The Nature of False Religion

Colossians 2:18–23 (NASB95)

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

False religion focuses on worship of a fleshly mind (2:18-19)

False religion focuses on teachings of men (2:20-23)

1. INTRODUCTION

2. BODY

a. False religion focuses on worship of a fleshly mind (2:18-19)

i. Paul starts in verse 18 by telling the church to not let anyone disqualify them from their prize. This is referring to verse 8, where Paul is using the language of someone taking us captive. It is as if we are taken into slavery so we can’t finish the race and receive our prize. Their prize is referring to verse 17. Don’t be enamored by those that keep telling you that you must earn your salvation by doing or earn their salvation by doing. Paul reminds us that true salvation, unlike the salvation provided by men, is the body or reality that belongs to Christ.

ii. The greatest distinction between false religion and true religions stand in their understanding of the truth. All false religion will continue to tell us what we must do. It will focus on man and tell me how we must do in order to receive it. But true religion will point us to Christ. It is not what we do, but it is based upon what He has done.

iii. One of the areas where false religion and true religion are distinct and clear is on the topic of sin. False religion will tell us that sin is just something that makes us feel bad and all we have to do is be positive and feel better about ourselves. But true religion will tell us sin is far greater than something that makes us feel bad. Rather, sin is rebellion against God.

iv. False religion will always downplay sin and tell us it isn’t that bad and nobody’s perfect. It will convince us that we are better than what we really are and we are still in the good graces of God. But true religion will tell us how great our sin is. True religion will make us think about the weight of our sin. True religion will convince us that we are damned by our sin and apart from Christ, we are damned to Hell.

v. False religion will never tell us of our bankruptcy and never tell us of our need for Christ. Rather, it will convince us that Christ loves us and would never send anybody to Hell. But true religion tells us that because we are sinful and apart from Christ, damned to Hell, it will cause us to see our need for Christ.

vi. We must always think about sin in regard to God. This is how we recognize our need of God. But false religion will tell us to look to the law. The law tells us what we must do and if we do more, then we will be good. But the law was never meant to save. Many people teach that God gave the law first because that was the first means in which man could be saved. But because Adam and Eve couldn’t keep the Law, just the same as Israel, God’s next plan was to send Jesus. We hear preaching that teaches us God’s great love for us to send Jesus because the Law could not save us. This is one of the greatest lies to come out of Hell. The Gospel was not an afterthought because the law failed. No the purpose of the law was to show us our need for the Gospel. It was to point us to Christ. The whole OT points toward the coming of the Christ.

vii. So then, how will we be disqualified from our prize? False religion will always make us look at our accomplishments and greatness. The greatest enemy to the Gospel is from Paul’s words here, pride. Paul says that people will use pride to disqualify you from your prize. Not only will they use pride, but they will through the worship of angels, through visions they have seen, being puffed up without any reason by their fleshly, worldly mind.

viii. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-6, Paul speaks about his experience where he was caught up in Paradise and in this experience, he heard things which a man is not permitted to speak. He speaks about how he does not boast about this and in verse 7, says that because of the greatness of these revelations, God gave him a thorn in the flesh, to humble him.

ix. What we gather from these verses is that Satan uses our experiences in God to cause us to take pride in ourselves rather than to give thanks to God. When I was young, I grew up in Charismatic circles and often, whenever I would see charismatics, they would always tell me how they could pray in tongues and it was as if God played favorites and only those whom God chose, they were given a special gift.

x. I wanted to experience these things but God never cared to give me these experiences. Now, as I became a believer, I started to question the validity of these miraculous gifts. The gift of tongues, healing, all these miracles that I had seen as a young boy, I questioned. I remember questioning my mom and we would talk about it and get into arguments because I would say that these are unbiblical and she would say they are.

xi. I am still convinced that they are not biblical but one thing I learned from those conversations with my mom was that charismatic gifts are not bad. Even if those gifts were “biblical” I don’t consider them to be bad. But they can be used wrongfully. How? Paul tells us that these gifts can cause us to have a false send of pride, and not only that, cause us to worship the gift than the giver of the gift. Too often than not, many people in charismatic camps love their gift more than God. They say things like because of tongues, I could pray more and I feel better after praying. They say things like I have a deeper understanding of God and a love for God, but more often then not, if you asked them why they pray in tongues, they would say it makes them feel better or good about themselves.

xii. As they feel better about these gifts, they are in Paul’s words, puffed up by their knowledge. Their knowledge or experience at this point, causes them to think that they have a closer relation to God than others. Without knowing, they elevate themselves or allow others to elevate them. They become proud of their gift.

xiii. This is why Paul writes in verse 19, that because of these experiences and gifts, they are not holding fast to the head. Through their gifts and experiences, they forget about the God who gave them the gift and become enamored with their gift and seeing that because others can’t do it, and because through their gift, their Christian experience grows, they become more enamored to feeding this experience than worshipping God.

xiv. Paul writes verse 19 by reminding us of what he said in verse 18 and 16, that true Christian living is only founded on Christ. The reality is, religion will attempt to disqualify us by causing us to hold unto something other than Christ. This is the basis of the world’s philosophy (2:8). The world will convince us there is something more important than Christ, whether it be your job or your finances, or even your health. True Christian growth stems from our connection to Christ.

xv. If you think of Paul’s example here, if Christ is the head, we must hold fast to it. If a person loses their head, if we become decapitated, we quickly die. This is why Paul writes that you must hold fast to Christ. If you drift away, you will be disqualified.

xvi. This is why so often than not, Charismatics are looking for the next experience, rather than growing in their love and understanding of God. After an experience grows cold, they are looking for the next experience so they can fire up their experience with God. But here in verse 19, Paul tells us that these people who are so fixed on their experience and worship of their gifts, they lose sight of Christ, who is the one who holds everything together and notice, Paul writes, that they are not growing, because the growth comes from God. This tells us that these people have a false sense of growth, because it is not a growth in God, but a growth in a god they have made for themselves. They have elevated their experience to the position of God and worshipped something other than God.

b. False religion focuses on teachings of men (2:20-23)

i. Paul continues his argument that he started in verse 15. Paul starts with a hypothetical statement. If you have died with Christ, meaning if you are in Christ because you died with Christ, then you have died to the elementary principles of the world.

ii. Some people don’t understand that if you are alive in Christ, you died somewhere else. You can’t be alive in two locations. This is Paul’s argument. If you have died to the world, then you are alive in Christ. But if you are alive to the world, then you are dead in Christ. Paul gives no medium for people who can be both in the world and still be alive in Christ. There are no exceptions. You are either in Christ or you are dead in Christ.

iii. So to those who are alive in Christ, Paul asks a question, why then, do you live as if you are living in the world by submitting to their decrees? Clearly Paul is not telling his believers to stop continuing to live in the world. What Paul is pointing to here is that believers should no longer count the world as their true home. The world here refers to not just the physical world but also to the spiritual world. The principles that are defined here in this world are corrupted and fallen.

iv. So when Paul writes why do you submit yourself, he gives us examples such as do not handle, do not taste or do not touch. These examples in verse 21 point strictly to the Old Testament law. This points back to 2:16 where Paul referred to food and drink. Paul’s statement here in verse 21 has in mind the OT dietary prohibitions. Leviticus 17:10-16 and Deuteronomy 14:21 give us these dietary prohibitions which Paul is referencing. The purpose of the dietary laws were to divide Jew and Gentile so that they could worship in the temple. The context of Deuteronomy 14:21-29 as well as Leviticus 17:10-16 tells us that it was for the purpose of worship.

v. Paul continues this logic in verse 22 to say why are you submitting yourself to the commandments and teachings of men? If you truly have died with Christ and have been raised with Him, why are you living under their teaching? Why are you going back to the Old Testament laws that were fulfilled in Christ? Why are you relying on the law instead of trusting in Christ?

vi. This might seem disconnected from our time because we don’t really experience this in our time. But if you are looking around, many people are leaving the faith for a different faith. This is a common problem in South Korea. It happens here as well in this way. When we look around and we say that we are Christian, and other people see the way we live, they question the validity of God based upon our actions. They say, if this Christian is worse than me, why would I believe in their God? I’d rather believe in something else that makes me a better person. This is why many people are attracted to Roman Catholicism or Islam.

vii. Why are people more attracted to Roman Catholicism or Islam? Why are people disinterested in Christianity? You see the reality is, every other religion is more appealing than Biblical Christianity. Why? Because every false religion deals with works. It’s based upon what you do. This is why many people lean towards false religion. This is the whole point of Paul asking these questions. If you truly say you are dead to the world and alive in Christ, why are you living under the laws of false religion? Why are you trying to live like those who are dead?

viii. Paul finalizes his argument in verse 23 by stating that all these things look like wisdom but are of no value for the purpose of filling of the flesh. Look at what Paul says here.

ix. On the surface, false religion has the appearance of wisdom. If the purpose of being a good person is the goal, than people will look to false religion instead of biblical Christianity. This is the total difference between the truth and false religion. Biblical Christianity is focused on the deliverance of a person’s soul. We are concerned about a new creation. False religion is concerned with upgrading the old creation. This is the separation. Man’s religion will always serve man. True religion will serve God. Man’s religion will have a low view of sin and salvation. True religion will have a high view of sin and salvation.

x. Paul finalizes the chapter by stating false religion will have no value for fulfilling our spiritual satisfaction. Paul provides the contrast in verse 19, by telling us that we must hold fast to Christ. That is how you obtain true joy and satisfaction. But here, he says, false religion will have no value in fulfilling what you are seeking. His final point is that only Christ can truly satisfy you. This is what provides growth. It is only the growth God can provide.

3. CONCLUSION