Based on Colossians 2 (New King James Version)
“For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power. In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,’ which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.”
What should Christian faith really consist of? There is much confusion with this because many things have been conjured up that really have nothing to do with what God desires for man to do. There are many things that have been taken away and/or added to God’s precious plan. And that can be a product of only one person: Satan. The Apostle Paul speaks regarding these changes to the Truth of God and that they have come through man’s carnality. And that is of course true, but it is the devil that tempts man based on their desires, on the sin that dwells within man. This is what the Word teaches: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:13-15. So then, when the devil tempts human beings, he tries to tempt them based on the sin that already dwells within them. And of course, when man pays attention to the devil, they are doing it based on the evil that is within them, in one way or another.
Now, why does the devil work to do this? Because he desires for man to be lost and his task is very easy. All he has to do is try to produce a small deviation, and that is what the word “sin” means within itself: missing the mark. The word “sin” is an archery term that refers to when an archer misses the bullseye, that something went wrong with the targeting of the projectile, and that’s why it did not strike where it was supposed to. That is why it is an error to assume that sin only consists of something like killing a person, or something like that. And the gravest problem that could ever happen to a person is to not be able to retain exactly what truly takes them to salvation. And that is why the Holy Spirit through Paul warns that an exactness with the faith must be retained, so that the error is not produced. The greatest and most tragic problem that could ever happen to someone is to live their whole life thinking that they are in the right and realize at the end that they have missed the mark, that they have lived their whole life in a wrong manner. That is why any good archery master will always teach someone that the only way to not miss the mark is by focusing precisely on the target, and what needs to be kept in mind before the launch so that the strike can be precise.
So then, if we need to be so precise with our faith, then what should be our focus? Let us think first on what our focus should not be, so that we can see the Mark (per se) even clearer. The Bible teaches us about all the different things that are sin before God. But to be able to have a north, a more secure and general key, we should keep in mind that we should avoid teachings and doctrines that support and/or promote the things of the flesh, those things that sound attractive to the sinful desires of our flesh, and that is everywhere unfortunately. There is much more lie than truth out there. This is what the Word teaches: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8. When we focus on the flesh, there is where the problem starts. The flesh can never be linked in any kind of way with the Gospel of Christ. Let us see the problems that happen when the flesh is intermingled: “Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, ‘Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! (speaking of the crucifixion)’ But He turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men (the flesh).’” Matthew 16:22-23. What would have happened if the Lord would have listened to Peter? Blessed be the Lord!
So, what should be our goal? Easy. It should be the person of Christ and what He has done for us, His merits. He is our model. We should not focus on other people (“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.” 1 Timothy 2:5), nor far less, on the things of the flesh. He (Jesus) needs to be the target for our faith, and we should do just as He taught us, to love God with everything we are, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. If you make Jesus the literal Lord of your life, and you value everything He has done for you, that will assure you an ample entrance into God’s kingdom. Lord bless! John