HOW WE DISQUALIFY OURSELVES FROM THE GRACE OF OUR LORD

When I was a young Christian and wasn’t certain about what I should believe and where I should place my trust. I concluded that the safe thing to do was to cover-all-the-bases and to place my trust in both Jesus and my good deeds. However, I later realized that to place my trust in anything in addition to Jesus and His dying for me on the cross would disqualify me:

·       Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. (Colossians 2:16-18 ESV)

Here, Paul warned about two things that could disqualify us from salvation – trusting in asceticism (a severe form of self-punishment, self-discipline, or self-denial) and the worship of angels. I began to see that, to some extent, I too had been trusting in myself and my moral merit to earn me salvation.

Let’s first look at asceticism and then the worship of angels. I too had believed that I could make myself worthy of God by punishing or denying myself. This is common in perhaps all religion and even in sects of Christianity. However, self-punishment is a denial of the fact that Christ had paid the price for all of our sins forever. Instead, asceticism insists that we have to pay the price.

We do this in subtle ways. I would only indulge in a milkshake if I felt deserving. Getting an “A” on a test would make me feel deserving. Otherwise, indulging would make me feel anxious and unworthy. If I spent more than two minutes in the shower, I would also feel anxious.

Masochism is a form of asceticism. We hurt ourselves as a way to reduce stress and feel entitled to enjoy ourselves. Why? Our conscience tells us that there is something wrong with us and that we have to pay a price for our unworthiness. However, once I learned that Jesus paid the price for my sins in full, the need to prove myself worthy of His love and mercy began to decrease.

Some Christians value asceticism in another way. They believe that the discipline that self-denial teaches us is transferrable to spiritual matters. If we learn to discipline our bodies as an athlete or a soldier, we can then transfer this discipline to combat the temptations of sin. However, Paul had argued against such reasoning:

·       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. (Colossians 2:20-23)

Paul refused to acknowledge that physical training would help us resist sin. While he didn’t dismiss the value of bodily discipline and exercise, he didn’t prescribe it for spiritual matters:

·       Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:7-8)

The “worship of angels” is a matter of placing our trust in anyone – even in ourselves – in addition to Jesus. Therefore, Paul had warned:

·       Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision [to become a Jew in order to trust in Law-keeping], Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified [or made righteous] by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:2-4)

When we trust anyone in addition to Jesus, we are not truly trusting Jesus but in ourselves or someone else. To worship angels is to trust in angels. Trusting in anything in addition to God is forbidden:

·       For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. (Psalm 62:5)

·       Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)

To trust in anything in addition to our Savior is spiritual adultery. It is as acceptable as having an adulterous relationship. However, we commit spiritual adultery when we trust in anyone else. When we go to spiritualists for answers, we are not trusting in God:

·       And when they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. (Isaiah 8:19-20)

Of course, we can learn from our teachers. However, it is our Lord who has provided teachers, plumbers, and doctors. Therefore, ultimately we give thanks for them to our God.

However, if we pray to the saints to answer our prayers, we are placing our trust in them and not in our Lord, who claims that He is the one who answers our prayers. If we go to Mary as our mediator, we ignore the fact that Jesus and His Spirit are our only mediators.

When we go to the saints or Mary, we refuse to trust in what the Scriptures tell us. Even worse, we go to the saints and Mary because we begin to believe that Jesus is just too busy or too lacking in compassion to answer us. However, if our computer is not too busy to carry on simultaneous operations, this is even more true of our Lord.

I have learned to give my Savior thanks for everything (James 1:17) and have learned that once I begin to take credit for any good thing, the Lord humbles me. Therefore, I humble myself and entrust whatever honor I might receive to Him.