Colossians 2:23

Which things have indeed. show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh.

'WHICH THINGS' -'Regulations of this kind' (Hendriksen p. 132)

'HAVE INDEED. SHOW OF WISDOM' -'indeed have the appearance of wisdom' (Wey); 'I know that these regulations look wise' (Phi); 'Such prohibitions appear reasonable where there is. desire for self-imposed service.' (TCNT)

'IN WILL-WORSHIP' -'self-imposed worship' (Wey); 'self-inspired efforts' (Phi)

'AND HUMILITY' -i.e. such things can really "look" humble and pious and that one is submitting to God.

Points to Note:

1. Note God's honesty. He says, 'I know such things "look" spiritual and wise'.. know that. life of depriving oneself from legitimate things, in the name of God, "looks" extremely humble. But it isn't, it is neither truly wise, spiritual or humble.

2. We must learn to look behind "appearances" (John 7:24).

3. Notice that God calls such worship "will-worship", i.e. it is the type of worship people offer when they place their own wills ahead of God's will.

'SEVERITY TO THE BODY' -i.e. such as severe restrictions concerning what one can eat (Colossians 2:21).

'BUT ARE NOT OF ANY VALUE AGAINST THE INDULGENCE OF THE FLESH' -'are of no value to check the indulgence of fleshly passions' (Con).

Points to Note:

1. Notice that God said, 'not of ANY value'. They don't help at all, in fact, they aren't even neutral, they actually hinder spiritual growth.

2. From. human point of view, severe treatment of the body would seem to be the path to self-control. But it isn't. Why not? (a) The real problem isn't to be found in the human body. Sin happens when something goes wrong in the mind (Colossians 1:21; James 1:13; Mark 7:20). (b) Human desires are not inherently sinful. Human desires only become sinful, when they are elevated above God's law or the various restrictions or limitations that He has placed upon various desires, i.e. sex is reserved for the married, personal comfort must never be placed before serving God (Matthew 6:33); and the love for family cannot be allowed to supersede our love for God (Matthew 10:37), etc..

3. Hendriksen makes the observation, 'Such self-imposed ritual serves ONLY TO INDULGE THE FLESH. IT FEEDS MAN'S PRIDE.' (p. 135)

And what Hendriksen notes is right on the money. When human rules are added to Christianity: (a) We look down upon all those who don't follow them. (b) They become. false source of spiritual confidence-i.e. we are keeping the rule, but we forget, are we keeping the commands of God??? (c) They are an easy and cheap way to "supposed faithfulness". You see, most human regulations are invented by people who already are keeping that regulation. That is, we tend to add the rules that are easiest for us to keep. For example, not marrying is no problem for the person who has no desire to marry. Not eating meat is easy for the person who doesn't really care for meat in the first place. (d) How easily we forget, that "pride" is. WORK OF THE FLESH ALSO. Most man-made rules tend to do the following, 'I am keeping the rule, you are not, therefore. am better than you'. Now, has that rule helped to restrain the flesh??? (See Matthew 15:1 ff; Luke 18:9 ff) (e) Man-made rules also tend to override some command of God (Mark 7:9).

IN CLOSING:

And brethren, we can make up our own rules just as easy as the Gnostic false teachers. And let us be warned, most of us, from time to time rely on our own "rules". We tend to focus on the those things which we are doing already, i.e. being early to services, being nicely dressed, clean-shaved, conservative hair-cut, etc...It is easy to think, 'Boy,. am really doing good.' It is easy to think that such things, though they may be practical or beneficial, are not the final measurement of. faithful Christian. We don't like to think about the meat and potatoes of Christianity, i.e. am. denying myself? Do. place others before me? Do. treat people in the way. would want to be treated? Do. make every effort to clear up misunderstandings with my brethren? Do. pursue the Christian in sin?. am teaching the lost? Is my mind pure?. am serving God because. love Him with my whole self? Am. refusing to accept any idea that. can't find in the Word? Is my mouth under control? Am. willing to sacrifice myself, my time, my pride, etc...for the sole purpose of furthering His cause?