Ivd2 While Having Appearances Of Wisdom, Such Practices Have No Value (Col. 2:23) Series

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.