I don’t think that we are sufficiently alert to demonic deceptions. We tend to
think that they primarily tempt us to commit the big sins like adultery,
extortion, or armed robbery. Instead, their arsenal of allurements tends to be
quite subtle. They appeal to our desire to be righteous and upstanding:
·
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later
times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful
spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose
consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that
God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the
truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if
it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and
prayer.” (1 Timothy 4:1-5)
Doctrines of demons? How could self-denial (forbidding certain foods and marriage) cause us to depart from the Faith? These teachings of demons offer an alternative righteousness, a self-righteousness based upon self-sacrifice in place of the righteousness of Christ, which is offered as a gift, lest any should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Demons offer an alluring commodity. Since we are aware of an
inner discomfort that there is something the matter with us, we are always trying
to prove otherwise by various forms of self-promotion – popularity, power, positions,
possessions and even self-denial. The teachings of demons offer numerous paths
by which we can feel righteous and okay about ourselves and relatively simple and
straightforward ways to accomplish their legalistic requirements.
Elsewhere, these demons are called “elemental spirits”:
Elsewhere, these demons are called “elemental spirits”:
·
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 had rhetorically asked the new believers why they still “submit to regulations,” which require “severity,” while such treatment is not pleasing to the Lord. Jesus has already paid the price for our sins. Therefore, we need no longer torture ourselves in order to believe that we are more deserving than others – and this road inevitably leads to pride and arrogance. (Yes, for the sake of following Christ in love, there are times when we must forego our plans and pleasures for the sake of the welfare of others.)
Self-righteousness takes many forms, like our achievements,
but it also manifests in self-punishment and self-denial. Many religions offer
self-denial to prove our righteousness. Gurus subject themselves to the most
extreme conditions to prove that they are holy and worthy of the adoration of
others. Some take it a step further by cutting or beating themselves. However,
Paul taught that “asceticism” and “severity” “are of no value in stopping the
indulgence of the flesh.” Paul even condemned such practices:
·
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 2:18)
For Paul, faith in asceticism, the harsh treatment of the body to attain spiritual superiority, leads to arrogance (being “puffed up”).
Satan’s goal is to lead us astray to disqualify us with the false hope of earning righteousness, while Christ’s goal is to set us free (John 8:31-32) from such bondage:
·
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were
enslaved to those [demons] that by nature are not gods. But now that you have
come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to
the weak and worthless elementary principles of the [demonic] world, whose
slaves you want to be once more? You observe days and months and seasons and
years! (Galatians 4:8-10)
Instead, God cares about freedom, love, holiness, and righteousness,
and not in an assortment of enslaving yet self-promoting rituals. Israel had
also been held captive under the Law of Moses (Galatians 3:22-29) to humble,
instruct, and to prepare them for the spiritual freedom they would receive
through their Savior.
But how could serving the Savior liberate, while the
doctrines of demons enslave? Aren’t they both a form of slavery? Superficially,
yes! However, our slavery is like that of the salmon who is “enslaved” to a
life in the water, an “enslavement” which maximizes their freedom and mobility.
Similarly, our servitude to our Savior maximizes our freedom, since we had been
designed for such a relationship, as the fish had been designed for water. Amid
His forgiveness, cleansing, and love, we have been set free from our fishbowl
to explore His great creation.
This was made plain to me after I belonged to Christ. I
began to sense that there were places where my mind refused to go, closed doors
which refused to open. It was only the growing assurance of His love that had
given me the freedom to open these doors and to peer inside, a freedom to think
and to explore. Secure in Christ, I was no longer afraid where my mind would
take me.
Meanwhile, the demons want to keep our minds under lock and
key of their rituals, lest we begin to see and cry out for the Lord’s mercy and
escape (2 Timothy 2:24-26).
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