The Emptiness of Man-Made Religion

All right.

Well, good morning again.

It's good to have you with us.

We are continuing in our sermon series in the book of Colossians.

And as we have seen along the way, the Apostle Paul has written this letter to a church that

he did not plant and probably has never visited, but he's heard about God's work in them and

he wants to encourage them.

He wants them to have greater confidence in Christ, which is sort of the overwhelming

message.

But in it, you see laced at points, there are these warnings.

There's a concern that he expresses.

The concern is that you don't lose, that they would not lose their way in seeing that Christ

is all that they really need.

Paul's concern that this fledgling church as it's growing might turn aside from the right

path.

And like a toddler grabbing onto a pant leg that looks really familiar but ends up being

the wrong mother in the crowded mall, that they would grab onto the wrong thing and be

led astray from true worship of Christ and true confidence in what he has done.

They might do this out of immature zeal or willful rebellion or weakness of understanding, but

they might be led astray.

And if you've read any commentaries on Colossian or even have been here, even if you were here

last week as Pastor Greg punted on this completely from verse 8 in chapter 2 when he said, don't

be deceived by these philosophies, he just said, and Pastor Matt's going to preach on that next

week.

This is where we're at.

We're figuring out what is it that Paul's really concerned about?

What are the dangers that he sees?

And how is it that he expresses themselves?

How is it that he sees them expressing themselves as potential false paths for the Colossians to

fall down?

And there has been a lot of ink spilled on what the quote-unquote Colossian heresy is.

And as we start, I want to say a few things.

One is that it's fascinating how creative people can be in trying to figure out what the Bible

is talking about when they aren't really sure.

And it's fascinating to see them look into historical context to say, oh, maybe it connects

with this or maybe it connects with this.

And what I do want to say with confidence, though, is that the book of Colossians is not

like the book of Galatians, where there's a very clear false teaching that is being addressed

very clearly and opposed very strongly.

It's not even like the book of 1 Corinthians, where there are false teachers coming in and

and whatever they're doing, Paul goes after them with a polemical force.

And Paul doesn't take that tone here in Colossians.

And I think we need to be careful not to overstate how we approach this.

But it seems that Paul is laying down concerns about, hey, this is the world that you live

in.

This is the water that you drink and the air that you breathe.

These false paths are all around you.

And I want you to be aware of what they might be.

I want you to see their dangers.

And I want you to see Christ as sufficient in the midst of them.

And that's where we're going to do this morning.

We're going to dive into what those things actually look like and what some of those dynamics

are.

And as much as we can unpack what those problems might be, and hopefully that we will see and

have benefit for ourselves as we look at these things and think, oh, I need to be aware of

that danger in my own life, in our own world, in my own heart.

So that's what we're going to do this morning.

Let me read.

We're going to look at Colossians chapter 2, starting in verse 16.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

We're going to read 16 to 23.

And I completely forgot.

Anyone want to give me a page number?

9?

84?

9.84, I'm being told.

There you go.

9.84, we'll get you there.

And so let's read God's word together.

Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you.

In questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon,

or Sabbath.

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about

visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the head, from

whom the whole body nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments grows with a growth that is from God.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why?

As if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?

Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

Father, Lord, we ask for your help this morning as we look at this passage.

We ask that you would make it clear to us, Lord, what you are saying, and Lord, that you would apply

these truths to our hearts.

Lord, I ask by your Holy Spirit, Lord, you would show us where we are prone to wander,

where we are prone to fall into the dangers that Paul is concerned about in this passage,

that we would see how easily we do stray from true and complete confidence in Christ.

Lord, we ask that by your Spirit you would work in us, Lord, to deepen our confidence in you this morning.

And Lord, I ask for your help.

You would help me to speak clearly and that my words would be, Lord, in your hands,

useful to proclaim the truth of the gospel.

And we pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Don't let yourself be confused about what the gospel is really about.

That's the summary of what this is about.

He has three warnings, and I'm going to state them as warnings to you as we read through.

So we're going to look at three warnings.

The first one is in verses 16 and 17, where Paul is telling us,

don't let people judge you by replacing Christ with things meant to point to Christ.

What does that mean?

Well, let's look at it.

Paul says in verse 16,

Let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival

or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Now, for those of us, we sort of think, huh?

This is a very odd set of categories that we don't normally think about.

But for a first century Christian, this would be a very common category because all of this

flows from the Old Testament.

All of this flows from the Jewish context out of which Christianity grew.

And it seems that in the air there was a message going around of, if you really want to follow

Christ, recognize that He is grounded in the Old Testament.

And in the Old Testament, you had to keep these laws.

You had to keep laws of eating and drinking these things and not these things to set yourself

apart as being pure and faithful.

You had to follow these patterns and rituals of a yearly calendar of festivals and sacrifices

and offerings because this is how you worship God in the Old Testament.

And it seemed that there was not only a strong exhortation, hey, this is really valuable to do,

but even a condemnation.

If you don't do these, you're not really a Christian.

Now, look, we need to understand this carefully.

The Old Testament law was good in that it meant it was there to display the dynamics of God's kingdom

to show us the fabric of His character.

And it teaches about the ways of His salvation.

It established a righteousness and gave us standards for God's kingdom,

but it was powerless to change us.

And we see this so clearly in other places.

The law could not save us.

And that's why Christ came.

In fact, the law was given to point to that helplessness

and to point to the need for a Savior who is greater than us,

one who could actually keep the law that we could never keep.

One who could actually be righteous in ways that we never could.

But as in verse 17, we see clearly,

those things, the Old Testament laws, were shadows.

And by shadows, that doesn't mean murky or mysterious.

It means these things are signposts.

These were forerunners pointing ahead to a truth.

Again, in Galatians, we see the law was a tutor, a teacher to instruct us on our need for a Savior.

And this is what this is pointing to.

And so we don't need to, as believers in Christ,

submit to the laws of the Old Testament anymore

for our salvation, for our standing with God.

We need to look to them to know the character of God and the ways of His kingdom,

but we don't need to submit to it as for the means of our salvation.

And it seems that there were those in the Colossian context

who would be promoting this idea.

Real Christians are not only those who believe in Jesus,

but who keep the law too.

You've got to do it both.

And you've got to especially do these ritual parts.

You've got to keep the ceremonial law.

You've got to follow the patterns.

Now, I doubt that there are many of us here today who struggle with this

and think, oh, man, I had pork on Sunday or on Saturday.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that because I believe in Jesus.

You don't have to worry about pork.

Thank God.

That's a good thing.

But what I do want to recognize is that the same impulse

that I think was in a first century Jew to want to gravitate towards that

can be a heart impulse for us as well.

We love to have a standard of external conformity

that we can try to meet to look good and to please God.

We love to create rules and laws.

We love to, and even when we're explicitly not doing it,

we implicitly often do it over and over again.

You're only a real Christian if you do this or don't do that.

We love it because it creates an insider and an outsider dynamic.

We're the ones who do it right.

And you poor people out there, well, do you see?

That's what he's concerned about, that you're not just doing it,

but you're passing judgment on people about what they're doing.

And these external things are easier for us to do.

I know that I can do these things, and then I can say,

I'm doing it right, aren't I?

And isn't that good?

Rather than the incredibly humbling call of the gospel,

which is to be transformed by the power of God.

We are to grow in righteousness.

We are to honor God with everything we do.

We are to schedule our whole life around worshiping him.

But as we'll see in chapter 3,

the heart of that is not about laws and rituals,

but it's about character transformation.

Putting on Christ and living as a Christian,

as a follower of Christ,

is not about keeping these external laws

as much as it is being transformed

so that with humility and kindness and gentleness

and patience and self-control

and forgiveness and love,

spurring one another on in our hearts.

This is what the true signs of following Christ are.

And that in Christ,

we actually find the power to live them out.

I don't know if you've ever been hiking

and lost the trail.

It's kind of bewildering when it happens.

You're halfway up a mountain.

You know you want to get up there,

or at least that's where you think.

But suddenly you don't know

what the next 50 yards looks like.

And it could go that way.

It could go that way.

It could go that way.

And I've done this.

You fan out.

Where's the next blaze?

Where's the next trail?

But friends, if you found the blaze,

would you then stop and say,

woo, we found the blaze.

Now we know where we're going.

All right, we're done.

Let's party.

We're going to camp out here and celebrate

because we have found the blaze.

Friends, this is what the problem that Paul has

with those who would want to impose the law.

They found the blazes,

but never got to the point.

They didn't get to the destination

that the blazes were leading to,

which was Christ.

And somehow they're making the signposts

the point rather than the end.

And we need to be aware that we too might do the same thing.

We are free to follow Christ.

Free from obeying the law for the basis of our justification

and acceptance with God.

Free from those patterns.

Now look, I need to say this well

because you could hear this and think,

great, so I don't have to worry about those things at all.

I don't have to do anything.

Well, no, let me say two things.

One is that we need to recognize

that this freedom does have some limits to it.

The limit is that we do make Christ the center of our lives.

There are boundary markers for the people of God,

but the boundary markers for the people of God

are not the external performance of certain things,

but it is actually the believing faith in Christ

for our salvation.

It is looking back at chapter 2, 11 through 15

and believing that in Christ the fullness of God dwelt

and in Christ God has done everything we need.

That the condemnation that is ours

has been nailed to the cross.

That by the resurrection from the dead

the power of sin and death has been broken.

And by his being seated at the right hand of God

we now know there's no power in heaven

that can control us.

And we have to believe in that

and trust in that as the central point

and as the focal point

and as the foundation

and as the goal of our lives.

This is the boundary marker for true Christianity.

And we need to recognize that the gospel

and trusting in the gospel is that.

The second thing we need to say

is that there's a lot of wisdom out there

about how we cling to Christ

and how we pursue that.

Scripture has given us patterns

maybe even New Testament commands.

We need to be in God's word.

We need to be praying.

We need to be in fellowship with one another.

We need to be giving and serving

in God's kingdom and in God's church

for the glory of God.

We need to be gathering with other believers.

I don't need to tell you that

because you're here.

But we need to be gathering

with other believers.

These are all normal parts

of those who follow Christ.

These are means of grace

that are so clear in the New Testament.

They are not laws.

But they are patterns

that is wisdom given to us

on how we are meant to do that.

So we need to hold them

not as basis of judgments

but as gifts from God

to recognize how it is

that we actually pursue

a knowledge of God in Christ.

And look, there's a whole other level

of things too.

You may have been super helped

by Dave Ramsey

on how to manage your finances

to the glory of God.

You may have found

that a certain time management program

has been your salvation

and how to organize

your chaotic life

so that you can actually

serve God the way you want to.

There are all sorts of things

but you know what we do?

We then become the apostles

for time management

or Dave Ramsey

or whatever else it is.

The things that we have found

particularly helpful

in the application level

of pursuing Christ.

We then glorify

and raise to a level

of law,

of expectation.

then we judge other people

when they don't do that.

Oh, you watch Netflix.

Well, okay.

Good for you.

I'll pray for you.

You know,

or whatever it is, right?

I mean,

I could go on it.

We are so prone to do that

and I don't want to go on and on

because all of us

are prone to do it

and we need to be careful

not to judge one another

in these things

even as we ought to be free

to seek

and to share wisdom

with one another.

Hey, this is what's been helpful

for me.

This has been,

but these things are only helpful

in as much as they point to Christ

and help us to Christ

and when we cling to them

and think,

well, if you have this,

this is really going to like

jumpstart your spiritual life.

No,

Christ will jumpstart

your spiritual life.

The Holy Spirit

will jumpstart

your spiritual life

and maybe he might use

something like that

along the way

and if so,

praise God

and be thankful for it

and don't condemn it

and don't get up,

but also don't deify it

and make it everything.

So the passage warns us

of a danger

of judging,

judging others

by replacing Christ

with things that point to Christ

in our lives.

The passage goes on

in verse 18 and 19

points to a second danger

and that is

don't let others exclude you

on the demand

of a deeper spiritual life

apart from Christ

rather than a deeper spiritual life

in Christ.

Did you get all that?

It's a little complicated.

Let me read that again.

Don't let others exclude you

on the demand

of a deeper spiritual life

apart from Christ

rather than a deeper

spiritual life

in Christ.

Look with me again

in verse 18

so we see the language.

Let no one disqualify you.

It's a strong word,

disqualification.

If you're a world football

aficionado,

I mean a soccer fan,

then you know what it means

to be disqualified, right?

You get a red card

in a game

when you have been,

when you have transgressed

the boundaries,

the laws,

when you have,

you've become disqualified

from continuing in the game

and you are removed

from the field

and you're removed

from the stadium.

You're removed from your team

because of that

and that's the picture here.

Some of the language behind it

is like an umpire

or like an Olympic referee

who disqualifies a runner

for leaving the starting blocks

too early

or for interfering

with another runner.

It's a very strong word.

It's a very categorical word.

You're being separated out

and divided from

and excluded from something.

On what basis

is Paul concerned

that that exclusion

could happen?

Because as we've seen earlier,

there is an exclusion.

If you are not in Christ,

you are separate

from the people of Christ.

But that's not the problem

he's dealing with.

He's dealing with the problem

within a church community,

within a body

that people are excluding others

on a basis of

some kind of demand

for what I'm calling

a deeper spiritual life.

Look with me again

in verse 18.

See how he describes it.

Insisting on asceticism

and worship of angels,

going on in details

about visions,

puffed up

and without reason

by his sensuous mind.

Now, this is where

all the ink has been spilled

in commentaries

about what in the world

is he really referring to.

If the first part

was pretty clear

that it was coming

from some kind of impulse

towards a return to Judaism

or submitting to the Jewish law,

the Old Testament law,

here we have

a broad number of terms

that people have

really wrestled with.

And I don't think

anyone has succeeded

in convincingly identifying

particular strands

of first century religious

or mystical practices

that ought to be

pegged as

this is what it was talking about.

But I do think

that actually

as you read this,

the patterns are pretty clear.

Right?

On what basis

is this disqualification

happening?

Well, one,

the basis all seems

to be in some form

of experiential religion.

All right?

On one end,

you have asceticism.

I'm going to deny

my body.

I'm going to deny

the goodness

of the physical world

that I live in.

I see that it's dangerous,

that it could lead me

away from pure

spiritual worship.

And I'm going to do that.

This is the kind of thing

that led monks

to, in the fourth century,

live their lives

literally on the tops

of pillars in the desert

to separate themselves

from the world

to try to subdue

their body.

This is the kind of impulse

that leads us

at times

to self-destructive patterns

of bodily control.

we treat the world

as a,

this impulse

is to treat the world

as a,

as a,

the physical world

as something

that wasn't good

and created by God.

And call that spiritual.

We set them up

in contrast

to one another.

there are lots of ways

this could live itself

out today.

But I think that

recognizing that

it's,

it's an experience.

If I can pursue

this hard enough,

I,

I'm going to show

that I'm really serious

and that I'm really gonna,

I'm really devoted

and that I'm really

committed

to sacrificing

for Christ.

but it's more

about our own

experience

of devotion

than it is about

truly submitting

all things

to God.

Let me go on.

The second thing,

spiritualism.

The worship

of angels

and going on

insisting on visions.

Well,

yeah,

this is the one

that people really

don't understand

exactly what he's

talking about

or even remotely

what he's talking

about at one level.

Some people even

think that it's

talking about

being joined

with the angels

in their worship

of God.

Other people think

that it's more

worshiping angels

as the object

of their devotion

but whatever it is,

it's a spiritual practice

that has an experiential

component

that includes

visions

and dreams

and some kind

of ecstatic

experience

that doesn't seem

to have Christ

in it

at the end

of the day.

But the focal point

is how it's relating

to angels.

And it seems

that some

were suggesting

that real

Christianity

looks like

having those

experiences.

Then the third

part of this,

he says,

puffed up without

reason by his

sensuous mind.

The core

of these,

this pursuit

of experiential

religion

is that it's

actually

deeply,

deeply

self-centered.

It is about

me.

I am pursuing

these kinds

of experiences.

I am pursuing

this kind

of discipline.

I am pursuing

these kinds

of things

in a way

that puffs

me up

and that

tickles

the fancy

of my own

fallen heart.

When it talks

about a sensuous

mind,

the word

there is

actually

fleshly.

And in Paul,

the fleshly

mind is the

mind that

rather than

submitting to

God and

receiving from

God,

sets itself

up against

God in

some kind

of proud

rebellion

or resistance.

sense.

So whatever

this is,

this pursuit

of experience

of God

in certain

ways,

it ultimately

is a very

self-centered

spirituality.

I had an

experience with

this quite a

while ago.

Some friends

who I worked

with got really

excited about

visions and

how God was

going to work

in a particular

way,

in a particular

face,

in a particular

space,

in a particular

time.

And the further

along it went,

it got more

and more

particular and

there's this

invitation,

come in and

be a part of

this.

But at its

core,

what I saw

was exactly

what Paul

was warning

about here.

That it

didn't bless

and invite

and express

the glory of

God in the

face of Christ

with a gracious

winsomeness,

but it

excluded.

Why weren't

you at the

prayer meeting?

Don't you

really want

to seek

God to

work here?

Well,

I know you

haven't had

this vision,

but I have,

so why don't

you believe me

and get on

board with

this particular

plan?

Oh,

you're not

fasting with

us again

today?

maybe you're

not really

committed to

us.

This is the

kind of

disqualification

that happened

in the

circumstance

that I saw

it happening

in.

It's one of

those times

where we

see when

excessive

zeal for

the glory of

God gets

warped.

These are

some of the

ways we can

see the

cracks show.

When it

becomes a

self-centered

zeal,

this kind

of

disqualification

and separation

and judgmental

spirit is

exactly what

we can look

for as a

fruit of

not true

growth in

Christ,

but some

kind of

self-centered

counterfeit.

We become

the church

of mean

girls,

spiritually,

when we

do that.

Right?

I've got it

together.

What's wrong

with you?

This is where

God is leading

us.

If you're not

with us,

you're against

us.

Oh,

you don't

have that?

I feel

sorry for

you.

There's so

many different

ways that we

can express

it.

Paul says,

don't let

this happen

God.

Because in

fact, what

these people

are pursuing,

maybe with

honest hearts

and misguided

direction,

maybe with

much more

nefarious

hearts,

what they're

pursuing is

a real

knowledge of

God and

a true

deep

spirituality.

And what

verse 19

reminds us is

that we know

where we find

that.

We've already

seen it.

Christ is the

head of the

body.

He is the

kingpin.

He is the

control center

for the

church.

And in the

church, as we

live under

Christ's headship,

he is the

one who

causes the

growth.

And do you

notice that one

of the things

that Paul says

in verse 19,

but from

whom the

whole body

nourished and

knit together

through its

joints and

ligaments,

it's this

picture of

the totality.

Nobody is

excluded from

a being under

the head.

If you're in

Christ, you're a

part of the

body.

And if you're

a part of the

body, then

you are in.

And Christ

is able to

make the

growth that

God wants to

do in your

life.

In Christ, we

are not

disqualified.

But as we

saw in

chapter 1,

verse,

where is it?

Verse,

I should

have wrote

this down.

Verse 12,

giving thanks

to the

Father who

has qualified

you to

share in

the inheritance

of the saints

in light.

He has

delivered us

from the

domain of

darkness and

transferred us

to the

kingdom of

his beloved

son in

whom we

have redemption,

the forgiveness

of sins.

Christ has

qualified us

to be God's

people and

to be in

him to

experience the

salvation that

delivers us from

sin and death

and the kingdom

of darkness and

brings us into

God's kingdom

and God's

people.

Paul is

saying to

the Colossian

church,

don't think

there's something

more.

The lure of

a higher life,

of a higher

vision of

Christianity

is somehow

separate from

the grace that

brought you in.

It's not true.

It's an illusion.

It's a false

path.

Because the

true path

continues in the

path that you

started in,

which is in the

path of Christ.

It is the

gospel of Jesus

Christ, the

grace of God

meeting us in

our fallenness

and our

inability to

turn to

him.

He says,

we have a

head and

that's where

you're going

to find all

the spirituality

that you

want.

You want

more?

You want a

deeper walk

with God?

Don't go

somewhere else.

Go more

into Christ.

And yes,

you may have

visions.

as you

pursue Christ.

And yes,

you may

practice

self-discipline

of your

schedule or

of your

eating or

of your

physical,

of all sorts

of things.

You may do

those things.

But they're

all in service

to pursuing

Christ and

knowing him.

He is the

one in whom

we have the

deepest

spiritual

life.

Friends,

Paul is

then leading

to his

third and

final warning

in chapter

two,

which builds

and expands

on what he's

already said.

In verses

20 through

23,

he says,

don't be

deceived by

the empty

promises of

man-made

religion when

Christ is all

you really

need.

Look with

me again

at this.

You may

have,

if with

Christ you

died to

the elemental

spirits of

the world,

why is if

you were

still alive

in the

world?

Do you

submit to

the regulations,

do not

handle,

do not

touch,

taste,

do not

touch,

referring to

things that

all perish as

they are used

according to

human precepts

and teaching?

These have

indeed

appearance of

wisdom in

promoting

self-made

religion and

asceticism and

severity to the

body,

but they are of

no value in

stopping the

indulgence of

the flesh.

Paul paints

out a picture.

Before you

were in

Christ,

you lived in

a world and

you were under

the influence of

these elemental

spirits,

and these elemental

spirits,

maybe they're more

personal,

spiritual,

like demonic

forces,

maybe they're

more cultural

or just human

dynamics in a

fallen world.

world.

I don't think we

need to determine

or say which

one.

I think we're

influenced by

both.

He says,

you lived in a

world whereby

people sought

means of

justifying

themselves,

of belonging

to a people,

of changing

themselves,

of being

accepted in

the world

by external

things.

Do not

taste.

Right?

Sorry,

let's say it

right.

Do not

handle,

do not

taste,

do not

touch.

One

commentator

made it funny

that this is

actually ironic

and he's sort

of saying how

ridiculous these

rules can get.

It's kind of

like saying,

son,

I don't want

you to go on

a date with

that girl.

As a matter

of fact,

I don't even

want you to

look at that

girl.

As a matter

of fact,

you can't

even think

about that

girl.

And he's

sort of saying

this is the

extremity of

the ways that

these kind of

regulations can

go as we're

trying to

pursue

some kind

of acceptance

or belonging

or justifying

ourselves and

our lives in

this world.

It's

characterized

by rules

and it

reflects the

building of a

religious system

that is man

made.

We know

that we are

made for God

but apart

from Christ,

we don't know

how to get

there.

and we

fill that

gap in

all sorts

of ways.

We create

our own

religions

whether they

be more

spiritual or

not.

We create

our own

ways of

getting to

be acceptable

by God.

And Paul

says,

you know what

it was like

to be under

that?

That's slavery.

There's no

freedom there.

There's no

hope there.

It's an

ongoing

hamster wheel

of performance

that grinds

you till

you die.

It's a

standard of

unmeetable

expectations

that causes

you to

despair and

give up

hope

or to

succeed,

which is

even worse

because then

as a puffed

up person

you walk

around pitying

all the others

who can't do

it as well

as you can.

This is the

human heart.

Verse 23,

it says,

they have

the appearance

of wisdom

but they

have no

power.

Friends,

has it ever

occurred to

you that

we live in

an age where

we think

that humanity

ought to be

getting better?

We ought to

be improving.

We ought to

be showing

that we can

actually grow

and become a

better society

and a

better world.

As a

history major,

it's just

not true.

There are

some ways

in which

by God's

grace

things have

improved.

Wonderfully so.

There are

ways in which

God's gracious

common,

that His

common grace

is blessing

this world

in wonderful

ways.

And there are

ways in which

humanity has

progressed that

is glorious

and beautiful.

But friends,

we're not

better.

That has

come alongside

with an

ongoing

persistent

show that

in fact,

people are

sinful and

the world

has fallen

and we

can't fix

it.

And we

can't make

it better.

We can't

do it on a

societal and

a global

level and

we can't

even do it

on a personal

level.

It's what

sin of

Adam and

Eve in the

garden was

about.

God, I'd

rather create

my own

way rather

than follow

yours.

Thank you

very much.

I'll do it

myself.

And we

create our

own religions.

And Paul

says, why

would you go

back to that?

Why would you

go back to

these rules and

laws that

create these

ins and outs?

when you

have something

so much

better?

Verse 23

ends with

the fact that

these things

have no value

in stopping

the indulgence

of the flesh.

That is,

they have no

true ability

to transform

us so that

we no longer

are enslaved

to our

darkest

desires

and most

destructive

impulses.

He goes

on in

chapter 3

and this

is what

we're going

to see.

In Christ

we really

do have

all that

we need.

He looks

back,

what we

talked about

earlier in

chapter 2

verses 9

through 15.

Christ has

saved us

completely,

fully,

all that

we need.

Chapter 3

then is going

to say,

not only has

He saved

us,

but if you

want to

pursue Christ,

if you want

to know God,

if you think

that there's

more,

there is.

And it's

in Christ.

And it's

only in

Christ.

And we're

going to

see that

in Christ

there is

a power

to change

and be

transformed.

There is

a power

to put

off

patterns

of sin

and godlessness

in our

lives,

to put

off the

evil things

that continue

to destroy

our

relationships.

We have

the ability

to put

off these

things that

dishonor God

and ruin

our lives.

We can

put them

off because

of Christ

and because

we have

been transformed

and made

new in

Christ.

There is

now this

new life

that is

in Christ

for us

where He

will give

us a

character

that we

don't have

on our

own.

We're

in humility

and patience

and kindness

and gentleness

and forgiveness

and grace

and truth

and worship.

We are

able to

follow

and know

God.

and the

fullness

is there.

It's not

in these

other things.

It's not

in these

practices

of self-made

religion

of various

ways,

but it's

in Christ

that we

find these

things.

So in

closing,

if you

have found

yourself

put off

by the

empty

powerlessness

of

churchianity,

I just

made that

up.

Maybe I

didn't.

Somebody's

probably

thought about

it for

me,

but churchianity.

That's my

word for

the self-made

religion that

looks a lot

like

Christianity,

but it's

really about

ourselves and

not about

Christ.

If you

have found

yourself put

off by the

powerlessness

of it,

know that

yeah,

there's a lot

of counterfeit

out there,

but the

substance is

in Christ.

If you

have felt

yourself

excluded from

the people

of God

because they

have held

ungodly

standards,

because they

have created

these in

and out

groups that

are not

based on

scripture,

but are

based in

human religion,

know that

that's not

the gospel,

and that's

not Christ,

and that

Christ welcomes

you.

if you

are tempted

because the

long,

hard road

of fits

and starts

of pursuing

Christ can

sometimes get

really hard,

and you

think,

can't I

just skip

to the

end?

If you're

tempted to

want to

do that

by adding

on to

Christ,

heed Paul's

warnings.

Don't add

on,

but go

deeper,

go deeper

into Christ.

Come for

the next

three weeks

so you

will see

how it

is that

Paul wants

to lay

out what

there is

for us

in Christ

and see

its glory

and its

power

and be

renewed

in hope

that this

fumbling,

stumbling

walk of

faith in

Christ really

is headed

in the

right

direction

and that

Christ will

carry you

and Christ

will take

you to

the places

that you

want to

go

and that

in Christ

you will

find all

that you

need.

He really

is enough.

Let's pray.

Lord,

thank you

for this

word and

thank you

for the

pastoral

heart of

the apostle

for us

Lord,

that we

would not

miss the

glorious riches

of Christ

in whom

are hidden

all the

treasures

of wisdom

and knowledge.

Lord,

that we

would not

miss out

on that

or allow

that to

be replaced

by

counterfeit

self-made

religion.

Lord,

search our

hearts to

see us

that we

might see

ourselves

and see

how we

may be

tempted

in these

ways.

Lord,

help us

as a

church

to fight

against

cultural

developments

in our

body that

might

communicate

or build

up these

kinds of

self-made

standards.

words.

Lord,

help us

to be

faithful

and true

to the

message of

Christ

and Him

crucified,

Christ

and Him

raised

from the

dead,

Christ

the fullness

of God

and all

that we

need.

We pray

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Well,

friends,

we will

close

with a

song of

worship,

so let me

invite you

to stand

as we

do so.

what

to tend

to we

do so?

love you

love you

love you

and

that

know

how

you

love you

love me

love you

love you

love you

love you

love you

love you

love you

love you