{"id":26919,"date":"2023-06-26T22:00:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-27T05:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/colossians-2_6-15-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-06-13T20:39:41","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T03:39:41","slug":"colossians-2_16-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/colossians-2_16-23\/","title":{"rendered":"Trust in Jesus, Not in Your Own Effort or Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Colossians 2:16-23 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

The passage for today should be Colossians 2:16-23.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Colossians\u00a02:16-17 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a016-17: \u00a0Apparently some members of the church in Colosse were teaching others in the church that they needed to:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0practice the dietary regulations found in the Old Testament and\/or refrain from eating food sacrificed to idols; and<\/p>\n

–\u00a0observe the Jewish holidays, whether prescribed by the Jewish law or by tradition.
\nThese \u201cJudaizers\u201d were judging and condemning those in the church who failed to follow those rules.\u00a0 Paul tells the church not to give in to these legalistic practices, which God had already repudiated earlier.\u00a0 He says that such legalistic practices were at best \u201ca shadow of the things that were to come\u201d (v17), pointing us toward a greater reality.\u00a0 Now that that greater reality \u2013 Jesus \u2013 has come, let our focus be on Him.<\/p>\n

Colossians\u00a02:18-19 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 18-19: It seems at least one person in the church was teaching a form of angel worship.\u00a0 Their focus was not on Jesus but was all about that person\u2019s own mystical, spiritual experiences.\u00a0 Paul tells the church not to get distracted or side-tracked by that false teacher, saying he has lost connection with the Head, that is Jesus (v19).\u00a0 Paul tells the church to keep their focus on Jesus, \u201cfrom whom the whole body\u2026grows as God causes it to grow\u201d.
\nWhat can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0If you really want to grow spiritually, keep your eyes on Jesus more than on your feelings and experiences.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Colossians\u00a02:20-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>Such regulations indeed have an 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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 20-23:\u00a0 In verse 21 Paul quotes the false teachers who were saying \u201cDo not handle!\u00a0 Do not taste!\u00a0 Do not touch!\u201d.\u00a0 These false teachers taught their followers to observe some very strict dietary rules (thus \u201ctheir harsh treatment of the body\u201d (v23)) and religious festivals.\u00a0 All of this was done in an effort to curry favour with God and\/or to become more spiritual. Paul tells the church in Colosse not to submit to these false teachings for\u00a02\u00a0reasons.<\/p>\n

First,\u00a0Christians are to trust in Christ and His work, not in themselves and their effort.<\/strong>\u00a0 Paul reminds the Colossian church that \u201cyou died with Christ to the basic principles of this world\u201d (v20).\u00a0 What \u201cbasic principles of this world\u201d is Paul talking about?\u00a0 At its core, \u201cthe basic principles of this world\u201d is the belief that somehow through my own effort I can reach God.\u00a0 It\u2019s the idea that \u201cif I fast enough\u201d, \u201cif I can control my body or mind enough\u201d, \u201cif I work hard enough\u201d, then \u201cI can reach God by myself\u201d.\u00a0 Every false religion is founded on this basic principle: that I can reach God by my own effort and merit.<\/p>\n

Paul reminds the church in Colosse that\u00a0by trusting in Christ, we have died to the notion that we can reach God by our own effort<\/strong>.\u00a0 Paul warned the Colossian church that to follow these false teachers was to go backwards and become enslaved to an old \u201cI can reach God by my own effort\u201d kind of thinking that they had already died to.\u00a0 This was not wisdom from God, but rather man-made rules that were destined to fade away (v22).\u00a0 They were nothing more than a form of \u201cself-imposed worship\u201d and \u201cfalse humility\u201d (v23).<\/p>\n

Second, Paul tells the church in Colosse not to submit to these false teachings because they simply don\u2019t work.\u00a0 While these teachings might \u201chave an appearance of wisdom\u201d (v23), they were not effective.\u00a0 The false teachers\u2019 emphasis on dietary restrictions and religious festivals did not cause those who observed them to become more holy, loving or self-controlled.\u00a0 As Paul says, \u201cthey lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence\u201d (v23).\u00a0 Paul wanted the Colossian church to focus on what works, which is simply a relationship with Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from all this?\u00a0\u00a0After receiving salvation as a gift by faith, don\u2019t mistakenly fall back into thinking you need to earn God’s love and blessing again.<\/strong>\u00a0 Don\u2019t get caught up in a type of false spirituality that focuses on controlling your body and mind as a way to get to heaven instead of relying on Christ and what He has done for you.\u00a0 It is\u00a0Jesus alone who saves, not our own effort or man-made rules.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that it doesn\u2019t all depend on me.\u00a0 Thank You that I can rest in what Jesus Christ has done for me.\u00a0 May I not get caught in the trap of believing I can earn my way to You, when Christ alone has already made a way for me.\u00a0 Thank You that Jesus Christ has set me free from trying to earn Your favour on my own.\u00a0 Help me to continue to work out what You are working in me.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

The passage for today should be Colossians 2:16-23.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Colossians\u00a02:16-17 (NIV)\u00a0
\n16\u00a0Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
\n17\u00a0These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.<\/p>\n

On verses\u00a016-17: \u00a0Apparently some members of the church in Colosse were teaching others in the church that they needed to:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0practice the dietary regulations found in the Old Testament and\/or refrain from eating food sacrificed to idols; and<\/p>\n

–\u00a0observe the Jewish holidays, whether prescribed by the Jewish law or by tradition.
\nThese \u201cJudaizers\u201d were judging and condemning those in the church who failed to follow those rules.\u00a0 Paul tells the church not to give in to these legalistic practices, which God had already repudiated earlier.\u00a0 He says that such legalistic practices were at best \u201ca shadow of the things that were to come\u201d (v17), pointing us toward a greater reality.\u00a0 Now that that greater reality \u2013 Jesus \u2013 has come, let our focus be on Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26919"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26922,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26919\/revisions\/26922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}