Well, inevitably, being the parent of two young children, on occasion, sometimes, Hope and I have found ourselves watching the occasional episode of Sesame Street. specifically the older ones before the woke messages started to creep into Sesame Street. And if you've ever watched an episode of Sesame Street, if you've ever watched two episodes of Sesame Street, you know that they're very consistent, have the same structure in basically every episode. And in every episode, they tend to highlight a specific letter, a specific number. They introduce it in this segment as the letter of the day or the number of the day. Well, in this sermon this morning, brothers and sisters, I thought as we try to understand what's going on in Colossae, what is this problem that Paul is addressing here? I thought it'd be good for us to have a word of the sermon, a word of the sermon. And that word, I believe, is crucial to understanding the problem in the Colossian church. It's a word that is crucial even to understanding the broad threat to the church today. So we still see the same problem, the same threat that faces the church today. And so the word of the sermon today, the word of the sermon is syncretism. Syncretism. Now what is syncretism? Put simply, syncretism, according to Google, syncretism is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thoughts. Combining different beliefs and schools of thought. Google goes on to say that syncretism involves the merging or the assimilation of several discrete or distinct traditions. You're taking two traditions and you're combining them. That's the core of what syncretism is. And when it comes to the Colossian problem, as I've alluded to throughout our series in Colossians, the Colossian problem, many trees have died in an effort to get to the bottom of what this issue is. Is it a Jewish problem? Is it a Greek problem? Is it both? Is it something completely different and something that's not even on our radar? But with what Paul says in these verses here, we have the clearest addressing of that problem. And it appears to be an outside worldly movement pressuring the Colossians to syncretize to their version of Christianity or their version of how to do religion. How to be religious. And as we'll see, this is something that still threatens the church today. This is something that Paul addresses head on here. As Paul tells us in these verses, that in his death, Christ has set us free. And we do not need to submit to extra biblical regulations. In his death, Christ has set you free and you do not need to submit to extra biblical regulations when it comes to being a Christian. And we see Paul present this to us in two sections in our text this morning. At first, he presents the problem. He presents the problem in verses 16 to 19. And then Paul challenges the problem. He challenges the problem in verses 20 to 23. And so that's how we'll look at this. Paul first presents the problem. And he presents two problems. He presents two problems. One we can label as the Jewish problem, and one we'll call the Greek problem. This is really where a lot of the debate comes in. Is it only a Jewish problem? Is it only a Greek problem? Or is it both? And personally, if you back me into a corner, I would say that it's both. That both of these groups are pressuring the Colossian believers into adapting to their way of doing religion. One person helpfully summarizes it this way. He says, seeds of doubt were being sown in the Colossians' minds as to whether or not what was offered in the gospel was enough. The gospel that they heard from Epaphras, not Paul, Epaphras. The Colossians are hearing these other groups saying, this is how you should go about religion, saying, this is how you should truly worship God. The Colossians are hearing that, and now they're doubting. They're doubting whether or not the gospel that was offered was enough. And so at the end of the day, if we think, no matter what we think about the origins of the problem in the Church of Colossae, We know, at the very least, that the problem was syncretism. You can worship Christ the way that the apostles are telling you, but you should also worship the way the Jews are telling you. You should also worship the way the Greeks are telling you to worship. The Jews and Greeks, notice what they're doing. They're judging. the Colossian believers. They're trying to disqualify the Colossian believers because the Colossians, they hold to an anti-synchristic religion, an anti-syncretism religion. They hold to a Christ-only religion. These two groups, They've been putting pressure on them that they must be a Christ-plus religion. And that is the whole motivation, the whole reason why Paul is writing this letter. He's writing to a church that he has never personally been to. And he is writing to establish them in the truth. He's writing so that they can walk in the truth, that they can be confident in the gospel that they heard from Epaphras, that they have been saved through Christ and Christ alone. So I said there were two problems that Paul is addressing. And so what is the first problem that Paul is addressing? Look at verse 16. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." This is what I've labeled as the Jewish problem or the Jewish pressure, we could say. And what we can deduce here is that we could go all the way back to just a few verses, even to when Paul was talking about circumcision. We can deduce that a group of Jews were judging the Christians in Colossae. They were judging them. Let no one pass judgment on you, he says. These Jews are judging these Christians because the Colossians don't worship God the way they think and define how God should be worshiped. Specifically, these Jews are passing judgment in two areas, in areas of food and drink and in areas of feasts and celebrations and Sabbaths. These Jewish influencers are attempting to impose the Old Testament law onto the church, laws designed specifically for purity in worship, how we approach God. Specifically, think about all the laws. They're geared towards how we approach, how the Jews would have approached the tabernacle or the temple. That's what these laws are. These are the laws that are being alluded G.K. Beal helpfully summarizes this problem this way, that the false teaching identified in verse 16 entails not merely, not only a wrong assertion of these dietary laws and that they continue to be valid. But they're also, they also, that they must abide by them in order to be clean, in order to worship God. In order to come before God, in order to come to church, they're saying, you need to obey these dietary laws. Do you see the syncretism there? The Christ plus the Old Testament law equals pure religion. These threats, these purity and ceremony laws, Paul goes on to say, are no longer relevant for Christians today. Why is Paul saying that? Why can Paul confidently say that? Because they have their fulfillment in Christ. They have their fulfillment in Christ. Paul says in verse 17 that these laws were a shadow of what was to come. A shadow of what was to come. They pointed to something bigger than themselves. They pointed specifically to someone. bigger than themselves." And this, again, is something that the book of Hebrews draws out in two specific places. First, in Hebrews 8.5, we read this, they, that is the laws, they serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God saying, see that you make everything in accord to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain. The tabernacle, the temple, are a copy of an eternal heavenly temple. We also see, as we read earlier from Hebrews 10, specifically Hebrews 10.1, these laws were never enough to meet God's righteous requirement. It says that for since the law has but a shadow of good things to come, instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. The law itself could never make perfect those who draw near. In the period of the Old Testament, These purity and ceremonial laws served to make man clean, to make man right before God in the temple so that man could approach God. But now, now that Christ has come, Now that Christ has died on the cross and rose again, the substance of what those laws anticipated has come. Now that Christ has come, we have been made pure through him and him alone. alone. That's what we mean when we say that these Old Testament ceremonial purity laws are no longer necessary because what Christ has done is more sufficient than what the Old Testament laws anticipated. Only Christ is sufficient to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. And so to argue That true religion is Christ plus the ceremonial purification laws. To argue that is to degrade and to devalue everything that Christ has done. Is to take everything that Christ has done and throw it out the window. Christ and Christ alone is sufficient for our salvation. That's the first problem that's facing the church in Colossae. The second comes, as I've said, from the Greek influencers, Greek influencers who present, who are pressuring the church to look more like the world around them, to look more like the religious practices of the world around Colossae. Paul says in verse 18, let no one disqualify you. Let no one disqualify you. These Greek groups are trying to disqualify the Colossian church from having assurance of their salvation. They're trying to disqualify them from being confident And we could summarize, as Paul does, the three areas in which this Greek group is trying to disqualify the Christians, in areas of asceticism, in areas of angel worship, in areas of visions. Paul says, do not let them disqualify you. Do not let them disqualify you as they insist that you must be as ascetic as they are. One commentator highlights that the heretics taught an elaborate process of self-denying techniques designed to qualify people for a higher spiritual experience. Do you want to be more spiritual? Well, the Greek false teachers are telling the church in Colossae, here's our 15-step plan for making you more spiritual. Christ plus asceticism equals a true Christian experience. Smells like syncretism, doesn't it? But that's not all. These Greek influencers are also insisting on the worship of angels. Why are they insisting on the worship of angels? Well, in their mind, God is too high. We are too sinful, we're too broken, we're too evil to ever approach God who is so high. He's so majestic that we lowly creatures cannot approach him. And since we can't, Let's worship God through the angels, because they're kind of between. They're somewhere in the middle. That's the logic of their thought. It doesn't make any much sense to us, sure, but that's the logic of their thought. Christ plus the worship of angels equals true Christian worship. Sounds like syncretism, doesn't it? But then lastly, these Greek influencers, they're also insisting on the experience of visions. Visions. These visions for the Greeks, they stood as a mark of the spiritual elite. You were spiritually elite if you had visions. Anyone else who didn't, they were second class when it came to the religious groups. Anyone who didn't have visions, they didn't have the same true spiritual experience as those who had visions. Christ plus visions equals the true Christian participation. Looks like syncretism, doesn't it? These visions, Paul would even go on to say, these visions, they're contrary to Christ. Just notice what he says at the end of verse 18 and in verse 19. That these visions, what do they do? They only puff up. They only serve to puff up. They do not flow from the head. They do not flow from Christ. For it is only in Christ that the whole body is nourished, Paul says. It is only in Christ the whole body is knit together. And it's only in Christ, and it's only through Christ, and Christ alone, that we grow. And we grow with a godly growth. A growth from God. These are the issues that are facing the Colossian Church, one side from the Jews, one side from the Greeks, all pressuring these Christians to worship God in a syncretized way, both arguing for a syncretized salvation, that it is Christ plus. You can have Christ, they're saying, but you still need to have the purity laws, of the Old Testament. You can have Christ, they're saying, but you need to also have asceticism, angel worship, and visions. That's the problem that Paul is addressing in this letter, Christ plus. But is that a problem for us today? When I started this sermon, I mentioned how this text also shows us what is threatening our church today, the church broadly in America and in the world. So what is the threat? What can we describe of the threat that is facing the church today? A few years ago, a prominent PCA pastor wrote an article on this topic, on the threat that we face today as a church. And in that article, he compared the threat that we face to the threat of theological liberalism in J. Gresham Machen's day. Now, if you're not familiar with that name, if you haven't heard Machen's name before, roughly 100 years ago, Machen waged a war against what came to be labeled as theological liberalism. And it's a war that gave birth to our own denomination. And the goal of that liberalism that Machen was fighting against, its goal in its mind was to preserve Christianity. so that the churches would not lose people in the church. That was the goal of the movement of theological liberalism. And when I say it that way, it sounds like a noble attempt, a noble movement. We don't want to lose people in our churches. But the cost that came with this movement was too much to pay for Machen and everyone else that joined with him. Because the cost of this liberal movement came at the cost of denying anything that sounded or felt spiritual in the Bible, denying the virgin birth, denying the miracles that are found in Scripture, denying even the death and resurrection of Christ and other important doctrines. This prominent PCA pastor in his article said that today we don't face the same threat as what Machen faced, but we face a threat that's cut from the same bolt of cloth as what Machen faced. He labeled it, he described it and gave it the name of progressive Christianity. That's the threat that the church faces today. Progressive Christianity, which has done this, which has removed the authority of scripture altogether as our foundation, as our starting point. And it has replaced it with the authority of the culture. replacing it with the authority of the culture. Progressive Christianity has the same motivation as theological liberalism. We need to keep people in the church. We need to keep them in the church. But at what cost? At what cost? It comes at the cost of the true gospel. It comes at the cost of Christ plus. Christ plus. In order to be a true Christian, progressive Christians will say, it is Christ plus the acceptance of abortion. In order to be a true Christian, it is Christ plus the accepting of LGBTQ plus values. In order to be a true Christian, it's Christ plus allowing women pastors. It's Christ plus allowing trans pastors. It's Christ plus the black gospel. It's Christ plus the acceptance of BLM. This list could go on and on and on. Smells, looks, sounds like syncretism, doesn't it? These Christ-plus progressive churches have abandoned the gospel altogether. And they don't just stop there. They're pressuring any remaining true gospel-faithful churches to do the same, to join them like these Jewish and Greek groups of Colossae. These progressive churches are judging, trying to disqualify us because we hold to the authority of Scripture, because we do not hold to the authority of culture. We hold to the authority that Scripture clearly tells us very plainly that we are sinners and we all are saved by Christ and Christ alone. This is the problem that Colossae faced. This is the threat that we face today as a church. Churches all across America face this. Churches all across the world face this threat. And so with that in our minds, with understanding that, what is Paul's challenge to these groups? How does Paul respond? What's his initial response to these groups? How does this apply also then? to the challenge, to the threat that we face today. Paul's challenge in the remaining verses isn't so much directed at the false teachers. It's actually directed at the Colossians. It's directed at us. It's focused on our union with the living Christ. If with Christ you died, he says. If with Christ you died, since you are so united with Christ, you are so united to Christ, that when he died, you died with him. And when he was raised, you were raised with him. This isn't the first time that Paul brings up the importance of our union with Christ in response to these false teachers. Just remember back a few verses when he said in verse 13 of chapter 2, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, having forgiven us of all of our trespasses with Christ You have died, that's where he starts. With Christ, you have died. But Paul gets more specific. With Christ, you have died to what? The elemental spirits of the world. And we've seen that phrase before. We've seen that phrase before in verse 8, back when Paul said, when we looked at this, we saw that what Paul means by this phrase is that when you died with Christ, you died to the way the world thinks. You died to any authority the world thought that it had. You died to the way the world operates. You died to the spirit of this present evil age. So what Paul is challenging here, what Paul is trying to get the Colossians to see can be summarized this way. Since you have died with Christ and you have been raised with him, why do you still submit to the world's regulations? Why are you still submitting to the world? Why do you still submit to the syncretism formula of Christ plus? As Paul says in Romans 6, how can we who have died to sin still live in it? This syncretism formula is not in line with scripture. Paul goes even further when Paul says that this formula, what these false teachers are trying to pressure you into believing, Paul says it's according to human precepts and teaching. Notice. That's the same motivation of liberal theology 100 years ago and progressive Christianity today. It's the motivation to undercut the authority of scripture, to replace it with the authority of culture, replace it with the authority of human precepts, the authority of human teachings. But because Christ died and you died with him, You are no longer subject to the world's regulations. You are no longer subject to Christ plus syncretism. Paul goes on even further in verse 23. This syncretism formula of Christ plus, it has the appearance, has the appearance of wisdom. in promoting a self-made religion, and asceticism, and severity to the body. It has the appearance of these things. And this is the exact thing that Paul warned against back in chapter 2, verse 8. See to it that no one takes you what? Captive. captive by philosophy, and captive by empty deceit. It has the appearance of wisdom. It's empty deceit. According to human tradition, it's according to the elemental spirits of the world. Notice what he says in verse 8. It's not according to. It's not according to Christ. This Christ plus formula, it's empty deceit. It's born out of vain, empty philosophy. It has the appearance of wisdom. It appears to be wise that we should watch what we eat in order to remain pure. It appears to be wise to worship angels. It appears to be wise that we must be invested in visions. It appears to be wise to give authority to cultural voices of our day to keep people in the church. But at the end of the day, these things are worthless. These things are of no value. Paul says they are of no value in stopping what? The indulgence of the flesh. They are of no value in your battle against sin. They do not help. They do not lead you to die to sin. They do not lead you to live in righteousness. Instead, they actually only gratify the flesh. They only appease sin. What the world advocates for in their Christ-plus formula for the church is nothing less than extra-biblical regulations. Do you want to be a true Christian? Accept my pronouns. Do you want to be a true Christian? Accept a woman's right to choose. Do you want to be a true Christian? Well, then support the open border policies. It's gracious to let illegal immigrants in. These are the messages of the world, and these are the messages that the world is imposing upon the church. But these are messages, Paul says, that don't lead to our salvation. They don't lead to dying to sin. Instead, they gratify the flesh. They don't know. They are not how Christ would have us live. Christ died, and you died with him so that you could be free from extra-biblical regulations. Christ died so that you could live in his light, not in the light of the world. Christ died so that you could follow him, not the empty, vain philosophies of the world. You are called to live in obedience to him, in Christ, And in Christ alone, you have been saved. And in his death, Christ has set you free. He set you free and you do not need to submit to extra biblical regulations. And this is the confidence that Paul wants the Colossians to have. This is the confidence that God wants you to have. You do not need to fear the false teachers of our day. You do not need to fear judgment. You do not need to fear disqualification. That is the confidence that we are to have today in Christ. I know that some of us, some of us more than others, will return home today. And we will return home today to unbelieving spouses, unbelieving children, unbelieving co-workers, unbelieving friends who are trying to do exactly what is described for us in the text, that may and probably already have tried to judge you because you don't hold to the culture's authority, tried to disqualify you from being a true Christian because you don't hold to the culture's authority. What Paul is telling us here, what Paul is telling us specifically to those who are returning to that exact situation, what Paul is telling us, we do not need to fear them. We do not need to fear them. We don't need to fear judgment. We don't need to fear disqualification. With Christ, you have died. And with Christ, you have died to the world's regulations. You do not need to submit to them anymore. You have Christ and nothing can take him away from you. And we can be confident in this. We can be confident that nothing will take this away from us. We can be confident that we have died with Christ and to the world's regulations because of what Paul said in the last section, in the last verses we considered. I wanna read them quickly for a moment as we close this morning. Verses 13 to 15. and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." That's not all he did. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in Him. Do you see how that relates? You were, at one point in time, dead in your trespasses. God saved you. God made you alive together with Christ. God, through Christ, has forgiven your trespasses. The record of debt that stood against you, it's been canceled. It's been nailed to the cross. But it doesn't just stop there. We don't need to fear the modern progressive Christian movement with its Christ plus agenda. Do you know why? It's been disarmed. It's disarmed. If with Christ you have died, why are you still alive? Why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to its regulations? The Christ plus agenda of the world has been put to open shame by Christ on the cross. There is no need to fear them. There is no need to fear those who try to judge you. There is no need to fear those who are trying to disqualify you. When we looked at verses 13 to 15, do you remember the parade that these verses were referencing? That Roman victory parade. When the Roman generals would march through Rome with their captives in open shame, the Jewish false teachers are a part of that parade. The Greek false teachers are a part of that parade. The syncretism of the world and the false teaching of the world is a part of that parade. And Christ is leading that parade in triumphal procession. And he is leading them and casting open shame upon all of these false teachers. And when Christ returns, he will return bringing with him a judgment of these false teachers. Do you remember what happens at the end of these parades? The end of these parades, when the Roman generals get to the end and finish the parade, what happens to all who have been put to open shame? What happens to those who have been triumphed over? They're put to death. They're put to death. Brothers and sisters, if anyone tries to cast judgment upon you, if anyone tries to disqualify you because you do not hold to a syncristic worldview, you do not hold to a Christ plus the authority of culture understanding of salvation, they have no authority over you. They cannot judge you. They cannot disqualify you. Christ is coming, and he will bring with him the end of any false teaching that does not exalt him, that does not have him and him alone as the source and only means of our salvation. In his death, Christ has set you free. He has set you free from the extra biblical regulations that the world tries to pressure us into. We must be on our guard. That's part of what we need to do. We do need to be on our guard against the false teaching of our age. Our elders should be on guard to guard and keep and protect the flock. Protecting the flock from Christ plus the syncretism of our age. But we can also go forth confidently. Confidently knowing that nothing can come between us and Christ. Knowing that no one can disqualify you, no one can judge you for believing that you are saved through Christ and Christ alone. Let's pray.