Manmade Religion pt 2

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It continues to be an honor and privilege to share the Word of God with this congregation.

Today we are entering the second half of our look at man made religion. I do think that is important to be reminded of what we looked at last week.

We began with the fundamental premise that all people are religious. Every single person on this planet, from Christians to Buddhists, to atheists and every flavor in between, every single person is religious. And we know that because every person has beliefs and religion is simply the outworking of belief. The actions you take in response to the beliefs that you hold are religious in nature.

We should take notice that these religious actions can be very obvious and intentional, such praying to a statue whilst lighting incense. But they can also seem less harmless or unnoticed, like wearing your “lucky shorts” or sitting in a particular chair every time kentucky plays basketball. In that case in particular you may even tell yourself you know it doesn’t make a difference but then a big moment in the game comes up and you go ahead and sit there anyways… just in case.

Religion is the outworking of belief. Everyone has religion. Everyone hold some form of beliefs that guide their behaviors, actions, attitudes, and practices.

This is why I took issue with the popular Christian saying, “I don’t have religion, I have relationship.” Now I admitted to the church I've said this before. And I understand the intent of the phrase, but if we were to really think about what this phrase means, it would be like saying, “My relationship with Christ has no effect or influence on my attitudes, beliefs, and practices.”

No Christian in this room would agree with that statement!

So instead of saying, “I don’t have religion.” the Christian would be better off saying “My religion is informed, reformed, empowered, and sanctified by my relationship with Christ.”

Now, if you were hear last week your thinking, Brad you told us all of this already. Well bear with me because this is important!

Open your Bibles to Colossians 2. I didn’t have the time last week to go into all the detail I wanted to about verse 19. This section that we began looking at last week and are continuing to look at today is all about religion. There are manmade religions seeking to distract and dissuade the Christians in Colossae. We looked at the false beliefs systems of legalism and mysticism in verses 16-18. In a few moments were going to look at third manmade system. But before we get to that, let us really explain what it means to say the Christian’s religion is informed, reformed, empowered, and sanctified by our relationship with Christ. Look back at verse 19.

Colossians 2:19 ESV

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.

In this verse we see Christ is called the Head. This refers back to Colossians 1:18 in which we are shown that Christ is the head of the body which is the church.

So when we say that the Christian’s religion is informed by their relationship with Christ it is an acknowledgement of His rightful place as the Head! Christ is the Head of the Church. The Church is collection of those in relationship with Him, willfully and joyfully submitting to His Command. Christian, if you know Christ, He should be informing every bit of every way you live out your life. The way you love is informed by the way you understand He has loved you. The way you give is informed by the way He gave Himself for you. The way you live is informed by the model He lived and the instructions He has given. The difference between false, manmade religion, and pure and undefiled religion, is that first that religion is informed by Christ!

Then I said that Christian religion is reformed by relationship with Christ. This is proved by the fact that everyone has religion, but without Christ it is worthless. It is action upon belief, but that belief is in lies that lead to destruction! When we say that something it is reformed we are saying that it has, “relinquished an immoral, criminal, or self-destructive lifestyle.” In verse 19 of Colossians 2 we are shown that through Christ, body is nourished and knit together. Through Christ believers, who were once lost and destitute in their sin have been taken out of that destruction and united together. What better reformation could there be than taking this sinner, dead in sin, set on a course of immoral, self-destructive lifestyle, and by the power and glory of Jesus Christ being folded into the vibrant body of Christ. Christ has reformed our religious tendencies that are dead with out Him!

We also say that Christ has empowered our religion. That can be seen clearly in the end of verse 19. the body “grows with a a growth that is from God.” Through our relationship with Christ we are empowered to grow. As we press on in the faith we see more of who God is and what He is has done. We grow in our likeness to Christ. It is a glorious thing. And God gets all the glory for it! It is by HIS power that we grow! God has given believers the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. As we live out our lives in response to the grace He has shown to us, we owe all the credit to the one from whom all blessings flow! Through our relationship with Christ we are empowered to have true religion.

Then lastly we can say that Christ has sanctified our religion. This whole verse really defines the sanctification that Christ brings to our religious efforts. In the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 Sanctification is defined as, “Sanctification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purposes, and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life.” Through our relationship with Christ we are given direction, taken out of our old lives, into His body, and empowered to grow. There are bumps and faults along the way, but through Christ we are enabled to mature in faith. The outworking of our growth and maturity is a religion that is informed, reformed, empowered, and sanctified by our relationship with Jesus Christ.

This pure religion is juxtaposed to false, manmade religion in Colossians 2:16-23. Last week we walked through the follies of legalism and mysticism as presented in verses 16-18. If you remember last week I asked you to highlight a word in verse 18, stating that we would come back to it this week.

It is now time to look at this third manifestation of manmade religion with the intent of helping those saved by the grace of God NOT get dragged into a false system as well as calling anyone stuck in such a system out of it and unto Christ. This is the manmade religion of Asceticism.

Read with me verses 20-22 and then we will begin to unpack asceticism.

Colossians 2:20–22 ESV

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— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings?

We can gather from these verses and the rest of chapter 2, that the Colossians Christians were surrounded by legalists, mystics, and ascetics. There is some debate in the theological world as to if these are three separate groups, all influencing the church independently, or a hodge-podge assimilation into one heretical group. In practicality it does not matter which is the case because all three manmade manifestations of religion are to be rejected whether they are in conjunction with one another or not.

Here we are specifically confronted with asceticism. Asceticism is the religious philosophy of depriving the body of normal desires as a means of gaining approval before God and attaining the appearance of holiness. Paul here in verse 21 shows the various limits the ascetics had in regards to the things they touched and tasted. Asceticism goes hand in hand with Legalism in some regards and beyond it in others. The logical conclusion of asceticism is monasticism. That is to be a monk. Cut off from the rest of the world, living with only the most basic of necessities and sometimes not even then. Ascetic Christianity has been around for a long time. Anthony of Egypt was born around 250 AD. He began practicing asceticism when he was 20 years old and after 15 years, at the age of 35 he withdrew from society completely and went to live on a mountain near the Nile river. The legend around Anthony says that in his isolation he had literal bouts with the Devil. He would, through prayer, fight of vile temptations. After nearly 20 years of isolation, he emerged from his retreat to instruct and organize the monastic life of the hermits who imitated him and who had established themselves nearby.

Now for some of us, maybe many of us, this is the picture we have of “true” religion. We look at the monks, including Christian monks like Anthony, and while we might not get it, we think that they have must have some sort of spiritual enlightenment that we don’t have! We applaud them for the piety and put them on a spiritual mountaintop higher even than the mountain they secluded themselves on.

So what then is the problem with asceticism? Well, that is shown to us in verse 23.

Colossians 2:23 ESV

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.

Following ascetic practices appears really religious. It looks wise. It looks so unattainable to us depraved cretans that we promote the ascetics to a place of spiritual superiority when asceticism and spiritual maturity really have nothing to do with one another.

Asceticism is a central part to most false eastern religions but can be found in secular naturalism and even instructional TV shows like Marie Kondo’s Tidying up and Sparking Joy that caught viral attention in 2019. There is nothing wrong with having a tidy home. However it needs to be known that you will never find joy simply by removing physical objects from your life. The basic tenet of asceticism is suggesting that the inner soul is good while physical reality is bad. It is a philosophy of dualism. Shedding off physical belongings is an attempt to free the spirit from the prison of the body.

This monastic cleansing of the physical realm may make someone appear that they are holy or spiritual, but it ultimately only serves the flesh. It makes people feel good that they don’t feel good!

Scottish preacher Alexander Maclaren wrote, “Any asceticism is a great deal more to men’s taste than [actually] abandoning self. They [would] rather stick hooks in their backs and do the ‘swinging poojah’ than give up their sins and yield up their wills. There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the [sinful] animal within us and that is the power of the in dwelling Christ. Ascetic religion is godless, for its practioneers essentially worship themselves.”

Removing self-pleasures without dying to self is utterly useless.

Now let me be clear, earlier I brought up Anthony of Egypt as an example of Christian asceticism, but I am not really making a comment on his spiritual condition one way or the other. I am not the Holy Spirit and so I cannot do that. I was unable to witness the fruit in his life nor commune with him in daily life to really form an opinion on his eternal status. In fact, from the bits I have read about him I do not really doubt that he was indeed a Christian. But, I am simply saying that his position before God was completely independent from his self-removal from society. Remember that our growth comes from God and not from our personal ability to remove ourselves from everything around us.

As I was studying about Anthony this week I came across a paper someone wrote chronicling his life and it ended with this statement. “In conclusion, St. Anthony of the Desert accomplished a lot by pointing many to the knowledge of Christ through his unique lifestyle. Unfortunately, this lifestyle, though theoretically godly, and admired by others, held no eternal profit as the Scriptures teach us. I only wish he had a better understanding of the epistles of Paul so he could have enjoyed this beautiful Christian life instead of living alone.”

And this truly coincides with the warning that Paul is giving to the Colossians here in verse 20-23. We have a beautiful Christian life to live. That is the primary drive of the book of Colossians as we’ve entitled this series “Living the Christian Life.” Living this life is truly living!

If you would, allow me to make a biblical case as to why asceticism is not the blanket prescription for Christian religion.

First of all, all throughout Scripture there is a pattern of God using wealthy people to accomplish His will. In Genesis 24 Abraham is identified as becoming rich with gold and livestock. His son Isaac is shown to be wealthy in Genesis 26. Joseph ended up in one of the most powerful and wealthy positions in all of Egypt. Boaz was a wealthy landowner. David was a king. During Solomon’s reign silver was as common in the kingdom as stones were on the ground. Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king. Esther became the queen of Persia. Job had a lot, lost it all, and then it was doubly restored. In the New Testament you have the tax collector Zacheus. Joseph of Arimathea was rich enough to prepay for his own burial plot and then donate that plot to Jesus. There was the rich Roman centurion who believed and asked Jesus to help him with his unbelief. Lydia used her home to host the first church in Europe. Joanna the wife of Cuza and Susanna supported Jesus and His disciples out of their own resources. We can see a clear pattern in Scripture of God using people with means, not necessarily calling them to asceticism, but using them and their positions to accomplish His will.

But you say Pastor Brad, what about when Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God? Didn’t Jesus tell the rich young ruler to leave behind all of his belongings? Both of those are very true And valid concerns. But what we should realize at the core of Jesus’ teaching there is that is impossible for ANYONE, well off or not to be saved by their own actions. Remember that when Jesus said that, the disciples were astonished! They asked who then can be saved?! And Jesus said, with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible! The rich young ruler wanted to be able to obtain right standing before God on his own. Jesus’ command to leave his things exposed the ruler’s inability to do so. When it comes to being justified before the Lord you can’t use manpower to fix a God-sized problem!

Our problem is not necessarily money. Our problem is our sinful hearts! Money is just one of the areas in which we sin!

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

No one should take from this message this morning that this pastor is suggesting that in our rejection of asceticism we should be filling our lives with all the riches, money, and stuff that we can! That is not the point. The love of money, being driven by the desire to hoard the cash, is the root of all kinds of evil. It exposes the covetousness in your heart that only Christ can heal. Sin, like the love of money, always leads to suffering.

When it comes to sorting out this debate on the love of money vs the casting off of all earthly possessions, we really need to understand that it all comes back to stewardship. The best illustration of stewardship comes straight from the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. Let’s look at a couple excerpts from the parable of the talents.

Matthew 25:14–16 ESV

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

Matthew 25:19–21 ESV

Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

There will come a time in which we give a fuller look at the parable of the talents but the basic point that we can gather from this story is that God has given us our lives to be USED productively for His glory until Jesus returns. God graciously rewards those who faithful serve Him with whatever He has given them. We saw in this parable that one was given 10 talents, another 5, and another just 1 talent. The point in the parable is not how many talents the individual was given but what they did with it.

Now to apply this principle to what we have been looking at today. God has given each and everyone of us a different gifting. He has given each and everyone of us different aptitudes and abilities. He has placed each and everyone of us in a different socioeconomic position. We do not need to look at neighbor and covet the position that they have been a given and strive to get more stuff to have it “better” than them. Nor do we need to look at the bountiful wealth we have been given and see it as the prize of our life that trumps everything else. We should look at our gifting, great or small, praise God and seek His guidance on how to use that gifting for His glory!

You see ascetics, while seen by fallen men as spiritual juggernauts, can actually just be really bad stewards. They recluse from society and in their rejection from worldly possessions like soap, sometimes society alse recluses from them! One of the complaints against Anthony of Egypt was that he smelled really bad and never changed his shirt!

We should not view life through the lens of taking actions to justify ourselves before God. We should view our lives through the lens of using all that we have to give glory to God!

If you are well off in your bank account, that’s great. Ask the Lord how you can properly honor Him with your wealth. Maybe for you that looks like supporting ministries like the women in Luke 7. If you are struggling financially, praise the Lord that you don’t have to deal with some of the temptations that come with having excess. Ask the Lord to show you how to use your talents to give glory to His name. As Americans, all of us have been given blessings not afforded across the world. We all have access to God’s Word. Read it! We have the ability to talk about Christ in the public square. Share His name! We have the ability to influence society through social media as well as the voting booth. Participate in all those things in the name of Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father. Use what God has given you not for your glory but for His! We don’t have to arbitrarily rip away all comforts to contrive piety And be righteous. That may very well be poor stewardship of what God has given you.

I do want to note however, that God may very well be calling you to reject earthly comforts with the purpose of serving in missions across the world in places that do not have the same comforts as America. That is a good thing! We shouldn’t be afraid to lose our “stuff” in the service of the Lord. We should be willing to do so when He call us to. We just need to know that having “stuff” or rejecting it all has nothing to do with our position before the Lord in and of itself.

The final, biblical case against asceticism comes right in our text this morning in verse 20:

Colossians 2:20 ESV

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—

We don’t need contrived asceticism because we have died to the foolishness of the World and the life of trying to figure it out on our own.

This question laid out in verses 20-22 of our text this morning Serves to really wrap up all that we have been talking about for the last two weeks. We don’t need the framework of legalism, we don’t need the emotionalism of mysticism and we don’t need the fake piety of asceticism. Those are all the ways fallen creatures try to make themselves feel good about their fallen condition. They are fake attempts at relating to a higher power that covertly makes the participant their own highest power. By that I mean that they are views of religion that are dependent upon personal ability. The big problem is that personal ability will never be enough. As I said earlier, manpower will never be enough to fix a God-sized problem.

YOU. WILL. NEVER. BE. GOOD. ENOUGH. ON. YOUR. OWN.

That sentence may sound like a death sentence. It might fill you with terror. “I’ll never be good enough? Come on pastor, you’re supposed to make me feel good about myself.”

But in the great darkness that comes with understanding that you will never be good enough, there is light. True light. When we are humbled to see that our personal religious activities cannot save us, the blinders are removed to see the True Savior!

Those who truly believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins, repent from their manmade religion, and submit to Him as Lord are saved!

When our faith is in Christ we have then died to the old ways of manmade, man driven religion that was heading to destruction anyways! We die to ways of this world. We die to doing everything by our own strength. That old life has no more bearing on us!

So I’ll end this with two statements. First, Christian realize that this section of Scripture was written to believers. Paul is reminding the Christians at the church of Colossae that they have died to that old world. They didn’t need legalism, mysticism, and asceticism. Nor do you! Live your life for the glory of God where He has placed you with the intent of honoring Him with whatever He’s given you. You don’t have to add to your justification, Jesus took care of that once and for all at Calvary!

And to those who have never truly been given faith in Christ, it is my sincere desire that today would be the day that happens. That you would see YOU WILL NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH ON YOUR OWN. That that death sentence would be used be God for you to die to yourself and the ways of the world And be given full faith in Christ, your only hope. No one will be complete without Christ. If you want to know more about that, respond today. Come forward during the hymn of response, reach out online. But do not linger. There is nothing better than dying to the destructive ways of this world and as we will see next week, being raised with Christ and seeing the glorious purpose of living for the Lord.

Let’s pray.