Smoodock's Blog

We have been involved in a study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians for some time, now. Previously, we discovered how Christian behavior can affect the world, for good or for evil. God has chosen to reject the nation of Israel to stand between himself and the world (Exodus 19:6), when he judged and destroyed that nation in AD 70. Meanwhile, the Gospel was preached to the world, and the Church was established at the judgment of AD 70, as the only priestly people to stand between God and the world (cp. 1Peter 2:5). We present an image of God to the world, whether we do that well or not (Matthew 5:14; 1Timothy 5:25).

That said, it’s not a matter of our righteousness that makes the New Covenant better than the old one. It’s a matter of the righteousness of the root or the vine (firstborn). Adam was corrupt, and nothing in him could help his descendants become righteous, when they sinned. Nevertheless, Christ, the Root of the New Covenant is righteous, so the branches may have to be pruned back from time to time, but the Root is holy/righteous and causes the branches to be righteous (John 15:5-8; Romans 11:16-18).

Oftentimes, folks judge themselves good or righteous, while judging others unfaithful or even rejected by God (1Corinthians 12:14-25). Nevertheless, it isn’t a matter of who’s faithful and who isn’t, except in terms of reward. How we affect the world is a responsibility we all bear at once. Just as the whole nation of Israel was judged according to what the unfaithful did, so it is with the Church. When Daniel confessed the sins of Israel to the Lord, it was “WE have sinned… WE hadn’t harkened to the prophets… WE have sinned against you… WE rebelled against you… WE have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God…” (Daniel 9:5-6, 8-10). Sometimes the righteous are to blame for allowing the unfaithful to draw the nation away, because they, the righteous, were too silent about the transgressions of unfaithful men (Ezekiel 3:18-21).

Keeping in mind that Paul is speaking in the context of worldly philosophies (Colossians 2:8), he warned the Colossian believers against allowing themselves to be disqualified of any reward for the good they do. Disqualification of reward comes by embracing a sense of false humility, by thinking too highly of certain men, who present themselves as messengers of the Lord, but in reality, they presume to know things, they haven’t reasonably discerned. Instead of holding to the Head (Colossians 2:19), they’ve become puffed up through philosophy, worldly wisdom vis-à-vis false doctrine (Colossians 2:18).

Therefore, to the degree that a believer or a group of believers submit themselves to philosophy or worldly wisdom, disguised as Christian doctrine, to that degree the believer or group of believers are not holding to or connected to Christ, in the sense that they aren’t directed by him through his Spirit that’s within them (Colossians 2:19; cp Romans 8:9). One cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13), and the Body of Christ isn’t responding to the Head/Christ, if, instead, it is responding to men who are preaching worldly philosophy.

Think about it; if we’ve died to the world together with Christ, through spiritual baptism (Colossians 2:12), why should we, as though we were unbelievers, subject ourselves to the wisdom of this world, instead of the wisdom that comes from Christ’s Spirit and his word (Colossians 2:20; Romans 8:9; 1Peter 1:11)? The point of Paul’s “Touch not, taste not, handle not…” (Colossians 2:21) has to do with recognizing our completeness in Christ (Colossians 2:10). These physical matters have to do with worldly disciplines, which tend to puff up the adherent, by encouraging him to believe he is able, through such physical disciplines (philosophies), to improve his state with God. It can’t be done! How is it possible for the physical (worldly philosophies) to determine the shape of the spiritual (inspiration through the Spirit of God), or how is it possible to cause God to concede to the doctrines of men by rewarding world philosophy instead of our obedience to the inspiration of the Spirit (Colossians 2:22-23)?

Christ, the Righteous One, has done the work for us (Colossians 2:10), and our righteousness is determined by him (Romans 11:16). The fact is that it is our trust in the work of Christ that allows us to grow spiritually through the power of God working in us (Colossians 2:19). So, to involve ourselves in certain religious disciplines that are rooted in mankind’s philosophical ideas of what a better, more righteous life would look like (Colossians 2:20-23), is to believe we could improve our righteous behavior apart from Christ.