The Doorpost: No law can overcome human nature

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. … If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
Colossians 2:8,20-23

“There ought to be a law.” How many times have we said something like that? We see problems in society and we try to think of how we can change our laws or change our government so “this can never happen again.” Unfortunately, there is no law that can overcome human nature. As soon as a law is on the books, people go to work trying to figure out how to get around it or misuse it.

Christians are not exempt from the impulse to depend on rules to either produce or prevent certain behaviors. When we see fellow Christians falling into sin (or possibly simply doing things we don’t think they should do), we may be tempted to create rules in an attempt to get them to act the way we think they should. The problem with this is that we frequently end up depending on human traditions and the basic principles of this world to make the change rather than on Christ. We may refer to someone who doesn’t follow the rules as “worldly.” The passage above seems to be saying that it may actually be the rules that are worldly.

This does not mean that we should cast off restraint and have no principles or guidelines for our behavior. Paul goes on in the third and fourth chapters of Colossians to give specific guidelines. What it does mean is that we need to depend on the completed work of Jesus Christ for the strength to obey, and not attempt to use rules to do it. Verse 23 says the rules do not have any value in restraining sensual indulgence—none!

In Romans 7 Paul describes the struggle and failure we all go through when we try to obey not only human regulations but God’s Law. Finally in verse 24 he cries out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? The answer he gives in verse 25 is the same one that rescues us from a futile dependence on human regulations: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”