This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Ignite the Light Ministry's radio and podcast. It is our mission to help listeners develop a deeper relationship with Jesus by sharing what the Bible says and what it means. We aim to encourage and equip you to serve others, share the gospel, and reflect Christ in every aspect of your life. I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd.
Thank you for tuning in. This week, we are going to be focusing on Colossians 2, 16 through chapter 3, verse 4.
So to cling to Christ We must be willing to let go. of everything else.
So, just to kick right off, we're going to do a solid read through, and then we're going to go through verse by verse, and we're going to talk about it.
So, Colossians 2, verses 16. Yeah. Therefore, do not let anyone judge you. by what you eat or drink, or with regard to religious festival. a new moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility or the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they've seen. They are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.
They have lost connection with the head. from whom the whole body is supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews. And it grows as God causes it to grow. Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belong to the world, do you submit to its rules? Do not handle.
Do not taste. Do not touch. These rules which Have to do with things destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have the appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship. their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but They lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
Chapter 3. Since then you've been raised with Christ. Set your hearts on things above. where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on the things above.
Not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him. and glory. We set our hearts We set our minds on Christ because He is our fullness.
Now, the Colossian church was dealing with this heresy, and it wasn't coming from outside the culture. It was brewing up from within the church. And they were treating Christ as if he was prominent, yes, but not prominent. Pre-emit. And Christ is pre-eminent above all things.
His work on the cross is a finished work. It needs nothing else. And since it needs nothing else, we Can let go of everything else. We can let go of everything else because Christ brings us. From law.
to life. Christ brings us from law to life. To understand the significance of that, We have to understand what the law is.
Now the law we see starts midway through the book of Exodus going through Deuteronomy. There's over 600 laws in the Mosaic law.
Now see, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt.
Now God frees them and invited them into a covenant relationship, similar to a marriage covenant.
Now God is perfectly good, so the terms of this covenant require a perfect bride. And that's the problem. We're not perfect. We are all sinners and fall short of God's glory. And this is largely the point of the law: to put on display.
our inability to be God's perfect partners. But Jesus, but Jesus. was the perfect covenant partner to God. Who? for us lived fully according to the ideals of the law.
But Jesus did more than just that. See, he fulfilled the law. completing it.
So, you and I are no longer beholden to the law for our salvation. He was the perfect sacrifice, the perfect substitution for our sin. And he was nice enough to simplify the law for us. All the law of the prophets, it can be boiled down to love God. And love your neighbor.
Thank you, Jesus.
So let's break down this passage so we can digest it. Verse 16, do not let anyone judge you.
Now that is just immediately applicable. There is no person on this planet that can know the contents of your heart. Only God can.
So let no one tell you whether or not you share in the inheritance of the saints. Man, I've heard some horror stories of ministers. Really messing people up on this. Nobody can know the contents of your heart, so let no one tell you whether you're saved or not. Only God can make that judgment and God alone.
Conversely, Do not be so quick to judge one another. See, we don't know the contents of each other's heart, saved or not. And it doesn't even matter, no one is beyond. Redemption. And we should not be so quick to judge when someone else has a conviction that looks different than ours.
Do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink. Paul is addressing dietary matters, and then he moves on to addressing observance of certain days. Do I observe? Do I not observe? How should my observance look?
And what have you? And Paul expresses his conviction that Christians are no longer bound by the law, but free to follow their conscience as the Spirit leads. Have y'all ever seen a um a Hasidic Jew? They're super traditional communities. They wear black hats, they have the sideburns.
My parents and I, we took a trip to Israel a while back and there were several of these Hasidic Jews on the plane. And I remember halfway through that plane flight, it was like 18 hours, but halfway through, they all got up around the same time, put on these special robes, and they would wrap these long red leather strips up their arm and they'd bind like the law to their head. And then they pulled out the sacrificial calf from the overhead compartment, and things got really interesting, really fast. Like, man, how do you guys get this through TSA with that number? I'm getting pulled over for a suspicious button.
Joke, of course.
Now, I'm not familiar with any Jew that still does animal sacrifice, but these long leather strips, they're called tefalin. And they wrap them up around their arm and around their head with the command to love the Lord in these little boxes situated on their forehead. And it's an adherence to Deuteronomy 6.8. They literally bind the law to their mind. And we, as Christians, have no need for this.
Colossians 1:27, it says, To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ. In you. Christ in you. We do not need to bind the law to our bodies like the Jews. Because the fulfillment of the law is in you.
The law, do this, don't do that, is verse 17. a shadow of the things to come. The reality, however, is found in Christ. We do not need to be chasing shadows, because Christ is the fulfillment. We are free from the law.
to live in Christ. Verse 18. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.
So this heresy the Colossian church was dealing with that Paul is addressing, those who would embrace it would disqualify the average Christian from being Christian. Ah, you know, they just, they aren't as humble as me. They only believe in Jesus, but they don't give credence to the other angels. And they don't pray to the angels or the saints. These believers, if they don't do that, they must be lost.
And Paul is saying, do not let these people talk down to you or convince you that the direction God is leading is any less than full. Don't let anyone convince you you need anything more than following Jesus.
So I wonder as I read this What would this worship of angels look like? Are these people Literally consulting with angels? And perhaps they are. They very well might be consulting with supernatural beings. Or perhaps they're just smoking something.
Like, to be honest, both are possible. But in any case, we know these people have lost connection with the heaven. That Christ is not the leader of their activities, but their unspiritual mind is. Verse 19. says they have lost connection with the head.
The original Greek would translate something like, they are not holding fast to the head. This is the same verbiage that is used when Jesus critiques the Pharisees. In Mark 7, 8, They had let go of the commands of God and are holding fast to human tradition.
So let me give you an illustration. My parents have two dogs. I'm really talking about you guys today. Oh man, my parents have two dogs. We've always had two dogs, you know.
As one goes, another comes, and then it's just a rotation. I've always had two dogs. Right now the older, her name is Allie and the younger one his name is Teddy. Allie's a little bit bigger than Teddy, and Allie, she is such a sweetheart. I adore this dog.
But she's a little territorial when it comes to food. You give her a treat, you have to give her a bigger one because she's a little bigger, but you give her a treat, you give Teddy a treat, Allie will see the treat that the other dog has and becomes super jealous. How come he gets a bone when all I got is this bone?
So Allie will drop her bone and then run and steal Teddy's bone. And then Teddy notices, oh, she dropped the bigger one. I'm going to go get that. He wins the milk bone lottery. But it's not two seconds later.
Allie does the same thing, the apple of her eye. She sees it, saying, why does he get that phone when all I get is this phone? And it's just a repeating cycle over and over. Allie can't hold both the bones at the same time, and that's the problem. She can do that, and there'll be no conflict, at least for her.
She has to let go of one to pick up the other. And she gets so eager that she forgets the bone she has is the bigger, better bone of the two of them. These people in the Colossian church We're going wayward. 'Cause they had let go of Christ. to hold on to something else.
You can't hold on to both. It's one or the other. To truly hold fast to Christ means we have to be willing to let go of everything else, our pride, our idols, our comfort, our anger. We have to be willing to let go of it.
So we can hold fast to Christ and He is much more satisfying. Verse 20. Since you died with Christ. Why, as though you still belong to the world, do you submit to its rules? We've died with Christ and we were raised in new life.
That's what baptism symbolizes, death and resurrection into new life. We are new creatures.
So why would we ever go back? Submit to its rules. The word submit, dogmatizo, is the same word we get dogma. From So we think rules the world, huh? Oh well, that must mean loose living and reckless behavior, right?
That's the rules of the world, right? Verse 22, 21 is do not handle, do not taste, do not touch. Ooh, that doesn't sound like loose living to me. These are not the rules for loose living. Matter of fact, these are the rules to build a little purity cocoon.
from which we separate ourselves from the rest of the world. to build walls separating us from the rest of the world. It's the same kind of laws that would keep pariahs separate, keep the lepers separate from the rest. It's the same thing that keeps the caste system in India alive. Ooh, I'm not going to touch those people.
That it's what keeps us in a little bubble separate from our neighbors that we're supposed to be loving. I think sometimes we can have neighbors in our lives that are struggling with sin and treat them like they have something we can catch. When the reality is it's that kind of person. that needs the gospel the most. And we need to be bridging the gospel, not building separation walls.
Verse 22. These rules of things destined to perish with us. These rules are supposed to provide eternal benefit. It's what the Pharisees were doing. Let's add more rules for eternal benefit.
But they're so focused on the temporary worldly things with no focus on what is eternal. Jesus says Mark 7, nothing outside a person can defile them by going in them. Rather, it's what comes out of a person that defiles them. And so a little bit later the disciples are like, so Jesus, what does that mean? And he says, verse 18, are you so dull?
Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside defiles them? For it doesn't go into their heart. It goes in their stomach and then out the body. The original Greek translation makes it sound like it goes in the stomach and then it goes down and come out, like Jesus just says it. It doesn't go through the heart.
And if you want to fix corruption, that's where your focus should be.
So it's not the perishable things, it's not the temporary things themselves that corrupt us. Nor is it the avoidance of them that saves us. They come in. They go out. Corruption is from the heart.
Salvation is from Christ. I think the most relatable application here for us is Christian liberty because Jesus is addressing food laws. I don't know anybody who's like, I'm not eating bacon. You know, bacon is just. Once you have it, you can't go back, you know.
But I think the most relatable application is the topic of Christian liberty.
Now when I say Christian liberty, I mean our freedom to partake. In such activities, not expressly forbidden in the Bible. As long as it's not causing our brother and sister to stumble. That's Romans 14.
So that would be Use of alcohol, tobacco, wearing certain types of clothing, makeup, jewelry, tattoos, piercings. etc. And we'll return to this topic at the end, but A plain interpretation of Mark 7 and what Paul is saying about the temporal, perishable things that pass away is It's not the thing itself that corrupts. Rather, it's what comes out of our heart that corrupts us.
Now, if our heart turns said thing into an idol, where we're choosing that thing over the leadings of the Spirit, then we're in trouble.
So verse 23. Such regulations indeed have the appearance of wisdom, and with their self imposed worship, their false humility, harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
So this heresy the church was dealing with is suffering from the law of unintended consequences. You get these people overcomplicating the gospel, adding all these extra steps of do this, don't do that, legalism, and ironically, it does nothing to restrain the flesh. It just serves to puff up their ego and their unspiritual minds. By contrast The simplicity of the cross. is by what we're saved.
Nothing more, nothing less. We just dismiss for children's church. Because we believe it's simple enough a child can understand it. But we are here because it's complicated enough. God is so infinite that we can spend lifetimes with God and never grow bored, never reach the bottom.
Christ brings us from law to life, from rules to relationship. Our practice Is simple, but it is our God who is infinitely complex, fascinating, and worthy of every praise. Chapter three. Since then, you've been raised with Christ, set your hearts on the things above, which is Christ seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ and God. Your life is now hidden with Christ. If we are born again, then an eternal change has taken place. Our lives are hidden with Him, and that means that it's completely secure. No evil power, not our own shortcomings can ever touch it.
It's secure in the perfection of Christ forever. Praise God. Amen. Because I will find a way to mess it up.
So it says, set your minds, set your hearts on him. As a kid, it can be really easy to hear, don't do this. Don't do that, and you better watch out because Jesus, He's always watching. Be on your best behavior at all times. Yeah, like that's Kind of, but it's back the focus is backwards.
I should not be worried about Jesus watching me as much as I should be worried about fixing my eyes on him. Fixing my heart and my mind on Him. Jesus watching over my shoulder. That's a blessing. I need to be focused on fixing my gaze on him.
See, if Jesus was just a judgmental Santa Claus off in the distance watching for us to slip up, Yeah, I can see how people would want something else. They would want something more. But he is not that. He is so invested like a parent with their child. He paid for us with his blood to bless us.
Forever. And so sometimes we discuss things like Can a person lose their salvation? And I believe the answer is obviously No, but there's this feeling of, well, shouldn't it be like if somebody really wanted a way out, like wouldn't wouldn't it be loving? I I think no. Because that's not how adoption works.
Once someone is adopted, their biological parents have no more authority, and their adopted parents have the authority and the full responsibility for that child. There's no backing out, not for the parent, not for the child. And God has adopted us. Galatians 4.5. The flesh has no more authority.
It's been cut off, severed. Its authority has been removed. But Christ has full authority. and responsibility for us.
So we We cannot step out of the adoption covenant, but neither will God. We have the security that God will never give up on us, never let go of us, never stop providing for us, never stop loving us, never stop correcting us and embracing us. Jesus is not a distant Santa Claus. He is fully invested in you. Christ brings us out of law to life.
Front rules. to relationship.
So I want to return to this topic of Christian liberty, because I think it has a lot of practical application. For us. Again, when I say Christian liberty, I mean the freedom to partake in activities not expressly forbidden in the Bible, as long as it does not cause our brothers and sisters to stumble. I want to talk about this subject because I don't hear many good messages on it. And I'm a human, you know, like I got questions about my daily life and so do you.
So let's talk about it. Speed limit out there is 55. Am I sitting if I go five over? We have people. And the typical answer I hear from the pulpit is, and this is on any issue of Christian liberty, like, well, you know, maybe for some people it isn't a sin, but you know, I'm a pastor, I just want to be extra careful.
I'm going 500 in all circumstances. My speedometer might be wrong, and I just, I don't want to risk it. And if, like, that's how God convicts you, fine, but like, bro, you better stay out of the left lane, that's all I'm saying. This is me making an exaggeration, obviously, but like come on. It's a lame answer.
Any issue of Christian liberty, I think pastors kind of avoid, stay away from the gray area, exactly 20 feet away. You can risk it, but just know, like the pastor's too pure, he's floating above the ground to his next visitation. And it just tells us, hey, he hasn't really thought about it. Because what if that's your wife in the back seat going into labor? All circumstances you're doing five under, really?
If that's my wife... I ain't even looking at the speed limit. Matter of fact, we're riding on the shoulder of the road. That's the VIP lane today, baby. I ain't delivering no baby fing car.
I got. I got a weak stomach and butter fingers. It ain't happening. I know my strengths and this ain't it. Yeah.
I think masters give shy answers 'cause they don't really want to say something that's going to raise questions. And I think that's shackles. It makes the answer we give weak. while the rest of us still have to navigate the issues. But I love you guys too much to shy away from Christian liberty.
Hebrews 4:13 says, Each one of us will stand naked before God to give an account of our lives.
So I want us equipped to navigate the gray area.
So I'm going to address it. Christian liberties not fully covered in the Bible as a do or don't in all circumstances, so I want to give you a checklist. To run through, you can run through every Christian liberty through this to help you determine: should I or should I not participate? Ready? Here's a list.
First. Does the Bible speak against it? If the Bible directly addresses an issue, then it's not an issue of Christian liberty. The Bible says so. For example, the Bible clearly forbids Murder, the taking of an innocent life in all circumstances off the table.
Sorry, church, you just can't do it. Drunkenness, Ephesians 5.8, is an explicit no-no. Two We're moving on to the next question. Does the Bible speak against it? If it doesn't speak against it, we move on to the next question: What are my intentions?
Will this decision glorify God? Will it dishonor God? Is it going to get in the way of my fellowship with God? And if my attentions bring glory to God, great! If they don't, we go no further.
We don't partake. If we can't tell... We'll go on to the next question. Is it wise? Hey there.
I hope this sermon has enriched your day. If you like this message, I want to personally invite you to join us for Sunday worship. We have two locations in Virginia. Trinity Methodist Church in Concord, and Mount Comfort Methodist Church in Appomattox. Come join us Sunday morning at 9.45 and we will help you get connected.
As always, I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd. Thank you for tuning in.
