Jesus Is Greater Than Religion Series

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Colossians 2:9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,

10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,

12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,

14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

So Paul starts the chapter, saying, “I want to remember I love you… because I don’t want anyone to steal from you what you have in Jesus, and carry you away into false teaching. The philosophy of this world is empty, but in Jesus there is all the fullness you need! After all, he is the one who brought you to life, changed your heart, and conquered the Devil through His cross…”

Now, he comes back to the first point he was making.

Everyone with even a little desire for Jesus knows that you NEED what Paul just talked about:

• A changed heart (v. 11-12)

• A new start/life (v. 13)

• A way to defeat the Devil (v. 14-15)

Paul says, “Jesus has done that for you.”

But religious people and religions everywhere have their own ideas about how to do these things… instead of humbling themselves and giving Jesus the glory for what he has done for us, they want to get in on the glory…

So they create a system where they do a lot of what is necessary… they SUPPLEMENT Jesus.

SAM STORMS QUOTE:

There is a sense in which divine grace will always be a threat to human nature. Why a threat, you ask? Because grace undermines our efforts to justify ourselves. Grace runs counter to human pride and that impulse we all feel to boast in our own accomplishments. – Sam Storms

There is a danger in saying Christ was necessary, but denying that he was sufficient. No one here would deny that Christ was necessary… but we might live & think as if he was not sufficient.

In other words, some people detract from Christ. They tear him down, they say write books about “God is not great” – they deny his divinity, they say he was not truly raised, they say he was a great moral teacher, without accepting his claims to be God.

But there is another danger… one of SUPPLEMENTING Jesus. It’s another form of worldliness.

So here are the three things that people try to supplement Jesus with:

1. Jesus is better than legalism.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Legalism is trusting in your own works to save you.

Pharisee rules about the Sabbath.

But they never changed a heart.

Everyone’s got their own little version of this.

2. Jesus is better than vague spirituality.

18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.

19 He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Everyone’s spiritual these days.

Britney Spears… Madonna…

There is nothing wrong with the experiential. The problem comes when the EXPERIENCE becomes more valuable than the PERSON, when the FEELING becomes more valuable than the TRUTH.

3. Jesus is better than harsh rules.

20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:

21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?

22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.