Colossians 2:1-23

Christ has made radical changes in our lives.  If we are in Christ we are not the same as we used to be.  He has given us a new life and new standing before God and a new hope of eternal life.  We are no longer bound by sin and we do not need to live in fear of the future.  The religious rituals that are promoted and invented by men have no bearing on us anymore.  Christ has changed everything.  In light of that truth, here are a couple of thoughts that should guide our walks from this point forward.
GOD WANTS US TO BE FIRM IN CHRIST: Our faith must not be full of ups and downs or change with the circumstance in which we find ourselves.  God wants us to be firmly established in the sound doctrine of His Word.  We are not to doubt the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross and we should not be persuaded to turn from the truth of God’s Word.  We must stand convicted in the doctrines of Scripture and be committed in our faith and trust in Christ and the work He has accomplished on our behalf.  It is easy for us to become distracted by the pleasures of sin or the popularity of someone who has a huge following of people.  We must stand firm against these temptations in our lives.
GOD WANTS US TO FREE WITH CHRIST: Christ died that we might be free from sin but also that we might be free from the false and man-centered religions.  Without Christ we are dead in sin.  Since man is aware of his sin, he tries to free himself from his sinful condition by inventing man made rules and religions.  These are always enslaving and do not offer the solution to the problems of our sin.  Christ died to set us free from all of this, so once we are free we must be vigilant to not allow ourselves to get sucked back into these false teachings.  We are to rejoice in the freedom that Christ has provided for us.  Those who teach that we can somehow be accepted by God based on our efforts are only trying to enslave us out of a desire to bring benefit to themselves.  Since Christ has set us free we are free and ought to praise and honor Him for the freedom we find in Him.

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