The Holy Spirit’s Task
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: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with self imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence Colossians 2:20-23
In the world of Paul’s day, a world drugged by sensual pleasures, some people found themselves attracted to Judaism. Unlike the Greco-Roman world, it offered black and white principles of morality and lifestyle. Against the background of dark paganism, the Jewish system of living an upright and disciplined life stood out.
Some of the Christians in Colosse were being drawn to teachings that emphasised the old covenant law’s way of living.
Paul’s reply centres in our identifying with Christ in His death and resurrection. He says: ‘you died with Christ, so you don’t belong to the old world any more. Rules and regulations that make sense there don’t make sense for you. You were raised in Christ so you now belong to God’s new world. The life you received when you turned to Christ is the life of the new world.’
‘Old covenant regulations “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” have no power to help you. You’re giving up a worldly self-indulgence of an earthly kind for a worldly self-indulgence of a religious kind. A religion that focuses on what you can and can’t eat, touch or not touch, is dealing with this perishable world. But God isn’t restricted to this world. In a very real sense, He belongs to the next world.’
‘Judaism set itself against its own Jewish Messiah. It rejected Christ. So how can you find a life that pleases God by rejecting God’s own Son, the very Son of God who died at Calvary so we could be restored to God and live rightly before Him?’
We see today some Christians imposing a regimented lifestyle on themselves, thinking this pleases God more than simply living by faith in Christ. They treat their bodies harshly. They take spiritual disciplines to extremes all the while thinking this gives them greater standing before God. But our standing before God is exclusively secured by our faith in Christ.
Allow the Holy Spirit to change you. Use spiritual disciplines but not as an end in themselves. They are a means to an end. The end is Christ likeness. Only the Holy Spirit can change you from what you were to what God wants you to be.
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