No Fear

What makes one susceptible to believing a false teacher and embracing a false gospel? More specifically, what would make a Christian susceptible to believing a false teacher and embracing a false gospel? What is the entry point for a false gospel? What door does it sneak through? Paul’s letter to the Colossians gives us some insight.

Paul gives three parallel warnings, by way of three commands, to the Colossians about the danger of the false gospel that false teachers peddle in their midst.

  1. First, in Colossians 2:8 Paul commands the Colossians, “See to it that no one takes you captive” with a false gospel.
  2. Second, in Colossians 2:16 Paul commands the Colossians, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you” with a false gospel.
  3. Third, in Colossians 2:18 Paul commands the Colossians, “Let no one disqualify you” with a false gospel.

How do these three commands relate to one another? How do they inform one another?

The overarching command here is Paul’s command for the Colossians to “See to it” or we might say, “Watch out!” or “Beware! that no one takes you captive!” (Colossians 2:8). Paul sees a very real possibility that the Colossian Christians could be taken captive by a false teacher among them with his false gospel. This might be surprising to us, but it doesn’t surprise Paul. The next two commands Paul gives unpack this general command and reveal to us what he means by a false teacher taking them captive.

Paul commands the Colossians to let no one pass judgment on you and let no one disqualify you. The Greek word for judge here can have a fairly wide range of meaning (semantic range). It can describe anything from simply expressing an opinion, to rendering a decision in a legal or civil case, to divine judgment. How should we take it here? Well, in this case, the Greek word for disqualify, which Paul parallels judge with, informs our understanding. The Greek word for disqualify conveys the idea of robbing of a prize. Well, what is the ultimate prize for Christians if not the prize of eternal life and joy with God in Christ? Given the immediate context of this passage with the presence of a false gospel and Paul’s articulation of the true gospel, what Paul essentially exhorts the Colossians to by saying (1) See to it that no one takes you captive, (2) let no one pass judgment on you, and (3) Let no one disqualify you is let no one condemn you with a false gospel. Paul doesn’t want the Colossians to be condemned. This likely has a twofold meaning.

First, how can the Colossians keep people from hurling condemnation at them because they refuse to accept and embrace a false gospel? They can’t. But what Paul means by issuing the Colossian church this command is, “Colossian Christians, don’t let that condemnation stick. Don’t take it to heart.” Second, what Paul means by issuing the Colossian church this command is, “Colossian Christians, don’t come under eternal condemnation by accepting and embracing a false gospel.” Now, with the our refined knowledge of Paul’s command to the Colossians in hand, let’s get back to our original question.

What is it that would tempt a Christian to accept and embrace a false gospel? We find the answer in Paul’s warning. A Christian could be tempted to accept and embrace a false gospel because of fear of condemnation even in Christ. Let’s explore.

The Colossians find themselves tempted to accept and embrace a false gospel because, by taking their eyes off of Jesus and his gospel work, they have allowed fear of condemnation to creep in. In other words, why would the Colossians embrace a false gospel? Because the false teacher tells them that even though they are in Christ, they still stand guilty and condemned before God. And what does the false offer? The false teacher prescribes the false gospel as a means to solve the problem. If the Colossians take this condemnation pronounced over them to heart, if they fear that they still stand under condemnation even in Christ, then they will not hold fast to Jesus and instead cling to a false gospel (Colossians 2:18–19). And then, the Colossians will find themselves actually condemned. This is true for you and for me as well.

We cannot take the possibility of believing and embracing a false gospel lightly. This is because the person who is most likely to peddle a false gospel to us is ourselves. In our ongoing battle with sin as Christians there is always the live possibility that, because of our clinging, sinful flesh and because of the spiritual warfare that rages, we will find ourselves tempted to fear that we remain under condemnation even in Christ. And as a result, we will find ourselves tempted to preach to ourselves a false gospel. That false gospel will look a lot like the false gospel that tempted the Colossians. It offers to remedy the situation by prescribing legalistic, manmade regulations and the pursuit of empty religious experiences (Colossians 2:16–19). This prescription may look wise and productive but it doesn’t actually solve the problem of sin and our embrace of sin (Colossians 2:23). The bottom line is, when we fear condemnation in Christ we diminish who he is and what he has done for us in the gospel. We release him, our only hope of salvation, and we begin to cling to false hopes that will actually lead to our condemnation. But the true gospel says, “Fear not! There is no condemnation in Christ! And nothing will separate you from God’s love when you are in him!” I can’t say it better than Paul does to the Romans.

 

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:1, 31–39).

 

Fear of condemnation in Christ is the open door to believing and embracing a false gospel. But in the gospel of Jesus, there is no fear. Fear not, Christian, there is no condemnation for you and nothing will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Doing and Blessing

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:17

Jesus says this to His disciples the night He is betrayed.

What is He saying?

Is He saying, “Here are my commandments. Know them. Then, discipline yourself! Do them! Show that you have the ability and the gumption and the wherewithal to be My disciple! Once you have done that, I will bless you”?

Jesus has just acted like a menial servant, washing His disciples’ feet. He then says, “You also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you” (John 13:14b-15).

Taken by itself, this sounds as if Jesus is laying a burden on His disciples, assigning them a task to do. So is the interpretation above correct?

No. Indeed, later this evening Jesus will tell these same men, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

In addition, John 13 itself shows that Jesus must be saying something different.

Consider His interaction with Peter, who protests, saying Jesus will never wash his feet. Our Lord replies: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me” (John 13:8).

So once Jesus pays the penalty for Peter’s sins (as pictured by washing his feet), he has a share with Jesus! He is “completely clean” (John 13:10). He is already identified with Jesus! He is an insider!

Peter does not need to obey Jesus’ commands to earn His favor – He already has that favor! He needs to obey Jesus’ commands to display Jesus, to represent Jesus as one sent by Him, to proclaim the message entrusted to him. Then he is so identified with Jesus that the one who receives Peter receives Jesus (John 13:20).

But a question remains: What is the blessing Jesus speaks of in verse 17? If it is not His acceptance, His favor – what is it?

The blessing is being like Jesus! The blessing is displaying the image of God! The blessing is fulfilling the purpose of our creation, becoming what we were created to be!

Can we – sinners that we are, dead in those trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) – become like Jesus through self-discipline? The answer should be obvious. The only way we can become like Jesus is through His working in us.

Our task then is to actively depend on Him, on His Spirit. Yes, we then obey Jesus’ commands. But we obey as beloved children who know their Daddy and depend on him, not as slaves trying to avoid a whipping from an evil master, nor as employees striving to earn a raise from a tough boss.

We must always remember: Obedience to a set of rules is not our objective. If it were, we rightly could think that we could reach that objective with a little more effort, a little more discipline, a little more practice, or a little more accountability.

Our objective is to be like Jesus, to display Jesus, to be conformed to His image (Romans 8:29). Jesus demands such conformity – and Scripture promises that God will bring it about (Philippians 1:6).

So if we are in Jesus, the work is as good as done. Saved by His grace, we can bask in His love and delight in His grace, knowing we are “completely clean” – even when we sin. But we hate that sin. We hate that lack of conformity to Jesus’ character. Knowing that our greatest joy comes from being like Him, we turn to Him once again in repentance, confessing the sin, knowing that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin (1 John 2:2). God thus continues as our loving Father, delighting in us, as he uses even such failures to complete the good work in us He has begun.

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” Know Jesus commands. Know Jesus’ character. Know the grace and mercy and power of the Gospel. Then step out in confidence, in confession, in repentance, showing Jesus to those you love and to the wider world. This is the path of blessing. This is the path of joy.

The Discipline of Daily Declarations

Psalm 92 declares that the righteous will “flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him” (Psalm 92:13b-15).

What leads to that type of flourishing – flourishing not for a day or a year or even a decade, but flourishing in delight in God, in proclaiming His goodness and His support, through the end of your life, even if you should live to 90 or 100? That is: What can you do today to bring about such flourishing many years in the future?

In Sunday’s sermon on this psalm we considered its exhortations to give thanks to God, to praise Him for His love and faithfulness and justice, to sing to Him, to recall His works, and to remember how far He is above us. Indeed, the psalmist tells us it is good to “declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:2). That is, we should make such declarations at all times.

In summary, I suggested we consider doing so also in the morning and evening of our lives – when we are young and old. We thus can commit ourselves to the discipline of daily declarations – stating four reminders every day that encourage us to depend on Him and not on ourselves.

The following four declarations are based on Romans 11:33-36 as well as Psalm 92:

  • First: I can never be God’s counselor – His wisdom is far beyond me. So when oftentimes feeling as if I know better than God how to run the world, or my country, or my life, or the lives of my loved ones, I will humbly acknowledge that He is all wise, and I am not.
  • Second: Everything good in my life is mine only because of Jesus, for I deserve only condemnation. All of us from the time of Adam – except Jesus – do not deserve even to take a single breath. Apart from God’s plan of redemption through His Son, Adam and Eve would have died upon their rebellion against God. To live, to breath, to eat, to grow, to see God’s creation, to have any joy or pleasure – these are all undeserved gifts. And the greatest gift is to be welcomed into God’s intimate family through the sacrifice of Jesus. He is the source of all that is good, whether in us or around us.
  • Third: All those who seem to thrive by turning their backs on Jesus will perish. Though they may flourish for a while, God raises them up only to bring them down – either in this life or in eternity. This reminder guards me from self-pity and envy – what we have in Christ far outweighs any lack we may experience that comes from following Him – and prompts me to witness to His grace.
  • Fourth: I will flourish today and forever only by depending on Him – He is my rock. My task is to depend actively on Him, to turn to Him, to pray to Him, to remind myself of the promises that are all Yes in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 1:20). Apart from Him I can do nothing (John 15:5). This declaration helps protect me from self-righteousness and any sense of superiority over others. As the Apostle Paul says, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).

I encourage you to modify these or add to them to effectively fight the fight of faith, the fight to depend on God through Jesus. May we all endure in joy in the Lord to the end of this present life – whether that’s tomorrow, next year, or many decades in the future.

 

Light and Darkness

Consider some of the images of light and darkness in Scripture:

  •  Genesis 1:1-4  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. . . .  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
  • John 1:1-5, 9-12  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. . . .  The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

In verse 2 of Genesis 1, darkness covers the world. There is no light. There is no life. Then God speaks, and light shines in the darkness, penetrating the darkness, overcoming the darkness.

In John 1, the physical darkness at the beginning of Genesis 1 becomes a picture of spiritual darkness in a world opposed to Christ. He is the light – the only light – of men. He shines in the spiritual darkness, bringing the light of true life into the world, and, as in Genesis, the darkness cannot overcome Him.

Yet the darkness does oppose Him. The very world created through Him, the very people chosen as His own, reject Him. Indeed, they crucify Him. Darkness seems, indeed, to have overcome Him. We see this again and again in the book of John:

  • And this is the judgment (or “condemnation”): the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil (John 3:19)
  • When about to heal a man who has never seen light, Jesus Himself says: “We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5)
  • In His last public statement before His arrest, Jesus says, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake (this is the same Greek word translated “overcome” in John 1:5) you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.  While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. (John 12:35-36)
  • When Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus, John tells us, “And it was night” (John 13:30)

There is thus a battle between light and darkness. Darkness is trying to overtake, to overcome those listening to Jesus. He is there, He is the light, He is shining in the darkness, He is opening blind eyes so that they might see the light – but those who do not want their works exposed, those who love the darkness – that is, those who think they are in control, who think they know where they are going – reject the light, and thus remain lost, without hope, without true life.

Indeed, the serpent’s temptation to Eve in Genesis 3 is an invitation to come out of the darkness, out of her supposed blindness, into light, so that she might truly see: “God knows that when you eat of [the forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Satan, a “liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44), calls darkness light, and light darkness. Thus the battle began, and thus the battle rages to this day.

But the outcome of the battle is certain. In Revelation, as John describes the future kingdom, the new Jerusalem, he tells us, “And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:5).

So where are you? You were created by the One Who is the Light of the World. In that light is life – and nowhere else. Are you holding on to the darkness, thinking that what you know is safe and secure? Are your eyes accustomed to the darkness, so that you find the Light painful? Do you think you have the spiritual equivalent of night vision goggles, so that you don’t need the true Light?

There is only one light. All else is darkness. All else is condemnation. All else is death. Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).

Believe in Him! Receive Him! And you will be sons of light, children of God, who will shine for all eternity as the Light of the world shines through you.