The Letter to the Colossian Church- 9

Subtitle: The Victory of Christ vs The Deceivers- 2

Colossians 2:20-23.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on September 7, 2025.

We stopped last week between at verse 20.  Paul was warning the Colossians about the deceivers who were coming to them.  Whether these were Jewish teachers who were pointing to the Law of Moses and the traditions of the elders or Greek teachers who were pointing to Greek philosophies, they both had the same problem.  They were men inflated with their own ideas and imaginations, rather than following the Spirit of God.

This brings us to verse 20.

Paul’s question for them (v. 20-23)

Paul slams his point home by asking them this question.  If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of this world, then why do you submit to the decrees that these teachers bring your way?  This idea of dying with Christ is important.  For a Jew, it would be dying to all the things that are commanded for you to be a good Jew in the Law.  Another way to think about it is to recognize that the law of Moses had only and ever condemned you as a lawbreaker. 

For a Gentile, it would be dying to all the social customs, philosophies, religious instructions and all the underlying worldview assumptions underpinning them all.

Christ died to what he could have done in this mortal flesh.  We too die to the legend of the great “me,” or at least the attempt to make such.  We become servants of Christ taking the Gospel of His salvation to the ends of the earth.  We spiritually die to ourselves and the life we could accomplish on our own.  We no longer follow the self driven life.  Instead, we look to the Lord and what he would have us do.  We are following the journey of Jesus who lived the crucified life long before he ever hung on a cross.

Verse 21 demonstrates the thrust of the teachings these charlatans were pushing.  “Don’t handle, do not taste, do not touch!”  These in general tie back to the earlier reference about food and drink.  These men pushed many prohibitions.  In fact, legalism is generally about what you can’t do.  Yet, those who follow Christ are to be focused more on what we should do, i.e., being led by the Spirit of God.

Of course, legalists like lists.  With lists we can find the loopholes and learn how close to the edge of the cliff we can get without falling off.  Legalism does really care about the heart of God, but more about the image of my religious self.

We might recognize how Gentiles end up in such a state.  But, how did the Jews end up in a legalistic system that has become anti-God and antichrist?  It happens little by little over centuries of placing one man’s human reasoning upon the human reasoning of another man.  We can reason ourselves out on a limb, even twenty feet beyond it, and not realize that we are no longer in the tree, much less close to the trunk.

Jesus challenged the Pharisees that they would break the Law of Moses in order to keep their traditions.  This is how bad they were.  Before we judge them too harshly, we should recognize that we are doing the same thing today in the United States of America.

I could look at the religious angle, but lets talk about the Constitution of the United States of America.  It is supposed to be the supreme law of the land.  However, over the years case law and its decisions have built up around the Constitution.  Supposedly the human reasoning of past judges is impeccable, but even a teenager can see that our federal government breaks the constitution in order to conform and keep the constitutional case law.  They don’t do many things that the constitution says they are given power to do, and they do many things that the constitution never empowers them to do.  All because of brilliant men from one generation building on top of the brilliant ideas of men from another generation.

Without God, we can find ourselves in a political or religious system made up of the traditions of men that have exalted human reasoning above the Word of God.

Paul wants to know why they would accept these prohibitions on what they can eat and handle when they have nothing to do with Christ.  These foods perish with their use (or consumption).  How does a temporary thing doing anything good or bad for me spiritually, or even eternally?

For the Jewish people, the dietary laws were abrogated by Christ in Acts 10.  The dietary laws were always symbolic.  They were intended to teach the importance of holiness until Messiah would come and bring about a deeper holiness than was ever possible through law-keeping.  Before Christ, the Jews needed to be careful of their interactions with Gentiles and certain foods.  These symbolic laws pointed to the defiled Gentiles that God was going to cleanse one day.  This is what Jesus told Peter.  “Don’t call defiled what I have cleansed!”  Now that Christ had come, He was not only making the food holy, but more importantly, He was making Gentiles holy.  The holiness of Christ in you is greater than any “defilement” that an unholy person had.  In fact, the holiness of Christ in you could even be used to make a Gentile holy!

These deceivers were not in touch with Christ and the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise, they would have known these things and would not have pushed these food restrictions and festival observances.  The Gospel had been revealed by Christ to His Apostles.  This was laid down once and for all within the Church.  Anyone else who came along, claiming to have visions and a word from God, would have to line up with these prior teachings.  The deceivers in Colossae fell woefully short.

In verse 23, Paul admits that these things look wise on a certain level.  In fact, the traditions and teachings of the elders in any society have a powerful pull upon the people within those societies.  If you are dropped into a society foreign to you, then it would probably not look wise.  However, if you grew up being indoctrinated in it, it has an appearance of wisdom.

These teachers had a certain allure that looked wise.  They were impressive to those who were looking with the eyes of flesh.  Paul mentions that they had a self-made religion.  The word is literally “will-worship.”  They have come up with all the ways that they wish, or want, to worship God.  It is a self-made religion that makes an outward show of humility and severe treatment of the body.

Our flesh always wants something that it can attain, to which it can point.   “Look at me!  I have accomplished this great thing.”  True spiritual disciplines can devolve into proud achievements in the mind of a person who is not right with God.  We can be impressed by things such as: how often we have read the Bible, how long we pray, how many seeds we have planted, how many converts we have made, etc.  Others who do not do these things may even give us adulation for the accomplishments.

Accomplishing an achievement feels better to our flesh, than simply saying, “Yes,” to God.  Our flesh loves the first, but God is not someone we can control.  He is not easily enamored with us and our accomplishments.  We should focus on trusting our loving Father, even though some of the things He allows in our life might seem harsh.

In fact, legalistic systems are generally harsher on people than our heavenly Father is.  Yet, people still hypocritically protect such systems because they have become skilled at performing within them.

Paul then focuses us on the real problem.  These men look religious and sincere, but their asceticism has no power against the indulgence of the flesh.  It is not that God is against prohibitions.  Murder is always wrong and will never be acceptable.  But, the Spirit of God is about so much more than not murdering others.

No amount of Spartan living and observance of special days can give us power over our sinful flesh.  A man can take even greater pride in his humility and observances than a man who flaunts his pride.  We see this in the attitude of the religious leaders in front of Jesus.  There is a sense where they are full of themselves.  “Don’t you know who we are!”  Yet, they are ignorant of just who he is.

In the end, Christians are called to die to the things of this world.  We cannot look to food as a way to be acceptable to Christ.  Yet, neither do we become a slave to it in gluttony.  Rather, we listen to the teaching of Christ and his apostles.  We pray and ask for his leading through the Holy Spirit.  We live in order to glorify him, instead of trying to justify ourselves.

The Gospel itself creates a kind of tension.  It does not pat us on the back and pretend that we are okay.  It calls us to repentance.  It calls us to turn from our way of thinking, living, towards God’s way.  God loves us too much to leave us entrenched in sin.  He is setting us free.  Ultimately, we cannot celebrate falling short, but neither do we trumpet our successes.  We are not balancing between the two, but instead, we are learning to let the Lord lead us by his Spirit through our faith.

This is the problem with such false teachers.  They draw you into systems that stroke your flesh and yet, leave you trapped in your sin.

Victory of Christ 2 audio

Where Are We Headed? Part 2

Subtitle: Stuck in a Fallen World

Colossians 1:16-17; 1 Peter 5:8; Exodus 34:6. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 20, 2022.

Last week, we talked about the delusion that humanity has embraced that we do not need God, or a god, to accomplish what the Bible says God has promised.  So, we talked about how we double down on intervention, treating society like a social experiment.  The biblical framework does not have a problem with intervention so long as it is surrendered to the sovereignty of God.

Today, we can see that the world as a whole is moving towards either thinking there is no God, or gods even.  Yet, we will posit that, if there are “gods,” they are merely a part of the universe and only more advanced than us.

Regardless of this, we are refusing to listen to God’s King, Jesus, who has revealed truth to us personally and through his apostles.  In a sense, we want there to be no God, or at least for Him to leave us alone and cede the universe.

Problems with God ceding the universe

There are some big problems with this idea that God could abdicate His authority over the universe, that is, for Him to act as if He doesn’t exist and let us do what we want.  Look at Colossians 1:16-17.

When we read this, we run first into the fact that everything was made through Jesus, and it was made for him.  The whole purpose of the universe was to be for Jesus, so Christ would have to be giving it up even after having died for it.  It seems that this is not an option, since He went through such great lengths to redeem it.

Yet, we run into another problem at the end of verse 17.  It says that “in Him all things consist.”  The word “consist” has the idea of being set, or established, together.  It is a picture of the many complex systems that exist and are even inter-related.  It is not entirely clear that all things would continue to stay together if God completely ceded His authority.  Thus, we would need God to keep everything in the universe running for us, and yet stay out of our affairs.

There is another problem with God ceding the universe that we can see in 1 Peter 5:8. Even if God agreed to keep the universe running, and give up His claim on it, we are not alone in this universe.  There are interdimensional beings who have already shown a penchant for enslaving and abusing humanity.  They are light-years beyond us in abilities and knowledge, and they have the character of a hungry lion towards us.  The devil and his angels want to devour us, metaphorically speaking, and perhaps literally for that matter.

The only way that we can win against them is to resist them “steadfast in the faith.”  This is the same faith that Jude spoke of in his letter, verse 3.  “…[C]ontend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.”  To stand against them, one needs to do so with complete confidence in the God that we don’t want to believe in.  This is a big problem.

Now, we would need God to keep everything running, and we would need Him to keep any higher powers from messing with us, all while acting as if He doesn’t exist.

Finally, let’s look at Exodus 34:6. Several times, we see God proclaiming to Moses His own character, specifically, that He is gracious and has a steadfast love- this includes the notion of mercy.  If God really is gracious and loves steadfastly, could He agree to what we are asking Him to do?

Let us explore an illustration from the family.  Let’s say that your adult son loves to game with his buddies all of the time.  Sometimes they even come over and eat a bunch of food while networking their systems together to play.  Let’s say that your son comes to you and asks you to provide for the house to be used by him and his buddies, as well as keep it fully stocked with food, water, power, etc.  Similarly, they ask you to provide 24/7 security so that they can be safe.  And, they want to pretend that you don’t exist.  In fact, you should just move out and expect no more communication from them ever.

I’ve taken some time to put the picture on the table.  Now, put aside the fact that all parents would be highly offended at such a plan.  Could a good parent go along with such demands?  And, if they did, would this be good for their son and his buddies?  What kind of people would they become under such circumstances?  Perhaps, we should recognize that God is often the counter-balance to our wickedness.  A good God could not go along with this idea and still remain good.

Where would we end up if God allowed us to have it to ourselves?

If there was some way that God could agree to all of the above, where would we end up?  There are several possibilities of which I do not believe any of them end well.

First, we could destroy ourselves, which is most likely.  Even secular prognosticators of the future warn that we are most likely going to destroy the whole human race before we develop the technology to spread out.  This is what drives guys like Elon Musk.  We have to get some humans off of this rock before we destroy the whole planet and the humans on it.  Yes, many governments have continuity of government bunkers and seed vaults, etc.  However, that is a big risk to gamble that you can ride out any storm that humanity will be able to devise in 50, 100, or 1000 years.

Whether through war, or some other mechanism, our technology is at a level that such things are not so far-fetched.  If by some grace of God- irony intended- we were able to keep from annihilating all humanity, then we could only succeed to a degree far short of what we will want.

Do you remember the statements made as we entered the 1800s with the discovery of a small pox vaccine?  It was projected that science would vanquish all sickness and disease by the end of the century.  Needless to say, our gusto is somewhat tempered today.  In fact, we are seeing old “conquered” diseases come back as super strains due to the pressures that antibiotics have put on their reduplication over the years.  However, let’s say that we were able to fix our DNA, and genetically conquer all disease?  Well, we would need to fix the problem of aging.  What if we were able to fix that?  Eventually, our physical bodies would be the weak link.  Our quest to become ever more god-like in our powers would lead us to leave our biology behind and become machine, or we could attempt to go the Eastern Mysticism route and try to become pure spiritual beings.  Regardless, no matter how high we “ascended,” we could never be God, who is beyond this universe by definition and by logic.

Read this article by Eric Betz that was published on September 10, 2020, and is called The Big Freeze: How The Universe Will Die. 

“The comos may never end.  But if you were immortal, you’d probably wish it would.  Our comos’ final fate is a long and frigid affair that astronomers call the Big Freeze, or Big Chill.

“It’s a fitting description for the day when all heat and energy is evenly spread over incomprehensibly vast distances.  At this point, the universe’s final temperature will hover just above absolute zero…

“No normal matter will remain in this final “Dark Era” of the universe, which will last far longer than everything that came before it.  And the second law of thermodynamics tells us that in this time frame, all energy will ultimately be evenly distributed.  The cosmos will settle at its final resting temperature, just above absolute zero, the coldest temperature possible.”

We would always fall short, and we would turn ourselves into an unrecognizable, freakish shadow of what we once were.  What would we do when we hit the limits of the universe?  Would there be more than one of us?  Is this universe big enough for so many little gods?

Ultimately, our greatest problem is unsolvable by science.  The moral problem of man has its roots in a spiritual problem.  We are not in right relationship with God, and we are wicked.  Jeremiah 13:23 says, “Can an Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots?  Then you could do good who are accustomed to doing evil.”  God is not being bitter here.  He is putting His finger on the problem.

1 Corinthians 15:50 says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”  Truth cannot be redefined to our liking.  Only truth can fix our moral problem, and without God, we are woefully short in that department.

If we do not have God, then the best we can do is become stuck in a material universe as fallen beings with no way out, that is, a prison universe, and waiting for an inevitable end of all things.  Who wants to be an immortal sinner who has ceased to enjoy life a 1,000 years ago, or a billion?  Who wants to be in the vice of the Big Freeze, unable to do anything but exist?

God loves us, God loves you, too much to leave us to ourselves.  He has promised to bring us to immortality and a perfect society in the way that is best for us, and in a way that works.  Perhaps, hell is best thought of as what this universe will become when God takes whosoever believes in Him into the Final State of the New Heavens and New Earth.  Or, perhaps, that is only wishful thinking.  Perhaps, we should turn back now and take His hand, and His offer to become a part of His family.

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