Empty Deception

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“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8, NASB).

          How many of us like to imagine ourselves held captive to anything in this world? I know I do not like the thought of being a prisoner to anything in this world. One of the demands of our world is that we have its wisdom—obtained through education, of course. The problem is that what the world considers wisdom is foolishness in God’s eyes, as I Cor. 1:25 asserts: “The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”  When we soak in the world’s wisdom, we are ingesting something that is not true—it is empty deception in the tradition of men—something man made up, not God. Are we handcuffed by or chained to something that was never meant to control us? Are we so busy enjoying something that isn’t eternal that we are missing what is? When Paul gave the Colossian church this warning, it was being attacked by false teachers whose message exalted wisdom that came from man’s simple reasoning. Self-made religion that required self-abasement and the severe treatment of the body were also part of the deception, and there was no power or value whatsoever in these teachings when compared with the truth presented by Christ. Paul said it beautifully in Philippians 3:8: “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Simply put, the things of the world and its empty, meaningless traditions will take us prisoners if we let them. It is so easy to slip into step with the world if we’re not careful. John 8:32 states that knowing the truth makes us free, and it is in this context that Paul speaks to the Colossians, who were being taken in by false teachers intentionally leading them astray from the true teachings of Christ. Only by studying the truth found in the Bible will we be able to avoid being taken in by the empty, false teaching the world offers.

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