NOT LEGALISM, BUT CHRIST

 All scripture is from NKJV

Scripture:  Colossians 2:11-23

¹¹ In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹² buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³ And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, ¹⁴ having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. ¹⁵ Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶ So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, ¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.

²⁰ Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations— ²¹ “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” ²² which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? ²³ These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Legalism … if you have been going to church for most of your life, you have no doubt heard this word before.  Legalism is defined as: dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith. Often, it is expressed in such a way that says if you “have all of your ducks in a row,” you’re doing great.

As Christians, this is a dangerous place to be, because we end up believing that, because we do X,Y and Z … such as, we always tithe, we make sure we are at church every time the doors are open, we can recite “The Lord’s Prayer” and a myriad of other thing that can be done in the name of being right with God. From a legalistic point of view, we believe that we are “OK” with God . But the reality is, most of the time, when we have such a mindset, we are actually far away from Christ.

Jesus said, when talking to the woman at the well in Matthew 15:8 – This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. I believe that this also can be the same as having a checklist of things that we do, thinking we are honoring God. They are just going through the motions, and their hearts are truly far from God.  This is just going through the motions of worshiping God. The reason it is so important to have our hearts in it is because it is with our hearts we believe.  The Bible says in Romans 10:10 – For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” If our hearts have not been truly converted through receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are going through the motions. If our hearts are not in our faith, we must question whether we truly believe or not . If we don’t believe, we don’t have salvation.

Another problem with walking in legalism is that it has a sense of “works theology” to it. Again, this is the idea that we are saved because we do X, Y or Z. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”   If anyone thinks that they are okay with God simply because they do their checklist of things to worship God, but are not saved, they are deceived and need to seek God with all their heart.

I truly believe that this is a warning to us to not get caught up in the “works” mindset, because it will produce a legalistic attitude in our heart and cause us to believe that we are right with God when in fact we are not.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:21-23 - '“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’' It’s obvious that Jesus gave this warning to us because many will believe that because they do certain things, they are okay in God’s eyes, when the reality is, that they are not okay.

Physical circumcision versus spiritual circumcision.

Circumcision was a physical act that God required from Abraham when He established a covenant with him.  This act was intended to set Abraham and his servants apart from other males in the region, and signified the covenant that God established with Abraham.  This act has been done for Jewish males on the 8^th day after they were born ever since.  It is still done much of the time today, but now it is primarily for health reasons. 

For Christians, circumcision is not merely a physical act. When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we go through a spiritual circumcision that is a removal of sin from our heart. Being cleansed of our sin is what is required to take part in the New Covenant that Jesus established for us through His death on the cross and resurrection to pay the price for our sins.  We are not saved by being circumcised. We are saved through what Jesus has done for us.

Baptism does not save us

Many mainline denomination churches who baptize infants teach that they are saved after than have been baptized.  However, this is wrong teaching. Romans 10:9-10 says, 'that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’'  How can an infant who cannot speak become saved? Baptism is a symbol of the believer’s association with Christ’s death on the cross.

Water baptism does not bring forgiveness of sins, but the Apostle Paul uses the rite in his writings to help explain the works of the Spirit. The early church would not have understood the idea of an unbaptized Christian.  Baptism and faith were considered to be the outward and inward realities of being a Christian. Baptism is an ordinance of the church and something we do out of obedience.

Some have highlighted Paul’s close association of baptism and circumcision in this passage of scripture as an indication that water baptism is a sign of the New Covenant, just as circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant.

Jesus fulfilled the Law

Not only were our personal sins forgiven at the Cross, but those rules that condemned us have also been removed by Jesus’ work on the cross.

In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”  Apart from Jesus’ work on the cross for us, the only option that was available was that we be judged by the Law.  The law was impossible to keep to the extent it would have taken to be saved.  If we were guilty of breaking even the smallest part of the law, we would be guilty of breaking it all and therefore judged unrighteous in God’s eyes.  But with accepting Jesus’ sacrifice as payment for our sins, we are judged to be righteous in God’s eyes.  

Galatians 3:10-13 - 'For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),'

Jesus had victory on the cross

Ephesians 6:12 says 'For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.' These principalities and powers allude to Satan and the demons who work with him. Paul describes Christ’s victory on the cross over the powers that opposed Him and that were against God’s faithful people.

To describe this victory, Paul uses the spectacle of military triumph, when prisoners of war were stripped and paraded before the populace behind the conquering general.  Satan and his forces thought that the cross would be their victory and Christ’s defeat.  In reality, on the cross the Lord vanquished His foes, took away their weapons, and made a public spectacle of them.

If we have not received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are still controlled by those weapons and practices.  In view of Christ’s victory over His enemies, we should not be controlled by them, because Christ has already triumphed over them.

The false teachers in Colosse were tempting the Colossians to bind themselves (see 2:16-19 above) with the outward observances of Judaism, such as the Jewish dietary restrictions and circumcision.  Paul warns the believers in Colosse not to let others bind them to regulations from which Christ has already freed them from.

Beware of false humility

People who are not truly saved, who have not championed salvation in Christ alone, often appear to be outwardly humble, but inwardly they are anything but. Without true salvation, the circumcision of our hearts, there is no true humility involved.  People who are “putting on airs” of humility are faking it because they cannot truly express it with an unsaved soul.

Their search for a new spiritual experience or advocacy of some work as necessary for salvation is actually human pride.  If you are around such a person long enough, you can usually tell where they are at spiritually.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:33-35 - 'Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.'

Jesus also said in, Matthew 7:15-16 - 'Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?' People who are wrapped up in legalism are often people such as these.  They do not really want to submit to God’s plan of salvation that is revealed in the Bible.

Sadly, there are pastors such as these people who are leading churches.  Whether they are saved or not is between them and God. However, whenever they are displaying characteristics such as above, one must wonder.  It’s so important that we pray for our pastors.

Please remember that no human work can be added to the merit of Christ’s death. His work on the cross is the only acceptable work in God’s eyes for salvation. The legalistic commands of others are a self-imposed religion and of no value spiritually speaking.  Seek God to help us do away with our legalistic mindsets. Ask Him to help us be free from it.

A New and Growing Church

 All scripture is from the New Living Translation.

Acts of the Apostles 2:42 - 'All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.’

In this passage of scripture, we find ourselves at what is technically the beginning of church, the body of Christ.  Now, it was not anything like we know it to be now, not having buildings called churches.  There were temples that the Jews met in, but they were not used by the body of Christ, as far as we know. They met in the members’ houses.

At this point in time, new believers in Jesus were not even called Christians yet. In fact, the majority of the first believers in Jesus were Jews.

The service was brand new.  It no doubt had occurred to them at some point, “Hey, we’ve never done church like this before!” And you know what?  They hadn’t done church like this before.  If they had ever been to synagogue before, they were used to something completely different.  Before Jesus was crucified, died and arose again, the way “services” were held in the synagogue was likely very much the same for hundreds of years.  So, the new believers had to learn everything from the apostles as they went along guided by the Holy Spirit.

In this passage of scripture, I think we can see outlined for us four things that they did to grow and be a healthy, vital church.  I also think that they also apply to the body of Christ today.

Notice that it pointed out that they devoted (continued steadfastly in) these four things.  The dictionary defines devoted as: zealous or ardent in attachment, loyalty, or affection.

 Devoted themselves to the Apostles’ teachings.

New believers in Christ Jesus did not have the Bible to read as we know it now. So, people had to rely on the teaching of the Apostles as the Holy Spirit guided them on what to teach. 

They did have the Old Testament, so the Torah and the other books were available to read.  We don’t know how many people those days were literate and could read and write.  I don’t think it would be unrealistic to assume that there were many who could not.  So, most scripture was learned by hearing it repeated until it was memorized.

In this new “Way” as it was called, living their lives to serve Jesus was something that most knew very little about. They had to have uniformity of belief concerning the things of God through Jesus, and that’s what they had.

Just as in those days, we need to be devoted to the study of God’s Word as well.  Why? For one thing, its teachings help our faith grow.  In Romans 10:17 it says, 'So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. ' In other versions it says “and hearing through the word of Christ.” The more we hear the Word of God and apply it to our lives, the more our faith is increased.  Along with that, our knowledge of the Bible increases.  Growing in our knowledge is a very important part of the Christian life.

2 Peter 3:18 '… you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.'

It is plain to see from this passage that it is something that God wants us to do.

Peter also tells us in 2 Peter 1:3 - 'By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. '

We have come to receive all the things we need for living a godly life, but it is through our “KNOWING” Him that we do so.  This is an interesting issue, considering so few people who claim to be Christians do not put the time into reading and studying their Bible, spending time in prayer and being disciplined in devoting ourselves to the instructions of our Bible teachers.

 Knowing and studying the scripture is such an important part of our growth in Christ.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 helps us to understand the importance of reading and studying scripture.  It says: 'All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.' 

There is so much more for us in creating the discipline of studying the Bible than we can ever imagine.  It is something that we come to know by doing it.

Colossians 3:16 says, 'Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. '

The interesting thing in this passage is the word “Let.”  Let implies that we must ALLOW something to take place. Consequently, let also implies that we can NOT allow something to happen.  Ask yourself, what do you think is what Satan wants us to do and what do you think God wants us to do?’ It’s up to us to choose.

 Devoted themselves to fellowship.

The second thing the new church devoted themselves to was fellowship.  Now, if you are someone like me who is a bit of an introvert, there is something kind of scary about this. We may even have a hard time believing it is a necessary part of being a growing Christian.  But one thing we have to pray for God’s help with wrapping our minds around, is needing to be with fellow believers.

Fellowship is often thought of these days as simply talking with one another, whether over a meal, coffee or whatever.  We often feel that we’ve had fellowship with one another if we have participated in those activities. That is a very small part of what true Biblical fellowship actually is.  It is so much more.

The Greek word that is translated fellowship here means, “sharing in the lives of other believers.”   Uh oh.  That sounds serious and WAY more personal than I ever want to get with someone.  However, truly sharing in the lives of other believers takes a lot of commitment and devotion AND it can truly get messy at times.

You see, coming along side a weaker brother or sister in the faith, may require us to get into the muck and the mire of their lives to help them.  1 Thessalonians 5:14b says …Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

Galatians 6:2 tells us to Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Do you mean that, to “bear one another’s burdens,” I have to go into the icky parts of people’s lives!?!?  Yes, sometimes God does ask us to do such things, because there’s no one else to love on that particular person.  Sometimes, we have to have the strength to turn away when God requires us to as well.  That is why it’s so important for us to constantly be seeking God’s direction about such matters and not simply fall back on the old “pharisaical” dogma that we’ve been taught our whole church lives.

You see, to act out of love toward one another the way God expects us to requires us to love people anyway.

First John 4:7-11 tells us 'Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. '

You say, “yeah, but that’s awfully hard to do that for someone in a mess.”  OK, but let’s look at one more passage.  1 John 5:5 - 'And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.' If God is for us, who can be against us?

Devoted to sharing of meals.

While this is listed as a separate item of what we are discussing here, sharing a meal really is a part of fellowship, at least in my opinion.  There is something about fellowshipping around a meal that creates a much deeper sense of belonging than just drinking coffee.  Ideally, as the meals are enjoyed together, the walls that we hold up tend to come down; and there is a sense of ease involved.  I realize that’s not always the case, but if we are experiencing true Biblical fellowship, we are able to experience a spiritual intimacy that isn’t experienced around any other activity.  I believe that’s why the sharing of meals is such an important thing for churches to do.

 

Devoted themselves to prayer.

The Bible says so much about the importance of prayer.  We often focus our mindset on just individual prayer, but there’s much to say about corporate prayer.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20 ' - “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

There is power when a body of believers gets together simply to pray.  It seems that largely, this is something few churches in America do much anymore — especially on a regular basis.  I can’t help but wonder if believers truly understand what they are failing to do.  Truly, personal prayer in important, but a praying body of believers who are of the same mindset and desiring the things God desires, is a force to be reckoned with.  I cannot help but also wonder if the lack of desire of churches coming together to pray is something the devil has done to keep us from realize the moving of God this type of prayer can create. 

Out of all the things we “ought” to do, let us strive as churches and individuals to gather again on a routine basis and lift up prayers to the Lord God.