Who Shall Decide?
In writing to the church at Colossae, Paul had for his theme the pre-eminence of Christ. He affirmed that not only was Christ pre-eminent in God's plan, that in Him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, and that redemption and remission of sins are to be had through His blood, but also that Christ is pre-eminent in authority; He has the absolute right to command men, and to demand obedience from them. Here are Paul's words, "As therefore ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and builded up in him, and established in your faith, even as ye were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 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." (Col. 2:6-10)
Since Christ supplies our every need, and since we are made full in him, we ought to follow Christ and no one else. Paul warns that the Colossians are not to follow the traditions of men, nor the rudiments of the world. Human authority in religion, and the laws that men may make are to be avoided, lest by their philosophy and vain deceit the Christian be caused to forsake the authority of the Lord.
In that last part of the second chapter of Colossians, we see the principle carried a bit further. Who has authority in religious matters? Who can decide what is the right and wrong of an issue? Who determines what is the truth of any problem or question? Who is it that is to decide how we are to worship, what we are to believe, what we are to preach, how we are to live, what the church is to be, what name we are to wear in religion, how the church is to be organized and carry on her work? Who decides these matters? Shall they be settled and resolved by the judgment and authority of men? Shall councils and conventions settle the issues? Shall good men, elders of churches, or gospel preachers be the final court on such things?
Certainly not! The Lord Jesus Christ, and He alone, has authority in these issues. Listen again to Paul, "If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances?" What kind of "ordinances" does he mean? From the next verse we see he is talking about human ordinances. "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch." That is the teaching of men; that is the voice of human authority. Some men say, You must not handle this; it is unclean; you must not taste this; it will defile you; you must not touch that it will make you unholy. Men make rules, laws, ordinances, and seek to bind them on others. Paul is quoting from some of the laws and rules of men. This is an example of human authority. I have heard people quote these words, "Handle not, nor taste, nor touch," and try to make it appear that Paul was talking about liquor! Paul was talking about human laws, human authority, human ordinances. And his lesson is that we are to be governed by the authority of Christ, not by the authority of those who would bind human ordinances upon us. This is a contrast between the authority of Christ and the authority of men; it draws the distinction between the doctrines and commandments of men and the doctrines and commandments of Christ. Paul is saying, Ye have died to the authority of men; no longer live as though you were still subject to that authority.
So it doesn't matter what men say, nor what doctrines and precepts they set forth, what decrees they make nor what practices they present; these things are in no sense a part of divine truth. The Christian is not to be subject to them. They are not a part of the religion of Jesus Christ.
It is impossible to have God as a spiritual father if one does not abide in the teaching of Christ. John said, "Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God." (2 John 9) This teaches us that the authority of Christ is absolute. There can be no way at all by which men can set it aside, no matter how sincere they are nor how learned they may think themselves to be.
Does it matter what one believes about Christ? From the things we have been studying, it is very clear that it matters tremendously. Not only must one believe in the existence of Christ, in His divinity, in the faithful provisions He has made for our salvation, but also one must believe that Christ will fully perform and fulfill every promise He has made to us. Do you believe in the precious promises of the Lord? Peter said that through them we become a partaker of the divine nature.
What are some of those promises? One of them is the forgiveness of sins. Jesus declared, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." (Mark 16:16) Do you believe it? Do you believe that if you believe in Christ with all your heart and are baptized into Him, Christ will save you and forgive all your sins? Well, that is His promise. You may count on it as sure and certain. Again, John said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) As God's children we have the right to come to Him acknowledging our sins, and asking His forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ.
I submit to you that to believe in Christ means to believe in ALL that is divinely revealed about Christ — His deity, the power of His provisions, His ability to save, the finality of His authority, the faithful fulfillment of every promise. Until and unless a man believes that fully, he does not truly believe in Christ at all.