Greater Than: Trap of Legalism

Chris Wall • Colossians 2:11-17

The church at Colossae was dealing with false teaching coming from multiple fronts. There was the challenge of oriental mysticism, astrology, philosophy, and in this passage, it confronts the Jewish legalism. These Jewish Gnostics were pushing the church to submit to the Old Testament laws and customs. The message of the gospel brought about a rapid shift in traditions. You think we have traditions, imagine traditions that could be traced back to Moses. That is a long time. This gnostic legalism believed keeping the Jewish law would help believers be more spiritual. If they were circumcised, kept the dietary laws, observed the holy days, then God would be more pleased and they could be among the spiritual elite. Paul made it clear that the Christian is not bound by any of those requirements. Keeping these laws really do not do any good when it comes to your walk with the Lord. Jesus Christ alone is sufficient for every spiritual need. In Christ alone, our lives are complete. Our identity is found in our relationship with Christ, not in the rules we keep.