"See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in Him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with Him through faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with Him, when He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it." -Colossians 2:8-15
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Everyone knows the classic story of Little Red Riding Hood. Red makes her way through the woods to her grandmother’s house. The trek was all too familiar, as she had traveled it many times before. As she arrived and was greeted by her grandmother, she was filled with so much peace. She was now safe from the woods. But what we soon learn is that her grandmother wasn’t who she seemed to be. It was actually a wolf in disguise, who ended up eating her alive. Something that she knew as safe deceived her and the story ends in tragedy.
The church in Colosse was probably being deceived in a similar way when Paul wrote this letter to them. There were people teaching things that sounded right but held absolutely no truth, and they believed them. Paul was so disapproving toward this heresy because it came from human thinking and from Satan himself.
When I think of the lies the world is telling us today, I see people being deceived just as the Colossians were.
We believe God is so good, but sometimes we try to view Him through a worldly lens instead of viewing the world through His lens. We hold our culture’s values higher than our Biblical values.
I recently read an article that stated, “Putting our faith in thinking that something put together hundreds, to thousands of years after each letter was written, or put together, was somehow done by God, inerrant, or infallible, is a terrible way to look at the Bible. In fact, it’s a whole different leap of faith, and different thing to put your faith into, which has nothing to do with what it means to be a Christian. A follower of Jesus.”
The author claimed that he could openly live a gay lifestyle while remaining a follower of Jesus because the “Bible is messy."
His post gained a lot of attention. Hundreds of comments were made on the post, with the majority of them praising the author for his boldness, and were in agreement with his view of the Bible’s fallacy - error.
We are constantly bombarded with lies from the enemy in our schools, in our homes, at work, and in the media, and we often don’t even realize it. It seems so close to what we know as truth.
We are told through social media that it’s okay to compare ourselves to lives of others. We post things so others will be jealous of us.
We learn in our college religion classes that all religions lead to a God; that belief in something will end in life for eternity.
We are surrounded by a movement of self-proclaimed followers of Christ who believe that living a life defined by certain sins is okay.
But the Bible should be understood as absolute truth. As the Word of God. When something doesn’t line up with the Bible’s teachings, it isn’t of God.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
If you don’t believe that the Word of God is His actual Truth, that it is God Himself, then you don’t believe in the God of the Bible.
Paul goes on to write in Colossians, “God made you alive together with Him, when He forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it."
Paul brings it all back to the Gospel.
Jesus has already beat the schemes of the enemy when He died on the cross. He cleansed us through His grace. He defeated Satan and all of his false teachings.
It is so important to listen to Paul’s warning against false beliefs. We know what is true - the Bible states it.
We can either believe that the Bible is true, or we can believe it is not. If the Word is God, we have no right to pick and choose which parts we want to believe.
When you read about politics or controversial topics, are you agreeing with it because of culture and tradition? Or are you viewing it through the lens of the Gospel of Jesus?
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Blessings,
Derick, Declare Glory
