Christ Plus

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand or perform. It is not up in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go to heaven and bring it down so we can hear and obey it?’ It is not beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear and obey it?’ The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it. – Deuteronomy 30:11-14

We humans complicate things unnecessarily. Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment with a clear purpose in life. The first mandate they got was to be fruitful and multiply. What a great command! Who would complain about this? But along came the devil in the body of the serpent and when he tempted them, did they simply stick to what God told them? No, of course not. They added to the instructions. (Genesis 3:3).

Moses was told to strike a rock in order to provide water for the people of Israel (Exodus 17), symbolically prophesying of Christ being struck for us (1 Cor. 10:4; Jn 4:10-14; 7:38). Then in Numbers 20, the people once again needed water desperately. God told Moses to simply speak to the rock this time. But Moses got into a snit, raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff (Ex. 20:10-11). The people got the water that they needed because God is ever gracious and cares for our needs even when we fail. After all, He is the God who allows rain to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous (much to the “righteous’” chagrin). But Moses was not allowed to enter the Holy Land because his disobedience had ruined the lesson on grace that God had in mind. You see, Christ was struck “once, for all.” Once we receive that gift, from then on we only have to speak to Him to receive a blessing. There is no need to “strike” or “crucify” Christ over and over.

The Church at Colosse was faced with the same dilemma. A group of Jews who had been educated at the best mystery religion schools of Babylon were telling them that accepting Christ was well and good, but you also needed special hidden knowledge. Perhaps it was asceticism, or, perhaps it was the right ceremony or festival...whatever it was, it was Christ “plus”. Paul had to try to get them to trust the simple sufficiency of the gospel.

The next time you feel like adding a little more ritual or another restriction to the Gospel - perhaps only a certain kind of Bible text, perhaps only a certain way to baptize, perhaps only certain spiritual gifts denote spirituality - remember what the Bible actually says. Christ is sufficient.