The Foolishness of Self-Imposed Piety

-


Scripture

Col. 2:20   If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations,  21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch”?  22 All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings.  23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence.

Observation

Following a list of rules — the “do not taste, do not touch” list is foolishness. Paul reminds us that these may look like they are wise but they never get to the root of the problem — of “self-indulgence.” The root must be dealt with through the work of Jesus Christ. We are to live for Christ, focused on him and not on the things of the world. Self-imposed piety is foolishness without Christ.

Application

During my formative years it seemed as if all the conversations around “what does your church believe?” centered on the rules. We would be in school and students would be talking about what they were and were not allowed to do. The usual list included smoking, drinking, dancing, card playing, and going to movies. It was as if we had a check-list and you figured out who fell where in the list of possible taboos. Maybe even in our young minds we were ranking one another’s spirituality by way of the list. But never did we mention Jesus!

That’s the danger with submitting to regulations alone, ones which have not come from our personal relationship with Christ. Piety for the sake of piety does not lead to Christ. Christ died to set us free and to live in the freedom of him — which takes us on a path toward Christlikeness. The ways in which we live come naturally from a deeply intimate relationship with him.

Get past the rules and find the Savior who is true wisdom.

Prayer

Lord, may I know you more today than yesterday as you lead me into the paths you have prepared. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a time when we try to carry
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her
Read more

The Advantage of Sanctification

-
Scripture: Rom. 6:22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. Rom. 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Observation: Two sides of life are presented here in great contrast.  One is a life of sin and enslavement to evil.  The other side of life is freedom which provides the advantage of sanctification (or holiness as some translate the word) that leads to eternal life.  The options here are a life of sin, slavery and death; or freedom, holiness and eternal life.  The advantage of holiness or sanctification is the benefit of the life of freedom.  Jesus died so that we might be made holy like him and this is something that is offered as a “fruit” or “advantage” right now.  The end is eternal life — but the living of life is that it can be lived out in holiness.  The next verse is really just an affirmation of the verse 22.  Sin will lead
Read more