Legalism vs. Freedom Colossians 2:16-23

Transcription

1 Legalism vs. Freedom Colossians 2:16-23 Introduction You know guys, I often look at my own sins and rebellion and tend to justify them and make them seem not so bad. But then I find that I come after others with a severity that I would never judge my own sins with. When we sin, our tendency is to find a hiding place from God, and I believe this hiding place often seems Christian, or righteous, but is indeed not Christian at all. 1. Warning 1 Let no one judge you (v.16-17) a. WARNING AGAINST LEGALISM (Diet & Days) i. DIET: Leviticus 11 Diet details of the Old Testament law regarding CLEAN & UNCLEAN meat. 1. Physical reasons holistic eating 2. Spiritual Reasons. a. The conception of purity and impurity and to stimulate their conscience in everyday life. b. JESUS = NO DIETARY LAWS ABOLISHED 3. Mark 7 Pharisees test Jesus a. Why don t they wash their hands or eat the food of traditional law? b. Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil. 4. Peter s Vision in Acts 10 And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has made clean, do not call common. 5. Paul CONCLUDES in 1 Corinthians 8:8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 6. Dietary restrictions are profitable 7. THEREFORE, DIETARY RESTRICTIONS ARE NOT A SIGN OF SPIRITUALITY. 8. THE POINT: We are not supposed to pass judgment or let anyone else pass judgment on us in regards to food ii. Days 1. Leviticus 25 spells out all the seasons, ceremonies, and year of jubilee. 2. Exodus 20 Sabbaths, day of rest.

2 3. Flip to Isaiah 1 BEAUTIFUL PORTRAYOL OF CHRIST..new moons 4. THE POINT: JESUS CAME and fulfilled them all 5. V.17 mere shadow of what would come b. LEGALISM HAS Its LURE our flesh likes things that we can quantify or measure. i. We want to be able to quantify or measure our spirituality ii. It is easier to just have a set of rules. iii. ILLUSTRATION Parent says don t go there, or don t do that but then you get older and your mom says well it s up to you son, do whatever you think is right. iv. 3 things about Legalism 1. Legalism demands uniformity a. Dress the same / Use same speech / Same facial expressions / Lists of don t creates ugly uniformity. 2. Legalism creates an identity problem a. To identify with Christ, you must identify with us, our rules, regulations, and requirements b. We are more worried about how someone votes than the fact they need Jesus right where they are! 3. Legalism leads to surface faith a. Doesn t regard the dangerous unseen sins like jealousy, lust, and bitterness. b. Shallow self- righteousness c. Paul doesn t say don t keep special days or diets instead he says don t judge about these things. i. Instead, he says we have liberty in these ii. If you want to eat snickers only, have at it but you may be as big as a house in a few months 2. Warning 2 Let no one disqualify you (v.18) a. WARNING AGAINST MYSTICISM Mysticism is not bad if you mean you want a deeper knowledge, understanding, and experience with God. b. Deep false, deception that s not rooted in Christ c. Mysticism derived from imagination of the Gnostics d. These people delighted in being humble e. Mystics say We wouldn t dare approach God, but will work our way up to God f. BUT Advertised humility is no humility at all. They were filled with MASSIVE Conceit. g. ROOT OF THE PROBLEM VERSE 19 and not holding fast to the HEAD!

3 i. David Garland says it perfect, We cannot grow on our own without Christ; we cannot grow on our own without other Christians. Therefore, we only fool ourselves if we think we can find our meaning, purpose, and significance for God through an isolated contemplation of religious truths. That comes only in a community of believers bound to Christ and to one another. Jones points out that if we are to break the habits of sin, we need supportive friendships in the church and teachings that help us to unlearn destructive habits and to cultivate holy ones. ii. DO YOU SEE THIS???? iii. A SEVERED FINGER ISN T WORTH ANYTHING IT S GARBAGE.. iv. We only function when connected to the Head which is above the waters of this life in the heavenly places v. It is the very ENERGY coming from the HEAD flowing and signaling to every part of the body that works as the Head leads. vi. This only happens when you stop seeing yourself as isolated individuals and yourself as the Body of Christ with Him as head! vii. Missional Communities - SO IMPORTANT you can t do this alone! 3. Warning 3 - Let no one enslave you (v.20-23) a. WARNING AGAINST ASCETICISM b. Asceticism is not bad if you mean discipline i. Discipline yourself in godliness, cut off your hand, put to death the sinful nature. c. People were denying marriage, sexuality, parenthood, reject beauty of God s creation, and some deny pleasure at all. i. This heightens our proneness to sin rather than stopping the flesh d. Asceticism feeds the flesh by starving it e. WE TRY TO PUT BARRIERS UP to subdue the flesh. f. THE POINT: our fleshly affections are much stronger than our church attendance. There are not enough churches in this world to stop your fleshly desires. 2 Illustrations 1. Teenagers in a sleeping bag 2. Bull in a playpin 3. THERE IS NO BOUNDARY BIG ENOUGH TO HOLD OUR SIN NATURE 4. WE CANNOT PUT A HEDGE AROUND THE GOSPEL INSTEAD, OBEDIENCE FLOWS FROM THE GOSPEL.

4 5. If you love me, you will do what I command. 6. We cannot try harder and set rules to keep ourselves from sinning in order to obey. So what are we left with? 4. V.20 WE HAVE DIED TO CHRIST TO THESE THINGS, and HAVE POWER OVER THEM WE DON T NEED ASCETICISM TO REACH GOD. HE HAS MADE US FULL. 5. BUT THE REALITY WE CAN LOSE THIS FULLNESS QUICKLY WITH LEGALISM, FALSE MYSTICISM and ELITESS, OR MYSTICISM THAT FEEDS OUR FLESH ANSWER IS A FEAR FOR AND BELIEF IN CHRIST ILLUSTRATION - Teenagers on the couch and the dad walks in. Does the guys desire for the girl just all of the sudden go away? Absolutely not! The fear of the father override s the desires of the flesh. In the same way we should have a healthy belief in and fear of Jesus Christ! THE ANSWER IS BELIEF AND FEAR OF JESUS, right where we began at the foot of the Cross. o We all have the tendency to move away from where we began. SO WHY O WHY DO YOU GO BACK TO THE BONDAGE OF SLAVERY WITH ITS LEGAL DEMANDS? WHY DO YOU GO HIDING IN THE BUSHES OF BARBARIC ADAM, WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM THE BONDAGE OF SIN TO LIVE IN AND WITH CHRIST? THE ONLY THING THAT CAN KILL THE VERY THING THAT CONTINUES TO KILL YOU IS JESUS CHRIST! The answer is to root yourself in Christ, to drink of the flowing, unending fountain, drinking long and deep from the well of Christ! Many people believe prayer (i.e. connecting to the head) is a tool in our belt to fight sin I believe prayer is the very fight where the battle is won!

5 LEGALISM In what ways are you feeling pressured to "perform" in order to be "more spiritual" or to be accepted by the church? Paul states in Colossians 2:21, Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch. In what ways do we tend to pressure others to meet unbiblical, legalistic demands like these? In what parts of your life do you sense that you are holding others to an unrealistic standard while you hold yourself to a lower one? Paul speaks out against the idea of asceticism. In what areas of your life have you been starving your flesh only to find that you are actually feeding it? How do we truly grow out of sin and into deeper fellowship with God (v.19)? COMMUNITY David Garland states, We cannot grow on our own without Christ; we cannot grow on our own without other Christians. Therefore, we only fool ourselves if we think we can find our meaning, purpose, and significance for God through an isolated contemplation of religious truths. That comes only in a community of believers bound to Christ and to one another. Jones points out that if we are to break the habits of sin, we need supportive friendships in the church and teachings that help us to unlearn destructive habits and to cultivate holy ones. In what ways do we tend to isolate ourselves in this faith journey? How can we better identify ourselves as a body of believers functioning together rather than isolated individuals? Also, how can we shine forth the light of Jesus into the world as a body rather than individually? How can we hold each other accountable and focused on the mission of Christ rather than our own shortcomings? Read Hebrews 12:1-2. Who is our Victor in the battle against sin? How does knowing that the battle is already won change our battle plan? How do we approach legalism in light of the Gospel? What role does prayer play in battling sin in your life? How can we as a group encourage each other to be marked as a people of prayer?