Colossians Series: Legalism
// September 3rd, 2007 // Christian Living, Sunday Recap
I changed pace a little this week by taking a larger section on at one time. We’ve been going through almost scripture by scripture until this week. This works well for some sections of Colossians, but for Col. 2:11-23 I wanted to cover it all in one sermon.
In this section of Colossians, Paul sets up a great argument against a works-based and religious view of Christianity not only because it is an affront to Jesus’ work at the cross, but it is ineffective as a tool against sin. He demonstrates that attempting to please God with a system of rules devoid of Christ will not only be an offense to the cross of Christ, but it will not work as a weapon against our flesh.
Circumcision of the Heart
Verses 11-15 open the issue as the apostle Paul argues against the practice of circumcision as a sign of greater piety. It is believed that these false teachers in Colosse were not teaching that circumcision was necessary for salvation, but rather that it made you more pious, more accepted by God. You didn’t have to get circumcised, but you should. What they failed to understand was that God wanted more than a physical circumcision, He wanted circumcision of the heart. Jesus’ coming made the way for that. To then suggest that there was a way to add to the righteousness that He bought for us is not only ridiculous but an affront to Jesus’ sacrifice and supremacy.
Ouch. There’s a Log in My Eye
It’s funny to me that most of us that are in a church tradition other than “mainline” denominations fancy ourselves to be free from traditions, legalism and religiocity. We think that because we dress casually, sing contemporary worship songs accompanied by a rock band, and don’t sit in pews then we aren’t subject to the same legalistic temptations as more traditional churches.
But don’t we have our own liturgical traditions? Expected ways in how we order a service, length of worship, length of sermon, style of preaching, etc? Sure we do! We have our own form of Colossians circumcision. Often we think that our relaxed style (no ties please…), informal attitude towards worship, and lack of pews makes us better than another church. Or how about that “seeker” church down the street? You know the one. That church that just came out of nowhere and is growing like crazy while you are sitting there in town with 30 people. It’s easy to just wag the finger at a church like that and say, “Well, if we compromised our principles like that we would grow that way too.”
The church is chock full of people criticizing each other over disputable matters. As humans, we love to magnify our differences in an attempt to elevate ourselves over another. The number of websites out there that exist for the sole purpose of criticizing everyone else is growing. Anytime a church or Christian does something successful, different or new the critics line up and take aim. Didn’t Jesus say something about this in Matthew 7:5?
Legalism Doesn’t Work
Verses 19-23 highlight why this is such a deeply important issue to us as Christians. When we allow ourselves to slip into a legalistic way of dealing with sin that is fueled by self effort, we cut ourselves off from the Head. We remove our connection with our source of life and freedom, Jesus.
I’ve known a lot of alcoholics and I’ve discovered a common thread of bondage among them. They have all been told that the reason they are addicted to drunkenness is that they have a disease and that alcohol is an evil substance. So the answer to their problem is self-discipline and the vilification of alcohol consumption. They are never told what scripture says about their problem.
I know of a church right now that proudly makes abstinence from alcohol a condition of membership in the church. This is a good, healthy and growing church. All good people. That rule has probably been there longer than any of them can remember. Yet, there it is. The rule doesn’t keep anyone from drinking in the church. It just means that they do it in private (not to mention making it sin because they promised not to when they joined the church).
What do you think an alcoholic will do if he visits that church looking for answers? He’ll never come back. He won’t dare ask for help. He won’t dare open himself up to the gospel.
An addicts problem is the same as ours: an iniquitous will (iniquity=doing it my own way) that needs to be broken so that we can find our satisfaction in God. People get drunk or high because they like it. It feels good, especially when you are hurting. We sin because it feels good to create our own satisfaction. It feels good to defy God, at least in the moment.
This is what legalism does. It attempts to solve our sin problems by doing it our own way. Iniquity will never eradicate sin! Verse 23 says it plainly:
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.
No matter what we do, the answer to our sin problem is the same. Submission to the lordship of Christ, repentance, forgiveness, faith in a sovereign God full of grace and intentional dependence on Christ. Our freedom is found in Christ, not in ourselves. When we try to live according to our own rules we not only cut ourselves off from our Source, but we shut out the very people we are called to reach.
[tags]religion, legalism, sin, addiction, alcohol, alcoholism, drugs, freedom, bible, sermon, scripture, colossians, paul[/tags]