because He tells us that in Christ, we have the promise of heaven.

So Paul is willing to suffer for the Kingdom because God called him to minister; he became God’s gift to the Gentiles. His preaching would communicate the message that would transform lives, and every life transformed would be presented to God as perfect in Christ Jesus. This is Paul’s calling. Is it mine? Is it yours? In a sense, it is the calling for all of us to whom the mystery is revealed. God, help me today to faithfully labor for the Kingdom and to rejoice in my suffering. Make that my new normal!