In Christ Alone

In Christ Alone
 
Colossians 2:6-10
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
 
How can I partner with the Holy Spirit in my life? Before I answer let me ask a question. What allowed you to begin a relationship with God? How did we…sinners, enter into a friendship with a Holy God? What brought us into a relationship with Christ? Was it dedication on our part?
Was it a result of unceasing effort? Of course not! We entered by it by faith, and nothing has changed!
 
Vs 6 “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving”. We are not the first generation of Christians who have tried to take matters into our own hands, the early church had the same problem. It’s part of fallen human nature to want to maintain control, to do things ourselves…to take all the credit.
 
When it comes to righteousness, whether for salvation or for living, we must allow God to do the work! The only thing we can do is surrender. Die to self! The Spirit filled life is a life of faith.
It started by faith and it runs on faith. It is faith from start to finish.
 
Form our opening text, Paul lived in a time--much like today--when there was a lot of interest in spirituality. Some people were into worshipping angels. Others were coming up with creative theories about Jesus, stating He was just God and not man, or just a man and not God. Some people--called Judaizers--were saying, “Sure, become a Christian, but you need to get circumcised, and obey the Sabbath law, and observe all the feasts and festivals, basically become a super Jew who also trusts Jesus as Messiah, and then and only then you can become a Christian.
 
In his letter to the church in Colossae, Paul kept it simple. He advised to...
 
Colossians 2:6-7
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
 
In other words, Paul said, “Remember how you first believed in Christ Jesus? How you made Him Lord of your life, as He came into your life and forgave all your sin? Just keep doing that, day after day. Get to know Jesus better and better. Be like a tree putting down deep roots in God’s word as you get to know Jesus, and he will strengthen you in the faith. And oh yeah, keep being thankful. Let it overflow in your life!”
 
So, according to Paul, you can build your spiritual life in Christ alone. You don’t need horoscopes. You don’t need a thorough knowledge of all the world religions. You don’t need to meditate--unless it’s on a scripture verse, that could be helpful--but not to empty your mind.
 
Keep cultivating that relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and everything else will work itself out. The great reformer, John Calvin, said, “Whoever is not satisfied with Christ alone, strives after something beyond absolute perfection.” To summarize all the reformers, salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, unto the glory of God alone, according to the Scriptures alone.
 
Build your spiritual life in Christ alone. And at the same time, know what to watch out for and what to stay away from. Paul’s advice still holds true today. So, our second point is… Reject any other way to God.
 
As you focus on Christ, know that any other way to God is going to be counterfeit. You’ve heard how Treasury agents recognize counterfeit bills, they study the real so much, that the forgery stands out like a sore thumb. Paul talks about watching out for spiritual forgeries starting in verse 8…
 
Colossians 2:8
8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.
 
Remember, Jesus is head of the church. When you stay connected to Him--the real deal--you’ll recognize the counterfeit. Pastor and author Max Lucado writes, “Followers of Christ do not become sidetracked by the insights of religious cults or modern philosophies. Only one person warrants our allegiance and trust—Jesus.”
 
There is one word that describes all counterfeit religions, and it’s the word “legalism.” Legalism says, “It’s too good to be true, that I could have all my sins forgiven. I have to do something in addition to giving my life to Christ or instead of that. I have to do something to get God to love me.” Do you sense the pride behind legalism? Like, what Jesus did for us on the cross was not enough?
 
In verse 13-14, Paul said that God took all the legal charges against us (for our sins against God) and nailed them to the cross.
 
Colossians 2:13-14
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
 
We can’t do anything to earn our salvation. Jesus has already done it! Every other religion in the world is the religion of ‘do,’ but Christianity alone is the religion of ‘done”. In Christ Alone!!!
Stay connected with Christ--spending time with him daily in prayer, scripture, and time with other believers--and you’ll spot the counterfeits a mile away.
 
Pay no attention to judgments over non-essentials. What are the non-essentials? Anything that takes away or tries to add to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Anything that is not essential to your salvation. All the things that Christian denominations usually like to fight about. Like, losing your salvation, baptism is needed for salvation, evidence of Spiritual gifts, like tongues, prophesy, and so on…Those are non-essentials.
 
We have entire denominations founded on what day is the right day to worship. That’s ok. God loves variety. Nothing wrong with people worshiping on Saturday or Sunday...as long as they don’t say it’s essential for your salvation which day you choose. If they go down that lane and you join them, that’s a problem!
 
Some read the King James, some the Message paraphrase or different translations. Don’t worry about it. Don’t let these non-essential differences keep you from loving people who love Jesus and just differ over something that is not really that important in all of eternity.
 
All of our denominational squabbles remind me of that old joke about a man arriving at the gates of heaven.
 
St. Peter shows him around and informs him that heaven is made up of many rooms in which reside each of the various denominations. Peter takes him down a hallway upon which the man hears beautiful choral singing. “Who’s in that room?” the man asks. “Oh, those are the Methodists. This is how they choose to praise God.” Peter takes the man a little further down the hallway and all of sudden the man hears clapping and tambourine music. “These are the charismatics,” St. Peter explains. After several more such rooms, Peter takes the man to the last room at the end of the hallway. Peter places his finger over his mouth and warns the man to be very, very quiet. “Why?” the man asks. Peter answers, “Because this is the room for the Independent Baptists, and they think they’re the only ones up here.”
Someone once said all of our denominational labels are going to burn off on the way to hell or peel off on the way to heaven. What matters most and what only matters ultimately is Christ Jesus our Lord.
 
In Conclusion:
 
Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
 
Since all the fullness of the Godhead, dwells in Jesus, and Jesus dwells in every believer, through the Holy Spirit, then it only makes sense that in Him, every believer is made complete.
What could be lacking in this statement… “all the fullness of the Godhead”.
 
Now listen…the world will continue to get worse. Its in our Bible study, we know what God has instore for the future. Many false believers, false teachings will come our way and that is the truth. In Christ Alone will we be able to stand firm, stand tall and stand victorious! Nothing and no one else can stand as a substitute!!! NONE!!!