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Colossians 2:8-17
Stephen Caswell ©1999
False Religion
There are only two kinds of religion in the world ...
You can list every "ism," every cult, every religion in southern California under one category.
They all say, "Do, do, do."
Only Christianity says, "Done."
Christ has done it all.
Two weeks ago we observed Paul's instructions to the Colossians regarding the false teachers.
He warned them to watch out for people with enticing words.
He encouraged them to go on to maturity.
They could do this through walking by faith and wisely building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
In tonight's passage Paul again warns them to watch out for these false teachers.
Paul addresses two forms of error in these verses.
He gives the Colossians two commands concerning these false teachers.
I.
Don't Be Cheated Of Your Relationship To Christ
II.
Don't Be Judged On Your Righteousness In Christ
* *
*Col 2:8* /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/.
Paul warned the Colossians not be */cheated/* by philosophy and empty deceit.
Not all philosophy is wrong, because there is a Christian philosophy of life.
Philosophy means to love wisdom.
Philosophy is accumulated knowledge on a given subject.
But if the knowledge is wrong then you have a deceitful philosophy.
Paul warned them not be */cheated/* by such error.
The word */cheated/* is not really strong enough.
The word means */to carry away someone as a captive, to kidnap them/*.
This is what happens today when members of the cults lead people into bondage.
They are literally taken captive by Satan through deception.
The truth sets people free but error brings bondage./
/
/ /
/But what was the content of this error that would rob them and bring them into slavery?/
Paul says it is /according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ/.
*/Firstly/* this philosophy originated with man and not God.
*/Secondly/* it related to the basic principles of the world.
This refers to the powers they believed governed the world.
*/Thirdly/* such teaching was not what they had received from Christ.
This philosophy was an early form of what would later became gnosticism.
Gnosticism
Paul corrects the error of Gnosticism in these three verses.
The Gnostics taught that God was Spirit and man was physical.
God could not contact sinful man directly since He was holy.
They believed that the universe was controlled by angelic powers and the planets and stars who determined their fate.
/Do people believe this foolishness today?/
See how many follow horoscopes.
The Gnostic teachers taught that man had to appease these angels or they would suffer.
They lived in fear of these angelic beings.
The Gnostics at Colossae didn't deny Jesus Christ came from God.
But they denied that He was truly God and truly man.
To them Christ was an in between spirit being.
He was unable to provide a completed salvation./
How does Paul refute this?/
By repeating His claim of Christ's deity given in Chapter 1:15-19.
*Colossians 2:9-10* /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.
/Paul gives 3 strong arguments.
1.
Christ Is Fully God And Fully Man
In this verse Paul states that /the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ in bodily form/.
The word*/ Godhead/* is only used here in the New Testament and means divinity or deity.
Jesus Christ possessed the divine nature in its fullness.
*Colossians 1:19* /For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, /But as well as being divine Christ possessed true humanity.
For He dwelt in bodily form.
He is God's visible representation, His exact image.
The reason Christ came was to reveal God to man.
God no longer speaks through angels as when He gave the Law.
He no longer speaks through the prophets as in the past.
In these last days God has spoken to us directly through His Son. /Why send a telegram to some one on the other side of the room when you can speak to them in person?
Why should we seek to reach God through angels when we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ?/
2.
Christ Is The Head Of Principalities And Powers
In *Colossians 1:16* we are told that Jesus Christ made all things including principalities and powers.
In verse 10 Paul informs us that He rules over them.
He is sovereign over all principality and power.
This includes the elect angels and the evil angels.
When Christ was on earth He had power to cast out evil spirits.
They had to obey Him.
/How does it affect our relationship to these hostile angelic powers?
/The Colossians need not appease them!/
Why should they live in fear of them?/ Jesus Christ rules supreme over the world.
He alone is the one we should fear and serve.
3.
You Are Complete In Him
/Since Christ possesses the fullness of deity, how does it affect our salvation?
/Paul says that believers are complete in Him.
The word complete means /to fill, to bring to an end, perfect.
/Paul uses the */perfect tense/* to show that we are complete and we will always be that way.
Jesus Christ is all that we will ever need.
He gave us with all the resources that we will ever need when He saved us.
/Why seek something new?
Why look for some experience to gain what we already have?
/We don't need visions or prophecy.
We don't need to be slain or speak in tongues/./
Computer Illustration
My new computer is so much faster than my old one.
It has a lot more memory and lots of features that save time.
But I am only using a fraction of it's capacity./
Why?/
Because I am still learning how it works.
The resources are there, but I can't use them all because I don't know how to.
It is only as I try to do something new and stretch myself that I can use it.
The computer has a built in teacher to help me.
But it takes time.
The same is true in the Christian life.
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