Will Worship

By Doug Cook

I’ve been focusing on the book of Colossians lately because of beliefs in the body of Christ I have encountered throughout locales I have ministered.  I would like to focus on chapter 2 but as with all scripture it takes the total sum of the Word from the beginning to establish truth (Psalms 119:160), not just a couple of scriptures we like.  So, to stay in context, I will begin with a few verses from chapter 1 to establish what the apostle Paul is trying to teach here.

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Paul’s passion, as is mine, is to present believers he has ministered to as holy, “unblameable (which means without sin, here and now, not just in the hereafter), unreproveable” (cannot be accused of sin by the Lord [this does not include accusations by other deceived  believers]), and they/you not be enticed away from this HOPE of the gospel.  As I have said on many occasions, this position in Christ (as with agape love) is very conditional and is based on IF we continue to be grounded and settled in the faith.  And this is NOT speaking about a carnal denominational faith we’re aligned with, but the full faith of Christ.

Colossians 1:26-28 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:  Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

I would dare say that 99% of all believers in every sect today do not understand the mystery that was hidden in the Old Covenant but made manifest to believers today of “Christ in you the hope of glory.”  I hear Christians quote this all the time, but they truly don’t understand what they are saying, much less letting it manifest in their Christian walk.  Christ in us is what gives us the ability to follow Jesus’ command “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”  Biblical perfection is not only possible; it is a command of Jesus for each of His true children to walk in.

An easy way to tell how many believers are not manifesting Christ in them is to walk into any church building or home fellowship and declare you are personally walking in biblical perfection, then watch the spirit of religion rise up in most everyone and accuse you of being prideful and deceived.   You hear statements like “Nobody’s perfect,” “We’re just men in the flesh,” and “Everyone sins once in a while.”  They also love to quote 1 John 1:8 “If we say that se have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  At this point I usually advise them to read the rest of 1 John and tell me how they reconcile their one verse with the rest of the verses in chapter 3 like 6, “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him” and verse 9-10 “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother,” then watch them stumble for words.  They formed their whole denominational doctrine (sect, as the bible calls them) around 1John 1:8 without taking the whole counsel of 1 John to establish the real truth.  And it’s like John said, those that understand this truth of walking in perfection, are the only ones who truly KNOW Jesus and are manifesting their son ship in God.  Many are called, few are chosen!

My purpose of this epistle was not to expound on the hope of Christ manifesting perfection in us again.  I have discussed that subject many times before (see my article perfection) and I’ll just have to wait for those seeds to take root and let someone else water them.  But I would add one more verse in 1 John 3:3 “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”  This is the same “hope of glory” that Paul is referring to in Colossians which is Christ in us manifesting perfection.  Christ’s Spirit is in us and He was pure, so we should be pure as well!

In Colossians chapter one, Paul is concerned that they continue to grow in all wisdom and spiritual understanding of the mystery of the true gospel that was already revealed to them.  He didn’t want them to loose the “hope” they already had.  But as he progresses into chapter two, His concern is that after being made free in Christ, they are being moved back into bondage by trying to follow rules and man-made laws as part of a religious doctrine.

Colossians 2:1-3 For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Paul had a great conflict or concern for Colossi and also the believers at Laodicea.  If you’ll read Revelation 3, the Laodicean’s were the lukewarm church who became rich in worldly goods (American Christians), but the Lord told them they were poor, blind and naked spiritually and would be spewed out of His mouth if they didn’t repent.  It seems Paul’s concern was justified in the way that the church was headed and it wasn’t towards the full understanding and knowledge of the mystery of Christ in them.  The whole American church today is in the exact same spiritual condition as the Laodicean’s. In fact, this was the church where the prominent verse was used “Behold I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”  Most of the time I hear believers use this verse as an evangelistic tool to heathens.  That is taking it out of context.  It is specifically directed to the religious sects already part of His church that don’t really know the mystery in Christ and “hath not seen him, neither known him.”  They worship inside their buildings talking about Jesus, but they don’t let Him into their fellowships.

The Lord told me once to go and pray for a large conservative denominational mega church building I once attended many years ago shortly after I received salvation.  While circling outside the building and interceding, I was literally escorted off the parking lot by security guards and was told it was a “closed campus.”  What?  I was dumbfounded.  While driving off “their campus” I asked the Lord “What’s the deal?  I used to freely walk anywhere I wanted when I was a part of this fellowship, and now I get kicked off their parking lot?”  God answered my heart ever so clearly at that moment and said “They do the same thing to my Son.”  I began weeping so profusely for these deceived saints I nearly had to pull off the road.  Outwardly they quoted scripture, talked “Jesus” and looked very holy, but they were under so much man made, religious doctrine they had kicked Jesus off “their campus.”  They had their doctrine, rules and programs to follow, so they didn’t need Jesus.  He was standing outside the door knocking trying to get in, but they wouldn’t open the door to Him.  I knew instantly why He had me interceding for them.  In the years after the Lord moved me away from that sect, I had matured and became a little more like Christ so they kicked me out as well.  If they persecuted Him they will persecute us (John 15:20).

Another thing Paul said in these first three scriptures of Chapter 2 is “being knit together in love.”  This is about unity in the body of Christ.  If we truly “know Him” and have Christ in us we must be knit together in unity with every other believer in Christ, not just our own little “like minded” sect.  We CAN NOT be intertwined and committed to a factious sect (denomination) and be holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight because we are practicing division in the body of Christ.  Having a full understanding and knowledge of the mystery of Christ and being in “unity of the Spirit” (Ephesians 4:3) with ALL true believers (love for the brethren) is inseparable.  We’re either practicing both together or we are being factious and rejecting Christ.

      Colossians 2:4 And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

This is the “great conflict” Paul struggles with about them and the Laodiceans.  He is afraid that some elder (priest, bishop, senior pastor, or whatever title is used) that is a proficient orator will come in  quoting scriptures and deceive us into following a man’s doctrine rather than following Christ.  I’ve listened to many of these leaders from many different factions and have witnessed first hand how enticing their words are.  They sound very holy and scripturally based until you test what they say against the whole counsel of God.  Its only when we assess their speech word by word that we realize a tiny bit of leaven makes the whole loaf corrupt (Galatians 5:9).  I have also discovered that a lot of these leaders don’t necessarily practice this intentionally but are they themselves deceived.  They heard another believer or leader say the same thing and it sounded biblical, looked holy, preached good, encouraged the people or increased the offerings, so they began using it in their presentations so much so that it became a personal belief for them.  This is why it is extremely important that every believer “search the scriptures daily, whether those things be so” like the Berean’s did in Acts 17:11.  And by the way, they were spiritually discerning Old Testament scriptures to confirm Paul’s New Covenant teachings as the New Testament was not available at that time.  As believers, we should not be blindly following any leader (myself included) without testing everything that is being taught against scripture.  Then, like eating a T-bone steak, we should eat any meat of the Word that is presented and reject the bones.  1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove (test) all things; hold fast that which is good.”  1 Corinthians 2:15 “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

Colossians 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

Like Paul, I can quote this verse and apply it directly to other believers as a father to his mature children.  I have had a lot of fellowship with other saints who attended our meetings previously and am overjoyed at the steadfastness of their faith in Christ, not in me.  They continued to move forward in their growth, their relationship with Christ and their association with each other even though the leader was no longer with them.

The apostle John was also writing to the church about “them that seduce you.”  His next instruction in 1 John 2:27 was, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” Most Christians should be at this point.  My desire is to direct believers to Christ, not to draw men to myself and my own little denomination.  If you do not blindly follow my beliefs, that means I would be doing my assigned tasks properly.  I have stated in times past that the sign of a leader operating in the spirit of excellence is he should work himself to the point he is not needed anymore.  The apostle Paul is a great example of this.  He never stayed in one place more than a couple of years.  He would establish a church, get the foundation in place and move on.  He would appoint elders for guidance and leave the Holy Spirit there to be their teacher.  All they would need to do is stay the course, which is what he says in the next verse.

Colossians 2:6-7 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

I couldn’t articulate this any better so I encourage you with the scripture as written.  Walk ye in the things you rightly divide from scripture.

Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Paul again warns of church leaders trying to draw people to themselves and religious, rule following sects that follow traditions of men rather than THE man Christ Jesus.  He also warns about “rudiments of the world.”  If we research the Greek word for “rudiments,” it literally means the first principle belonging to a complete or whole series.  For instance, we learned the alphabet before we learned how to write; therefore the alphabet is a rudiment to our complete language.  When we were babies, we learned to crawl before we walked; so crawling is a rudiment of traveling. Before salvation and when we were newborns in Christ, we learned how to follow traditions, laws and rules (rudiments) until we understand the whole composite spiritual truth of the mystery of Christ in us.  Just as we don’t go back  to practicing the alphabet or crawling like we did as a baby, neither should we go back into the bondage of following doctrines, traditions and laws of men after we have the knowledge of our freedom in Christ.

Colossians 2:9-11 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.  And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:  In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Paul is explaining that in Christ dwells all fullness of divinity.  He triumphed completely over all evil and is the head of everything that is created, so we are complete in Him and Him alone.  We don’t need to follow any man made rules and doctrines.  Our Old man (flesh) has been cut off (circumcised) along with all the sins we ever committed.  And even though literal circumcision (with hands) is still practiced on male children today as a “letter of the law” or tradition, it is not necessary for God’s New Covenant children because it is now a spiritual issue with the heart (without hands) which applies to women also (Romans 2:28-29).  As Paul states later in this chapter, the Old Covenant “letter” circumcision was a “shadow” of the New Covenant circumcision.

Colossians 2:12-15 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Paul gives here one of his best explanations of what truly happens when we make the decision to receive Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We get baptized to show that spiritually our old dead man is now buried (the flesh is circumcised) and we are raised from the dead as Christ was with our new spirit (quickened) which is the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1:11).  We are then forgiven of ALL sins we ever committed up to that point.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says the same thing, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: (Christ in us) old things are passed away; behold all things are become new.”  These sins God placed on Jesus on the cross for Him to pay the price of death for us.  He won complete victory over all sin, death and the evil one that were against us once and for all.  Please note that is says ALL sins and ALL things become new at salvation.  All means all.  We were cleansed of everything so there is no longer any condemnation for any of those past sins.  Unfortunately, a lot of us believers hold onto some of our past, thinking we need to do some kind of penance or make restitution for some terrible thing we did before salvation.  I’ve even seen leaders try to hold believers to account for some sin they did before salvation.  These deceived leaders and believers don’t intimately know Christ yet and don’t understand how to operate in the full hope of Christ in us.  Christians that don’t understand this complete forgiveness make and easy target for church leaders that establish rules, doctrines and denominations to follow.  I believe that’s why Paul was reemphasizing the entirety of what Christ did for us on the Cross.

While we are mentioning baptism, I want to digress a minute do discuss true biblical baptism.  If you will look up the Greek word “baptizo” in Strong’s Concordance it gives the definition “to make whelmed (fully wet).”  Since a matter is established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, it would be good to also include the definition from Thayer’s Greek Lexicon; “To dip repeatedly, to immerse, or to submerge (of vessels sunk).”  Paul uses the word “buried” here in conjunction with baptism.  When a deceased person is buried they are placed deep in the ground and fully covered up with earth.  Christ himself was completely covered in the tomb.  He uses this word bury because true baptism is very similar in making the believer “fully wet” by immersing or submerging the believer completely under water.  As with a deceased person, we don’t lay them on the ground and sprinkle dirt on them or pour a bucket of dirt on them; we completely bury them or entomb them.  So it is with water baptism.  Sprinkling or pouring water on them is NOT biblical baptism, the first century church never sprinkled anyone, it was a doctrine established by the Roman church centuries later.  There is no way you can get anyone “fully wet” by trying to sprinkle our pour water on them; not only that, it does not represent the act of burying their old dead circumcised flesh.  It’s also hard to symbolize us rising from the dead if we’re already standing getting water sprinkled on us; where in the act of full immersion we have to be pulled up (raised) out of the water by another believer.  And don’t believe all the bible movies you have seen showing John the Baptist in the middle of the Jordon River cupping his hands and pouring water on their heads.  These movies were under the influence of doctrines of men.  He used the Jordon river so he could fully immerse them in the water, otherwise he could have done his baptizing any where he could find a well or bucket of water.

Some denominations believe “pouring” water on someone’s head is the act of pouring out the Holy Spirit while baptizing.  However, every place in scripture I find the Holy Spirit poured out on a person it resulted in speaking in tongues.  Yet these same sects don’t believe in speaking in tongues.  This is one of the doctrines that are deeply rooted in some factions by centuries of traditions and rules of men.  I have personally witnessed the Lord convict many believers, who withdrew from these sprinkling/pouring sects, to be re-baptized by full immersion (they came to me of their own conviction; I didn’t try to instruct them first).  Just because we believe a tradition done by our ancestors to be truth doesn’t automatically make it of the Lord.

Colossians 2:16-19 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

Are we seeing the repeated pattern yet?  Paul continually warns us in Colossians to beware of men; in this case leaders in the church coming in and trying to say we have to follow “letter of the Law” standards out of the Old Covenant in order to be a good Christian.  2 Corinthians 3:6 “Who also hath made us able ministers on the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”  The Law (letter) was a shadow of what we now have in Christ (spirit).  When Christ came the law was brought out of the shadows (hidden from the light) and into the spiritual light where it is fully revealed, which is what he meant by “the body is of Christ.”  In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus was very clear in that He didn’t come to do away with one jot or tiddle of the law, but to expand on it.  He also said our righteousness needs to exceed that of the Pharisees (letter of the law followers) or we won’t get into heaven (Matthew 5:20).  Our hope is Christ in us fulfilling the spirit of the law through us.

However, I must warn that those of us that have gown and matured in our knowledge of our freedom in Christ from following laws, doctrines and traditions of men.  We need to be very careful that we don’t judge other brothers and sisters that are “weak in faith” as Paul explains in Romans 14:4-6 “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.  One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.”  I remember when I was a babe in Christ I kept a specific day set aside as “holy” and refused to do any work on that day (observing a shadow Sabbath of things to come).  I was weak in faith, but in my heart I was doing it as unto the Lord to please Him, so He accepted it at the time.  As I grew in my relationship with Him, I understood the full truth of the Sabbath rest in His completed works and I no longer observed a specific day but EVERY day, but I had to be “fully persuaded in my own mind,” not threatened to be kicked out of a sect if I didn’t conform.  Those of us that are elders need to give the Holy Spirit the chance to fully persuade others in their mind so the change in their belief is an outgrowth of their love for Christ, not a fear of rejection from a group.

Paul goes on to warn us not to be deceived by any man of our reward (which is Christ in us the hope of glory) by “voluntary humility and worshipping of angels.”  Worshipping of angels is self explanatory.  Most of us have witnessed leaders focusing on angels and the acts they perform in the spiritual realm.  They shouldn’t be doing this.  Angels are ministering spirits and they do reveal themselves, or their involvement in our lives, on occasion, but they are not to be worshipped.  Even when the patriarchs of old fell on their face before the arc angels, they were told by the angel they were not to worship them.  “Voluntary humility” is to intend or determine by your own will to look humble by what you wear or how you act in front of others.  Like wearing sack cloth and ashes while your fasting for the sake of showing others you’re on a fast.  It looks humble on the outside, but it’s actually false humility or pride.  This angel worship and false humility is what Paul means by “intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”  “Not holding the head” means we are not focusing on Christ, from whom the whole body of Christ “knit together as one” (there’s that love for the brethren, unity thing again) gets our nourishment to grow and mature (increase) with God.  As I have experienced in our previous fellowships, the only way to grow in the Lord is with ALL the parts of the body, as Paul says here the “joints and bands” working together as one.  That does not mean we all need to agree on all doctrines in order to fellowship together.  In fact the opposite is true.  We need the differences in order to force us to question all aspects of our beliefs so we can grow and mature in truth, which is “increaseth with the increase of God.”  This is the “iron sharpens Iron” principle of Proverbs 27:17.

Colossians 2:20-22 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

GREAT Question!  If we truly understand “Christ in us the hope of glory” like we say we do, why do 99% of believers go back to following rudiments of the world (crawling like a baby again)?  Why do we so willingly cling to commandments and doctrines of men?  Why do most all Christians join denominations and follow these leaders in the church that try to judge us after unbiblical doctrines and traditions they have established?  Why do we keep searching for “like minded” Christians to fellowship with?

Church leaders set up rules like what we’re supposed to eat, what we wear, what feast days or Sabbath days we’re required to celebrate, nowadays even including things like the color of buggy or car we’re supposed to drive in order for us to be part of their sect.  These elders exercise control by using some of the Old Covenant laws, not the freedom of grace in Christ we now operate under.  In fact these sects operate under what is commonly referred to as socialism or communism type societies all under the disguised smoke screen of religion.  The scribes and Pharisees did the same exact thing striving to maintain their power over the people by imposing traditions, laws and rules.  If you didn’t follow their mandates you would be disbarred, shunned or you couldn’t join their click.  Occult’s use the same kind of tactics.  And it all boils down to control, attempting to draw men to themselves, not Christ.  I dare say most of the elders in each and every denomination these days try to control the people, or should I say sheeple, just like the elders in Jesus time (There is nothing new under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:9).  Most of these leaders do it out of ignorance because that’s the way the church-as-usual system has done it for years and they don’t know any different.  But there are some that have full knowledge of how they are manipulating the flock.  1 Peter 5:2-3 had a very direct instruction to elders, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint (punishment for not following teachings and rules), but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being Lords over God’s heritage (drawing men to your doctrines, setting ourselves up to be worshipped), but being ensamples to the flock.”  (Living righteous lives before them, not forcing your doctrines on them)”

God has placed in us a yearning to fellowship with others in the body of Christ.  We are not created to be individual and separate from the body.  With our aspirations to be like Christ, comes the desire to be like other believers in the body.  So those that are “weak in faith” are usually very open to following “rules” set up by those they perceive to have scriptural knowledge and already matured in Christ.  It makes it very easy to get caught up in pursuing rules, traditions, and doctrines of men, especially if you were reared in the environment.  Following rules gives a feeling of comfort to most believers and it doesn’t take much to lure them into a false sense of security by controlling leaders lording it over the flock.  Once they are intertwined and incorporated into the fellowship; they remain because of the FEAR of being rejected, not a love for Christ and the brethren.  Even though leaders quote scriptures about not fearing, they turn around and use fear as a means to control by excluding believers who won’t follow their dogma.

I was listening to a conversation a while back in which a discussion about rules and doctrines between different factions of these brothers own sect was being analyzed.  The minister made a statement concerning factions that were much more conservative and stricter on their rules; He commented that the “retention rate” in that community was “much better.”  He perceived stringent religious practices as a positive for keeping more young people from “straying away from Christ.”  In actuality, the sect he was talking about has more man made socialist rules than most other religions out there and they quickly reject anyone who doesn’t follow their practices and worship their leaders as gods.  If you’re excommunicated from this group your own blood family won’t even speak to you any more.  So it wasn’t about straying from Christ, it was about straying from their religion and it was all based on fear.  The more fear they instilled the more young people were afraid to leave, which is the true reason the retention rate was “much better” (his words).  Again, this is the same tactics occult’s have learned to use to keep their retention rate up.  We should not fear any man or being kicked out of any denomination.

Unless we are knowingly deep in sin (as defined by the bible only), if we are threatened to be spurned by any denomination we should use that as confirmation we are growing to be more like Christ.  Christ and Paul both were shunned by the religious denominations of their time.  If they did it to them, they will do it to true believers in our day.  Again there is nothing new under the sun.  What has happened before will happen again.

Paul is adamant about not following commandments, rules, and doctrines of men.  Yet, most all of the “churches” of today are nothing but factions created by men “which all are to perish with the using.”  The Lord is going to destroy all these sects and we all need to make sure we’re not engulfed in them when they perish.  Unfortunately, just as in old times, the Lord is going to have to use great tribulation to wake up some of His people from following rules and turn to Christ only.  2 Corinthians 6:17 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

Colossians 2:23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

This brings me to the point of my thesis.  When we follow commandments, rules and doctrines of men we are NOT worshiping Jesus or God, we are worshiping our own will.  We are puffed up (false humility) in ourselves and our ability to look sincerely humble, practice laws, and our capacity to neglect our own flesh.  It looks real holy and sounds real holy because we have all the right words – at least the words or scriptures the elders have taught us to say when someone questions our “faith.”  We receive no honor from the Lord in this, but our flesh sure is happy and satisfied that we look so incredibly holy.  This is a dangerous place to be as we could even be trying to follow one of the Ten Commandments by the letter of the law and be literally worshiping our will to keep that law!  This is very prevalent in the “Sabbath keeper” sects.

There is a very fine line between “will worship” and the worship of Christ.  Outwardly it may be impossible for someone else to see, because the difference is in the heart of the person.  I would like to use just one topic to explain the difference, beginning with the leader who made the first rule.

1 Corinthians 11 teaches on the topic of women’s hair covering.  Paul states that they should cover their heads when praying or prophesying.  In fact he mentions the hair being covered during prayer twice in this passage.  As leaders, we should teach about women’s hair covering by following 1 Peter’s direction to elders to be “ensamples;” our wives should be wearing a head covering while praying or prophesying.  But what happens is some leaders decide that all women must wear head coverings all the time to be part of their sect, citing 1 Corinthians saying “it plainly says women must cover their heads.”  No it doesn’t and they just added to scripture.  It “plainly says” while praying or prophesying, not that they should cover their hair in public all the time.  The bible does not say anywhere that a woman must wear a head covering all the time, much less all the head covers need to look alike.  First, they misquoted scripture to support their doctrine and secondly, even if it was biblically correct, they just stepped over the line of 1 Peter’s direction and are now lording it over the flock because they made a rule that must be followed or the woman will be shunned from their sect or not allowed to join, not even mentioning the division they created in the body of Christ by making another denomination.  These elders have set up their flocks to, what Paul describes as, worship their wills, yet it is communicated from the pulpit as worshiping God by following his commandments.

Even though the elders of these groups have set up the practice of will worship, it doesn’t mean that all the women in the sect are worshiping their will.   This is where their heart attitude determines the difference.  If they are wearing their covering all the time because they are in fear of being rejected by this sect or because of taking pride in the fact they’re just like everyone else in the group, then they are worshiping their will.  If they are wearing a head covering all the time because they sense the Lord directed them, even though scripture doesn’t specifically tell them to, then they are doing it as worship to the Lord out of their love for Him.  Again, some of these may be “weak in faith” so we all need to be very careful we don’t judge any of these ladies as they will stand before their own master Jesus and give account to Him.

We can take and apply this principle of “will worship” to every rule, tradition and man made doctrine in every denomination out there.  Any rule, doctrine, commandment, or tradition of men that must be followed to be a member of a sect is a set up for the practice of will worship and doesn’t glorify the Lord in any way.  Believers must be allowed to make their own decisions on laws placed on their heart by the Holy Spirit.  If they choose to follow the commandment then they are doing it out of their love for Christ and it will be a more permanent change in their growth.  As elders, we are responsible to deliver the truth.  We are NOT responsible for forcing the believers follow it.  When the Lord sent the Prophets of old to give correction, they were only responsible for delivering the message, they were never told to set up another synagogue and kick the people out who didn’t follow the laws. Once they delivered the warning, the blood was no longer on their hands.  We are “our brother’s keeper,” but only to the point of sharing the truth the Lord asks us to, not trying to force him to follow it.

Most elders enforce their rules and doctrines because they convince themselves it’s the only way to eliminate the riffraff and keep their flock holy and separate from worldly ways, yet Paul says the very act of setting up rules is “rudiments of the world” and warns believers against trying to follow them.  The true reason these elders can’t let go is because they would loose control and have to relinquish the outcome to the Lord.  Again, as I have said on many occasions, “It’s a trust issue.” If they loose control it might permit someone in “their” church that disagrees with them and I sincerely believe these church leaders are not secure enough in their relationships with the Lord Jesus to trust His direction.

I have allowed other leaders who visited our fellowship to deliver messages without knowing anything about them.  Their teachings were not all completely biblical and didn’t agree with some of our beliefs, but the Lord told me to let them preach, so I did.  However, there were some things in those messages that really ministered to a few attending the meeting.  Afterward, it gave everyone an opportunity to put into practice my previous teachings and the biblical mandate about testing everything that was taught according to scripture.   On one occasion, most in attendance were highly motivated and thought the internationally well known ministers’ teaching gave a powerful and biblically accurate message.  I had recorded it and in our next fellowship I read some of the message word for word very slowly as if it was coming from me and then asked what everyone in the group thought.  Most were not in agreement because some of what I read did not line up with the Word of God.  Then I revealed it was word for word from the previous week’s well known minister that “gave such a great message.”  It finally hit home with those in attendance why I had been instructing everyone to test ALL things before believing anything.

Most of Paul’s epistles contain warnings about watching out for men and their traditions and doctrines, but especially here in Colossians.  Paul knew what he was talking about and there are literally thousands of factious sects (denominations and “non-denominational” denominations) existing in the church today, all controlled by doctrines of men.  Most brothers and sisters who are entangled with these sects are not worshiping Jesus by following the rules; they are worshiping their ability to conform and are puffed up by their false sense of humility.  It doesn’t matter how many scriptures they are quoting in their meetings.  The devil knows how to quote scriptures better than most of these leaders and it doesn’t make him holy!

I would like to add one more understanding of a word used in scripture (Acts 5:17, 26:5, 28:22) and one that I have used throughout this correspondence and that is the word “sect.”  It is the Greek word “hairesis,” where we get our English word heresy.  Strong’s definition is “a choice, a party or disunion.”  Thayer’s Greek Lexicon describes it as “choosing, choice, dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.  A body of men following their own tenets.”  As you can see, biblical heresy is the act of choosing to follow a certain party (denominating) which creates disunion or dissension in the body of Christ… NOT a false doctrine!  The word heresy is even used in place of sect in 1Corinthians 11:18-19 “For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.”  Paul is talking about division in the church in this passage and says there will be heresies to determine who has chosen to follow doctrines of men and the “approved” ones that chose to follow Christ alone.  Please note a true biblical heretic is one who creates division (denominates) in the body of Christ, not necessarily one who follows a false doctrine.  You can have a true biblical belief and still be practicing heresy because you are dividing from others in the church who may not understand or believe that truth yet.  Apostasy is the proper word to describe a falling away from truth or erring from scripture, NOT heresy.  So according to the true biblical definition of heresy (and the way it is used in scripture), any elder or believer who divides the body of Christ by following any rules, traditions or doctrines of men in any denomination is not only worshiping their will to keep man made rules, but are also practicing heresy.  The leaders and elders who call others heretics for not agreeing with their factious beliefs are they themselves the true heretics for practicing division, according to correct biblical definition, not Webster’s (a man’s) definition.

I have prayed that the Lord would reveal truth to these deceived elders and believers quite often in my previous fellowships.  I would ask others to continue on a regular basis to lift up all believers caught up in all the multitude of factious denominations throughout the whole body of Christ.  Pray against the deception the evil one has placed them in, so they would be knit together as one, not divided as thousands, as I pray that all understanding this truth will continue to follow THE man, not a man!

I remind you as Paul did, beware of all men.  Grace be to you, Amen

Your servant in Christ.