Indulging the Flesh

Last time, we stopped in the middle of Colossians chapter 2, verse 19.  “[Those promoting a religion of self-abasement and rule keeping] are 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 that is from God” (Col 2:19).  Proper spiritual maturity, growth in the Christian life, comes from lining up our ways under the headship of Christ.  The entire church, the community of believers grows up when we walk according to the gospel of Christ.

Paul contrasts spiritual growth under the headship of Christ with the deceptive approach of a rule keeping system.  “If you 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!’…in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?” (Col 2:20-22).  These rule keeping systems are man-made.  And when we follow them, we are reverting back to an empty religion, a philosophy with which the world is very familiar.

“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” (Col 2:23).  These rule keeping systems have an “appearance of wisdom”, but are in fact “self-made religion”.  And the eye-popping conclusion to the chapter is, “they are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Did you hear that?  The very thing that we think will keep the flesh in check – rules, self-loathing, severe treatment – is not only biblically incorrect when we understand who we are in Christ, but is also of no value whatsoever against fleshly indulgence.  Nada.  Nothing.  Useless in combatting the flesh.  It is a system that actually thwarts the work of Christ rather than help us to carry it out.

Think through your own experience with me.  I don’t believe I am setting up a straw man of rule keeping to attack with Paul’s freedom message of Colossians.  The “appearance of wisdom” through the keeping of rules is very much alive and well in the church.  And the sad part is that in addition to just being wrong, it does not contribute to the very thing we seek – crucifixion of the flesh.

So if the rule keeping method does not work against fleshly indulgence, should we abandon the goal and just accept fleshly indulgence as the normal Christian life?  No.  No.  No.  May it never be.  Fleshly indulgence is sin.  And there is a victorious approach to crucifying the flesh.  Paul explains it in the next chapter of Colossians.  We will go there next time.

Empty Religion

In Colossians 2:8, the apostle Paul warns, “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col 2:8).  I used to think this verse was a warning against the irreligious philosophy of the world; the thoughts, explanations, and ideas of the lost.  But when we step back to capture the context of this letter, we find this “empty deception” is actually quite religious.  It is a man-made version of Christianity that is all too common in the church.  The deception is robbing saints of understanding who they are in Christ and replacing the gospel of Christ with a religion of man-made rules.  Let me explain as we go deeper into Colossians chapter 2.

Continuing on, “For in Christ all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete…and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the work of God, who raised Him from the dead.  And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us…and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Col 2:9-14).

Before he expounds on the “empty deception” later in chapter 2, Paul first wants us to fully understand our identity with Christ.  According to this passage, you have been made complete in Christ, the One in whom the fullness of Deity dwells.  You have been “circumcised”, not in the physical sense, but in the supernatural sense – “without hands” – of Jesus cutting away our body of flesh.  This body of flesh is not a physical body, but the seat of our sin nature.  And this heart of our sin nature, this body of flesh, is being “cut away”.  This happened when we died with Christ on the cross and were raised to new life (see Romans chapter 6).  This happened when He forgave all our transgressions and cancelled out our debt, having nailed it to the cross.  This happened when we embraced the gospel message of Jesus Christ and were made complete in Christ.

Paul then goes on to describe the empty deception.  “Therefore (because of who you are in Christ), let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day – things that are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.  Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement…inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, Jesus Christ” (Col 2:16-19).

The bottom line?  When we set up a self-abasing, overbearing, tedious, rule-keeping system in the church, we are not lifting up Jesus, not holding fast to the Head, Jesus Christ.  We may think this rule-keeping is a sign of godliness, but according to verse 18, it is really the expression of an “inflated fleshly mind”, not a godly one.

How do rules, often times meant to promote godliness, actually end up as a self-made religion?  We will discuss this as we continue in Colossians chapter 2 next time.

Merry Christmas from Franklin Tennessee

Rhonda and I are wishing you the best of Christmas greetings from our new home in Franklin, Tennessee.  After nearly thirty years of living in Houston, we have relocated to the Volunteer State.  There is definitely a small town feel to Franklin with its thriving downtown square, shotgun style homes on narrow lots, and so much within walking distance.  But we also feel the proximity to Nashville, 25 miles to the north, and all that the Music City has to offer.

Our Christmas prayer for you is to experience the “no condemnation” life that God promises to His children.  It is easy – as husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and workers, leaders and ministry partners – to let those around us know that they are not living up to expectations.  It is easy to put a layer of guilt and blame on those close to us.  When we look deeper, however, maybe putting others down is just a veiled attempt to elevate ourselves.

Has this been your experience?  I see it all the time in the workplace, but it also infiltrates our families and churches.  We seem to think that our value and significance improves and we are made to look better if others are being put down.  We even justify this, at times, by saying that they need to be “put in their place.”  But this is not how a believer should live.

Remember the point of the parable Jesus told about the two debtors?  The one who owed an infinite amount was forgiven by the king and then proceeded to beat his fellow servant over a small debt.  He failed to grasp the concept that he who had been forgiven a great debt by the Master should forgive his brother.  Likewise, how can we who have been so miraculously set free by Christ and the promise of “no condemnation”, lay a condemning attitude or comment on our brother?  God’s stance toward us is fundamentally optimistic, calling us saints.  This should be our view as well toward those who serve us and whom we serve.

Part of the challenge in seeing this is the erroneous teaching regarding Romans chapter 7 that the apostle Paul’s condemning passage about himself reflects the life of a believer.  Paul’s diatribe of condemnation clearly describes his life prior to salvation; a point made clear when he ends with “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).  We somehow see the condemning tone of Romans 7, and thinking it applies today, use it to condemn both ourselves and others.

But it is not supposed to be that way.  You have been set free from the power of sin.  It is no longer your master.  That condemning voice you hear is Satan, not God.  Satan wants you living under a rock of self-condemnation.  And he wants you to bring as many people as you can under the rock with you by criticizing their work or behavior.  Christ, on the other hand, wants you living out in the open; experiencing and celebrating a life set free.  Remember, “There is now [present tense, after I have left the pre-Christian life of condemnation behind] no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:1-2).

Do you recall this quote from a Christmas classic?  “Charlie Brown, you’re the only person I know who can take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.”  In your best Linus voice you might be thinking, “Jay, you are the only person I know who can take a perfectly good Christmas message and turn it into a discussion of Romans chapter 7.”  Yes, I can.  Because the heartbeat of this blog and the Fanning the Flames ministry is for you and us to experience all that came with our new identity in Christ when we embraced His gospel message.  At the heart of that message is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  We have been set free.

So celebrate the season with an attitude of encouraging and building up those you love.  Christ the newborn King was born in a manger, lived a perfect life, died in your place, and rose again to give us a new life, free from guilt and condemnation.  Embracing that truth and living into it will make this a very merry Christmas indeed!

Can Faith Control the Outcome?

An important distinction to understanding how much our faith affects an outcome is recognizing the difference between “change” and “control”.  I believe God has given us the opportunity to change an outcome through our faith.  But He has not given us the power to control outcomes.  Let me explain the difference.

Exercising the faith required to change a situation is putting our complete trust in what God can do.  It is having faith in God’s ability to miraculously move, and remedy, and redeem what needs changed.  It is not a blind positive thinking approach that says if I believe something hard enough God is required to act.

This is where the idea of control comes in.  We cannot control the Sovereign of the Universe.  And thinking our faith can somehow boss God around is ludicrous.  We are not calling the shots.  We are not in control.  We cannot demand a certain action on God’s part.  So what can we do?

We do two things.  (1) We believe by faith that God has the power to act and (2) we pray in faith asking Him to act.  Our attitude in prayer is the measure of whether we are seeking to “change” or “control” by our faith.  Proper prayer says, “God, You are in control and we humbly beg you to act.”  And this prayer is infused with a biblical faith; believing that He hears our prayers, believing that He can act, and believing that He will act in some form or fashion.

In Luke 18, the parable of the persistent widow teaches us that God will act and act quickly.  If you recall the story that Jesus told … A widow approaches an unrighteous judge demanding legal protection from an adversary.  The judge ignores her request until she badgers him to the point of wearing him out.  For her persistence alone, he hears her case and rules in her favor (Lk 18:1-8).

Now we often view the unrighteous judge as a picture of God.  That is, we think this parable teaches that if we badger God enough, He will reluctantly hear and answer us.  But it actually teaches just the opposite about God’s attitude toward us and our prayers.

Unlike most of Jesus’ parables, this one did not start with “The kingdom of God is like…”  No, God is not like the judge.  God is not compared to the judge.  God stands in contrast to the judge.  God is the opposite of the judge.  We do not badger God with our persistent prayer.  We honor God with our persistent prayer.

The parable closes with, “Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?  I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly” (Lk 18:7-8a).  God is contrasted with the judge.  Rather than being an overbearing ogre, God is a loving Father whose heartbeat is to hear and answer our prayers.

Can we “control” outcomes?  No, but I believe we can affect more than we commonly believe.  The story of the persistent widow ends with, “However, when the Son of Man comes will He find this kind of faith on the earth?” (Lk 18:8b).  Our role is to respond to situations with the faith that God is asking us to use.  And the practical upshot of all this, in my opinion, is that our faith can be world-changing and life-changing; for us and for others around us.

Can Faith Change the Outcome?

As I continue to study the New Testament, I am becoming increasingly aware of the potential for faith to change the outcome of a particular situation.  I fully embrace the sovereignty and omnipotence of God and His rule over all His creation, but I believe His plan includes our faith making a difference.  It appears in Scripture that God does not have an unchangeable blueprint design for all outcomes, but that through our prayers and faith we can affect what happens.  Why do I say this?

After the incident in the gospels where Jesus’ disciples failed to cast out a demon (Mt 17:14-20), they asked Jesus a pointed question, “Why could we not cast it out?”  Jesus replied that their faith was too small (Mt 17:20).  Jesus ascribes their failure to a lack of faith.  Is it too much of a stretch of logic to suggest – based on Jesus’ own words – that with greater faith the demon could have been expelled?  What do you think?

Evidence that our faith makes a difference continues in several accounts of healing in the New Testament.  When Jesus restored sight to the blind man, Bartimaeus, He proclaimed to the newly seeing man, “Your faith has made you well” (Mk 10:52).  When the woman with the twelve-year hemorrhage problem touched Jesus garment, she was healed.  After she identified herself in the crowd, Jesus assured her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well” (Lk 8:48).  To the cleansed leper who returned to fall at Jesus’ feet to give thanks, Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well” (Lk 17:19).

Do you notice a pattern?  Clearly, Jesus is doing the healing – even feeling the power going out of Him when the woman touched the fringe of His cloak.  But somehow, accepting Jesus’ words as fact, the faith of the sick, blind, and lame had something to do with their being made whole.  I think it is safe to say that their faith made a difference.  And I believe our faith matters just as much today.  Our faith has the potential to affect outcomes.

How much of an effect?  Something we will talk about next time.