“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 2:20-23

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”  – Galatians 4:9

What are the elementary spirits of this world? The New Living Translation calls them the “basic spiritual principles of this world”. In the Bible it says that before we were Christians, we were under their rule, the rule of the evil prince of this world (Ephesians 2:1-3). We walked in sin. Now, however, we are free from them.

When we think of evil spirits, we often think of occultism, of idols, of false gods. However, I believe these principles can be much more subtle than we see at first. A principle is not visible; it is not a little Buddha statue sitting in a shop. (Though such statues are wrong, they are not the root evil. The evil principles are larger in scope: they are the underlying lies that cause people to buy them.)

I see the spiritual principles of this world as more than just the occult, idol worship or what we term “false religion.” I think they are, like the force of gravity, the laws that currently make the world tick, as the prince of the world, sadly, is now allowed to be in (partial) charge. But an important side note: The LORD is the ultimate ruler, and let us not forget that!

Contrary to other laws, which make things work, the elementary principles of this world do not work at all, but sadly, we think they do. They are “the rules we live by” (Timothy Keller also mentions this phrase concept in his book Galatians For You.) They are what we think will succeed – but really leaves our planet in utter havoc. A world where 1% of the world owns half the money is not working. (See Guardian article).  A world where billions live in poverty, hunger and war is not working. These principles are lies.

I believe all the inequality derives from false principles like “seek yourself first”, “I need to earn more money than my neighbour”, “fighting solves problems”, and so forth. I will be discussing these and more in my next posts (I hope.) These are all a part of sin, part of being led by the principles of the enemy who comes “to seek, rob and destroy.”

In the verses above, the primary principle, or lie, that is being attacked is that of legalism: “You need to earn it.” I will go into more detail about this in a second post. It is a universal fallacy, which crops up in all religions, that we can somehow make our way to God by proving ourselves and building a tower out of our works. But the radical truth that Jesus brings us is that we can only live by grace, through faith (as Paul explains in his letters).

What other “principles of this world” can you think of?

 

By the way, the book Galatians For You by Timothy Keller has inspired me in my thoughts about this. Do check it out if you like! It is quite the gold mine.