Colossians 2
Bible Passage: Colossians 2
Editor’s note: A previous sharing on today’s chapter can be seen via the following link: http://www.closerdaybyday.info/2011/06/colossians-2/. Although the sharing could be similar, please be assured that no act of piracy had been committed.
During that time, the church of Colossae (got it right for once…) was being plagued by a very dangerous heresy that could affect the faith among the believers there. Thus, Paul had to write this epistle to them to warn them about this and also to encourage them to stand firm in what they had initially come to believe in.
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up in his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God…
– Colossians 2: 18-19
Likewise, in present times, we encounter many heresies everywhere we go, and sometimes hear them even in our own church. I’m sure many of us had come across people who appear very knowledgeable in the realm of religions… And they probably actually are very knowledgeable. I’ve personally met people who know loads of stuff like that, like those experts who know everything about cheese. However, this knowledge is still only from man, and somehow there is always this misguided perception against the true Christian faith that even affects Christians…
Danger Within…
It’s one thing to meet and having to debate with people like this outside of church, but it’s another to actually know of one within the church. Looking into the history of the church all around the world, at least some of us had heard of some people in the church who influenced or had been influenced (by other church people) by some false teachings, and in many cases both parties end up leaving the church.
“Take heed that no one deceives you…”
– Matthew 24: 4b
Whether it was because the person was a very influential figure or because the followers of that person were close personal friends or very trusting of him/her, those figures highlight the danger of false teachings being brewed in the church. I’ve heard of a very recent case where an ex-church member somewhere in the world had left the faith for something else. Though I did not know that person, it did make me kinda sad to know this…
We must be extremely cautious that we do not fall into these traps, and while we are still “safe”, we must constantly build up a proper defense.
The Best Defense…
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it, with thanksgiving…
– Colossians 2: 6-7
I think the abovementioned verses very appropriately sum up what we need to do in order to defend ourselves from false teachings. And that is to be rooted in Christ and build up our faith. We are constantly being engaged in spiritual warfare with the deceiver. And being a spiritual battle, we need to have some sort of spiritual shield (think the shield of faith in Ephesians 6).
If we are still drinking milk, we have to man up (spiritually speaking) and start to take in solid food (Hebrews 5: 12-13), lest we be easily swept away if some storm of false teachings comes by our way, like a baby being led away by some candy or a brightly coloured toy held by a guy whose face oozes “Trust me”… Just as a baby is defenseless against many things, Christian who is not firmly rooted in the faith and teachings of God is easily exposed to false teachings.
Therefore, we must always remain vigilant and be diligent in building up our faith and establishing our knowledge in the word of God. Since Christ had sacrificed Himself and shed His own blood to redeem us, and we have come to believe and accept Him and His gospel, wouldn’t it be such a massive waste and pity to just give it all away for something that was created by some guy?
May God guide and strengthen us all…