To Encourage You

Colossians 2:20-23 “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.”

Have you wondered about the widely varying practices of those who call themselves believers in God?  It’s hard not to notice, living here is central Pennsylvania. Almost every day we come across the Amish or Mennonites.  And within those denominations there are several variations – do’s and don’ts, if you will. But outside of these denominations there are other do’s and don’ts.  It seems everyone has them. Some people wear prayer coverings, some put ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday, and some only eat fish on Fridays. I saw some orthodox Jews the other day. They wore yarmulkes on their heads and prayer shawls with long tassels over their clothing.  Then there are special religious days that people observe. The most common are Christmas and Easter, when more people attend church than at any other time of the year. But there are many other such “special days” depending on which group you belong to. The Amish have Ascension Day and Pentecost Monday; the Catholics the Feast of St. Francis, and The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and the Jews have Hanukkah, the Passover, and other feasts and holidays, i.e., “holy days.”  

So, what are we to make of all this? What’s the right way? How can one group so fastidiously observe certain days and practices while another gives no consideration to such things at all. Well, the Bible speaks to this in the verses above. All the various do’s and don’ts, all the holy days, all the feasts, are really nothing more than “elemental spirits,” or elementary man-made religious practices. While man may give great importance and weight to such things and consider themselves to be earning favor with God if they practice them, God looks at them as little more than “baby steps” in one’s relationship to Him.  Worse than that, if that’s what one’s faith amounts to, they are little more than a bondage of the mind to a false sense of righteousness. These things, while perhaps designed by men to commemorate a significant event or to encourage righteous behavior, have no power, in and of themselves, to do such things. While they may make someone feel good for a while, as if they’ve really shown themselves to be good people, they have no power to actually make someone good. Only God, not man, can make anyone righteous, and it is only by faith in His Son Jesus Christ that this ever occurs. It is only in that relationship that one is made right with God, and it is only in the love that proceeds from that relationship that anyone’s actions can truly glorify God.

It is only the true believer that has the confidence that his or her sins have been forgiven by the marvelous grace of God that has the motivation to glorify God in what he or she eats, or drinks, or in anything else they may do.  No true believer is attempting to earn God’s favor through some religious practice, because they know that nothing they do, no matter how religious it looks, earns any merit with the Father. Rather than attempting to please God by some ascetic practice and earn favor with Him by it, they live a life of gratitude towards God for what He has done for them.

Religious practices are useless in curbing the “desires of the flesh” that proceed from sin that dwells deep in the heart, for how often have you heard of some deeply religious person committing some heinous act? It happens all the time. It is only the transformed heart of those born of the Spirit that will motivate one to glorify God in gratitude for what God has done for them. Religious practices, on the other hand, can lead to a false sense of security while the heart remains just as black as it always was in spite of them.

May God help us to avoid all appearances of piety for appearances sake and be led each step of our daily walk by a love of the One who gave His all for us.