2 Cor 3:4-6 “And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life”.

Religion is taken from the Latin word “religare” which means “to bind”. The dictionary renders it thus:  “The Latin verb religare means to ‘re-bind’; whilst the Latin noun ‘religio’ referring to obligation, bond, or reverence is probably based on religare.

So ‘religio’ and its English derivation ‘religion’ connote a kind of “re-binding”. In principle, religion is based upon an obeisance, or obligation to perform. Whatever name you give such a religion, be it Islam, Hindoism, Judaism, etc, it is based on man’s insufficiency before God, and suggests ways, principles or methods of packaging a man to make him somehow acceptable to God. The end-point is bringing man to accept incompleteness and insufficiency before God.  Sadly enough, Christianity that is not based on the New Testament and the finished work of Christ (the death, resurrection, exaltation, and glorification of Christ) is still a religion. It will bind, or more appropriately “re-bind” you to a set of rules and obeisances and you end up in insufficiency, which is another name for religion. Paul warns in Col 2:20‭-‬22 “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?”

When you look at the Old Testament, not everything written there speaks about Christ. Take away Christ from the Scriptures, and you have a perfect example of religion. The High Priest of Old Testament for instance never sat down. Why? Because his work of interceding for the people was never complete. Inside the Holy of Holies, there was the Ark, the Cherubim, the Mercy seat, Aaron’s staff, etc. But there was no seat. The High Priest never sat down, because the work is not finished. He stood there pleading in trepidation and fear. The sacrifice only covered sins for one year, but never took them away. Besides, at the time he is placing the blood upon the mercy seat, the people outside are already committing new sins.  Heb 10:11 “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins”. But not so with Jesus. The Bible says He is now sat down, proving that the work is FINISHED. Heb 8:1 “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;  And He did it ONCE FOR ALL TIME. Heb 10: ‬14  “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified”.

By the work of Christ, those who receive him have been made COMPLETE in Him. No more insufficiency.

Col 2:10‭- “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: . This is exactly what Apostle Paul is communicating in our opening text. That this sufficiency, (although not of our own work but that of Christ) is complete. We who have received it stand bold before God without lack or shame, or insufficiency of any sort”.

Gal 5:1.  “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage”.

Herein lies the sufficiency of the believer in Christ. First he is justified and accepted in the beloved. Which in turn gives him or her a right standing before God.

Eph 1:4‭-‬6 “…according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved”.

It’s all about access. Under the Old Testament worship, there was a veil between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. This veil signified  separation of God from sinful man. An intermediary, (a High Priest) was needed to take sacrifices and oblations through that sacred veil once a year to make atonement for sin.  Hebrews 9:3 “And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all”  This Temple veil was preceded by a veil which Moses (the intermediary) put upon his face whilst he spoke the commandments of God to Israel.  Man was short of righteousness and of a good standing to offer sacrifice direct to God. This arrangement was therefore a mere shadow and a temporal act, (rehearsal if you like) of the sacrifice Christ would eventually offer for mankind. To prove that this system of veils is no longer valid or obtainable, after Christ went up the Cross, the sacred temple veil was torn up miraculously from top to bottom, the exact moment Christ died on the Cross. Thereby revealing the Holy of Holies to all and giving us direct access to God. 
Matt 27:51 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;” the significance of this event Paul refers to in: 2 Cor 3:16 “Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away”.  So we see that the veil of separation in the temple was removed at the expiation of Christ’s physical life upon the Cross. The fallout is that we now have direct access to God in prayer and can get answers speedily and directly from God. This just as  Isaiah prophesied earlier on: Isaiah 65:24 “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear”.

This same fact Paul alluded to in: Romans 5:2 “…by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”.( See Eph 2:18, 3:12)

Here lies the danger of the “man-of-God syndrome”. An erroneous practice whereby a believer (although indwelled by the Spirit of Christ) still looks up to a ‘man or woman of God’ as an intermediary with God. Nothing fosters this insufficiency more.

The “make-heaven mentality” is another subtle but potent doctrine that makes a believer lack confidence and assurance of salvation. By this error, a believer views his or her salvation as incomplete, and more or less like a race which you run to the end to win… and Heaven as a prize yet to be won at the expiation of physical life. This is a grave error. First the believer has already died and risen with Christ. (Col 3:1-3)

You have been quickened and now made a partaker of heaven where Christ dwells.
Eph 2:4‭-‬6  “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”:

YOU ARE SEATED WITH CHRIST RIGHT NOW. HEAVEN IS A SPIRITUAL REALITY, NOT A GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OR COUNTRY YOU TRAVEL TO WHEN YOU DIE.

Never mind that Jim Reeves sang: ” I’ll fly away to glory”.

THERE IS NO FLIGHT TO BOARD TO HEAVEN.

Paul says “Absent in body, is present with the Lord” 2 Cor 5:8, period. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them”.John 13:17

-Nich Mbaezue Ph.D.