The Danger Of Being Legalistic

SERMON OUTLINE

• 💭 Consider this: How can I discern the difference between holding firm biblical convictions and becoming legalistic? How can I grow in showing both conviction and compassion within the body of Christ?
• I. The Dietary Laws
• II. The Religious Days

TRANSCRIPT

As we are starting through the book of Colossians, we have come to Colossians chapter 2 verses 16–17. Allow me to read for you this passage: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” The Lord blessed the reading of His holy and sacred Word.

Oftentimes, people have asked, “Why do Christians follow the same doctrines and principles in the Bible and yet they disagree over so many things? Why do Christians apply the Bible in so many different ways? Why are there so many denominations?” When such questions are asked, almost immediately the thought of separation comes into our minds. But not all separations are bad. Some separations are needful.

For example, biblical separation. When the fundamental doctrines of the Bible are being attacked, we need to separate all because of sin and worldliness. Sin will destroy the purity, spiritual health, and the testimony of the believer as well as the church. As Ephesians 5:27 says, “that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” All these are needful separations.

But sadly, too often Christians separate over trivial matters, things that are not sinful in and of themselves, but differences over personal preferences and traditions that are neither commanded nor forbidden in the Scriptures. They are matters of personal preferences and traditions, and due to their lack of understanding. When people impose their personal convictions on others, it will inevitably cause confusion, disunity, and strife.

The church is made up of believers of many differences: differences in age, education, personalities, cultural and racial differences. Especially our church is a migrant church. Some of us come from conservative churches. Others come from liberal churches. Yet others come from charismatic churches. Previously, some of us may have been Roman Catholics, ancestor worshippers, atheists, humanists, and so forth. But today we have come together by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ through His infallible and inerrant Word.

Coming from diverse backgrounds can be both a positive and negative thing. On one hand, such diversities can strengthen the local church. Why? Because we can testify to the world around us that despite our differences, it is the power of Jesus Christ that can bring us together as one. But on the other hand, there is the danger of carrying our baggage from the past into the church, and we expect others to accept our personal preferences and traditions, and we create divisions and disunity, even hatred and animosity amongst ourselves. May the Lord forgive us.

The church at Colossae was no different. The believers were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles. According to this passage and the following verses, it seemed that there were some Judaizers and false teachers who had brought their Jewish traditions and beliefs into the church, and they tried to impose those teachings upon the Colossians. Some of those teachings were heretical. So Paul had to address them.

Today we will consider the danger of being legalistic, which is the title of our message. Legalism is the religion of human achievement. It is the belief that salvation or spirituality is based on Christ plus human works. So Christ alone is not sufficient. You need to include human works in order for you to save yourself or to be more spiritual.

Remember, the theme of this book, Colossians, is about the supremacy of Christ: that in Him alone is sufficient for all things. Therefore, Paul began by telling the Colossians, “Let no man therefore judge you.” If you are spiritually united with Christ, you are one with Him. You are one with Him forever. He has provided you with complete salvation, forgiveness, and victory. You do not need to be subjected to legalism. Don't go back to it.

I. The Dietary Laws

Firstly, Paul dealt with the legalism of dietary laws: “Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink.” The Judaizers or false teachers were telling the Colossians that it was not enough to believe in Jesus Christ; they also needed to keep the Jewish ceremonial laws. They had strict prohibitions about food and drink based on the Old Testament laws. Those laws were given to Israel to separate them from the surrounding pagan nations, to distinguish them specially as God’s people.

In the early church, many Jews who came to believe in Jesus Christ could not bring themselves to abandon the ceremonial laws and practices because they had been influenced by those teachings since early childhood. They felt compelled to comply with the Mosaic dietary laws. So there were certain foods they could eat and could not eat.

On top of that, some of the sacrifices offered to the pagan idols were later resold in the marketplace. So many of the converted Gentiles, who previously had been strongly influenced in pagan rituals and ceremonies, were afraid to eat those foods bought from the marketplace because they did not want to take any chance of eating those meat which was defiled by idol worship. Therefore, they would rather just eat vegetables. The Apostle Paul had to write extensively in the books of Romans and Corinthians to emphasise that idols were nothing. The Colossians were under the new covenant, and the dietary laws of the old covenant were no longer applicable to them.

This was best illustrated in the vision of Peter in Acts 10:10–15. Let me read for you: “And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth; wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter, kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. — he was a devout Jew—And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

In other words, God declared an end to the dietary laws and all food to be clean. Jesus Himself made that very clear in Mark 7:15: “There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.” In other words, it is not what you eat; it is what comes out from your heart that you ought to be careful of.

But there were other believers, the mature ones, both Jews and Gentiles, who understood and exercised their freedom in Christ. Many mature Jewish believers realised that in Christ, under the new covenant, the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic laws were no longer valid. Many mature Gentile believers also realised that the idols were nothing and had no effect on anything physical such as food. But there were those who were still strongly influenced by their former religion and beliefs. Though they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, they were weak in their faith because they could not fully understand the freedom in Christ. And those who were mature would despise those who were weak.

Dear friend, those who are strong are often faced with the temptation to push their freedom in Christ to the limit to see how far they could go before they actually commit a sin. Those who are weak are afraid of committing the religious offences, and they surround themselves with self-imposed restrictions. The strong believer is tempted to look upon the weak brother as being too restricted to be of any use to the Lord. The weak believer is tempted to look upon the strong brother as being too free-minded and undisciplined to serve Christ effectively. And this is the root of disunity.

The word judge is in a legal sense, like finding an accused person guilty of a crime. So here Paul was telling the Colossians not to let anyone find them guilty of what they eat and drink. To the Corinthians, he said in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” So what they should do is give thanks to God and eat the food that He has so graciously provided.

II. The Religious Days

Secondly, Paul dealt with the legalism of religious days: “Let no man judge you in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days.” The holy day of festival was one of the annual Jewish celebrations, such as the Passover, Pentecost, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of Lights, and so forth (you can read about that in Leviticus 23). The new moon was the first day of the month. The Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week, or Saturday, according to the Jewish calendar. The Jews were very particular about keeping these religious days.

Even though some might have come to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they still continued to keep these religious days. So they insisted that the Colossian believers also had to observe these religious days. However, again, Paul said to the Colossians, “Do not let anyone judge you. You are under the new covenant. You no longer need to keep those religious days in the old covenant.” Why? Because they were a shadow of things to come. But the body is of Christ.

When we walk along the road, especially on a sunny day, we see a shadow, right? The shadow is not the real thing. Only the body is the real thing. In other words, Paul was saying the shadow is not the reality. The real thing is the body, and the body is Christ. All those religious days were but shadows pointing to Christ. You see, the Old Testament ceremonial laws regarding what the people should eat and drink, should not eat and drink, the celebration of holy days, including the Passover and the Sabbath days, they were meant to be shadows of things to come. Once the real thing has come, then the shadow must fade away. The real thing was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.

After Jesus came and He died on the cross and shed His precious blood as the ultimate Passover Lamb, which all the Passover lambs that were slaughtered for centuries were pointing to, today we no longer keep the Passover, but the Lord's Supper. When Christ was resurrected from the dead on the first day of the week, today we no longer keep the Sabbath on Saturday, but the Lord's Day on Sunday. The ceremonial laws were fulfilled in Christ, and they were done away. The civil laws were especially given to Israel so that they might function as a nation, and they were not applicable to us. Though we do draw biblical principles from them, the moral laws, or the Ten Commandments, are permanent, and they are still applicable to us today.

To keep the Sabbath holy is part of the Ten Commandments. Now the question is, why are we keeping the Sabbath day on Sunday, the first day of the week, instead of Saturday? A moment ago I just mentioned that it was all because Christ was risen from the dead on that particular day. But there's also more to it. God created the world in six days and He rested on the seventh day, and thus He set the precedence for the Sabbath day of rest. Well, the resurrection of Jesus Christ has transformed the weekly Sabbath. It is no longer on the seventh day of the week, but the first day of the week because that was the day our Lord Jesus was raised. It is no longer called the Sabbath day, but the Lord's Day. And it is no longer about just remembering the creation of God, but to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Remember, the children of Israel were commanded to remember how God had redeemed them from the land of Egypt. God said, “I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Today we remember the Christian Sabbath on Sunday because Christ has accomplished the greater redemption by dying for our sins, and He rose again on the third day. BB Warfield, the theologian, said Christ took the Sabbath into the grave with Him and brought the Lord's Day out of the grave on resurrection morning. That is the reason why the New Testament records for us all the significant events that happened on Sunday, the first day of the week.

Let me briefly give you some examples. The Lord Jesus was risen from the dead on the first day of the week. He met His disciples on the first day of the week. When He poured out His Spirit at Pentecost, it was on the first day of the week. When Paul was at Troas, he went to church on the first day of the week. When he wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 16:2, he said: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” So the apostles had given us a clear pattern that the New Testament church met on Sunday, the first day of the week.

But most importantly, Revelation 1:10 calls this special day the Lord's Day. The Apostle John said: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, I am the first and the last.” In the Old Testament, God calls the Sabbath My day. Now He calls it the Lord's Day. There are only two things in the New Testament that are said to be the Lord's: the Lord's table and the Lord's Day. In other words, the Lord is putting His own stamp on the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath.

Today we keep the Christian Sabbath because it is permanent. It is applicable to us today, and we call it the Lord's Day. But we must bear in mind that keeping the Christian Sabbath should not be a legalistic ceremony. By that I mean the Lord's Day, Sunday, should not be more important than the Lord Himself. It is the Lord that we worship, not the day. We don't worship Sunday. We worship the Lord on Sunday.

Allow me to give you an illustration. There’s a little town called Kemaman in Malaysia. Friday is considered Sunday, and everyone rested on Friday instead of Sunday. So Kemaman Bible Presbyterian Church has their worship service conducted on Friday instead of Sunday. Is it wrong? No, it is not wrong. Remember, we worship the Lord, not the day. But if there are no hindrances or restrictions, as much as possible, we worship the Lord on Sunday because this is the day our Lord Jesus was risen from the grave.

Most of us have no issues with eating meat and drink, and we have no problems with the observation of holy days. So how does this passage apply to us? Well, we may have our own challenges with other nonessential legalistic matters. There are many modern-day applications of such personal convictions that we have, and we should not be divided over such matters. For example, like the celebration of Easter or Christmas. Or should your family have a television or a computer? Or should women use cosmetics? Or should we send our children to the public school, or homeschool our children, etc.?

Some years ago, I knew of a preacher who was invited to minister to a particular church. This preacher had a strong conviction about homeschooling and that parents should train their own children at home and not leave it to the teachers. It was like his pet topic, and wherever he went he would talk about it. On the other hand, the leaders of that particular church did not share the same conviction. They were more evangelistic in their approach. They believed that we are in the world, but not of the world. We should not isolate our children, but rather allow our children to be the salt and the light of this world because this is a world that needs the gospel of Jesus Christ. Somehow there were some disagreements when the preacher tried to impose his own personal convictions on those who do not share the same conviction.

In another church, there were some youth leaders who fought with one another, and they almost split the church. And the reason was because they debated over the length of a boy's hair—how long is long—and the length of a girl's skirt—how short is short—and how much fashion a person can indulge in before he or she is considered worldly. We become legalistic when we fail to understand the spiritual principles behind all these things.

There are yet others who will go around asking people: Do you have quiet time every morning? Quiet time should only be in the morning and not evening, because that is the time you begin the day. How long do you pray each day? How many good Christian books do you read each month? Have you evangelised? How many times do you evangelise? Once a month—that is not good enough. Once a week—still not enough. Once a day—perhaps that will do.

Don't get me wrong, prayer is important. Quiet time, reading good Christian books, evangelism—they are all important. The problem is when we start to judge others by whether they measure up to our own standards. That is the problem. Or should the church use the organ and not the piano? Or should the church not use any instruments at all and just sing a cappella? From the way the pastor is dressed to the PA system to their hymns projected on the screen to how the congregation is seated—people can be legalistic in so many things. The list can go on and on and on. Sadly, so many churches have split over such things.

I'm not saying that we should not judge. We should judge. But we should judge righteously whether things be right or wrong. And we must always use the Bible as the yardstick, not only to judge our actions, including the intentions and motivations behind our actions. What we must never do is to use man-made rules as the standard of judgment. And unless the people conform to our standards, they are not spiritual. That is the danger of being legalistic.

When the Apostle Paul said, “Let no man therefore judge you,” there are two important lessons we can learn. Firstly, it implies that you and I should not be the person to judge. If there is anyone who is weak in our midst or lacking in his or her understanding about spiritual things, our first response is not to judge, but to be humble and patient to guide and teach the person using the Word of God.

Secondly, “let no man therefore judge you”. The ‘you’ is a reference to the Colossians, the believers. So it speaks of one's relationship with the Almighty God, their union with Christ. If you are a believer, you are spiritually united with Christ. You are one with Him and one with Him forever. Nothing can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ. And who is Jesus Christ? He is the ultimate Judge. And who is indwelling in you? The Holy Spirit, the divine Teacher.

In the final analysis, all of us will have to stand before God, who will judge us for our works. For the unbelievers, they will be judged for their sins and be sent to the eternal lake of fire. But for us, we will still have to stand before Him at the Bema Seat of Christ. He is the ultimate Judge. So who are we? We are just instruments to remind the people if there be anything that has fallen short, and we do that with love, humility, and patience. We are not the Judge.

May the Lord help us, that Bethel BP Church will take heed that we do not let anyone judge us according to all these man-made standards. But we ourselves too do not judge anyone according to all these man-made standards. All to the glory of God.

Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we give Thee thanks for this opportunity for us to consider this portion of Scriptures. Though it was written thousands of years ago by the Apostle Paul to the Colossians, warning them about the danger of legalism, yet the application is so true. Thy Word is so alive that it can be applied to every situation of our lives. And we pray that we will be able to apply all these biblical principles into our lives, into our church, that we be warned of the danger of legalism.

Help us to be a faithful church that will always use Thy Word as a yardstick, that Thy people will always be humble, loving, and patient. Even as we help others who have fallen in their ways, we are not the Judge. Thou art the Judge. We are but Thy instruments to remind the people of the path of righteousness. So help us to live such a life. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS

A Faith And Love That Shines

A Faith And Love That Shines

Colossians 1:1-4

The Blessedness Of Our Christian Hope

The Blessedness Of Our Christian Hope

Colossians 1:5-6a

The Transforming Power Of The Gospel

The Transforming Power Of The Gospel

Colossians 1:6b-8

The Need For Prayers

The Need For Prayers

Colossians 1:9

Prayer for Spiritual Excellence

Prayer for Spiritual Excellence

Colossians 1:9-12

Walk Worthy Of The Lord

Walk Worthy Of The Lord

Colossians 1:10-11

What Does It Mean To Call God Our Father?

What Does It Mean To Call God Our Father?

Colossians 1:12a

What Does It Mean To Be Citizens Of God’s Kingdom?

What Does It Mean To Be Citizens Of God’s Kingdom?

Colossians 1:12b-13

I Am Redeemed And Forgiven

I Am Redeemed And Forgiven

Colossians 1:14

Christ, The Invisible God

Christ, The Invisible God

Colossians 1:15

Jesus Our Creator Loves Me, This I Know

Jesus Our Creator Loves Me, This I Know

Colossians 1:16-17; Romans 8:37-39

What Is Christ’s Relationship With The Church?

What Is Christ’s Relationship With The Church?

Colossians 1:18

What Does It Mean To Be Reconciled To God?

What Does It Mean To Be Reconciled To God?

Colossians 1:19-22

The Evidence Of Our Salvation

The Evidence Of Our Salvation

Colossians 1:23a

Are We Willing To Suffer For Christ?

Are We Willing To Suffer For Christ?

Colossians 1:23b-24

How Faithful Are We?

How Faithful Are We?

Colossians 1:25-27

What Does It Take To Be Faithful In The Ministry?

What Does It Take To Be Faithful In The Ministry?

Colossians 1:28-29

The Indispensable Component In Serving God

The Indispensable Component In Serving God

Colossians 2:1-2a

This Is What I Wish For You To Have And To Be

This Is What I Wish For You To Have And To Be

Colossians 2:2b-5

Message 3: What is Christ to you? My Covenantal Head!

Message 3: What is Christ to you? My Covenantal Head!

Colossians 2:4-9, 19

The Evidence Of Our Salvation

The Evidence Of Our Salvation

Colossians 2:6-7

Message 4: What is a healthy and sound church? My Covenantal Haven!

Message 4: What is a healthy and sound church? My Covenantal Haven!

Colossians 2:7

Our Spiritual Union With Christ

Our Spiritual Union With Christ

Colossians 2:11-12

Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!

Message 2: What is Church to you? My Covenantal Family!

Exodus 12:48-49, Colossians 2:11-12

What It Means To Be Forgiven

What It Means To Be Forgiven

Colossians 2:13-14

Faith In Christ Is The Victory

Faith In Christ Is The Victory

Colossians 2:15

The Danger Of Being Legalistic

The Danger Of Being Legalistic

Colossians 2:16-17

Human Wisdom Versus God’s Wisdom

Human Wisdom Versus God’s Wisdom

Colossians 2:8-10