You have died to the 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.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.”
(Col 2:20-3:6 ESV)

I still find this one of my most compelling passages from the Bible. At first read, it is easy to pass it off as Paul rebuking Jewish believers for returning to their rites and rituals, and so forsaking grace and faith alone.

But over the years, this scripture has penetrated deeper into me. It was the passage I was meditating on while on my prayer walk this morning, and I think it fair to say that it speaks to all believers! It speaks to a loss of first love, first faith, first trust. It speaks to a replacement of passion with lesser priorities. It speaks to our service supplanting a sensational relationship with Jesus.

Note firstly the fake, the surrogates, that we can end up serving…

• The rules and traditions of men. Oh, how much momentum has been created by so few in the history of the church! One or two find reformational breakthroughs, and then the majority remain followers and copy-cats. Every surge of faith spawns a new denomination somewhere. Has there ever been a time where the royal priesthood has truly risen up, each one with a first-hand passion and intimacy with Jesus? Maybe. But it was a long time ago and it is what is most needed now! Not a tiny minority raising up big ministries and big churches, but cities and nations remaining unaffected. 

• Things that have an appearance of wisdom. I have come to realize that a man who claims special holiness and access to the Spirit, is unholy and has many private sins. A truly holy man claims nothing, boasts in the Cross, puts others at ease, is un-weird, can enjoy God in all things, and does not have a shred of legalism. So many today are claiming special revelation, angelic appearances (yes, there are angels), prophetic insight and the power of God – and yet has holiness ever been at such an all-time low? Having said that, I can see in my sons’ generation a genuine hunger for God, for truth, and for authentic Christianity. 

• A sense of moral righteousness. The age old curse of the law, which can at moments make me feel better than others, when I deploy my own inner strengths to briefly subdue the voracious appetites of the flesh. Can I not once and for all time realize that only the Cross slays the flesh, and that its power is made effective through faith and repentance, not through activities and vocabularies and postures and meetings? Every time I have given way to the age-old desire for self-justification, the end is more condemnation and less strength against sin and temptation. Jesus is my Hiding Place and Cleft in the rock! He is my great Deliverer! He knows me, He loves me, He has room for me, He makes intercession for me – and above all, He has defeated my enemies! He has fully justified me apart from my own works, past, present and future!!

Note then the cure to restraining sensual indulgence…

• Believe that you have been raised with Christ. I remember an old pastor friend of mine, who would always be reminding us that the beginning of a holy walk and the starting point for all spiritual warfare and victory, was to know that God has placed you in His Son, at His right hand! There is no other true start point! Has God slayed you, and raised you to a new life in His Son? Well, has He?! If so, then…

• Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated. Indeed, set your mind on things above. This takes effort and practice and a partnership with the immanent Spirit, otherwise the Word would not exhort us to this discipline. But God is telling you and I that we have been raised with Christ, that our lives and futures and eternities are bound up in heaven with Him. So, earthly Lot, it is time to join Abraham in the highlands, and Israel on their desert pigrimage. There is a final Jordan, as surely as the death and resurrection of Jesus was the parting of our Red Sea. We too could fail to mix God’s promise of an eternal resting place, a heavenly Canaan, with faith.

And as we fix our minds on things above and our eyes on Jesus who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross, we too will find new strength. The things of the world will dim. The vicissitudes of men can be left to God. Enemies can be forgiven; comforts can be forsaken; money can be given; prayers can be offered; success can be surrendered; purity can arise; songs can be sung; sins can be dealt with; temptations can be subdued; bodies can be beaten and enslaved.

And the true church can arise. The Royal Priesthood can be consecrated.

And what is the end result of this heavenly fascination?  Appearing with Christ "in glory", and not in shame.

Bless you

Nick