“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? 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.” Colossians 2:20-23
Am I alone in feeling like Christianity can feel like a bunch of rules at times? Don’t do this, don’t wear that, don’t say that, don’t listen to that etc.. Or even a check list that we must complete before we can go on with our lives? Read your Bible, pray, go to church, mission trip, volunteer, feed the hungry etc.. I’m not sure why but there are certain practices and rules that we as Christians have convinced ourselves of doing in order to earn God’s favour or something. Maybe you have felt this pressure yourself or was stirred up by others within the Church making you feel guilty and unworthy of a relationship with Jesus. We view people such as monks or nuns as pure and holy and so close to God, we may even view our pastors this way, because of their discipline and devotion to God. Perhaps we also compare ourselves to our friends and family who seem so much more spiritual than us. However, they are just as human as us, just as imperfect as us, just as much of a sinner as us.
I have grown up in the church my whole life, attended a Christian school and raised by a godly family. As a result, I have assumed the labels of “good girl” “innocent” and “naive.” Others would mention “ what a good Christian girl Daysha is.” As a result those comments and labels put pressure on me to maintain a certain level of good so that to other’s looking in on my life it would appear “perfect”. I think lots of people believe that God loves them, but yet we feel the need to do something just incase his love and grace don’t reach that last mistake, that time we went too far; almost like a safety net.
In this passage, Paul is explaining to the Christians in Colossae that we cannot look to rules and the performance of doing things for God; we must look only to Jesus. If we’re not careful rules can become our religion. A self-made religion Paul warns of in this excerpt. Anything that is self-made is understood as something succeeded in life without the assistance of anyone. This is the opposite of what Jesus intended for us. He came so that He may do life alongside of us, carry our hurts and mess of emotions so that we may experience life to the full.
A relationship with Jesus was never meant to become a religion, nor was it intended for self-made religion. Following guidelines and culture from the world and within the Church such as fasting, going to church every Sunday, dressing modestly, reading the Bible everyday, not watching certain TV shows, listening to particular music (#Hillsong) will not save you. They will not loosen the grip of sin in your life. Only Christ can!
“If with Christ you died to the elemental sprits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations.” vs. 20
Christ didn’t just come to live a perfect life, die and then leave back to His privileged spot in Heaven. If you call yourself a Christian and follow Christ, you have died WITH Christ! Well that seems strange, you may be thinking, because I do not remember ever being crucified. However, even though we may not have physically died with Jesus, if we have committed over our lives to Him, we have chosen to die to ourselves, our selfish wants, and therefore die with Jesus. In return this gives us life. His death frees us from the grip of Satan and from the rules we are bound to.
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
God did not send his son to die so that we may become robots that follow a bunch of rules, or to check off our lists. He desires for us to have life to the full!
If you have been viewing christianity as merely rules that steals life out of everything, Jesus died so that you would be free from those rules. He doesn’t want you to be a robot that aimlessly obeys. He came so that you would live with purpose. He came so that you would live in freedom.
If you view your relationship with God as a checklist, always striving for approval from God and creating a safety net for yourself, Jesus is the only one who can save. Not the amount of prayers you prayed or how eloquent they were worded, not the amount of times you went to church or raised your hands in worship, not the amount of times you did anything spiritual. These things make us feel holier but really don’t honour God if we don’t have your eyes fixed on the right thing — Jesus.
We must fix our eyes on the right thing – Jesus.
Sometimes doing these things and following the rules we convince ourselves that we are more holy and therefore good with God. But that’s not the relationship Christ desires with us.
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:4-10
I need to remind myself of this daily, because it is so easy for us to take our faith into our own hands and doubt God’s grace upon amazing grace.
Stop striving friend. His GRACE is enough for you. Stop beating yourself up because you feel like you are constantly failing and messing up. His grace is ENOUGH.
May our perspective of our walk with God be renewed from one that is focused on “what I can do” to “what He has already done”.
Walking this road with you,
Daysha
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