In this sermon, Pastor Joe Babij examines Colossians 2:20-23 and the warning the apostle Paul presents there against being lured away into false religion—even false Christianity. Paul gives three reasons to resist false religion:
1. Because their false religious practices are transitory (v. 22)
2. Because their false religious practices are merely human (v. 23a)
3. Because their false religious practices are worthless (v. 23b)
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foreign let’s take our Bibles and turn to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians chapter 2.
and I’m going to read from verse 6 to verse 20.
verse number six Colossians 2 it says therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him having been firmly rooted now being built up in him and established in your faith just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude see too with that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ for in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form and in him you have been made complete and he is the head over all Rule and authority and in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh he made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us and yes taking it out of the way having nailed it to the cross when he had disarmed the rulers and authorities he made a public display of them having triumphed over them through him therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day things which are a mere shadow of what is to come but the substance belongs to Christ let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels taking his stand on Visions he has seen inflated without cause by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the Head For Whom the entire body being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments that grows with him with the growth which is from God if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world why as if you were living in the world do you submit yourself to decrees such as do not handle do not taste do not touch which all refer to things destined to perish with use in accordance with the Commandments and teachings of men these are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom and self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body but have no value against fleshly Indulgence let’s pray Lord thank you this morning again for the word of God the privilege and the opportunity you give us to be here together gathered as your body able to have the word of God in our hands to listen to it the word of the king of kings to his subjects Lord give us ears to ear and a heart sensitive to receive it that it would move our Wills to put it into practice and to bear fruit unto all good works because we met Christ believed in him and now he is our Lord and savior and I pray you would give us discernment while we walk through this world so we are not deceived and we are not moved away from the substance which is in Christ and I prayed this in your name amen paganism versus Christ see there’s a difference between knowing God and knowing about him you hear people say all the time oh yes I believe God or I made a profession of Faith many years ago and I even prayed the prayer yet no signs of life or daily trust in God paganism in its simple meaning is really someone who has no religion or a person practicing aberrant religion in other words self-made religion whether it’s organized or not a person living like this really either has to give evidence one way or the other whether they really have a relationship with God and they’re alive if they’re or if they’re not the evidence that a person has been awakened to God and trusted in Jesus for salvation is change you also hear people say I was born in this religion and I’m going to die in this religion and some sometimes the person is devout sometimes they’re not in any case people often think if I do what my religion dictates I should be all right the crazy thing is how people carry out what they supposedly believe and are to do one person says I was baptized as a baby no problem I’m getting to heaven yet no signs of life another person’s parents were pillars in First Church he thinks no problem I’m in my ticket my ticket is punched my train is headed for the Pearly Gates and yet no sign of life another walks forward in an Evangelistic meeting cries tears prays a prayer gets baptized signs the church role and then he says man I’m glad that’s all over with I don’t know what got into me but at least I’m safe now yet no signs of life at one extreme is a person who is on the roller coaster of emotion saved one day lost the next this person goes forward at every opportunity but never gains any peace never really it never really bothers them they don’t read the Bible or does they don’t read it much and there’s no change in Behavior no signs of life at The Other Extreme is one who knows all the right Theology and says all the right things yet bitterness and selfishness and secret sins are nurtured in the heart absent of a mournful and a repentant heart that is willing to confess sin and put it off there’s just no signs of life there are still others who say that there are many ways to get saved as many ways as there are people who are doing the saving that’s probably a true statement because we all have our own ways of thinking of ourselves as right with God but even in all those instances there’s no sign of life so with so many ways to be fooled how does one know Salvation has truly come when someone genuinely comes and believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and savior and moves away from their religious system changing religions is not like changing homes or changing an outfit or changing your hairstyle it’s a way of life as the spirit of God enters that person they want to live for the Lord their whole world Outlook is entirely changed it is different the way they go is different because they met Christ so there is only one who can save and that is God who truly exists there’s only one place to go for Rescue the cross of Jesus Christ you are not Redeemed by profession of faith you do not receive the benefits of Christ and the inheritance of the Father by a claim to Faith but by or even by a decision of Faith but by possession of faith do I have the faith in Christ so Faith must be real so we read this morning about the Prodigal Son if anyone had real Faith he did he woke up from his sin and the first thing he said when he came alive was I will arise and go to my father so what does that mean that means he had a new desire he had a change that utter other utterly rejected the past and all that he was trusting in and he took a completely different direction see the prodigal used used to believe happiness meant Liberation from my father self-gratification was the way to live but now he what he believed then is all deception all of it was deception and like The Prodigal Son if you rejoice in the satisfaction for God’s Wrath that Christ has performed for you on the cross if the Holy Spirit has made you alive you will leave the pigpen of sin and all self means of Salvation and you will rest in the complete salvation that is received only only in Jesus Christ so that brings me to our text this morning looking to verse number 20.
of Colossians chapter 2.
it starts with a very very small word it’s the word notice here in the text if now if points to a condition and it functions as a claim of fact at least here notice what it says in verse 20 if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world that phrase if you have died with Christ now that means this that if you have died with Christ you will be like this if you have not died with Christ you will be like this you will be your old self if you have died with Christ you will be a new self there’s no between in between at all whatsoever so that word is very significant in this text the intense focus in this whole section is the relevance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for those who believe in him because of the relev relevance of dying with Christ we are called to resist the practices imposed by others especially false teachers upon us why is that well there are actually three reasons to resist because there is a clear and present danger in the teachings and practice imposed by false teachers Believers are really not to submit themselves to any ethnic or religious rituals and envisionary experiences and aesthetic aesthetic practices at all whatsoever they mean nothing they have no value so in light of the grand complete Victory accomplished by God through Jesus Christ on the cross all the imposed regulations and practices are nothing but like that prodigal son deception everything before Christ was all deception because we’re the greatest deceivers we deceive ourselves and we want to fulfill the lusts of the flesh and they also only proved to be false promises and a distraction from God’s powerful work of Eternal salvation so there’s in other words a danger for believers once they are Christians that they can be lured away from what they believed and sometimes that is very subtle so here in Scripture he is believing that the Colossians are True Believers but they’re still in danger just like us we’re still in danger in this world to be lured away and Satan is good at doing that so the first reason to resist false Pagan religious religion that’s what I’m calling it is because their false religious practices are transitory now I’ll pick that up at the end but notice again in verse number 20 of chapter 2 if you have died with Christ since Christ is the head then nothing else counts with the believer except to please him all religious laws and practices that are not christ-centered and Christ directed have no value at all for the real believer to be dead with Christ is to be finished with the old life of sin and error and to begin a new life as a member of his body so why would we spend time and resources and energy on what is passing away what is transitory it’s here today it’s gone tomorrow so submitting also requires understanding and devotion further it is absurd to follow that which Christ has already conquered as our texts had said in the last section of verses we were introduced to two imperative two two commands in verse number 16 the First Command was therefore let no one act as your judge and the strength of keeping that command is the knowledge of the complete salvation that we have in Christ Jesus so if you know what you believe is based on the biblical Doctrine found in the word of God there is nothing to fear from those who desire to impose judgment on you you have the confidence in Christ’s finished work on your behalf and you have the Holy Spirit and the word of God that gives you discernment and confidence and Assurance of your salvation the second command was found in verse number 18 it says let no one keep defrauding you of your prize that means someone trying to steal from you what God has already given you and they do it in a way where they make a decision not for you but against you well you’re not living you’re not looking like this you’re not doing these things you’re not doing these things you’re not keeping this diet so how could you be a believer and that’s how it goes it’s what they’re doing it’s all outward observance of what they’re doing and that’s how a person is judged and the prize of which the Colossians and us are being robbed is the fullness of life and Union with the incomparable Christ if Christians give in well then they get go back to square one so then the command let no one act as your umpire against you to get you to deny your claim to be a genuine Christian so we can’t be robbed if we stick to what we’ve learned from God’s word and remember that Christians are in the know because they know Christ they have the Holy Spirit and they have the entire word of God and what do they know they know who Jesus is they know what Jesus had done for them they know that Jesus is the Christ and they are in Christ and they know what they’re to do for him and it’s hard to be deceived when you are in the know of sound Biblical teaching so here in our text again the Lord’s this Lord’s day it does begin with this conditional sentence followed by the question why the why question points to an irrational choice of those who belong to Christ if they have or are thinking of following the practices of the false teachers Paul gives the first class condition if that assumes it is true that they are believers just like it says in verse number three and four of chapter one where it says we give thanks to the father of our Lord Jesus Christ praying for you always why sense you heard we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints and then even a paparis the pastor of that church at that time it says there and he informed us of Your Love of the spirit so in other words here’s the evidence that someone’s believer it’s not the outward observance it’s the inward heart they have Christ they love people which they didn’t love before remember the Jew and Gentile problem that I mentioned several messages ago that’s huge difference when two a Jew and a gentile comes together and start loving each other something has radical has to happen and what has happened is conversion so they were now in Union with Christ’s death that means they were identified with Christ’s atonement for sin and placed into his atoning work they were in Union with Christ’s burial that they died to self the old man and his ways were dead and the Colossians were now freed up to serve and live for the Lord everything was cut away from the person’s life which would keep them from being God’s obedient children they were dead in other words to Satan’s family and Satan’s agenda and then then also they were in Union with Christ’s Resurrection they were raised with him with Christ to a New Life once they serve sin and saved but now they serve God as Lord and desire to walk in the path of righteousness in other words as it says in our text God gave them New Life they were raised to life they were not left in the graveyard they have been rescued from spiritual death and given spiritual life in other words they were alive in Christ and so again in verse number 20 if you have died with Christ to these things for the past life there must be change in your life there must be now what exactly have we died to to do that I want to there’s at least four things at least I can mention now four things that we have died to the first thing is we’ve died to sin now just to highlight that a bit take your Bibles and turn over back to Romans chapter six and just let me pick up a few verses from that Romans chapter 6 verse number one says what shall we say then are we to continue in sin so the so that Grace may increase verse number two may it never be how shall we who died to sin still live in it now go down to verse number six of Romans 6 it says knowing this that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin for he who has died is freed from sin and then verse 8 and if we have died with Christ we believe that we will also live with him verse 11 of Romans 6 even so consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus so in Romans 6 the Apostle Paul is saying you Christians you have to think about this he’s saying the word consider this think about it mold it over in your mind until it becomes practice in your life that you are actually dead to sin and being dead to sin does not mean that you are perfect nor does it mean that you are without sin or that you shall never sin again what it means is that we no longer belong to the realm of sin wherein we are dominated by sin and under its power and governed by its various the various lust and desires of our own flesh we have been rescued from that that’s what we have died to and if you have died to something then it then it’s no longer alive in your life why do we keep making it alive why do we keep going back to our old habits and patterns of sin we don’t have to do that because of what Christ has done for us and if you have been a Christian for a while and you actually have considered that when you do get tempted to sin who has the upper hand you do because you can say to your sin no way I’m not going that way again that’s just bondage that leads to destruction and death I want to be alive in Christ I want to experience the the life that I have as a Believer and when you do that and it happens in your life you are so excited you say wow this is this is God’s given me the power to do this there’s no way I would have said no before now I’m saying no now I don’t even want it I don’t desire it because I know what it causes in my life and what it caused in my past life so we’re dead to sin secondly we’re dead to the law right here in Romans we might as well stay there chapter 7 we’re dead to the law verse number four of chapter 7 of Romans it says I am dead to the to the to laws I am dead to the Law’s condemnation and sting it says therefore my brethren you also were made to die to the law through the body of Christ and then down to verse number six of Romans 7 but now we have been released from the law having died to that by which we were bound so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter so in other words there’s a change there we’re no longer on the condemnation of Law and that frees us right God God is not holding a wrath on me and judgment on me I’m freed from that so because of that in the Forgiveness that comes through Christ the law I’m dead to the law and to its condemnation but there’s the next one and turn back to Colossians for this one we’re dead to the world we’ve died to the world Colossians chapter 2 verse number 20. notice what it says if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world now the element Elemental principles or spirits of the world refer to the evil spiritual forces that fight against God’s work and God’s people it also includes the rudiments of man-made superstitions and prescriptions that involve physical elements like already mentioned in our text it’s a practice of religion which are not after Christ and that could be any religion at all and this would incorporate human generated religious teachings mixed with ideas ideas of Judaism and paganism and mysticism along with principles and practices and persons under control [Music] of the world system under Satan to all these things we have died that to these all the saints in Christ are dead in fact back in Romans I mean Colossians 1 verse 13 He rescued us from the domain of Darkness and he transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son so we are dead to Satan’s dictates and doctrines and what happens under his domain in his domain the love of Darkness abounds in his domain hatred abounds towards God and his people in his domain no fellowship with God takes place at all darkness in scripture is ungodliness it’s opposition it’s it’s estrangement from God and includes all those Dreadful evils which are involved in an evil state of heart and mind the power of sin Still Remains The Tyranny of error Still Remains the slavery of corruption Still Remains and these things are everywhere you go and are the characteristic of human nature and existence all throughout the world throughout all time see Satan is battling for the mind and the Heart even after you become a believer but now it’s open you know Satan’s come out of the closet you know did you know that just this week I came across a article and a school right here in Bethlehem Pennsylvania now has a Satan Club run by the satanic temple yes they Allure children in with fun games and food and all those things so people took them to the court and the court had uphold the First Amendment and say they have the right to have that club so they meet after school Satan’s Temple which second will lead to that’s going to lead to Satan worship right and people would think that that is all right and who are this is a middle school so we’re talking about the minds of children and that’s what’s happening today all this trans stuff going on where they have trans parties for what adults with kids there training them up giving them what they need for what’s happening see satanic things are happening all around us everywhere and Satan is out doesn’t matter he doesn’t care anymore he’s not keeping himself private anymore he’s out there the mystery of iniquity is growing and developing and exploding behind the scenes until finally explode on the scene that we can see but believers as they stand on the spiritual realities of being in Union with Christ Christians actually live outside the physical world that’s Satan’s domain here below what do I mean that by that Believers are citizens of Heaven in fact in Colossians chapter 3 verse 1 and 2 what else do they do they set their minds on Christ above look at verse number one and two of chapter three of Colossians therefore if you have been raised up with Christ keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God set your mind on things above not on things on the earth that’s where a Christian lives a Christian lives with their mind in heaven on Christ on the word of God of course another thing a fourth thing that we’re dead to is we’re dead to self-made religion and I’m going to deal with that in a minute so if you are a real believer and are dead to these things which you are then why the why question comes up in our text so look at verse number 20 again it says if you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world why as if you were living in the world do you submit yourself to degrees such as all right so here’s the why question is that if you’ve died and you died in Christ and you have now new new life what else is there to do the answer to that question is there’s nothing else to do God’s Christ has done done it all but look at what he says here in our text what are they to do by the false teachers now these decrees and regulations are are commands given by uh a false religion or World religious system and their teachers that require its followers to submit voluntarily to these things and what are they because if they do then they’re right with God and they’re right with that religion and their conscience is soothed because they’re doing these things and what do they do here it’s these are the kind of of decrees of prohibition do not handle do not taste do not touch now that could mean a lot of things it could mean the dietary regulations it could mean the keeping of the holy days it could mean all kinds of things there but it also can mean that it’s it’s a degree of getting deeper and deeper and deeper into something so you can have a religious experience so God gave he did give degrees in the in and ordained things in the Old Testament worship like priests and robes and lamps and altars which were all have I mentioned last week were types of Christ all fulfilled in Christ so all these and more have now been fulfilled in Jesus coming and done away with and they have never been given to the Christian afterwards the only two ordinances are the Lord’s table and believer’s baptism that has been given to the church by God for all believers and are to we are to continue to do these things until he comes and neither of these two ordinances are AIDS to Salvation and both are only for those who are in Christ so if you died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world why as if you were living in the world do you submit to them so obviously some of the Believers were ready to submit to these things to add something on to what Christ had done for them and Paul is warning them don’t do that you don’t have to do that there’s nothing else to do did we know what you do now live your life that God’s given you so the system of the world is Godless we know that of which through Christ’s death you were given freedom from the control of its spiritual evil forces so then why do you still live as if you were still alive to the world why are you allowing yourself to be subject to authoritative commands that mean nothing for you see regardless of whether someone already believed these false teachers or are in danger of submitting to them the danger is still real it was real then it is real today that’s why it’s so important when somebody becomes a new believer that they get into the church and they get into the doctrine of the church quickly so they can learn the Bible and stand upon scripture so they cannot be deceived it’s so important for you now to remain in that because if you don’t remain in it you can easily slip away very slowly so the answer to the why question is already given to us in Colossians that the Believers have already received something from the Lord it is that Christ through his cross he has given you and I complete salvation so if we know Christ as Lord and savior in verse number 13 of chapter 2 he has forgiven us completely if we know Christ as Lord and savior in verse number 14 of chapter 2 he has obliterated your IOU of sin that we could have never paid if you know Christ as Lord and savior he has triumphed over all our enemies and we have to fear no one anymore because of what Christ has done so look at verse number 22 of chapter 2 here’s the first reason to resist the practice imposed by false teachers it says and verse 22 the first part of that it says which all refer to things destined to perish with their use so in other words the force point was their religious practices are transitory they perish they lack any permanent value at all what’s with for the believer just like food and drink perish and cut uh and cease to exist in their original form once we eat them then what happens to them they go through your system and they’re discarded well that’s how he’s viewing anything that could be added to or taken away from our faith in Christ he’s saying that they are useless and these false teachers are actually they’re only temporary and these false teachers made Eternal things dependent on temporal Earthly Earthly bound things overestimating the use of food and drink so therefore resist them a second reason to resist the lore of false religion is found in the second part of verse number 22 because their false false religion and practices are merely human notice what it says in verse 22 in accordance with the Commandments and teachings of men so the false teachers get the content from their teaching from Human Ingenuity Dogma laid down by false teachers is a definitely a clear and present danger for anyone who comes under their teaching in other words the source of their teaching is syncretistic they get some from philosophy some from Judaism some from mystical experiences some from pragmatic ritualism along with that it sprinkled with impious or imposed religious piety and then voluntary humility and then a harsh treatment with the body all those things all outward things so all religious systems all of them show some appearance of wisdom and that’s the way to go in fact if you look at Colossians chapter 2 verse 20 3 it says the these are matters which have for sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body so the Apostle Paul makes an illusion here to Isaiah chapter 29 verse 13 and 14 it’s good for you to turn there this morning Isaiah 29 verse 13 and 14 because in this illusion there’s a connection made to these false teachers in the Old Testament who misled Israel into a departure from the worship of the one and the true Living God into idolatrous acts of God’s people and of course that is just simply idolatry noticed in verse number 13.
verse number 13.
it says then the Lord said this is Isaiah 29.
verse 13.
but the then the Lord says because this people draw near with their words and honor me with their lip service but they remove their hearts far from me and their reverence for me consists of tradition learn now your your Bibles may say by wrote right in the Greek translation of the Old Testament it actually says there by the Commandments and teaching of men which is the I believe the correct rendering of that passage of scripture so Isaiah the prophet was describing the shallow religious lives of this these uh eighth Century Jewish people they were just going through the motions and that’s why they put and italicize by Road and that’s what happens when you have a religious system where you’re just going through the motions and it’s all outward stuff what do you do you don’t have to think about it right they repeat phrases that it’s repeated every single week ever in every single thing they do they have things there’s to perform and when they perform them they just do it by wrote and what happens when that happens is that there’s no heart anymore so what happens they they have lip service without heart that’s hypocrisy and the principle behind their thinking is because there is a God I must relate to God by being good or by going through these things and this is the principle that really we all work by the principal is worked out religiously in different ways the legalist works out this principle by living their lives by a code of conduct by a set of rules do’s and don’ts that’s the tradition of men and if they follow it then they are what God looks at them with favor if they don’t follow it God looks at them not with favor now you have to think about that for a minute for a Christian even when we sin God doesn’t look at us with disfavor he may discipline us to bring us back but he doesn’t he looks at us as in Christ and so the legalism takes account of man’s outward actions but it takes no account at all of his inward actions he may well be meticulously serving God in outward things but disobeying God in reference to inward things and that is simple hypocrisy and God hates hypocrisy so if you ever find yourself being numb in your heart and coming to church and looking at the Bible and thinking about God in a way where there’s no movement of the heart you definitely have to check yourself and yet a lot of people get lured into religious systems and this is where they end up because there is nowhere else to go when you’re still in your sin so the moment the heart keeps far from God it also leaves a uh leaves something else it leaves the word of God in fact there will be a failure to see the true source of religious Authority which is scripture alone they were offering worship to God without the word of God just like Jesus said in Mark 7 but in vain they do worship me teaching as doctrines the precepts of men neglecting the Commandment of God you hold to the tradition of men they actually annihilate the word of God substituting men’s rules for God’s laws will only end up in not listening to God at all or accepting his word or following his voice a real sheep follow the voice of God he speaks we listen we follow so what does God do with this show and appearance of their human wisdom what does he do with that well if you notice in Isaiah chapter 29 and verse number 14 it says this therefore behold I will once again deal marvelously with this people wondrously marvelous and look what it says and the wisdom of their wise man will what perish and the discernment of the Discerning men will be concealed now this is exactly what it says in Colossians that religious systems given appearance of wisdom but it ends up being foolish living a living without heart a religion without heart and remember this that wrong teaching wrong teaching lays aside the Commandments of God but Christians are to lay aside the Commandments of men and those who do not worship God by his way do not worship him at all it does not matter how devout a person is or how sincere a person is if they are sincerely wrong what’s the point so following the teachings and the Commandments of men actually move people away from God away from their his word and leads them into the sin of hypocrisy and false worship which is idolatry just like Titus records this testimony is true for this reason reprove them severely so that they may be sound in faith not paying attention to Jewish myths and the Commandments of men who turn away from the truth so any religious system that anybody can be evolved with whether they name in that system Christ or not if it is a system based on men’s wisdom it will lead away from God and not to God because there’s always in the back of someone’s mind of something I have to do more to either keep myself saved or to be saved so here’s the second reason to resist the practices imposed by false teachers it is a man ray made religious works-based human system which diminishes diminishes Christ and is hollow and deceptive and what is the second reason their religious practices are merely human with no Divine Source at all and here’s the last reason to resist The Lure of false religion is because their false religious practices are worthless reverse Colossians chapter 2 back to Colossians 2 verse 23.
these are matters which have to be sure the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement of the body and severe abasement and severe treatment of the body in other words this is all self-imposed and this is after what here’s the pattern of human wisdom self-imposed religious piety mock humility and harsh treatment of the body and these all these hinge on outward expressions observances and rules instead of inward conviction and Devotion to Christ and the last part of verse number 23 has been interpreted in a negative sense and a positive sense and what is it look what it says last part of verse 23 but are of no value against fleshly indulgences here’s the positive sense I believe this is the twist that the false teachers would give that false teachers aim at satisfaction that is by carrying out these religious patterns and this human wisdom the flesh is gratified and satisfied and that’s what usually happens with religion I go through my emotions I do my rituals I follow the rules and what do I do I feel good about it I feel good about it right and I feel like okay I’m clean and I go out and I live my sinful life anyway that’s what I did in the past before I became a Christian involved in a religious system that I was baptized galvanized and homogenized in and um and yet it didn’t change my life I just did what I wanted you know when something came up I wanted to do I did it was no question about whether it would honor God or it would be the right thing to do or it would hurt people no it wasn’t any of that it was like my flesh dictated I did it so these false teachers all that they want to do is put these things in place to help people feel gratified and satisfied with their life however all that is satisfied is the flesh that’s it there’s nothing else that’s satisfied a negative sense is that these man-made religious Endeavors could not hold the sinful flesh in check but in fact pandered to the flesh I believe that’s more of the sense of the text here that what’s gonna if I’m in a religious system what’s going to hold down my desires and my lusts your regulations are no none of that’s going to be matter of fact according to Ephesians somebody who practices these things there is no spiritual value in the practice of these things because they are still dead in their trespasses and sin they still walk according to the course of the world and according to the prince of the power of the air they still live in the flesh of in their own flesh indulging the desires of the flesh into the mind and are are by Nature the children of Wrath that’s Ephesians chapter 2.
so in other words rules do not carry us very far spiritually they cannot keep us from our sin our sin will just dominate no matter what system we follow the only one that doesn’t dominate is when someone follows Christ and has the spirit of God living in them and they follow the word of God and then they become free because the truth makes them free so rules are not enough of themselves in fact the practice and use of these things are damning and destructive because they will actually send people to hell so who’s in charge of religious systems Satan is all religions are run by him and they get people and keep people in bondage and slavery and the only one that is freed is the Christian see that’s why he’ll go after you he’ll go after you for what reason to get you to do things to come back to the old way to come back to the old practices to go back to where you came from because he would remind you of some of the light you had back then and how you did have some satisfaction and gratification and you don’t seem to always have that in the Christian Life some of the times the Christian Life Springs suffering and and trouble and tribulation in our life and so we Muse back there of those things but remember what Paul told Timothy they hold the form of godliness although they have denied the power avoid such men as these so only God can give you and I the power to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God only he can do that so the three reasons to resist Pagan religious systems any religious systems no matter what they want to name them is the first reason is because their religious practices our our transitory second is because they’re religious practices are merely human and thirdly because they’re religious practices are worthless now why would I want to spend time with that I wouldn’t and that’s the point the point is it convinces us don’t spend time there anymore it’s done put it to death close the door and go on and live for Christ that’s the only way we can do it because salvation is only complete in Christ everything else has no value let’s pray Lord thank you again for the word of God thank you Lord for the scriptures that are before us that help us to handle the things that come our way and I pray Lord that as we do that we beat wood for the maybe for the first time in a long time go back and consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ and that Lord if there’s any way either now or in the future that someone’s going to come along to lure us away from you I pray Lord that we would resist that at all cost and we would go back to these scriptures and we would we would be informed Again by what they say so we can become strong faithful followers of Christ with great discernment leaning on the Holy Spirit not grieving him or quenching him but giving ourselves over as a clean vessel because we know lord it’s our reasonable service of worship to give ourselves to you because of your mercy you didn’t give us what we deserved you gave us your compassion and so because of that Lord that we would be motivated every day to want to know the good and the acceptable will of God and that we would not be want to be conformed to the world but be transformed in the renewing of our mind that we could actually know your will and then Lord I pray also that we wouldn’t lift ourselves up higher than we ought to or lower but just the way you created us and go out and serve you with love and Zeo I prayed that for us and I ask you to strengthen Us by Your Word in Christ’s name amen okay the