From the Pen of St. Paul
In
the name + of Jesus.
St. Paul reminds you of who you are and then issues a warning so that you do not fall away from it. He wrote, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:6-8).
We are rooted in Christ, and St. Paul uses
several expressions to show how: “as you received Christ Jesus the Lord”
(Colossians 2:6) and “just as you were taught” (Colossians 2:7). It is the message of Jesus Christ which revealed
God’s grace to you, and it is the message of Jesus Christ that keeps you in God’s
grace. The message which released you
from the grasp of the devil is the same message which prevents the devil from
latching back onto you. The one truth
which created saving faith in you is the only truth which sustains you in the
saving faith. “Just as you were taught,”
so continue in that teaching. In this
way, you will remain rooted in Christ and in his kingdom.
“As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so
walk in him” (Colossians 2:6). As you received it,
so keep on receiving it. It does not
matter what era you live in, what culture you come from, or how times have
changed. God does not change; neither
does his will or his word. Therefore,
continue in them so that you remain “rooted and built up in him and
established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7).
Now, from the encouragement to the warning:
“See to it that no
one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according
to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). The
devil cannot kidnap you out of the kingdom of God. Instead, the devil tries to entice you away
from the foundation of your faith. He
tries to make God’s will and God’s designs unattractive and unreasonable. The devil seeks to reprogram you through media,
school curriculums, politics, and cancel culture. If you refuse to adopt these wicked ideas,
the world will shame you or threaten you financially.
You should know that this is nothing new. The Colossians were facing the same kinds of pressures,
which is why Paul wrote them this letter to encourage them to remain rooted in
Christ. The particular teaching which Paul
described as “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits of the world” (Colossians 2:8) is known
as Gnosticism. While Gnosticism has
several facets to it, a brief summary is that it rejects what God has established. Gnosticism teaches that the physical body is
evil and that we are free when we cast it off.
The spirit is all that matters. God,
however, created us body and soul. The
body is not evil. It has been corrupted by
sin, but your physical body is not evil in and of itself. Adam and Eve were created with bodies which
God decreed to be “very good” (Genesis 1:31). The Lord himself took on human flesh which remained
sinless, and he did not shed his humanity at his resurrection, as if that is
what we are to be delivered from. To
this day, Jesus is true man, and it is good.
Gnosticism has not gone away. Our culture promotes it by rejecting what God
has established. God created people male
and female. Doctors, nurses, and parents
can decree “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl” at the moment of birth. Ultrasounds enable people to have gender
reveal parties even before the birth. Anatomy
makes it obvious who is a boy or a girl.
Today, people are rejecting what God has created by stating that the sex
of a child is not evident, it is assigned.
Children are taught to question whether they are boys or girls, and it
is regarded as a good thing if they are confused about it.
People
are rejecting what God has established.
A woman may be convinced that she is a man (or vice versa). In doing so, she despises what God has made her
to be and craves what God has not made her to be—convinced she knows better than
God. She regards her body as evil and insists
what matters is her spirit, that is, how she identifies herself rather than
recognizing what she actually is. Granted,
this may be a genuine psychological issue for some, but for many it is a noble
and healthy choice “according to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of the world” (Colossians 2:8).
But rejecting
God’s wisdom and longing for something different is nothing new. How often have you thought that you would be
happier if you had a fancier house or a movie star life? Have you wished you had someone else’s family,
vacation, or Facebook posts because you assume they’ve got it better than you? Repent.
God knows what he is doing. He created
you as he wanted you. He has blessed you
as is best for you. You should not covet
what God has chosen not to give you, as if that would fix everything. That is the very sin which Adam and Eve
committed in the Garden of Eden. It has
condemned the whole world, and it still runs rampant in the world today.
People despise God’s order and reject what
God has established. It is more than
preferred pronouns and transitioning to different sexes. It is also women being taught that a career
is the highest good and that motherhood is a punishment. It is men who avoid the responsibility of serving
as leaders, providers, and protectors of women and children. It is people who flee from reality through
the fantasies projected on their computer screens. It is people who usurp the blessings of a
marriage bed and mock marriage itself. If
you stand firm on God’s word, you charged with intolerance. If you uphold what God has established, you are
branded as a hater. If you confess the
truth, you may be cancelled. However, if
you abandon Christ and side with the world, you will be cheered. Life will be easier for several decades, and you
may even congratulate yourself for being righteous as the world defines it. But the cost is eternal under the wrath of
God who was spurned.
“Therefore, as you
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him
and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7). We have been rooted in Christ. Remain rooted in Christ so that you will not
become captives to lies. Abound in thankfulness
that Christ preserves you through this life and for the next.
Every summer, we
hear about beaches which are closed because of E.coli or some other contaminate. We avoid the water because it is toxic. We look for the source which produced the contamination. If the source can be corrected, the water
will be good. In the same way, our sins
spring from a corrupted nature. The thoughts,
words, and actions are bad because the heart is bad.
Everything God
has established is good, but it has been corrupted. Bodies, intellect, emotions, and motives have
all been corrupted by sin. The evidence comes
through nasty words and selfish actions.
It is felt in your discontented thoughts and covetous hearts. These reveal the real problem—your sinfulness. Running to one worldly philosophy after
another is not going to change this. The
change comes only through Jesus “in (whom) the whole fullness of deity
dwells bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
Because God loves what he has created, he had no desire to toss it in
the trash even when it had become corrupt.
Rather, he chose to restore it.
And so, God himself came to do it. Jesus of Nazareth, in whom “the whole
fullness of deity dwells bodily,” came to rescue and to restore what sin has
ruined.
Jesus has delivered you from the sin which corrupts
your thoughts and your motives, your words and your works. “You, who were dead in your trespasses and
the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having
forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that
stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put
them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Colossians 2:13-15). Jesus took your trespasses away. He has rescued you from every useless
philosophy and demonic lie which are supposed to make your life better. He has publicly humiliated the devil and exposed
his ways as foolish, deceitful, and deadly.
Sin produces shame and death. The
grave offers only despair. The devil
wants you in hell. Comfort, hope, and life
are found only in the living Savior who has overcome the devil, the world, and
every wicked thing. Your sin is taken
away. Death is powerless. The devil is crushed. But Jesus lives!
You are rooted in Christ for this
salvation. Jesus has removed the sin
which contaminates you and has restored you to purity. The holy waters of baptism have purified you
and renewed you. St. Paul wrote that you
have “been buried with (Jesus Christ) in baptism, in which you were
also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of
God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). God raised you up a new creation and restored
you to himself. Your heart is no longer
ruled by sin and your mind is no longer motivated by what is evil. Jesus has established you on the firm footing
of his word, and what he has established is good.
The devil and
the world will still pressure you to reject what God has established. You will entertain thoughts that such ideas
are sensible. You may even give into
them from time to time. But continue in
Christ’s word so that you will not be deceived, but so that you will remain
rooted in Christ. “As you received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him
and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:6-7) so that Jesus Christ
dwells in you, so that his sacrificial death atones for you, and so that his righteousness
covers you.
You are rooted in Christ whose reign has been established and will not budge no matter what people in the world insist upon and clamor for. Jesus Christ guides you to do what his word has established, having convinced you that it is good. Christ dwells in you so that you will be raised from the dead to live perfectly content with all that God gives and does. You cannot crave anything better. You will find satisfaction in no other place. You have been rooted in Christ, and what he has established is always good.
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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