Colossians 2:11-17 Knocking Off the Training Wheels of Legalism
My bicycle never had training wheels. I came from the school that said, “Take the plunge!” and “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” When my dad put my bicycle together for me, I was six years old. I was eight before I learned to ride it. I guess the fact that it fell on me the first time I tried to ride it had a lot to do with my late age in learning to ride. Once I mastered it, though, I rode that bicycle for hours. It was the best thing going for entertainment and mobility.
Going back to training wheels, though, is another story. They are a great way to teach a child to ride a bicycle. They establish the feeling of being “up” without the danger of falling. Training wheels are much more prominent today than they were twenty years ago. But if a child never allows his parents to remove those training wheels at some point in time, they become a hindrance. I’ve yet to see a racing bike with training wheels. In the Tour de France race two weeks ago, I didn’t see a single rider with training wheels.
Training wheels are good for a start, but sooner or later, they have to come off. They are a natural part of the process, but they perform their function and are gone soon after. This is the way Paul felt about legalism. He said in Galatians 4:24, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” He was talking to Jewish believers who had come to Christ out of Judaism, and he was telling them that they were no longer bound to the ordinances and practices of the Jewish Law. Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:17, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”
Today as we consider the vices and virtues of legalism, I believe we will see that Christ’s way is a way of grace. Salvation is aimed at our souls, with the outward results bearing fruit in our physical lives. Something has to take place inside us before we look for manifestations outside us. This is why it is important to “knock off” the training wheels of legalism. Otherwise, how shall we hope to effectively finish the course which has been set before us?
The practice of circumcision is traced in Scripture to Genesis 17, where Abraham is circumcised as he enters the covenant relationship with God. This ritual practice of consecration is obviously very personal in nature and therefore a serious consideration for those men who would convert to Judaism as adults. Furthermore, the Jews insured the propagation of their kind by performing circumcision on their male infants eight days after birth. It is also important to consider at this point that Judaism is not so much a religion as are the Jews a race of descendants of Abraham.
Paul tells the Colossians that their circumcision has not been made with hands in verse eleven. In fact, he carries the concept further by calling it the “circumcision of Christ” and alludes to the putting off of “the body of sins of the flesh.” Whatever can he mean by this? The answer is reasonably simple. When we consider that the nature with which we are born is self-centered and thereby self-serving, we realize the necessary penchant for sin in us. When we receive Christ as our Lord and Savior, he places in us a new nature, hence the term “born again” (John 3:3). The old nature must subsequently be put to death, as referenced by Jesus in Luke 9:23, “. . . take up his cross daily and follow me.”
As Abraham laid aside the flesh of his foreskin in physical circumcision, the Christian lays aside the flesh of his sinful nature in spiritual circumcision. His tendencies are made new. He loses carnal desires in exchange for spiritual desires. His feelings regarding sin are changed. Paul further explains this concept in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
The evidence of this spiritual circumcision is baptism. When the believer stands before the congregation and is baptized, he is telling them that he has left behind his old ways and is living as a follower of Jesus Christ. He bears witness to the saving power of God that lives in him. There is only one who has been raised from the dead and remains alive: Jesus Christ. When we receive him, we receive the hope that we will one day join him in the resurrection. Greater still, we have the promise of his Spirit, who dwells in us.
This whole discussion leads naturally to the question of application, particularly as it pertains to our study today. What does this spiritual circumcision have to do with you and me? The answer is simple: physical acts are not the substance of Christianity. Instead, a spiritual change on the inside makes Christians what they are. I can look at some people’s hairstyles or dress and tell you what denomination they are. You have seen this, too. Some denominations place restrictions on clothing or hairstyles for women. They may also restrict their members from wearing shorts or pants.
Are they wrong? Are we wrong for not practicing this? I will simply say this: you may take a pig out of the wallow and take him in the house and bathe him. You may curl his tail and put conditioner in his hair and even dress him in a three-piece suit. But when you are finished, he’s still a pig regardless of the oustide changes you have made. On the other hand, take that pig out of the mud hole and transform him into a sheep, then you’ve done something remarkable. Furthermore, as that former pig begins to act like a sheep, it seems natural to him.
Christians are people whose behavior reflects an inward change. We do things as the Spirit of God leads. If I tell you not to smoke or drink or chew or date the girls who do, then you are acting in response to my advice. But if the Spirit of God who lives in you leads you to give up these habits, then you are under a much greater obligation. I’ll conclude this point by giving you one more Scripture to consider. It is used in reference to sexual sin, but I believe it extends even farther: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” follows the discussion of spiritual circumcision. This section addresses the rules and regulations put in place by religious authority. No matter how hard a person tried, he could never meet the full obligations of the ordinances. The only way a person can be free from limitless human restrictions is through the cross of Christ. Forgiveness of sin is not found in repeating a memorized Scripture a certain number of times or paying a penance. Holiness before God is not found in the amount of time spent in prayer or the volume of Scripture read. Good deeds do not earn access to heaven. The tedium of restrictions and necessary actions are crushed by the work of Jesus on the cross.
Furthermore, I believe Paul rightly asserts that this whole mentality of works-based religion is a tool of the devil. He writes in verse fifteen, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Why would he include this reference in the context of “ordinances” if he did not believe that the “ordinances” in question were not of Divine origin but of Satanic origin instead? The point is that Satan was using the growing number of minor do’s and don’ts to keep the eyes of the believers off the important issues of redemption and sanctification.
Consider the fact that most people look at good behavior and bad behavior as the standards for eternal life. I cannot tell you the number of people here in our community who have suggested that an individual went to heaven because they were good. What I always want to know is simply this: did they know the Lord? People have told me that God could never forgive them for all the bad things they have done. Some have felt that they were not Christians because they still did bad things. Some have felt they were Christians because they did a lot of good things.
What Paul says in these verses is profound in nature. He tells us that behavior is not the key to salvation, but instead the cross of Christ! No matter how many things you say or do, it is still the cross of Christ that determines your position with God. When Jesus was crucified, he made a mockery of the devil’s stranglehold on organized religion. The devil had everyone believing that they could work their way onto God’s good side. Isaiah said of our works, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags . . .”(Isaiah 64:6). There is no way for us to work our way onto God’s good side. It is simply impossible!
Don’t let the devil sell you a lie. If you are trusting your good deeds and your good behavior to get you into heaven, hear me clearly: it will not work. The Bible says it. Jesus himself said it: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Finally, let us consider the religious conduct Paul speaks of in the concluding verses. He makes mention of dietary customs, feast days, religious festivals, and sabbath rituals. His basic stance in this regard is that these things are not sufficient for holiness. Physical participation in the rituals of the faith does not transform the individual, but Christ alone can bring about the needed change. A believer participates in the practices of the community to learn and grow, but these are not cause for judgment or restriction.
Suppose that a person missed a service of worship here. Would that be reasonable cause to remove him from the fellowship? Or suppose that a person decided in good conscience to be a vegetarian. Does that mean we exclude that person from family night because we eat meat at family night? How many of us observe the Sabbath on Sunday? Do we observe a day of rest, or do we work on Sunday? Where do we draw the line?
The point is not that we observe all these things, but that we not base our judgment on these practices. The true test of faith is the presence of Christ in the heart of the believer. Is there a difference in the way a person acts and reacts to different situations? Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the person? Not, did he come to preaching every Sunday last month? Do not misunderstand me. As the Holy Spirit works in the life of the individual, He produces changes that affect the priorities of the believer. Being a Christian changes your “want to.”
Furthermore, Paul concludes by saying the “body is of Christ.” We do not control what comes in or goes out of this body. We have an obligation to examine those who come for membership and be assured that they have received Christ as Savior. We have an obligation to hold each other accountable in matters of faith and practice. But the people who choose to call this church “home” under the leading of the Holy Spirit are brought here by God. Remember Matthew 16:18, where Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Paul said it well in 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.” God gave the increase. That is the point.
In summary, there are three things we may take with us from this passage of Scripture. They are important in understanding the differences between living by faith and shackling ourselves to the demands of legalism. They are:
1. Spiritual transformation, not altered physical appearance, brings us eternal life.
2. Faith, not good works, brings us to peace with God.
3. Spiritual growth, not participating in rituals, brings us to maturity before God.
