The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 125

death ~ sin (Rom. vi. 2)? (2) death to self (2 Cor. v. 14, 15); but (3) death to the ~aw (Rom. vu: 6; Gal. u. 14), (4?, dcat~ to the world (Gal. vi. 14), and (5) death ~rom _the rudime1;1ts o_f ~he ~o:ld (eh. 11. 20) .. 2._ '.!'he _inconsistency of thisfellow- shiJ! u,ith a mere "!t1taluttc nlzgion. (1) Such a re~1g1on 1~ rudimeutary, disciplinary, deszgned for the infancy of the Church, not for ltll period of adult experience and privilege. Christ by his death wiped out these rudiments which have their sphere in the visible life of the world. They are but" weak and beggarly elements" from which we are for ever separated by tho death of Christ. In him all things hav~ become new. Christians cannot, therefore, live in th:1t which Christ died to take away. Besides Christians are living no longer iu the world. "'l'hey are not of the world ; " yet if they submitted to its ordinances, they were "as though living in the world." They had been called out of the world to be of another body, of which Christ is the Head. Therefo:e t~eY: we~e _not. to be conform~d to the fashion o_f_ the_ W?rld (Rom. xii. 2). (2) A rituahst1c religion 1s usually negative rather than positive m its character being i;trong in the element of prohibition: "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch.': The apostle repeats the prohibitions of the false teachers in their own words. They believing that matter wall essentially evil, resolved upon reducing our contact with it in its most familiar forms to a minimum. The prohibitions here referred to go far beyond the Leviticsl enactments, which had no ascetic tendency. 'rhe Essenes, who wero iorerunners of the Colossian errorists, shunned oil, wine, flesh, meat, and contact with a stranger. Mark how rigorous and precise these errorists were in their outward observances. They were like the Pharisees of old, who cared not for the weightier matters of the Law, but tithed mint and anise and cummin. They attributed an intrinsic Yalue to things that were fleeting : "All which things perish in the using ; " leaving no spiritual result: "For meat commendeth us not to God; for neither if we eat arc we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse" (1 Cor. viii. 8). Our Lord himself said it was not that which" entereth the mouth which defileth a man" (Matt. xv.16, 17). (3) A ritnalistic religion is always marked by " the precepts and doctrines of men.'' Many of the Jewish ordinances were handed down by tradition and bnd no warrant in the written Word of God, Therefore our Lord said, " They tea.eh for doctrines the commandments of men" (Matt. xv. 9). II. THE PRETENTIOUS WORTHLESSNESS OF THIS ASCETIC RITUALISM. "Which things, indeed, have a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body, but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh." 1. Its reputation/or wisdom. It had a show of wisdom wit,hout the reality, for it affected an air of extreme piety, of profound regard for God, and of deep knowledge in Divine things. All its ritualistic observances would be recommended by the plea that they tended to promote piety. The repute of wisdom was manifest~d in three things. (1) Will-worship, or service beyond what God requires-in a word, superstition. This is the origin of penances and pilgrimages and festivals in Romanism. They are supposed to promote piety, but they have" a mere show of wisdom." They charge God with folly, us if Le did not know what was most conducive to piety, and they involve a tacit claim to amend God's ordinances. But God loves obedience better than sacrifice (1 Sam. xv. 22), and may well ask such ritualists, "Who bath required this at your hands?" (Tsn. L 12). Will-worship has been the great corrupter of pure religion. (2) Humility. It is a studied and affected humility, not resting on a basis of faith and love, but con- sciously cultivated, and therefore not inconsistent with spiritual pride. "Pride mny be pampered while the flesh grows lean." (3) Severity to the body. (a) There seems a show of wisdom in this habit, because an apostle found it wise "to keep his body nnder" (1 Cor. ix. 27), and the Colossian ascetics might have pleaded that they coul<l thus enhance their spiritual insight. (b) But such severity to th.e body is expressly condemned. (11) Religion belongs to the body as well as the soul. The body, "so fearfully and wonderfully made," becomes "a temple of the Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. vi. 19). Its members are to be "yielded as instruments of righteousness unto God" (Rom. vi. 13). We are to offer our bodies as " living sacrifices," not dead or mutilated or maimed sacrifices. There is, therefore, nothing religious in whipping the body, like the Flagellants, or in denying it necessary food, or in arraying it in dirty or rngged clothing. "'l'he sacrifice of God is a broken spirit," not a macerated body. We must keep up our bodily vigour for the discharge of the duties of life, so that the body may on. u. 1--23.] TUE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. ll!J