Living in the World

“When we come to Christ in faith, we are not snatched from the earth and immediately carried into heaven. Instead, Jesus Christ provides power to live in the world as those who no longer ‘belong’ to it.”

A popular gospel song observes: “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through…” The author is comparing the blessings of heaven to the trials of earthly life: “I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.” Hating the world seems counterproductive. Especially if, by world, we mean everything on this earth.

But Paul does speak disparagingly of the “world” in Colossians 2:20–21. He wonders why his readers continued to “submit to its rules: ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’” Was Paul advocating a hyper-spiritual theology that saw the material world as a prison from which we must escape? Apparently not, since Paul condemns the “rules” for holy living that focus on abstaining from normal earthly behaviors like eating and drinking. He condemns this approach for two reasons. First, these “rules” concern the things “that are all destined to perish with use” (v. 22). They look to an earthly reality to accomplish something only heaven can provide. Second, this solution to humanity’s sin problem is superficial.

Rules like these are a kind of self-remedy, bound to fail. They depend on human commands and teachings, so they inevitably share the weakness of those who rely on them. Even more, their effect is merely cosmetic. They have “an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (v. 23). When we come to Christ in faith, we are not snatched from the earth and immediately carried into heaven. Instead, Jesus Christ provides power to live in the world as those who no longer “belong” to it (v. 20).

Instead of telling the Colossians to run from the world, the apostle urges: “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (Col. 2:6–7). The world was created through and for Jesus Christ, and He sustains it (Col. 1:15–17). Christian spirituality is not anti-world. It is pro-Christ.

For Further Study

To learn more, read Be Complete by Warren W. Wiersbe (David C. Cook).