Colossians 1:21-23

[Hidden In Him]

Satan's Plan To Reduce Christianity To Empty Ritualism

     As we shall see in this letter, Satan was using a particular strategy against Gentile believers during New Testament times, one designed to discourage them into thinking they may not be worthy of acceptance from the God of the Hebrews, even after having been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
     Because of this heresy, Paul therefore now began urging them and warning them not be "moved away from the hope of the gospel" which they had heard:

     And you who were once enemies in your mind, having become alienated by wicked works, has He yet now reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblemished and unreprovable in His sight, if indeed you continue in the faith, having become founded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which has been proclaimed in all of creation under Heaven, of which I Paul became a minister. (Colossians 1:21-23)

     What did Paul fear could potentially move them away from the hope of the gospel? The context of this letter reveals they were being seduced by a religion called Essenism. It was a Jewish sect that held to very strict standards where the Old Testament cleanliness laws and religious observances were concerned. Hence Paul would ask the Colossians, "If you are dead in Christ from the principles of the world, why as though living in the world are you subject to ordinances, 'Touch not, Taste not, Handle not,' which all are to perish with the using" (Colossians 2:20-22). The Essenes also claimed during their services to participate in the worship of the angels in Heaven, leading Paul to tell the Colossians:

     Let no one disqualify you, delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, investigating into things which he has seen, being vainly inflated with pride by his fleshly mind and not holding fast the Head, from whom the whole body, being supplied and conjoined together through its joints and ligaments, grows with the growth of God. (Colossians 2:18-19)

     But to understand why early Gentile Christians might have gotten seduced into this heresy, it must be remembered that they were Gentiles coming into relationship with a Jewish God. As such, some could be persuaded into thinking that if they would truly please the Jewish God they had to keep the strict religious observances of the Old Testament. As a result of this, Satan was using the Essenes to convince some that they needed to keep Jewish cleanliness laws, sabbaths, new moons, and holy days, and in a very strict manner, leading Paul to also tell them:

     Therefore, do not let anyone but the body of Christ judge you in food and drink, or in respect of a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come. (Colossians 2:16-17)

     The Essenes likewise attempted to seduce the Galatians, leading Paul to ask them in a letter:

     But now, after the you have known God... how are you turning again to weak and miserable principles whereby you desire to again be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years... Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? (Galatians 4:9-10, 21)

     So what is the primary strategy Satan was using against the Colossians? It was an attempt to remove them from the hope of the gospel by raising doubts as to whether they were truly being obedient to the Jewish God or not. And he was raising doubts in their minds by condemning them as still being unclean before God's eyes for eating unclean foods and not observing the Jewish sabbaths and new moons properly. Thus, ultimately it was an attempt to transfer their focus from the importance of abiding in Christ to focusing upon merely observing empty, outward religious rituals.
     This strategy may have failed with the Colossians, but it has succeeded with much of what today passes for "Christianity." Many denominations have long since abandoned a focus upon abiding in the Presence of God for observing a set pattern of rituals. And as we shall see, the church's digression into empty ceremony and ritual has now caused increasing numbers of young people to continue abandoning their faith. Why? Because they are not receiving any real supernatural proof of it. During New Testament times, the Holy Spirit was being tangibly poured out upon new converts as a form of reassurance against this very thing, but the absence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit in many circles today has taken this reassurance away, and left new converts wondering if their religion and their God are real. Thus, until we return to making sure believers receive a genuine confirmation of the gospel through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, modern Christianity will not only be a false representation of the original New Testament version, but it will continue be a religion in decline throughout the world as opposed to one on the rise.


The Spirit Baptism: Confirmation To Gentile Believers

     As stated in the first study, how did the Gentiles know for certain they had been accepted by the God of the Jews? For that matter, how did even the Jews themselves know that the gospel applied to the Gentiles as well? Because the Holy Spirit was being poured upon them in confirmation of it. Returning again to the story of the Roman centurion Cornelius, whose family the apostle Peter was commanded by God to go and preach the gospel to: 

     And the apostles and brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. But when Peter went up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision were differentiating with him, saying, "Before uncircumcised men you went in, and you ate with them." But having begun, Peter related the story to them in order, saying... "as I was beginning to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them even as also upon us in the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'Indeed John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then, in believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, God also gave them the gift equally as unto us, how was I able to forbid God?"
     And having heard these things, they were silent, and glorified God, saying, "Then God has also given the Gentiles repentance unto life." (Acts 11:1-18)

     There was a partition within the Jewish temple, and Gentiles were not allowed into the inner court lest they die. But as Paul would tell the Ephesians, as a result of the sacrifice of Christ, the curtain within the temple had been torn, and the way had now been made for God's peace, i.e. the Holy Spirit, to be poured out upon them just as freely as upon the Jews: 

     Wherefore remember that you who were once Gentiles, and those said to be "the uncircumcision" in the flesh by those said to be "the circumcision" in the flesh performed by hand, that you were at that time without Christ, having been alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and being without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once afar off were brought near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His flesh the enmity... And having come, He preached the gospel of peace to you who were afar off, and to those who were near, in that through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now, therefore, you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God. (Ephesians 2:11-15a, 17-19)

     As such, Christian services during New Testament times were marked by the exercise of supernatural gifts, as the Holy Spirit continued to manifest Himself among them and speak through them to the early congregations:

     What is it, then, brothers? Whenever you may come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone with a tongue speaks, [let it be] by two or the most three, and in succession, and let one interpret. And if there is no interpreter, let him be silent in the church, but let him speak to himself and God. And let prophets speak two or three, and let the others discern. And if anything should be revealed to another sitting by, let the first one be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and be exhorted. (1 Corinthians 14:26-31)

     Notice that in true Christianity, services were free-flowing, and it was left up to the Spirit of God moving within individual members to determine who would speak and what would be said. Nothing was ritualistic in the way early church services were held.
     But again, how did these early Gentile believers know beyond doubt that they had been accepted by the God of the Jews? Because the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon them in confirmation of it. By continuing to operate in this same supernatural anointing during services, the enemy was thus unable to convince them they had not been accepted by Him simply because they were not keeping Jewish laws regarding cleanliness, sabbaths, new moons or feastivals.


The Ritualistic Lifestyle Of The Ancient Essenes

     The services of the Essenes, however, were something altogether different. Their entire day as a matter of fact was characterized by ritual. As one author wrote:

     The Essenes were a Jewish Sect who studied and lived in Qumran for two Centuries through the great revolt of the Jews against the Romans... The Essenes were extremely ritualistic, and took purification baths twice daily. On the excavation site at Qumran, there were several ‘Mikveh’ or Jewish ritual baths. (Qumran, The Dead Sea Scrolls, Templeseeker.com)

      Eating meals together, cleansings and washings, prayer times, all were highly regimented, much like monasteries would do centuries later. Even their worship was extremely regimented. with followers apparently even being required to sing specific praise songs to God on specific sabbath days, in keeping with the songs they believed were being sung by the angels to God in Heaven.
      This is clear from source material discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls:

      The discovery of Dead Sea Scroll Cave 4 revealed an amazing song book which prominently featured angels in Essene worship. Cave 4 contained fragmentary forms of eight manuscripts, the oldest of which has been dated to 75-50 B.C. These manuscripts are a liturgical text composed of thirteen separate sections, one for each of the first thirteen Sabbaths of the year... Carol Newsom, who’s Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice: A Critical Edition is the definitive work on this topic, writes in her introduction: “These thirteen compositions invoke angelic praise, describe the angelic priesthood and the heavenly temple, and give an account of the worship performed on the Sabbath in the heavenly sanctuary.” These songs aren’t just congregational hymns sung in praise to God; they were apparently regarded as real-time liturgical participation in the heavenly temple’s Sabbath service. Great care was taken to acknowledge and describe the various details of this other worldly divine scene, from the vestments of the angelic priesthood to the temple itself, to the great Merkavah or chariot throne of Yahweh. (Kenneth Westby, Angels and the Thirteen Sabbath Songs)

     The result was a religion that was far more about rules and regulations than about the life-giving power of the Spirit:

     A ritualistic religion is usually negative rather than positive in its character, being strong in the clement of prohibition: "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch"... The Essenes, who were forerunners of the Colossian errorists, shunned oil, wine, flesh, meat, and contact with a stranger... Ritualistic religions are [also] always marked by "the precepts and doctrines of men," and many of the Jewish ordinances were handed down by tradition and had no warrant in the written word of God. (A Warning Against Asceticism, Croskery, BibleHub.com)   


Where Satan Has Succeeded: Mainline Denominationalism

     Where Satan failed with the Colossians, he has succeeded with large segments of modern Christianity, given that ritualism now dominates much of mainline denominationalism. Granted, some embraced the Charismatic Renewal and thus have congregations which also seek manifestations of the Presence of God. But by and large, the majority of mainline churches throughout the world are given over to observing rituals as the centerpiece of their worship.
     Without intentionally wishing to single out one denomination, Catholicism is certainly among those steeped in ritual. And like Essenism, Catholicism teaches that rituals are necessary unto salvation. To quote one Catholic online source:

     The purpose of the sacraments is to make people holy, to build up the body of Christ, and finally, to give worship to God... [They] are earthly, external signs here which, of themselves, could never acquire any supernatural significance, but the signs of the sacraments have been made by Christ into vehicles of His grace. They effect in men the grace for which Christ made them the sign... A sacrament, administered properly in the way established by Christ and with the proper intention, gives the grace it signifies. It is effective not by reason of the power of intercession of priestly prayer nor on account of the worthiness of the recipient, but solely by the power of Christ... They are necessary for salvation. The sacraments are vehicles of the grace which they convey. (Sacraments of the Catholic Church, Catholic Online)

     According to the above, adherents must take it by faith and believe that the sacraments become vehicles of God's supernatural graces, and herein lies the problem. This was not the case during New Testament times. Take for example confirmation. Receiving the confirmation of the Holy Spirit during New Testament times was much more than simply undergoing a ceremony where a priest made the sign of the cross over you and you were to trust that you had received it.
     Look at the two primary passages the Catholic Church herself uses to teach the sacrament of confirmation:

     And the apostles in Jerusalem, having heard that Samaria had received the word of God, sent to them Peter and John, who having come down to them prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not yet fallen upon any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, as they were laying hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-17)

     And it came to pass that when Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper regions came down to Ephesus. And finding certain disciples, he said to them, “If then, having believed, did you receive the Holy Spirit?” And they said to him, “If there is a Holy Spirit, we have not heard of it.” And he said, “Unto whom then where you baptized?” And they said, “Unto the baptism of John.” And Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on the One who would come after him, that is, upon Jesus.” And having heard, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And Paul, having laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they were speaking with tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:1-6)

     How did the apostles know the Samaritans had received the Holy Spirit when they laid hands on them? In the same way Paul knew the Holy Spirit came upon the Ephesians: Because when he laid hands on them they began speaking in other tongues and prophesying. How did Peter know the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Roman centurion Cornelius and his family? Because they began speaking in tongues:

     While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even upon the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have." (Acts 10:44-47)

     Genuine Spirit-filled confirmation during New Testament times was being evidenced by the gifts of the Holy Spirit being in manifestation, the supernatural gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy in particular. But in most Catholic churches today, a confirmation ceremony simply concludes with a group of believers presenting themselves before the bishop, who makes the sign of the cross on their forehead with his thumb, places a shawl over their shoulders, and declares to them, "Be sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit." No manifestations of the supernatural gifts take place, and no one is troubled if the believer does not experience speaking in tongues or prophesying because these manifestations are not expected. Thus, they are not concerned with seeing any evidence that the sacrament is actually "conveying the grace" it is supposed to convey or "effecting in men the grace for which Christ made it a sign," because the entire thing is to be taken on faith. But as we shall see, young people growing up these days no longer simply take things on faith. They look for evidence, and when they don't find it, they start questioning whether what they are being told is actually true or not. And in the end, when no genuine evidence is provided, many eventually opt out and forsake the faith their parents held dear, never to return.


The Cost Of Reducing Christianity To Ritualism

     Statistics show that many younger people are departing from the faith, and for precisely the reasons I have specified. They see no evidence that confirms what they are being told. And this trend is apparently now increasing, as explained in the following article:   

     Young people are leaving the faith. Here's why: Many youths and young adults who have left the Church point to their belief that there is a disconnect between science and religion... Multiple national surveys indicate that only about two-thirds or fewer millennials (those born in 1982 or later) who were raised Catholic remain Catholic as adults. The Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) recently conducted two national studies that provide some new insight into these losses. The first few results from these studies are being released for the first time in this article.
     The reasons young people leave are complex and varied. However, there is an emerging profile of one of the most common ways this happens. Many historians and Catholic theologians will say the Catholic Church has no place in a “war” between religion and science today. Yet the Church does appear to be losing a related battle nonetheless. Some young Catholics have told CARA that they are leaving the Faith for science, believing that Catholicism is incompatible with what they are learning in high school or at the university level.
     The interviews with youth and young adults who had left the Catholic Faith revealed that the typical age for this decision to leave was made at 13. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed, 63 percent, said they stopped being Catholic between the ages of 10 and 17. Another 23 percent say they left the Faith before the age of 10. Those who leave are just as likely to be male as they are female, and their demographics generally mirror those of all young Catholics their age. So why are they leaving?
     To find the answer, CARA began its interviews with these former Catholics with an open-ended question: “What are the reasons that explain why you are no longer Catholic?”... Some of the typical reasons given in their own words were:

— “Because I grew up and realized it was a story like Santa or the Easter Bunny.”
— “As I learn more about the world around me and understand things that I once did not, I find that the thought of an all-powerful being to be less and less believable.”
— “Catholic beliefs aren’t based on fact. Everything is hearsay from back before anything could be documented, so nothing can be disproved, but it certainly shouldn’t be taken seriously.”
— “I realized that religion is in complete contradiction with the rational and scientific world, and to continue to subscribe to a religion would be hypocritical.”
— “I need proof of something...”

     When CARA asked these respondents to “Please describe what would make you consider returning to the Catholic Faith in the future,” responses included: “If someone discovered evidence of the supernatural” or “replicable, peer reviewed, conclusive proof that a deity exists and I’m guaranteed a happy afterlife.”
     Interviewer: You say that about age 11, you first started having doubts about being Catholic. Do you remember what precipitated it? Respondent: Knowledge. ... The original root cause would have been watching my whole mother’s family, on my mother’s side, pray for my grandpa’s lung cancer. And everyone is praying for him — probably over 150 people, personally praying for him. And still there was nothing done to help him. And that was my first skepticism.
     Interviewer: Do you believe in Heaven or Hell? Respondent: I do believe in demons and ghosts, even if it sounds kind of silly. You see all the stories out there and, like, some of them must have some truth to them... (OSV Newsweekly, Young People Are Leaving The Faith. Here's Why)


What It Will Take To Reverse These Trends?

     In a word, churches who wish to reverse this trend will have to give themselves over to incessant intensive prayer and worship, making these things the hallmark of every service, until they see the power of God being poured out upon them as it was during New Testament times. Nor should they settle for a few people speaking in tongues here and there, which all too often seems to be the case in Pentecostal churches these days. True confirmation as described by Paul involved all the supernatural gifts being in manifestation, as he told the Corinthians:

     I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God having been given unto you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed among you such that you are not lacking in any gift while you await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ [from Heaven], who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the Day of the Lord. God is faithful, through whom you were called unto the shared experience of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:4-9)

     And what gifts did Paul insinuate were manifesting themselves amongst the Corinthians? He would later add this in the same letter:

     There is being given to each a manifestation of the Spirit to be of benefit. For to one is being given by the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to a different one faith in the One Spirit, yet to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, and to another the working of miracles (literally, "works of power"), and to another prophecy, and to another the discerning of spirits, and to another various kinds of tongues, yet to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these are executions of one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one his own [gift] as He wills. (1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

     Scripture says that the harvest is the end of the age (Matthew 13:39), and prophecies have declared that over a billion souls are eventually going to come to Christ during the end-times. But these events will not come to pass before the church has been restored as the true temple of God filled with the supernatural Presence of God, and has departed from what Paul will call in this letter an "empty deceit." The church is called to manifest the fulness of Jesus Christ to the world, not preoccupy themselves with perpetuating a set of empty rituals.


Links To Sources:
https://www.templeseeker.com/qumran-dead-sea-scrolls/
https://biblesabbath.org/tss/521/tss_521.pdf
https://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/croskery/a_warning_against_asceticism.htm
http://www.catholic.org/prayers/sacrament.php
https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/PapalVisit/Articles/Article/TabId/2727/ArtMID/20933/ArticleID/20512/Young-people-are-leaving-the-faith-Heres-why.aspx