THE WORD FOR TODAY FRIDAY JANUARY 3RD. 2020.
Colossians 2:8-10
Take heed lest there shall be any one that maketh spoil of you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ: for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily, and in him, ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power.
To continue from yesterday, Paul warned believers to be careful of long-held beliefs. Just because people have believed something to be accurate and have been taught that something is right does not make it right. We are not to base our faith and our walk on the traditions of men no matter how godly or worthy of respect the man may be. We are to base our belief system on the Word of God and projecting the Lordship of Christ. There is what Paul calls the rudiments of the world. We need not move away from a mature faith based on Christ to accept a simplistic doctrine. This phrase refers to simple things in contrast to a more profound truth. We are to stay with the Bible and try every teaching against the clear Word of God and acknowledging Jesus as the Lord.
If you listen to certain high profile preachers in our days, you hear the very things Paul warned the Colossians about, being taught in the pulpits. We are to avoid false doctrine at all costs. We are to run from it regardless of the package in which it is presented. Our Christian life is not about obeying rules and regulations. You need to watch out for people who would place you back under the Law. Jesus came to deliver us from legalism and the harsh, impossible demands of the Law. Christians are to stand in the liberty they have been given in Jesus Christ.
Paul is telling these believers that no man has the right to be their judge. If Jesus has saved them, they have been delivered from the demands of the Law, and they enjoy great liberty in Jesus. The only reason that their right should be limited is for the sake of a weaker brother or sister. True spirituality does not consist in the keeping of human-made, external rules; but in a personal, faith relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. What you do or do not do is not what makes you a spiritual person. Spirituality comes from knowing Jesus and always projecting him as the Lord of all in your life.
PRAYER
I am looking up to the exalted Christ, renouncing everything worldly and human. As I focus on projecting Christ Jesus as the Lord of all in Jesus’ name AMEN!!!
The writer, Rev. Oppong Adu-Gyamfi is the Founder and Senior Pastor of International Charismatic Church. He is a Teacher and an Author.
