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Stable and Steadfast

Eric Reynolds
03/09/14 - Sun AM

Series: Colossians

Stable and Steadfast

I.  Introduction

Let me give you something sober to consider. Of all the people in this room this morning, assuming we’re all still living 10 years from now, how many will still be faithful Christians? Hopefully everyone, right? That’s the goal. But it’s not a given.

Our salvation begins with accepting the God’s grace through faith in Jesus. We are buried with Christ through baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. But that’s just the beginning of our journey, our pilgrimage. It’s like the Israelites after they came through the Red Sea. They were free from slavery. They were God’s chosen people. They had been delivered. But now they had to make the journey to the Promised Land.

In Colossians 1, Paul is thrilled that these brethren have become Christians.

1:3-5  We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. …

Hope is a key word that keeps popping up in this letter. Hope means that something better is coming, but it’s not here yet. For the Israelites, it was that wonderful land flowing with milk and honey. But they weren’t there yet.

Paul knew the Colossians would need endurance to make the journey:

1:11-12  May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

There’s the idea of hope again, in that word inheritance. It’s something waiting for us. And to enjoy it, we’re going to need strength, endurance, and patience.

As we think about that hope, imagine standing before the Lord when he returns, like a bride on her wedding day. That’s the beautiful vision of the end:

1:21-22  And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,

That’s the hope, but notice in the next verse what we must do in the meantime:

1:23  if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

If we want to be presented holy and blameless, we must continue in the faith, stable and steadfast. Not shifting from the hope.

Somebody’s thinking, “well, yeah! Who would walk away from the Lord?” But it happens. And Paul was well aware of that. He labored as an evangelist to bring people to Christ, and then once they were Christians, he labored to bring them to maturity:

1:28-29  Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

Part of that toil was writing this letter, to warn and teach them about the dangers they faced. Paul was probably aware of some specific threats to these Christians, as we will see in chapter 2.

So in our lesson today, I want to first observe some things about their current position in Christ. And then I want to look at the warnings in chapter 2 of things that would threaten to shift them from the hope of the gospel.

II.  In Him

Before we look at how they might fall, let’s ask the question: fall from where?

A.  The kingdom of Christ

1:13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

What we find is this concept that we are now citizens of the kingdom of Jesus. We have been transferred from the domain of darkness into his kingdom. Peter puts it this way:

1 Pet. 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

There are lots of expressions used for this new kingdom that we are part of. It is also called:

B.  In Christ

14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Over and over, Paul speaks of being in Christ. Or being in his body:

C.  The church

1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

So we have these concepts, we are in Christ, in his body, in the church, citizens of his kingdom.

As we dwell in him, he dwells in us:

1:27  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

I love that phrase, let’s read it again.

Here’s our hope again. The hope of glory. It comes through us being in Christ, and Christ dwelling in us.

This flows right into the next chapter:

2:1-3  For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

In Christ we find this vast, unsearchable treasure of wisdom and knowledge. That’s one of the many rich blessings of being in him, in his kingdom, in his light, in his body, the church.

So what could cause us to fall away from this? What threats do we need to be prepared for? There are several. Trials and tribulations. Hard times, the storms of life. These can cause people to fall away. Also, the temptation of sin. Some leave because they would rather serve the flesh than serve the Lord.

But there’s another danger, and that’s the one he warns them about. It’s the danger of false teaching. Apparently there were false teachers among the Colossians, and Paul is concerned that they might be shifted from the hope of the Gospel. So he warns them in this chapter about several kinds of false teaching.

III.  Doctrine from below

The key concept is this: where does it come from? Is it found in Christ? Does it come from above? Or does it come from below, from the mind of man, from earthly things? Let’s look at some examples:

A.  Philosophy of man

2:4  I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

“plausible arguments” is also rendered:

“enticing words” KJV

“persuasive words” NKJV

“fine-sounding arguments” NIV

Here’s Paul’s concern: someone is going to come along with some really compelling, enticing, persuasive words. But they aren’t going to be from God. They’re going to be from the wisdom of man.

2:6-7  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

That’s where they need to be, rooted, built up, stable, steadfast, established in the faith. And not swayed by these fine-sounding words.

2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

The danger is that we will be deceived, beguiled, deluded, by these fine words, and then find ourselves taken captive. Taken captive by philosophy.

Do you want a modern example of this kind of thing. Here’s one. There’s a man named Rob Bell, who was formerly the pastor of the Mars Hill Bible Church, a megachurch. I’ve mentioned him before because he wrote a book called “Love Wins” that basically says, as I understand it, that in the end everyone will eventually be saved.

Well, you might not be surprised to find out that he has also come out in support of same-sex marriages. Here’s what he said about it in a recent radio interview:

I think it's time for the church to acknowledge that we have brothers and sisters who are gay and want to share their life with someone. This is a part of life in the modern world and that's how it is. And that cultural consciousness has shifted, and this is how the world is and that what's happening for a lot of people, is that they want nothing to do with God and Jesus because they can't see beyond that particular issue,

When asked whether he would say that two men being together was sinful:

I would begin with, I am for monogamy, I am for fidelity, I am for commitment. I think the world needs more of that. I think that promiscuity is dangerous and promiscuity is destructive. Some people are gay and want to share their life with someone and they should be able to. That's how the world is and we should affirm that. We should affirm monogamy, fidelity and commitment – both gay and straight.

[source]

Let me suggest to you that those words sound pretty good from a human philosophy point of view. But the problem is, he didn’t get them from the Lord. He didn’t find those thoughts in the riches of knowledge and wisdom in Christ.

Jesus is the only source of authority for what is right and wrong:

2:9-10  For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

B.  Traditions of man

Back to verse 8, notice what he mentions after philosophy:

2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Notice the source of these traditions. It’s human. From man. By contrast, we have traditions that come from the Lord, as revealed by the apostles:

2 Thes. 2:15  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

Those are traditions that come from Christ. But human traditions are another thing. Nothing wrong with traditions, but we better not confuse them with doctrine.

That was the problem Jesus ran into over and over with the Pharisees. They were constantly offended because Jesus and his disciples broke the traditions of the fathers.

It can be very difficult to separate out what is tradition and what is doctrine. We can easily confuse the two. Many churches formally acknowledge that church tradition is a source of authority. They may not be able to find authority for a practice or doctrine in Scripture, but if they’ve done it or taught it that way for hundreds of years, then that precedent becomes authoritative.

But isn’t it possible we could have been mistaken about something for hundreds of years? It doesn’t matter how long we’ve had a tradition, what matters is where it came from. If it’s from man, then it isn’t to be confused with doctrine.

I saw a post on Facebook from an older preacher about the trend of some churches going to just one service on Sunday. He admitted that it was just a tradition to have two, but he said it was a helpful tradition, and it’s a shame that people are missing out on it, or something like that. There’s nothing shameful about not keeping a manmade tradition. For some churches it makes sense to meet twice, for others it doesn’t. That’s up to each congregation to determine for itself. But some people are very attached to our traditions.

C.  Old Testament requirements

The next thing he mentions is almost certainly related to what we call the Judaizing teachers, those who tried to force everyone to keep the requirements of the law of Moses:

2:16  Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

These things may have originally been given to them by God, but they served their purpose, and they are not part of the new life in Christ:

2:17  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

I read an article this week where someone missed this very important distinction. This guy said that we need to look at how Jesus and the church handled three important controversies: miracles on the Sabbath, meat offered to idols, and circumcision. When we see how they handled those things, we’ll know how to handle the controversial issues of our day.

The point he seemed to be making, without just coming out and saying it, is that Jesus was more interested in who you are on the inside instead of whether you keep some law or not. But that’s a misunderstanding of all three of those examples. We don’t have time to go into them, but Jesus never told people to ignore the law. And the reason circumcision is not in force today is not because we just don’t really worry about that kind of thing, it’s because Jesus nailed the Old Law to the cross:

2:13-14  And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

D.  Manmade religion

Finally:

2:18-19  Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Somehow these false teachers were really mixed up about worshipping angels and having visions. But they had lost their connection to the head. They were bringing in things that didn’t come from Christ. Including asceticism.

What the ESV calls asceticism, which was a philosophy of denying oneself any pleasure, other translations render:

“voluntary humility” KJV

“false humility” NKJV, NIV

“self-abasement” NASB

The idea is that they advocated that Christians should stay away from certain enjoyable things, like certain foods. They didn’t get these restrictions from Christ, they came from man.

2:20-22  If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

These restrictions are according to human precepts and teachings. They might appear to be righteous, but they aren’t:

2:23  These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

There are a lot of people today who are on various health kicks, which I think is a good thing. Some have said this food or that food is good for you, and these others are bad. And they may be right. The consensus seems to be that fruits, nuts, vegetables, these are best for us. That’s all fine.

But to take it to the next level and say that Christians really shouldn’t eat pork or red meat, or whatever, that’s going too far. It’s fine to have your own opinions and restrictions in your diet, but unless you can find it in the Word, don’t confuse it with doctrine.

Other things would fit in here as well. Pretty much any time we teach someone, “Christians shouldn’t do this or that” we better be able to back it up from the Lord’s word. Because even if it appears to be wise, if it’s not from him, then it’s self-made religion. It’s from man.

IV.  Conclusion

As we recap, notice the warnings:

2:4  I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments.

2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

2:16  Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

2:18  Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the

The root problem with all these dangers is that they come from man and not from God. How are we going to be on guard against these attacks?

1:23  if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

We have an awesome hope waiting for us. We have the riches of wisdom and knowledge at our fingertips. Let’s not be carried away by any false teaching.

INVITATION