Useless Sanctifiers
017 Useless Sanctifiers
Colossians 2:16-23
September 14, 2025
As you know, we are currently in a study we have called
“The Necessity of Sanctification”
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”
Thus far we have looked at what we might call:
THE DECREE OF SANCTIFICATION
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
And then we spent several weeks looking at what we might call:
THE DOCTRINE OF SANCTIFICATION
Romans 6:5-7 “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.”
We’re not going to rehash any of those this morning,
You can go online if you missed some of them and catch up.
THIS MORNING we move to a third aspect of our study, which we can call:
THE DYNAMICS OF SANCTIFICATION
“How sanctification works”
How it is produced or brought about in our lives.
· We realize that it is “God who works in us”.
· We have learned that we need the Holy Spirit to accomplish it.
· We know that we must “walk by the Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirement of the Law”.
· And we even know that we are “obligated” to do so.
· We are told to “put to death the deeds of the body”.
· There is a fight, there is a war, and we are called to join it.
But let’s get even a little more practical than that.
We’ll assume that you have decided to enlist in the battle.
“I’M IN. I want to be conformed into the image of Christ, I want to enter the battle against sin. I want to put to death the deeds of the body. I want to be sanctified.”
Where do I start?
Give me some practical steps.
“The Dynamics of Sanctification”
You can read various theologians or articles from various ministries
And their input in this area is remarkably similar.
The means through which we pursue and progress in sanctification are:
1. Scripture
2. Prayer
3. Fellowship
4. Providence
5. Obedience
And I certainly want to get to that list and to discuss why they work.
HOWEVER, first, I am compelled
To recognize a few things that are NOT on that list.
For sure there are things we can pursue
Which are profitable as a means of obtaining sanctification.
But there are also things which many people pursue
As a means of sanctification that are not profitable at all.
One of the reasons church people
Fail to see much success in the area of sanctification
Is because they use the wrong tools to try and obtain it.
We see it throughout the Scriptures.
· The Galatians were told to pursue circumcision and the Law.
· Ephesus was hit with false teachers who told them to abstain from food and marriage.
· Simon the magician thought the Holy Spirit could be obtained by money.
THE POINT BEING, in the world there are always those
Who tell you to be sanctified but then give you terrible advice
Regarding what tools you need to employ to achieve it.
OUR GOAL is to show you what tools work and how to use them.
BUT FIRST, we’re going to expose some of the nonsense out there.
We are going to look at the book of Colossians.
We’ve never studied through the book of Colossians together,
But we don’t have the time to give a full background to the letter.
However, I will make this one fact known
Paul is very much concerned with the sanctification of the Colossians.
Colossians 1:9-10 “For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”
Colossae was not a church that Paul had founded or pastored.
But their sanctification mattered to him.
This was the driving ambition of his ministry for all believers.
Colossians 1:28-29 “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
Paul’s driving objective was to “present every man complete in Christ”
· For that he labored.
· For that he worked.
Also seen in that passage is an indicator regarding
HOW PAUL BELIEVED SANCTIFICATION WORKED.
Paul said, “we proclaim Him”
Paul understood that sanctification occurs
Through the believers gazing upon Christ.
He would write to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 3:18 “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
Paul knew that the secret to sanctification was for the believer
To gaze upon and commune with and draw near to Christ.
The more we behold Him the more like Him we will be.
So Paul set out to proclaim Christ and see men conformed into His image
That was the ministry.
And that brings him then to the Colossians.
PAUL WAS CONCERNED.
He was concerned that the Colossians
Were being pulled away from a pure devotion to Christ
In order to achieve sanctification another way.
You see him reference this in chapter 2.
Colossians 2:4 “I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.”
And then again in verse 8
Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.”
“takes you captive” is (soo-LOG-oo-GAY-o)
It literally means to “carry off the booty” or “to carry off the plunder”
Paul here uses the phrase symbolically
To speak of spiritual pirates who come in and use
Philosophy and worldly thinking to pull men away from the truth.
They in effect, have sailed up beside you, swung into your boat, and are kidnapping you away from the truth.
The problem was that they were causing the Colossians
To turn their eyes off of the person and work of Christ
In favor of other means of sanctification.
Now Paul warns them not to listen.
(READ 2:8-15)
· Only Christ is the fullness of deity.
· Only Christ makes us complete.
· Only Christ can remove our sinful flesh.
· Only Christ can make us alive.
· Only Christ can redeem us from the Law
· Only Christ can disarm our former master
Being pulled away from a focus on Him is not going to help.
So I hope you understand the basic problem.
Paul wants the Colossians to be conformed into the image of Christ.
· He knows that this occurs when we behold the glory of Christ.
· And there are valid ways that men should be led to do that.
· Things like Scripture, Prayer, Fellowship, Providence, and Obedience
But there are pirates who have come in
· They are captivating the Colossians
· By leading them into other practices in order to obtain sanctification.
· But the practices they are introducing are of no benefit regarding sanctification.
IT IS PAUL’S DESIRE TO EXPOSE THOSE USELESS SANCTIFIERS.
And that is where WE WANT TO START.
You need to identify these faulty sanctifiers
Because far too many religious organizations think
This is the way to achieve holiness and plainly put, it is not.
So let’s pick up in Paul’s argument in Colossians 2:16
And discuss these useless means of sanctification.
#1 LEGALISM: All Shadow, No Substance
Colossians 2:16-17
As these spiritual pirates sought to turn the Colossians away from Christ,
One of the means they sought to focus on was legalism.
John MacArthur defines legalism as: “The Religion of human achievement”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon; Moody Press, Chicago, IL, 1992] pg, 116)
John Piper as: “The conviction that law-keeping is the ground of our acceptance with God”
https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-is-legalism
It is what we saw in that Pharisee
· Who was certain that he was pleasing to God because he “fasted twice a
week and paid tithe of all that he had”.
Or in those Pharisees who faithfully
· gave, prayed, and fasted;
· who “tithed mint, and dill, and cummin”,
· who “broadened their phylacteries and lengthened the tassels on their
garments”.
They were certain that they had
Gained acceptance to God through their religious works.
YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH LEGALISM.
What you should understand is that
Legalism is not just a faulty doctrine of justification,
It is also a horrible doctrine regarding sanctification.
When Paul wrote to the Galatians he asked:
Galatians 3:1-3 “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
· In short, legalistic works could not bring you to God, why would you suppose that legalistic works will bring you closer to God?
Works could not justify and they cannot sanctify.
But that has not stopped many a religious group
From seeking them as a means of sanctification.
And that is what the Colossians are faced with here.
(16) “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day…”
Paul speaks of them being under the judgment or evaluation of others.
That is to say,
· Someone had come to Colossae and convinced the Colossians
· That until they came under the dietary restrictions and started honoring the Sabbath
· That they were not pleasing to God and could not please Him further.
They were being told that the means of sanctification
Was all bound up in your diet and your calendar.
And because they were passing judgment on the Colossians
For failing to live up to their standard,
The Colossians were feeling compelled to comply.
WE DO THAT SOMETIMES.
A group of your peers begins to judge you according to their standard
And out of a desire to fit in or please them you comply.
That is what is happening here.
It is peer pressure meant to coerce the Colossians
To adhere to an external standard of religion
By telling them that this is the way you become holy and please God.
So, if I want to be sanctified…
· If I want to be holy for God is holy…
· If I want to be perfect as my Heavenly Father is perfect…
· If I want to be conformed into the image of Christ…
The way to do that is through dietary restrictions and Sabbath keeping?
Well, let’s consider that for a moment.
LET’S START WITH FOOD.
Can food be a problem?
· Of course it can, gluttony is a sin.
When food becomes my source of happiness...
1 Corinthians 6:12-13 “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.”
· That is a reminder that while food is good and it is to be received with gratitude, food is not your purpose for living.
· If you live for food that would be gluttony and that does need to be remedied.
Or when I pursue food even to the harm of my brother.
Romans 14:14-17 “I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
· While food is fine, it should not be something that you value more than righteousness, peace, and joy.
· If your eating harms your brother then you have put too much value in your food.
Hoarding food because would be a sin.
1 John 3:17 “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
Consider the Corinthian potluck
1 Corinthians 11:21 “for in your eating each one takes his own supper first; and one is hungry and another is drunk.”
Consider the Corinthian eating food sacrificed to idols
1 Corinthians 8:13 “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”
SO YES, HOW WE HANDLE FOOD CAN BE SINFUL.
But is food in and of itself a problem?
Is abstaining from food a means of growing more like Christ?
· Are there certain foods that lead you away from God?
· Does abstaining from foods draw you closer to God?
· Does food really have that much power?
There are many passages on this, and we can’t look at all of them,
But perhaps a few will suffice.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in 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 gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”
Paul there actually identifies the call to abstain from certain foods
TO BE A DOCTRINE OF DEMONS.
He says that everything God created is good
And if I partake with thankfulness, there is no sin in it.
1 Corinthians 10:30 “If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?”
This is true throughout Scripture.
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 “Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward. Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God. For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.”
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works. Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.”
· God created your body to need food.
· God created food.
· God gave you a stomach to process food.
· God intended for you to give Him thanksgiving when He provided food.
It’s that simple.
· Abstaining from food can actually rob God of the thanksgiving He deserves.
· And it can rob you of something God provided for you to enjoy
It is clear that Paul saw no benefit in that teaching.
He saw it as a demonic distraction
Meant to lead people away from Christ, not to Him.
But perhaps more than any other passage, JESUS clarified this for us.
After the Pharisees rebuked Jesus
Because His disciples ate with unwashed hands He said:
Mark 7:14-15 “After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.”
This disciples did not understand the point. So Jesus clarified it:
Mark 7:17-23 “When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. “All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
In short it is nonsensical and absurd to assume
That food has anything to do with your sanctification.
It’s not what you put into your mouth that causes you to dishonor God,
It’s what comes out of your mouth that is the problem.
Pursuing sanctification by changing your diet is useless.
1 Corinthians 8:8 “But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat.”
In fact we could revisit the way the flesh works
And I would tell you that seeking to abstain from food
Is only going pick a fight in your flesh that will be of no value.
The point is, dietary restrictions won’t help you become more holy.
AND NEITHER DOES SABBATH REQUIREMENTS.
The writer of Hebrews taught us that in Christ Jesus we have an eternal rest that we enjoy daily.
If you want to press the subject.
· It is clear that the early church gathered on Sunday.
· Even in the Old Testament God never enforced it on Gentiles.
· The Jerusalem council didn’t enforce it on the Gentile church
· You never hear Paul give a command for Sabbath worship.
· No church is ever rebuked for breaking it.
· None of the early church fathers expressed that Sabbath worship was the norm.
In short, God is not concerned about location or date.
Jesus made this clear.
John 4:23-24 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Abstaining from foods or adhering to a certain calendar
Is not a means of sanctification.
Paul goes on to say:
(17) “things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.”
All of those things were merely meant to point us to Christ.
· Jesus Christ is the bread which came down from heaven.
· Jesus Christ is our Sabbath Rest
· Jesus Christ is our Passover Lamb
All of those things were merely His shadow on earth.
When the substance arrived the shadow lost its significance.
And what a unique analogy.
Which is going to have more effect on your life?
Getting hit by a truck or getting hit by the shadow of a truck?
SHADOWS HAVE NO POWER.
They will not help you in sanctification.
So if you are seeking holiness or sanctification,
Pursuing it through legalism is a useless and foolish method.
Many try it today, but it won’t work.
· Seventh Day Adventists
· Hebrew Roots Movement
Legalism: ALL SHADOW, NO SUBSTANCE
#2 MYSTICISM: All Show, No Stay
Colossians 2:18-19
In verse 16 we found out that the Colossians were being judged.
Here in verse 18 we find out how effective that judgment was because here Paul says:
“Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize…”
The Colossians were totally missing out on the joy of Christianity.
How miserable is it to think you are either not in Christ
Or not near Him because of some lie you were told.
WHAT WAS THE LIE HERE?
“by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind…”
Incidentally the word “self-abasement”
Is a word that is most of the time translated “humility”.
Only here and in verse 23 is it given the negative connotation.
What Paul is referring to here is a FALSE HUMILITY,
A performed lowliness, a pretended spirituality.
It is coupled with “the worship of angels” and “visions”
This is what we call mysticism.
It has shown up in the church in various forms throughout the church’s existence.
The gnostics
· Were those who claimed this higher knowledge that other men didn’t have.
Today we hear charismatics
· Speak of some secondary filling of the Holy Spirit accompanied by their own
personal and private prayer language.
· Others speak of their regular visions from angels or even Jesus.
Catholics
· Routinely pray to angels for their various needs.
This type of stuff is still alive and well in the church
It is used as not only a means of sanctification,
But even as an indicator that their spirituality is deeper than yours.
· Oh, you don’t have visions?
· Oh, you don’t dream prophetic dreams?
· Oh, God doesn’t audibly speak to you?
· Oh, God hasn’t given you a private prayer language?
· Oh, you have never seen the angelic host?
Well clearly it’s because I have obtained
A level of spirituality that you have never obtained.
Can you see how the Colossians were being berated?
They were not enjoying the prize and joy of their salvation
Because they had become convinced
That they were not yet very pleasing to God.
After all, God had never done those things for them.
PAUL GIVES GREAT INSIGHT
Into what all those things actually are when he says that they are “inflated without cause by his fleshly mind.”
Paul tells us both THE SOURCE of their visions and THE RESULT of them.
The SOURCE is not God, it is their own fleshly mind.
· It is a figment of their own imagination (at best), at worst it would be demonic.
· They aren’t hearing from God, they are hearing from their own gut and they
think it’s God.
And we know this because of what their supposed encounter produces.
The RESULT is not holiness, it is pride.
· They are “inflated without cause”
· They are really puffed up and proud of themselves and there is no reason to
be.
They didn’t see an angel, they got carried away in their own imagination.
That doesn’t produce godliness.
Jeremiah 23:28-32 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” declares the Lord. “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock? “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who steal My words from each other. “Behold, I am against the prophets,” declares the Lord, “who use their tongues and declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ “Behold, I am against those who have prophesied false dreams,” declares the Lord, “and related them and led My people astray by their falsehoods and reckless boasting; yet I did not send them or command them, nor do they furnish this people the slightest benefit,” declares the Lord.”
There is no benefit there.
But I tell you what is there: DISTRACTION
Paul says, (19) “And not holding fast to the head…”
Men who get caught up in mystical revelations and visions
Are actually pulled away from Christ, not pushed closer to Him.
By getting caught up in their spiritual experiences
They are actually pulled away from the real means of sanctification.
· They don’t need the Scriptures, they get a private revelation.
· They don’t genuine prayer, they have a private language.
· They don’t need fellowship, they are the super spiritual elite.
Their supposed spirituality actually becomes hyper-sensuality
That pulls them away from what would really sanctify them.
Paul says, “not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”
In other words, God has already determined how the body grows
And God is the agent of growth.
And the church is a body.
And they all grow the same way.
Even in a natural sense, every human body grows the same way.
· They eat food and get nutrients and thus grow.
You don’t see it where 90% of people grow by eating food,
But there are 10% of humans who grow simply from
Having a vision of food or of a chef.
That’s nonsense.
If you want to grow you need nutrients.
1 Peter 2:2 “like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation,”
Mysticism is not a means of sanctification.
ALL SHOW, NO STAY
#3 ASCETICISM: All suffer, No success
Colossians 2:20-23
Asceticism is the practice of self-denial and self-abasement for purposes of spiritual growth or sanctification.
And history has produced some impressive ones.
John MacArthur wrote:
“According to the church Father Athanasius, Anthony, the founder of Christian monasticism, never changed his vest or washed his feet. He was outdone, however, by Simeon Stylites, who spent the last thirty-six years of his life atop a fifty-foot pillar. Simeon mistakenly through the path to spirituality lay in exposing his body to the elements and withdrawing from the world. Their feats have been emulated by monks throughout church history. Even Martin Luther, before discovering the truth of justification by faith, nearly wrecked his health through asceticism.”
(ibid. pg. 123)
And indeed we still see this is a means of sanctification today.
In Catholicism we still see Monks and Nuns who take vows of poverty and celibacy in order to draw closer to God.
The entire Amish community practices a form of asceticism to keep themselves unstained by the world and thus more holy and sanctified.
Proponents of asceticism like to quote
Jesus’ conversation with the Rich Young Ruler when Jesus said:
Matthew 19:21 “Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
Or they like to quote Jesus famous call to salvation:
Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”
So was Jesus advocating asceticism as a means of sanctification?
· If He was, then it is truly strange to find Him eating with tax collectors and
sinners.
· It is peculiar that while Jesus called the Rich Young Ruler to leave all his
possessions Zaccheus only gave back half and yet was still saved.
· Furthermore, in the Old Testament men like Job and Abraham, David and
Solomon were incredibly wealthy.
That is not what Jesus was teaching.
· The Rich Young Ruler is an issue of idolatry, not sanctification.
· The first word of the gospel presentation is not “sell” it is “repent”.
· Now, repent may mean sell in your case, but it is not universal.
And when Jesus called for self-denial in Matthew 16
· It was a denial of your goodness not your money,
· Though it is true that in some cases following Jesus will cause you to lose it.
· Many missionaries live a life of practical asceticism simply because of their
missional calling. Christ and Meegan Weaver come to mind.
BUT DOES ASCETICISM MAKE MEN MORE HOLY?
Paul doesn’t seem to think so.
(20-22) “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?”
Paul reminds the Colossians that we “died with Christ”.
· We died to sin.
· We died to the flesh.
· We died to the Law.
We are no longer seeking to satisfy God through fleshly means.
We satisfy God through Christ Jesus.
Abandoning that reality in favor of returning to a system
Where God is pleased through our self-abasement is foolish!
“Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”
Paul says “which all refer to things destined to perish with use”
In other words these are temporal things, not eternal things.
Temporal things can have no eternal significance.
They won’t make you holy and they won’t make you pleasing to God.
And then Paul makes the point.
(23) “These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
Paul says these things sure look like something special.
· Many in history were inspired by men caught up in asceticism.
· It is inspiring to see men endure such things for their faith.
· It’s one of the draws of Buddhism.
· It’s why men hold Nuns and Monks in high regard.
Paul says, “I agree, it looks good”
“but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”
Starving your body
· Will impress those around you but it will not help you overcome the flesh.
Enduring harsh weather conditions
· Will impress your colleagues but it won’t help you become holy.
THAT IS ALL SUFFER AND NO SUCCESS.
Men who do that are still just as sinful in their hearts as they ever were.
I don’t care if you feed the flesh
I don’t care if you starve the flesh
I don’t care if you mystify the flesh
IT WON’T HELP
THOSE THINGS ARE USELESS SANCTIFIERS.
And I think we need to know that going in.
I hope that you have been convinced to pursue sanctification in your life,
But it is important for you to know how to and how not to enter that fight.
Don’t go for legalism
Don’t go for mysticism
Don’t go for asceticism
Those are not effective means.
But just to give you a taste of what is effective:
Keep reading in Colossians.
Colossians 3:1-4 “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
What helps is you gazing on Christ.
What helps is you seeing the glory of Christ.
TO GAZE ON THE GLORY OF CHRIST – YOU DON’T NEED:
· The self-righteous method of legalism.
· The Christ severing method of mysticism.
· The people-impressing method of asceticism.
YOU NEED Scripture, Prayer, Fellowship, Providence, and Obedience.
And you need to use them the right way.
And that is where we are headed next.
But don’t get disheartened, distracted, or deceived
By false methods of sanctification.
We want those means by which we truly gaze upon the glory of Christ.