Complete Freedom In Christ Jesus

Howdy from the Panhandle. Well we have just finished our revival service and what an awesome time it was. Again I want to thank Ronnie for preaching it and Terry and Wayne for leading our music. I also want to thank all who attended and to the youth of our community, it was great to see y'all there. It was the best attended revival we have had and the most youth who have ever attended. God is great!

The other day I had a fellow comment on one of my blogs. He wanted me to give acknowledgment to a certain author and a certain commentary. So let me take a minute to say that he was right. That said let me also say that these post come from sermons I have preached and in my sermons unless I do a direct quote I don't make a notation. I don't know if any other pastor does this, but I use several different sources to pull together a sermon. Some times I use outlines that have already been written and make them relevant for my congregation. I am not writing a book or doing a paper, I am just trying to get the Word of God out to the few that read my blog. So if I use a source and miss a credit to an author or a book, my apologies now.

As we resume our study of Paul's letter to the Colossians let's take a minute to review. Epaphras had under the guiding of the Holy Spirit established the church in Colosse. But soon heresy or false teachings were running rampant in Colosse undermining and attacking the identity and sufficiency of Christ Jesus. Because of this Paul, who is sitting ion jail in Rome writes this letter to the Church in Colosse. Already in chapter 1 we have seen Paul assert that Christ Jesus is God, with all the attributes of God. That Christ Jesus died on the cross and rose again, He is the First Born. Paul now addresses the issue of motivation for devotion.

In the 1994 Winter Olympics, held in Norway, twenty-three-year old Tommy Moe of the United States won the gold on the men's downhill. It was “a beautifully controlled run,” said William Oscar Johnson in Sports Illustrated, “on which he held tucks and thrust his hands forward in perfect form at places where others had stood up and flailed their arms.”

After his victory, Tommy Moe explained his thought processes. “I kept it simple,” he said, “focused on skiing, not on winning, not on where I'd place. I remembered to breath – sometimes I don't.”

The winner of the gold medal in the Olympics had to remember the most basic of basics; breathing! He kept it simple.

Likewise as we seek to have a strong walk with God, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where we win or lose. Spiritual strength depends on the basics. We need to make sure we're breathing the things of the Spirit. - Holman's Commentary on Colossians

Colossians 2:16-19
16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day --  

17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind,

19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

1. Christ Jesus Alone: Our Motivation for Devotion (vs. 16-17)

You do not have to try and achieve your own salvation, or be intimidated by those who seek to impose religious or other rules and regulations on you. (vs. 16–17). Christ Jesus forgives, not man! We should not let the world limit our Christianity to legalistic standards. God is our judge and the issue being judged will be of our relationship to Christ Jesus. You have no reason to become enslaved by legalistic living, mystical experiences, or rigid self-denial.

Because of our fullness in Christ Jesus, Paul tells us that we should not allow others to judge us. The term judge means “pass unfavorable judgment on, criticize, or find fault with.” We are not to allow others to intimidate us or question our relationship with Christ Jesus.

How might others attempt to convince us that our salvation is suspect?Like some in Colosse they may try and teach that our spirituality or salvation is based on how well we observe certain codes of behavior. Paul mentions diets (What you eat and drink) And days (religious festivals, New Moon celebrations, and the Sabbath). The false teachers said that the truly spiritual maintained a particular diet and properly observed all the right holy days. What about this? Is the Christian bound to strict observance of diets and days? I know we try and keep Sunday free for worship and rest. I know that we observe the ordnance of Baptism and the LORD's Supper. But I also know that we do this out of reverence for our God. Do I believe these things save us or make us more spiritual? No, I do not. But what does the Bible say? With regards to diet: About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." 

 

"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." 

 

The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Acts 10:9-15.

With regards to days: However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. Galatians 4:8-11. 

 

Legalism – measuring your own or someone else's spirituality by the ability to keep man-made rules – is a rigid, confining, and lifeless way to live. It is easy because all it requires is a list of rules, coupled with dutiful compliance. Wisdom or the skillful application of biblical principles to life's situations is unnecessary. Just Comply.

Do not let anyone cause you to doubt your salvation. But also make sure of your salvation. Have you asked Christ Jesus to become your Lord and Saviour? If not why?

2. Be Not Beguiled (vs. 18-19)

Apparently, the false teachers were telling believers at Colosse that mystical visions and deeper experiences were necessary to make them truly spiritual. Paul once more brings the issue back to Christ Jesus.

 

“Beguile” was a term in athletic games that meant disqualify. Paul warns the Christians at Colosse and us to watch out for self-appointed rule makers in the game of life. I know some people scoff at this, but let me just throw out a couple of names – Jim Jones, and David Koresh. 

 

Don't let someone cause you to doubt your salvation just because you don't do what they say. Some false teachers would insist that your salvation depends on obeying their very convincing rules. 

 

One of the rules of the false teachers in Colosse was that you could not pray directly to God. They said that you must to have a mystical experience in order to experience salvation and to have a good spiritual life. This mystical experience started with initiation into ascetic (the practice of severe self-discipline and abstention from all forms of indulgences). Mystic visions or supernatural visions were suppose to follow. This was a time of being ushered into the heavenly realms to worship angels who emanated from God or to join with the angels in worshiping God.

The Colossians were told if they wanted to take their worship to the next level they had to engage in those kind of experiences. Paul said that kind of spiritual quest was in fact a dangerous distraction. It causes the person to lose connection with the Head, from whom the whole body grows. The vision become the focus and Christ Jesus becomes secondary. As a result growth is stunted, and believers are disqualified … for the prize. This phrase is actually one Greek term meaning “act as umpire against you.” 

 

Basically what Paul is saying here is, “Don't let anyone pass critical judgment against you and deprive you of your spiritual reward.” Thereby causing you to become distracted from what matters, Christ Jesus; in your search of mystical experiences. Believers may have spiritual experiences of varying kinds. Experiences themselves are not evil. But when we try to make our experience the standard for all believers or when we measure our own or someone else's spirituality on the basis of our experience we're being arrogant and unspiritual. Christ Jesus is to be central in your life! Not rules, not experiences, not anything except Christ Jesus.

I remember hearing about computer viruses. Could a computer catch a germ? I then learned that computer viruses were often malicious programs, developed by evil-doers, to destroy computers. They are often downloaded stealthily, without you knowing it. Perhaps opening an email attachment or surfing the web.

When you combine intelligent effort with evil and the craving to destroy, misery results. All of us want to make a difference, but some of us will feel like we make a difference by destroying, hurting, and irritating others. We can be that desperate to matter.

False teachers, often unknowingly inspired by Satan, do just that: They are out to destroy the truth of God's Word and they are out to keep believers from living in a godly fashion. They are being manipulated by the evil one and do not even know it.

God encourages leaders and Christians to hold a "no tolerance" position of false teaching, particularly in major and clear areas. - Ed Vasicek (pastor)

3. False Teachers Identified

False teachers can be identified by the fact that they do not worship Christ Jesus alone as the means for salvation. They have Christ Jesus plus legalistic standards as the authority over all the earth and all the things in heaven. Yet all our needs are met in and through Christ Jesus alone. Our need for love, for forgiveness are met in Christ Jesus.

Humans are created with free-will however. And so we move out of ourselves to find meaning in a cause or a purpose beyond ourselves for which to live and die. Christ Jesus meets us at the point of this deep need and in Him is your salvation. 

 

Conclusion:

We don't have to be intimidated by the ceremonialism of religion, even those found in the church today. Salvation is from Christ Jesus, He is who makes us whole. It is Christ Jesus who makes us holy, it is Christ Jesus who makes us righteous. Our true value comes from and through Christ Jesus alone. Our self worth can't be found in the things of this world, but in Christ Jesus.

As Christians we have transferred our sphere of living from this world of flesh to the realm of God, but some go on acting as though they still live in the world. A person can't overcome his or her fleshly desires with rules or even with the practice of extreme self-denial. Nor can a person gain enough wisdom to be good enough to merit salvation. Peace and contentment does not come from some mystical experience, it comes only when you surrender your life to Christ Jesus.