Emptiness of the World; Completeness of Christ

*READ THE TEXT*

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (Colossians Chapter 2:8-10)

8. 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.

9. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

10. and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

*PRAY OVER THE TEXT*

Introduction

As we come together in Colossians we’re introduced to the ‘argument’ portion of the text. Just a little background on this:

1. Colosse is one of three cities in the Lycus Valley along with Hierapolis and Laodicea.

2. Epaphras and Paul meet in Ephesus

3. Epaphras comes to visit Paul in prison in Rome.

Dealing with false teachers and other issues within the church is something Paul did regularly. although here in Colossians, it seems there were no major besetting sins or issues Paul intended to address with them. the opening and theological portion of the letter contains major positive affirmation of the church’s sanctification as well as that magnificent section where Paul is consumed in the Holy Spirit with the glory of Christ; His Person and work in verses 15-23 of chapter 1.

But again here in chapter 2, we see Paul deal with a philosophy that the church was in danger of being carried away by, or at least some in the church. Whatever it was, it had Epaphras burdened enough to go to Paul with this need. Now again, the Colossian church seems to be maturing church, but Paul needs to remind them of the constant need to “be on guard”, to be watchful for the counterfeits as every church should. And that is where we pick it up. Now philosophy in and of itself is not a bad thing. Philosophy is simply the love of wisdom. The love of knowledge. And throughout all of history, man has had a fascination with wisdom, and that is simply an etymological meaning of the word, the love of wisdom. But philosophy itself really comes down to the effort of man to determine the ultimate causes in the earth and the universe, the effort of man to determine the answers to life’s biggest questions. The problem is when man look for truth within themselves as opposed to receiving the truth from the Lord, the counsel of the creator. The Bible is clear that the Holy Spirit is the source. Look at...

1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.”

And this is the issue in Paul’s day and in this letter; the teaching of the philosophers. Primarily the epicureans and the stoics. In fact, the church has dealt with philosophy for centuries whether it was familiar or repackaged in some way and it’s no different today. I think we’ll see that as we get into the text so let’s dive in...

V. 8- See to it that no one takes you captive...

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Col 2:8.

I. See to It

Paul writes, “See to it” This phrase is in ‘the present tense’; which suggests an ongoing, habitual act. Paul wanted the Colossians to be on the alert and on guard—not just at one time in our lives at the beginning; as if in a once-for-all-time act; but rather constantly and continually. This is not meant to be taken as a call to paranoia, or a call to be cynical. Because of the truth that Satan is constantly looking to destroy the church, the Colossians needed to be alert and wise. Peter echos Paul in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Because this is true, we are called to engage in this battle. Peter exhorts us in 2 Peter 3:17 “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness,”

But the attitude is prayerful. Ephesians 6:18 says, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,” Especially for leadership. This is the attitude of a joyful watchman, not in an anxious spirit but a healthy burden to protect each other in the flock of God. This is for the church as a whole. Paul knew false teaching would arise as others did as well. In fact, consider Paul’s declaration if-you-will, in Acts 20:28-31 ““Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”

What is it they are to avoid being taken captive to?

II. Empty Deceptive Philosophy

Look at the second part of v.8... philosophy and empty deception…This is the method by which the readers could be taken captive. The arguments are persuasive.

Paul tell them that in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in v.3 so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

Now false teachers were claiming, as they have been continually claiming in the early years of the church, to have a superior knowledge. And they continue to do that even today. They come along and say, “Well we know what you don’t know. We have a system that is higher than yours. We have knowledge and insights beyond yours, a higher, truer system than Christians have.” And from the time of the New Testament, they all came along and said, “We have a superior gnōsis,” the word for knowledge. “We have a higher knowledge. We have a higher revelation. We have a higher apprehension of God's truth.” And so Paul, in this section, counterattacks that. And what he’s saying is there is no higher truth. There is no nobler knowledge. There is no greater insight. There is no superior revelation, no matter what they claim. And against the enticing claim that a higher wisdom was offered by this new teaching, he emphasized that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ. The thing about this philosophical argument is that it was dependent on 2 inadequate elements.

1. [according] to the tradition of men

Judaism- In Matthew 16:6 “Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” So this had an element of legalism for sure and Jesus warns them to be alert to the captivity of it.

2. [according] to the elementary principles of the world, rather than [according] to Christ. Second source, rudiments of the world. You say, “What are the rudiments of the world?” That’s not an easy term to figure out, but there are several possibilities. Let me just give you a general idea of what Paul has in mind. The term in its literal sense refers to the basic elements of learning. Rudiments would be ABCs. It literally means things in a column or things in a row, the one, two, three, ABC. He says, “This just comes from the ABCs of the world. You know you go to philosophy and you’ll get a doctor of philosophy, and Paul says, “That’s ABC.” Rudimentary principles of instruction for childhood not adequate for mature adults, that’s rudiments. The thought then is that to return to philosophy would be to cast away the mature teaching of the Bible for the infantile, poverty-stricken opinions of an immature religion drawing its being not from God but from this world. In Galatians chapter 4, find the same phraseology. Verse 3, “Even so we were in bondage when we were children to the elements of the world.” The elementary teaching of human religion is what he means. And in Galatians he’s talking about the Jews’ religion, and perhaps in Colossians he’s combining it with the Gentile religion as well. But what he means here is just the basics of same-old human religion, and what is the same-old basic in all human religion? Salvation by what? Works.

Paul tells Timothy that what he has is far superior,

1 Timothy 6:20–21 (NASB95) — 20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

*DISCUSS*

Psychology

Evolution

We see an interesting encounter in Acts. You probably remember Paul in Athens with the philosophers...

Acts 17:16–18 (NASB95) — 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols. 17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present. 18 And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

1 Timothy 6:20–21 (NASB95) — 20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.

III. Completeness of Christ

Paul tells us, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” This is an incredible statement and foundational truth! The word “Godhead” means “Deity”; and it is meant to express to us that all the essence of who God is is found in—and has permanent residence in—Jesus Christ. If we have Jesus Christ—who is the Son of God—then we truly have all of the Godhead in Him.

Now; it’s wondrous that all the fullness of the Godhead is found in Jesus. But how does that impact us as fallen human beings? Many of the unbelieving philosophies of the past have expressed the belief that God is too far above us—to ‘transcendent’ for us to be able to have any meaningful relationship with Him. But Paul is very careful to say that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead “bodily”. In the incarnation, the Son of God took full human nature to Himself; and He is now—and forever—fully God and fully man! And that’s our point of contact. That’s how it is that He can be a fully sufficient Savior in our personal experience. The great gap between the Godhead and fallen humanity has been bridged by Jesus—in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead “bodily”. As the writer of Hebrews puts it;

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For indeed He does not give aid to angels, but He does give aid to the seed of Abraham. Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:14-18).

* * * * * * * * * *

So then; that’s our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He is the One in whom all the fullness of the Godhead has taken up permanent residence in a human body. And that leads us, finally, to Paul’s words in verse 10; affirming our completeness in Him...

in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

We don’t need anything else. He is the plērōma of God, and we are the plērōma in Him. God literally passes Himself to us through Christ. You are complete in him. That’s a perfect tense. We have been completed in him with eternal results. When you think about the fall of man, you think about what happened, it’s pretty sad. When man fell, he fell into a sad state of incompleteness. An unsaved man is spiritually incomplete for he’s totally out of fellowship with God. He is morally incomplete because he has no standard of conduct, and if he did he couldn’t live up to it. He is mentally incomplete because he’s incapable of knowing the truth. So you have a spiritually, morally, mentally-incomplete man. And Jesus Christ enters the scene and Paul simply says, “And ye are,” – what? – “complete in him.” Second Peter 1:4, Peter says, “You become partakers of the divine nature.” Think of it, you become a partaker of the divine nature. A man instantly becomes spiritually complete. He has fellowship with God. The life of God is in him. He becomes morally complete, not because he’s perfect practically but because he recognizes the authority of God's will. He has a standard and the energizing Holy Spirit to give him the strength to obey it. And he is mentally complete, not in the sense of knowing everything but in the sense of having the truth and the resident truth teacher the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER