Man's Rules: Colossians 2:20-23

Today's passage has been included in many of my pasts posts, but I feel like it needs its own separate treatment so that you can enjoy what it really says and how it applies to your life. In Colossians 2:20-23, it says,

20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

            This passage is really essential to keep in mind as you are growing closer to God. In a pursuit of righteousness, Christians sometimes try to come up with rules to protect rules. An obvious example would be if a guy were never to look at or make eye contact with girls EVER, to prevent sinful thoughts. In his mind, the sin of lust becomes impossible because of the creation of a man-made rule. This attitude can be spread to every sin imaginable, like saying something self critical to counter praise (for pride) or taking a vow of silence to prevent distasteful jokes, lies, and attacking language.
            Some of these are more extreme examples, so let me give one that is more common: drinking. This issue has been slightly covered in my Heavenly Wisdom series, but I'll shed more light on it here. I think abstaining from alcohol to prevent sin is silly in most cases, but I myself will probably never drink. My reasons include the following: I come from a long heritage of alcoholics and I wish to break that family curse; I will eventually be serving as a pastor and don't wish to burden members of my church who have dealt with alcoholism or unnecessarily upset ones who are opposed to alcohol consumption; Lastly, alcohol, in many instances, is connected with unhealthy friends and environments. Now, you may notice, that preventing sin is not one of the reasons on my list. If I were an alcoholic, this would be different, but that is not the case. I arrived at these conclusions after considering James 3:17-18, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, and 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (for more on this, refer to my Heavenly Wisdom series). However, the forbiddance of alcohol consumption is not good and will never protect most people from sin.
             Colossians 2:20-23 counters this kind of rule making. It tells us that these rules LACK ANY VALUE IN RESTRAINING SENSUAL INDULGENCE, meaning that they can't stop you from sinning. In my last post, A Pattern of Growth, I discussed how legalistic believers are stunted in their growth because of this rule making. Only God's commands and guidance can grow you. Notice that Colossians 2:20-23 tells us that these rules will look very appeasing; it tells us that the self-imposed worship (extra "goodness" without the heart), false humility, and harsh treatment of the body will look like the right path for good Christians. Thus, as in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, we need to

21 Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22 Avoid every kind of evil.

 Please consider what you are doing to draw closer to God. Even spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible reading can be negative if they are done more to obey your personal rules rather than to draw close to God. Consider Isaiah 29:13-14:

13 The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
    and honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
    is made up only of rules taught by men.[a]
14 Therefore once more I will astound these people
    with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
    the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. ”

This verse tells us that God will find a way to confuse us, and our system of rules, if we stick to a course of rule-following while keeping a heart that is far from God. The difference here is not that you are following a rule; it is following your own rules in addition to God's rules. This is really important to keep in mind. The secret, again, lies in Colossians 2:20-23. In verse 22, it says,

22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings.

         You can read 30 chapters of the Bible a day as a personal rule and get less out of it than one who reads 1 chapter of the Bible a day in obedience to God's rules. The answer here isn't to stop reading the Bible, but to change your heart and attitude as you do it. 
          Verse 22 also gives me one last thought to discuss. Do not use Christian authors, self-help books, and advice to ENTIRELY REPLACE reading your Bible. These are great resources, and should be used, but they will "perish with use" if they don't derive their authority from God's Word instead of from "human commands and teachings". To illustrate this concept with friends, I use the phrases "little 't' truth" and "Big 'T' Truth". There is truth in psychology, science, and from the experience of your friends. This is "little 't' truth". These "little 't' truths" can change your life, make it better, and improve you over time, despite being wrong from time to time.  The "Big 'T' Truth" of the Bible can never be wrong (unless misinterpreted), but is better than "little 't' truth" because of its authority over our lives. Many people wrongly think that the Bible is only better than our pop psychology and human rules because one is always true and the other is sometimes true. However, I want to show you that the Bible trumps our knowledge because it has POWER. Not just truth, but POWER. Look at Hebrews 4:12-13:

12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

You have probably read this scripture before, but pause and ask yourself this question: "Did this passage tell me that God's Word is true?" It didn't. It told you that the God's Word has POWER. It changes your heart, exposes your sin issues, and cuts through all your self-deception. These are all action words. Also, look at Isaiah 55:10-11:

10 As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God will use Scripture to change your heart, whether you like it or not. (From a Pattern of Growth, this is why Knowledge leads to Self Control and why "Batman Christians" will never do more than follow personal rules). Again, "Did this passage tell me that God's Word is true?" It didn't. It told you that God's Word has POWER. Lastly, Joshua 1:8 says:

8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

and Psalm 119:9-11 says:

 9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
    By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.

These verses say that if you spend time in God's Word and meditate on it, you will be careful to do everything written in it, will become prosperous and successful, keep your way pure, and will not sin against God (different from human rules, which LACK ANY VALUE IN RESTRAINING SENSUAL INDULGENCE). Again, these are all action words. Ask the question again: "Did these passages tell me that God's Word is true?" They didn't. They told you that God's Word has POWER. Therefore, you can spend as much time as you like reading Christian and self-help books, but they will never have the POWER that God's Word has. I am not speaking against Christian and self-help books. These have changed my life and I had even changed my major to Christian Writing for a few months in college. However, I've seen way too many Christians staying as babies in their faith because they did not add the Bible to what they were reading. (Also, make sure that your Christian books are based on Scripture.) The Bible is so much more than true. Remember that.
In Christ,
Simeon Snow