9.8.09
SET FREE THROUGH CHRIST - Colossians 2:6-23
INTRO
This week judges made the controversial decision to free the notorious train robber Ronnie Biggs. This became the subject of much debate amongst those who had a particular interest in this, especially relatives of victims and members of his family.
But how free is Ronnie Biggs?
According to the definition of freedom in philosophy – that:
“Freedom is the right to act according to ones will without being held up by the power of others”, Ronnie Biggs is a free man.
But is he really free from the apparatus of the hospital, and the effects of a stroke – or from being recognizable as a guilty person of notoriety, or (as was his stated wish) to go into a Margate pub and order a pint of bitter? What kind of freedom is that?
POINT
‘Freedom’ deserves a better definition.
• Is it only the right to do what we want?
• Or is it better defined as the power to do live as God intended us to do?
Jesus once said to the Jews who believed in him:
John 8:32
“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Truth can have a very freeing effect, especially the truth of the Gospel:
• When we accept the truth about ourselves as sinners
• When we accept the truth that Jesus loved us enough to die for us
• When we accept the truth that Jesus’ death was in our place and that we can be forgiven and saved
• When we accept Jesus as our Saviour and Lord
Then we are
• set free from our guilt,
• set free from our fear of judgment,
• set free to be truthful without fear before God,
• set free from the power and tyranny of sin
• and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live as God intended.
Questions: As a Christian,
• how much are you in touch with your freedom today?
• How much are you enjoying your freedom?
• Has anything crept into your life to take away the joy of your experience of freedom in Christ?
It happens – And the Christians in Colossae are good examples of how this kind of thing can happen to us:
READING: Colossians 2:6-23
POINT
The irony of this letter is that Paul is writing from his confinement in a Roman prison but considers himself free.
And his concerns were for those who, though socially free, were in danger of becoming captive to:
• False teaching about Christ
• False guilt from attitudes of others
• False wisdom based on human philosophy rather than divine revelation.
In summary Paul said to them:
• Don’t let anyone confuse you v8-15
• Don’t let anyone condemn you v16-19
• Don’t let anyone control you v20-23
But grow up in Christ. V6-7
1. DON’T LET ANYONE CONFUSE YOU v8-15
In Colossae the Christians were being influenced by what could be described as pre-Gnostic philosophy.
POINT – Gnosticism was a ‘mystery’ religion
• The word ‘mystery’ was used by the pagans to describe secret information made known to an exclusive group.
Paul used their language to describe what the true ‘mystery’ is = not something hidden and secret, but something revealed by God in the Gospel.
PAUL WARNS THEM:
‘See that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy’ v8
POINT
The so-called philosophers were those who practiced spells and magic arts in order to entice people into their order. They sought to corrupt the thinking of the Christians by first of all making Christ out to be less than he was, and imposing their own authority in his place.
POINT
Philosophical arguments can be very confusing and also very convincing.
ILLUSTR
RC Sproul quotes some research that reveals: ‘Over 90% of students entering college in USA are convinced of, and committed to the relativity of truth’ = That there is no objective reality.
What is actually being stated here is:
“Here is an objective truth: ‘There is no objective truth’”
This is tantamount to saying that truth and falsehood are the same thing.
The question has therefore been asked: ‘How ‘true’ can relativism be? Because to say there is no objective reality – no absolute truth defeats the statement itself. Therefore it cannot be true to say there is no absolute truth!! For this is an absolute statement in itself. We must therefore look for truth elsewhere!
POINT
And when it comes to the uniqueness and supremacy of Christ, Paul describes their statement them as “hollow and deceptive”. It is at this point that the person who makes the statement becomes the person with controlling authority in our lives.
ILLUSTR
It is rather like something that happened to me a while ago when someone convinced me that it was not a good idea to make rules for myself. So I stopped making rules for myself and became less disciplined as a result. It was only later that I realized that I had made a rule – a rule not to make rules for myself. Two things happened at the same time:
• I became convinced of the wisdom of a foolish statement
• I allowed my life to be controlled by a new authority – that of the person who had convinced me to live by their rule rather than my own.
POINT
Paul’s statement about Christ is unequivocal:
Col. 2:9-10 For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives in bodily form, [10] and you have been given fulness in Christ, who is the Head over every power and authority.
What is more, the believers have been cleansed and baptized into Christ and Paul warns them not to be deceived.
APPLIC
Having a knowledge of God’s Word, and being confident in the finished work of Christ will enable us to remain strong in the face of the many popular ideas in the culture of our day, and prevent us from placing ourselves under a different authority.
2. DON’T LET ANYONE CONDEMN YOU v16-19
POINT
The great problem with placing ourselves under a different authority than Christ is that we then become subject to that authority.
EXAMPLE
An example of this might be the teaching of the Watchtower tract and Bible Society. Unless you know your Bible you are in danger of being led astray by their teaching that Jesus is less than God.
And once you place yourself under their authority you no longer have any assurance of salvation because they reject the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
POINT
The troublesome visitors to the Church on Colossae were were insisting on compulsory observance of religious rituals in order to attain ‘perfection’. Anyone who failed to measure up was condemned by them.
POINT
New converts could easily have been led astray in this town because of their own religious background. Take for instance how they thought about the calendar:
The ‘Elemental’ spirits of paganism influenced it:
• Sunday – a day sacred to the sun
• Monday – a day sacred to the moon
• Tuesday – to Tiw (Mars)
• Wednesday – To Woden (Mercury)
• Thursday – To Thor (Jupiter)
• Friday – to Frig (Venus)
• Saturday – Saturn
Dick Lucas ‘With this in mind it is not difficult to understand the dilemma of those who had lived as pagans, but had recently confessed Christ as Lord’
For those converted from paganism it meant a total paradigm shift = a completely new way of looking at things.
Paul was telling them not to be persuaded by the negative attitudes of others towards them who judged them superficially over matters that were superficial.
APPLIC
Sadly, there are still churches around that have a culture of judgementalism over secondary matters:
People who are seeking Christ or are new converts can sense being judged on the basis of their dress sense, jewelry, hair length or even the perfume they wear. Christians can feel pressurized into neglecting their families because they feel they will be condemned if they don’t attend all the church meetings – like the Pharisees who withheld what they described as ‘corban’ (given to God) the provision members of their family were in need ot.
Philip Yancey writes, "legalism contains enough inherent dangers to elicit the strongest warnings in the Bible. NO other issue-not pornography, adultery, violence or the things which most rankle Christians today-inspired more fiery outburst from Jesus.
And in the letter to the Colossian Christians Paul wrote:
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. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however is found in Christ.
POINT It is often said that henever you see the word "Therefore"
Look to see what it is there for!
In the verses preceding these verses we are reminded that Christ has done what was necessary for our salvation.
He changed us, He made us alive, and He has forgiven us in Christ. We have received His fullness.
‘he cancelled the written code – that was against us’ (= a certificate of debt written by the debtor).
POINT As a result we have been set free!
So, Paul says, don’t let other people evaluate your spiritual life by their external standards. We are not saved by externals. We are saved by the internal work of God in our life.
3. DON’T LET ANYONE CONTROL YOU v20-23
POINT
Close to the last point of being condemned by other people is the danger of being controlled by other people.
What Paul says here about harsh treatment of the body appears to have been totally ignored by sections of the monastic movement:
ILLUSTR
• According to the church father Athanasius, Anthony, the founder of Christian monasticism, never changed his vest or washed his feet.
• He was outdone, however, by Simeon Stylites, who spent the last thirty-six years of his life atop a fifty-foot pillar.
• Simeon mistakenly thought the path to spirituality lay in exposing his body to the elements and withdrawing from the world.
POINT/APPLIC
But just because there is a danger of excesses in harsh treatment of the body, so there are dangers in excesses of sensual indulgence. Paul writes: Col. 2:23
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.
The Biblical way is neither than of asceticism nor indulgence, but that of self-control a mark of the fruit of the Spirit.
Don’t let anyone confuse you or condemn you or control you, but with Jesus as your Saviour and Lord
4. CONTINUE TO GROW UP IN CHRIST v6-7
Col. 2:6-7
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, [7] rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
• Received Christ – [Have you? – Gospel]
• Live in him – as a disciple of Christ under his authority
• Rooted in him – and in his Word
• Built up – in faith and in fellowship with other believers
• Strengthened in the same way
• And overflowing with thankfulness
[PRAY]
