How
Religion’s Promotion of Self-Effort Defrauds the Christian
Written
by Arthur J Licursi – Partly Built upon some thoughts from the
writings of Witness Lee
Col.
3:10 have put on (enduo,
sink into as a garment) the new man, which is renewed in
knowledge (Ginosko, full experiential knowledge)
after the image (eikon, likeness) of him that created him:
Col.
2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the
rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col.
2:16-23 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in
drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the
sabbath days: 17Which
are a shadow of things to come; but the body (reality) is
of Christ. 18 Let no man (religious
leaders) beguile (Gk. katabrabeuo, defraud) you
of your reward in a voluntary (willful self-effort in)
humility and worshipping of angels (ceremonial
observance of messengers), intruding into those things which he
hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19And
not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands
having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth
with the increase of (ek, from and with) God.
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments
of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to
ordinances, 21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22Which
all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and
doctrines of men? 23Which
things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and
humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to
the satisfying of the flesh.
Renewed
in Knowledge (
Col
3:10)
John
17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Jesus
here tells us life eternal is to know God and Jesus Christ,
whom the Father has sent. This is not to know about Him
but rather to “know Him”, personally and intimately,
by experience. “Know” here in Greek is “ginosko”,
meaning, to come to know via experience, as “Adam knew
Eve”. It is a growing knowledge that comes by progressive
revelational experience of God throughout our days on this earth. The
only God we can know by experience is the Christ who has come to
indwell us as our life. He is so near and so available. He now is our
life (Col 3:4a).
Both
in spiritual experience and in human experience, the mind affects the
emotion, and the emotion affects the will. Love is a matter of the
emotion, but the emotion is related to the understanding we have in
the mind, where we have knowledge. If we have little understanding of
a certain thing or person, we will not have much appreciation them.
This will make it impossible for us to love that them. Likewise, if we
have little understanding of the riches of the relationship Christ has
purchased for us, we shall not have much appreciation of Him. When the
mind is renewed by the light of God, our emotion is spontaneously
renewed as well. When our mind concerning Christ is renewed, our
emotion, with its love will be renewed and heightened, such that we
will love and desire an evermore intimate relationship with Him.
We need to be renewed in our mind in order to have a proper love for
the Lord in our emotion. For this, it is critical that we understand
Paul’s mystery Gospel concerning the indwelling Christ – “the
mystery which is Christ in you the hope of Glory”. This is the
crux of God’s plan for man to have intimate relationship with God,
as He intended “before the world began” (2Tim 1:9). Many
saints are cold toward the Lord because in their minds they do not
have much experiential knowledge of Him. The more we have such
knowledge of Christ, the more we shall appreciate Him and love Him.
This knowledge of Him causes us to love Him. Out of our love and
appreciation for the Lord, we exercise our will to decide to be for
Him, to follow Him, to live by Him, grow by Him, and yield to Him. We
decide to live for Him and for His testimony. This decision comes out
of the emotion; that emotion is influenced by the proper knowledge of
Christ.
When
our mind is filled with the experiential knowledge of the
all-sufficient and all-inclusive indwelling Christ, our emotion will
be influenced. Our zeal will be increased because this knowledge will
cause us to have a greater appreciation of the Lord Jesus as He was
intended to be, according to God’s eternal purpose. For example, a
child may have a greater appreciation for a velvet box than for the
diamond ring in the box. In the child's mind there is no knowledge of
the value of the diamond ring. But as the child grows, he will have a
greater appreciation for the ring. Eventually, he will want to keep
the ring and throw the box away.
A
Proper Knowledge of Christ
Whenever
I write using the word “religion” I am referring negatively
to man’s false approach to God by … that is, man’s
effort to find, please and serve God, “out of his own
self-resource”.
The
Colossian church was plagued by everything from
Israel
’s law-keeping religion and traditions, to Greek philosophy, and
mysticism; being taught false doctrine by certain religious leaders.
Neither law-keeping, asceticism, or tradition has merit for the
believing members of the body of Christ in this day of “the
dispensation of the grace of God”. In Colossians 2:8 (above) we
see the problem of what the Colossian believers were confronted with
was that they had the wrong kind of knowledge. In Colossians Paul
speaks against the philosophies and religious traditions of men that
are according to the elements of the world, but not according to
Christ indwelling the Christian as the Christian’s life.
Law-keeping religion, philosophy and tradition are all distractions
that cause Christians to miss the reality of Christ. Jesus said in Matthew
15:6b …Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect
by your tradition.
Paul
repeatedly prayed for knowledge of the believers, that they might
experientially “know” and “understand” what and
who Christ is to them – as their indwelling life. Col. 3:4
…Christ, who is our life…, Col. 1:27 To whom
God would make known what is the riches of the glory
of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory: A Christian is a person who now
possesses Christ indwelling them as the Christian that they are.
Making
Christ of No Effect
In
Colossians 3:10 Paul speaks of full knowledge according to the image,
the expression, the fullness, of God. Concerning the “new man”,
our mind needs to be renewed unto such a full knowledge according to
the Christ who Himself is the expression of the invisible God. Our
mind needs to be renewed to such an extent that we have a clear view
of Christ. Few Christians have a proper understanding of the Christ
who is unveiled in the book of Colossians. They usually only visualize
Jesus of Nazareth. Their minds have not been renewed unto such a full
knowledge of Him as their indwelling life. As a result, many
Christians today have been misled, deluded, and defrauded, often by
their Pastors and teachers, just as the Colossians were, through a
sort of “Christian” philosophy, religious laws, and the doctrines
and traditions of men (Col 2:22), thus making Christ of no beneficial
effect in their lives. Paul here tells us the effect of the law - Galatians
5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace. Thus we see that tradition, philosophy and the
Mosaic Law (given to Israel and not the body of Christ – see Rom
6:14)) cause us to miss out on the reality of Christ, making Christ
of no effect, making Christ of no benefit to we in whom His
supernatural resurrection life dwells.
The
Colossians Were Being Defrauded By Religious Teaching
Here
in Colossians Paul addresses the effects of religion, which encourages
self-effort for one to try to be what we desire to be – actually it
is to satisfy the desires of our “religious” self, which is what
Paul calls “flesh”. Flesh can be either gross or religious – yet
both are still the works of the flesh. Men are easily distracted from
the intimate relationship with God that they may have by the
indwelling Christ. Instead they latch onto philosophy, tradition and
law-keeping, which are all linked to the self-effort of the flesh to
appear religious, to elevate “self”, all as a cloak to cover
man’s self interest to be regarded religiously. This is the
“flesh” at work in man. Paul says no flesh can satisfy God. Romans
8:5-7 For they that are after the flesh do mind the
things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. 6For
to be carnally (fleshly) minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because
the carnal (fleshly) mind is enmity (in
opposition to) against God: for it is not subject to the
law (nomos, normal operation) of God, neither indeed can
be. (See Rom 8:2, “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus” is the inward regulation by the Spirit of the life).
The
meaning of “beguile you”, in
Col
2:18, is to “defraud you”. We may be
defrauded from the riches of our inheritance that we already have by Christ
indwelling us when we follow the suggestion of religion and
its instruction and promotion of things outward. God works inwardly by
the power of the indwelling life of Christ. Following the
program of religion fosters self-effort which defrauds us; religion
encourages us to exercise our self-will and self-effort to keeps
God’s outer laws, be humble, or to worship angels and saints as
intermediaries, all of which come from the fleshly, deceived, mind of
man. This will deprive you of your prize, which is the enjoyment of
Christ and the empowerment we now possess by the indwelling life of
Christ.
God's
plan is to head up all things in Christ through His Body, the church,
thereby to make Christ the center of all things. The device of the
subtle one is to carry the saints away and to cause the members of the
body to become separated from trusting Christ as the Head, as their
all. The heresy at
Colossae
caused the saints to be separated or severed from the Head, missing
out on all that Christ is to us as their life-source. This damages the
Body. Christ alone is our righteousness, Lord, and our hope.
Paul’s
Message
Paul's
revelation was to uplift Christ as “all” to the
believer, and to safeguard and build up the Body by the outflow of
Christ’s life flowing out from the spirit and soul of the members of
His body. We need to know and trust the truth of the Pauline
mystery (secret) gospel of the indwelling Christ in
order to be preserved in Christ. Col. 1:25-27 Whereof
I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God
which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; 26Even
the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 27To
whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of
this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory: Paul says of His message, Romans 16:25
Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according
to the revelation of the mystery (see
mystery in Col 1:27), which was kept secret since the world
began,
Under
such preaching of “Christ according to the revelation of the
mystery”, which is Christ indwelling the believer as their life,
we shall be protected from the many outward religious distractions. To
be preserved in Christ is to hold Him as the Head, out from whom the
Body grows with the growth that is of God. To grow is a matter of the
outflow of His life - which is God’s life in the Son, now as
the Spirit of life, in the believer’s spirit. As the Body of
Christ, the church should not be deprived of Christ through false
doctrine and the false teachings of men. Christ is the embodiment of
God as the source of life. By us each, individually, learning to hold
Christ as our life and indwelling Lord, the church then grows with the
growth of God, with the increase of God as life, flowing through His
body members – the true “church, which is His body” (Eph
1:22b-23a).
We
should note what Paul preached. Col. 1:27-28 the
riches of the glory of this mystery (secret) among the
Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: 28Whom
we preach, <<Do you see it? Paul preached Christ
in the believer as the core of the mystery gospel
that was given to him by direct revelation from Jesus Christ (Eph
3:3), to be Paul’s ministry unto we members of the body of Christ.
Christ
Indwelling His Body Members – as Both Death and Life to Them
In
His eternal plan, God gives us one Person and one way. Christ who is
now alive within us as the new us is both. Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
This
one Person is the pre-eminent, all-inclusive Christ. The one way is
the cross. As the all-inclusive One for the believer, Christ is
everything to us. What happened to Christ on the cross happened to we
who identify with Him by believing into His death as our death and His
life as our new life. Christ in us is “perfect God” and “perfect
man”. He in us is the reality of every positive thing in the
universe.
God
the Father gave His Son to die our death, and also raised Christ from
the dead that He might become the life-giving spirit (1Cor 15:45), in
order to give His life to us (1John 4:13). Now the Son’s “Spirit
of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2) is within us as our new life. He
is moving in us as our life from the moment we arise from bed until we
lay down to sleep – He never leaves or forsakes us. Whatever
transpires or happens to us each day is happening to Him in us as our
new life. John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation (thlipsis, tribulation): but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world. He is the
overcoming life within us, living through us …as we yield to Him.
God has given us Christ’s life to be our salvation, not only saving
us from perdition, but to save us in an ongoing way from our “old
self” (Rom 5:10).
The
one Person, Christ, is the center of the universe; and the one way,
the cross, is the center of God's government. The cross has terminated
our “old man” (Rom 6:6-7), giving place to the outflow of
Christ’s resurrected life to be our new life. God governs and
overcomes and deals with everything by the cross. Just as Christ is
the focal point of the universe and the Bible, so the cross is the
center of God's government by which He brings right relationship,
through Christ’s life and righteousness.
Christ Alive Within Us is our Living Law
Romans
8:2 For the law (nomos, normal regulating
effect) of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law (nomos, normal regulating effect) of
sin and death.
In
Colossians Paul points out to the Colossians that nothing should
become a substitute for Christ. Christ should not be replaced by
ordinances, observances, holy days, Sabbaths, mysticism, or
philosophy. Christ is everything and must not be replaced by anything.
In Colossians mysticism includes Gnosticism and asceticism. Christ is
versus all manner of “isms”. He is versus every kind of
replacement and substitute. Even today’s “way” that religion
promotes, “WWJD”, is a religions proposed replacement
for our personal moment by moment dependence upon the indwelling life
of Christ in us. It abandons intimacy of union with Christ for an
outward code of conduct by trying to “imitate Jesus of
Nazareth”. Paul says we are to no longer know Jesus after the flesh
(2Cor 5:16), and that we are no longer under law but under grace, now
living by Christ’s life that saves us from within.
Paul’s
message was radical. He was given “the dispensation of the grace
of God” for us today (Eph 3:1-5). That gospel operates not by
outer laws, but only by the inward governing life of Christ.
Consider that in Col 2:16 Paul is saying we no longer have to pay
attention to one of the named Ten Commandments, the Sabbath,
which was given to the Jews. Surely Paul knew the Mosaic Law called
for death to anyone who broke the Sabbath (Exodus 31:15). James said
if we offend one point of the law we offend it all. This then is a
major indication that the grace gospel given to Paul was entirely new,
radical and separate from the gospel Peter was given for the
circumcision – the Jews. Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles, given
the pure grace gospel.
Midway through chapter two, Paul begins to show us that the cross is
God's, unique, new and living way. God's way is not asceticism,
harshness, somberness or severity levied upon our self. It is not to
humble ourselves, to abase ourselves, or to treat ourselves severely
in order to make ourselves suitable to earn or merit God’s favor.
That is the opposite of Paul’s message of pure grace.
The
one way of grace is the way of the cross. By the cross God has dealt
with all the negative things in the universe. We are free to turn from
the contrary and difficult situations of life, to trust Him in the
midst of them, and thereby overcome our self-interest, temptations and
fears. God is still governing everything through the cross, as we turn
to Him His cross is applied to us. Therefore, we have one Person and
one way; that is, we have Christ and the cross working within us, to
limit us from within, yet it issues in the out-flow of His life as we
yield walk in obedience to His inward governance.
The
proper experience of Christ's death is versus the self–effort. In
the Christian life there is no place for self-effort or asceticism,
and no place for treating the body severely in the attempt to restrict
the indulgence of the flesh. You can fast, pray, and avoid certain
foods, keep certain traditions and holy days and practices as much as
you may want but you cannot receive any more of God than to have
received Christ to indwell you as our life and indwelling Lord.
Asceticism is not God's way in this day of “the dispensation of
the indwelling grace of God” (Eph 3:2,
Col
1:27), which is Christ in you. On the contrary, today any
asceticism is a product of man's fallen mind working in accord with
the things of the law dispensation, which does not apply to us –
God’s way now is Christ as our indwelling life, head or Lord, ruling
us from within.
Asceticism is part of the "rudiments of the world”
spoken of in Colossians 2:20. These elements are the elementary
principles of outward, material things, the childish teachings of
externalism. These elements denote the rudimentary teachings of both
Jews and Gentiles, teachings that consist of asceticism and of
ritualistic observances in meats, drink, washings and special days.
God's
way, the way of the cross, with it’s termination of our old man, now
deprives the flesh of any hold upon us. We are free to enjoy the newly
germinated life of Christ within. It is altogether different. As grace
believers in Christ, we are not a joyless people – we are free to
live and move and have our being in Christ. We are a joyful people,
those who are thankful and rejoice in the Lord – giving thanks for
the liberty and grace we enjoy by Christ in us, freeing us from our
old self, to live new life in Him. Our way, the unique way, is the
cross. Therefore, the experience of the cross is versus the
self-effort of asceticism.
Practicality
of the Cross
Suppose your wife or husband makes
you unhappy in some matter. The answer is to apply the cross to your
feeling of unhappiness or your self-interest in the matter, by turning
your heart to the indwelling Lord. If you do this, the feeling of
unhappiness will disappear. Being turned to Him within, you have the
light of Him who is truth, and the same light empowers you to obey
Him, if you will but yield. As we let go of our want or our issue in
the matter, we will find that He bears us and His peace is restored
within. This is because you have embraced the cross, and by the cross
you are dead – so you have a basis to let go of your soulish
“feelings” – to turn from them. As you do this you will enjoy
the peace and rest that is of Him within. This way of the cross is to
our benefit, even as it benefits those around us. The way is the
cross, not asceticism or any severe treatment of the self outwardly;
it is by a denying of “self” accomplished, not by will-power, but
by turning to and yielding to Christ within. Realizing that we have
already died in Christ, we should not go to bed at night without a
consciousness of the cross in matters that bother us. If we practice
going to bed through the cross, lying down with the realization that
we have died in Christ, we shall sleep and awake the next morning in
resurrection, as the new person that we are, by Christ in us as our
new life. Madame Jean Guyon wrote, “We must ultimately learn to
embrace the cross”.
It is a healthy spiritual practice to pass through the cross by
applying the cross during and at the end of each day; then we rest
very well during the night. We need to apply the cross to every
problem and to every negative, natural, or sinful thing. What we need
to do is simply yield to the Lord; this is yielding to the cross. This
is the experience of Christ's death as our death and His life as our
life.
Romans
6:3-4 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into
Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life.
One
Way for Those Who Live In Christ
In order to have a sweet oneness with each other, we all must daily
pass through the cross. Don’t argue that you are right and that
others are wrong. The more we dispute in this way, we are trying to
preserve our self and our want; we resist passing through the cross.
Do not avoid the cross. On the contrary, pass through all the crosses
you encounter in the Christian life and in the family life. In married
life we may need to pass through the cross daily, even hourly. The
limitations of life are a cross to be embraced.
In
Ephesians 4 Paul exhorts us not to allow the sun to go down on our
anger. This means that we should let go of our anger by passing
through the cross. If we have a daily life of passing through the
cross, there will be harmony in our daily life and our family life.
God has given us a Christ as our new Person as our remedy for all of
life’s happenings; we enjoy the all-sufficient life of Christ via
the one way of the cross.
Summary
Apart
from God's one way of trusting the Lord within as life and Lord, we
should have no ordinances and no particular ways, precepts or
practices. Do not let religion defraud you – for “Christ is
all”. Romans 6:154b …for ye are not under the law, but
under grace. The way God has ordained, uplifted, and honored is
the cross of Christ. The cross is the only way for Christians to have
resurrection life work in them. You know what can solve the problem of
quarreling between husband and wife. It can be solved only by the
cross. All believers must learn daily to pass through the cross in
every situation. By passing through all manner of crosses, large and
small, we shall have come to know Him by experience, to trust Him in
all things that touch our soul; then our soul will enjoy the union,
peace and rest we may have by Him in our spirit.
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