Don't Be Fooled
Colossians 2:4-10
Message #5
For a number of reasons, I very seldom start a message by first reading through the passage of scripture and then going back and teaching through it. But – let’s try it today.
Let’s just read through our verses with me subtly pointing out the goal (the focus) of the message today.
Colossians 2:4–10 (NLT)
4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you (so no one will fool you) with well-crafted arguments. (I’m telling you this so you won’t be fooled)
5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you (and I don’t want you to be fooled). And I rejoice that (right now) you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. (But I’m concerned that you could be fooled)
6 And now (so that you won’t be fooled), just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. (or you may very well – be fooled)
7 Let your roots grow down into him (so that you won’t be fooled), and let your lives be built on him (to protect you from being fooled). Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught (which will keep you from being fooled), and you will overflow with thankfulness (instead of being fooled).
8 Don’t let anyone capture you (don’t let them fool you) with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense (which is foolishness) that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. (don’t let anyone or anything – fool you – with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense)
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. (so, why would you, foolishly, run after anything else?)
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Since you are complete, spiritually through your faith union with Christ, and since Jesus is the Head over every ruler and authority then it would be foolish for you to be fooled by someone who is promoting some other way to know God and be complete in him.
Does that give you a pretty good idea of where we are going today?
Paul is worried about the Church. He was worried that the Colossian church would be fooled – in 61 AD, and Paul would certainly be worried about the Church today being fooled.
Let me rewind this letter a little bit and just look at the level of Paul’s concern that you and I might be fooled.
Colossians 1:9 (NLT)
9 . . . We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Colossians 1:11 (NLT)
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need . . .
Colossians 1:23 (NLT)
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News . . .
Colossians 1:25 (NLT)
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.
Colossians 1:27 (NLT)
27 . . . And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
Colossians 1:28 (NLT)
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone . . .
Colossians 2:1–2 (NLT)
1 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you . . .
2 . . . I want [you] to have complete confidence that [you] understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
THAT is the level of Paul’s concern that you and I would not be fooled.
And so, today, he starts with Colossians 2, verse 4.
Colossians 2:4 (NLT)
4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.
The primary focus of the Book of Colossians is this: KNOW the real thing so that you will be able to discern the false thing. It’s not “teach you about the false things,” it’s “teach you about the real things.” When someone comes and gives you some whacky idea, you can just say, “That’s not right. I mean, there’s just something in me that says that’s not right.” If you know the real thing, you’re going to know the false thing.
KNOW the real thing so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.
KNOW the real thing so that you won’t be fooled by all the false things that are being pushed on you by this world
The Colossians hadn’t been fooled – yet. But Paul knows the deceiver is coming into the Church. And the deceiver is coming to fool people into thinking there is some “better way,” some “new way,” or some “more glamorous way,” and Paul is desperately trying to prepare us so we won’t be fooled when the deceiver begins his work.
And so, he says in verse 5,
Colossians 2:5 (NLT)
5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
I rejoice that you’re doing so good – right now
I rejoice that your faith is so strong – right now
But I’m concerned for you – I’m worried about you because I don’t want you to be fooled.
And so, in verse 6, Paul says,
Colossians 2:6 (NLT)
6 And now, just as (in the same way as) you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
The word translated “just as” means “in the same manner.” In the same manner that you received Christ as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
And, HOW is it we received Christ?
We received Jesus Christ into our lives – by faith alone.
We received Christ by putting our faith in him personally – By trusting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We began our relationship with Jesus by putting our faith in who he IS and what he’s DONE. We didn’t receive Christ by receiving a philosophy, an idea, or a religion.
We received Christ
By being identified with him
By becoming one with him through faith in him alone
And so, in order for us to not be fooled by empty spiritual philosophies and high-sounding nonsense – in order for us to not be fooled by that – we must continue to follow Jesus in the same way that we first received him, which is by total faith in him personally. By total faith in our personal relationship with him.
We’ve got to let the roots of our life grow down into Jesus in an ever-deepening relationship with him, and we’ve got to let our lives be built on Jesus – personally – trusting completely in WHO he IS, trusting completely in WHAT he’s DONE for us. This is what Colossians 2, verse 7 says.
Colossians 2:7 (NLT)
7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
In order not to be fooled by the counterfeit thing, we’ve got to know the real thing better.
We have got to know Jesus better.
We’ve got to let the roots of our lives grow down into him
We’ve got to let our lives be built on him.
And as we get to know the real thing better, our faith will grow strong in the truth.
And through that deeper and stronger relationship with Jesus, we will ultimately overflow with thankfulness.
And so, C28 (C Two Eight) says this:
Colossians 2:8 (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
This is one of my family’s most famous verses. We kind of grew up with an awesome clothing company/evangelism ministry called C28. Breezy worked for them, and she learned the secrets of being a corporate buyer from them, and all of us were involved with the evangelism ministry side. And for a while, they were actually putting our Word By Mail CDs in every online order.
That was an awesome time for our family. But the verse is more awesome.
Colossians 2:8(a) (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you . . .
NKJ starts with the word Beware.
Beware – Don’t let anyone fool you – Don’t let anyone capture you.
Colossians 2:8(b) (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense . . .
I love this line.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense
Don’t we get so easily captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense?
Isn’t it amazing how easily people will buy into empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense but then so flippantly reject the supernatural, miraculous Word of God?
The Word of God has been miraculously proven over and over again for 2,000 years in every area of history, archeology, and science. But if someone with a connection to the Oprah Winfrey show writes a book about how you can get the universe to “Bring to you” whatever you want, we snap that up like it’s more true than gravity – while at the same time easily rejecting the 2,000-year-old proof of the truth of Jesus Christ in God’s Word.
Guys, don’t get captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. WHY?? Well, first, because they ARE empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. But second, because of what C28 says next.
Colossians 2:8(c) (NLT)
8 (they are) . . . empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
These empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense come from human thinking AND the spiritual powers of this world.
Do we think that it is just human thinking that comes up with the crazy notion that you can control the universe with what you want? Doesn’t that make you – like God if you think you can control the universe?
And do you realize that is exactly what Lucifer wanted when he got thrown out of Heaven? Isaiah 14 says Lucifer wanted to be like God and all of the Bible makes it clear that did not go well for him.
And yet, we are so quick to be captured by the empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that not-so-subtly imply that we can be like God in some way. And Colossians 2, verse 8 says these ideas don’t just come from human thinking – they come from the spiritual powers of this world.
And the goal of the spiritual powers of this world is to capture us with anything that is not the truth. The spiritual powers of this world don’t care what you are captured by as long as it is not the truth of the Person of Jesus Christ.
That’s why the end of Colossians 2, verse 8, separates all these things into just two categories.
On one side is every philosophy and idea, and approach to God that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world.
On the other side, standing all alone – is Jesus Christ!
That’s how it is because Jesus Christ stands alone – in all Creation.
WHY??? Why can the Bible say that Jesus Christ stands alone, opposite of every other philosophy and idea and approach to God?
WHY? Because of what the next verse says.
Colossians 2:9 (NLT)
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
Contrary to what the devil wanted for himself and contrary to what the devil wants you to believe, there is ONLY ONE GOD. And in Jesus Christ, ALL the fullness of God, lives in a human body.
Jesus Christ IS God in a tent of flesh. He is the fulness of God in a human body. And so, how can anything else make you more complete than God himself? That’s why everything else is lumped together on the “empty philosophies” side, and Jesus Christ stands by himself as the only genuine way, truth and life.
Verse 9 says – in Jesus Christ lives the COMPLETE fullness of God in a human body
Verse 10 says we are complete through our union with Christ by faith in him.
Colossians 2:10 (NLT)
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
The Bible makes it clear that when we put our full faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord that we are made one with him. We are united with him through our faith. His life becomes our life. What Jesus has done in conquering sin, death, and the grave becomes what we have done through our identification with him.
And verse 10 says we are complete (spiritually) through our union (becoming one with) Jesus Christ. We are complete in him. The word means we are “filled up completely” through our union with Christ – by faith. And us being “one with Christ” and us being “complete in Christ” sets us apart from every other spiritual philosophy or idea or approach to God because the end of verse 10 says Jesus Christ is the head over every ruler and authority.
So, IF Jesus is the Head over all rulers and authorities (and he IS), and if Jesus is fully God in a human body (and he IS), and if we are complete through our union with Jesus by faith (and we ARE) – then why, why, why would we be fooled into “being captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ”?
Don’t do it!!! Don’t be fooled!!!
Put your full faith in Jesus Christ. Send the roots of your life deep into Jesus. Build your life on the solid rock of Jesus, and DON’T BE FOOLED.
Let’s just read through our verses with me subtly pointing out the goal (the focus) of the message today.
Colossians 2:4–10 (NLT)
4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you (so no one will fool you) with well-crafted arguments. (I’m telling you this so you won’t be fooled)
5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you (and I don’t want you to be fooled). And I rejoice that (right now) you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong. (But I’m concerned that you could be fooled)
6 And now (so that you won’t be fooled), just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. (or you may very well – be fooled)
7 Let your roots grow down into him (so that you won’t be fooled), and let your lives be built on him (to protect you from being fooled). Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught (which will keep you from being fooled), and you will overflow with thankfulness (instead of being fooled).
8 Don’t let anyone capture you (don’t let them fool you) with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense (which is foolishness) that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. (don’t let anyone or anything – fool you – with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense)
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. (so, why would you, foolishly, run after anything else?)
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
Since you are complete, spiritually through your faith union with Christ, and since Jesus is the Head over every ruler and authority then it would be foolish for you to be fooled by someone who is promoting some other way to know God and be complete in him.
Does that give you a pretty good idea of where we are going today?
Paul is worried about the Church. He was worried that the Colossian church would be fooled – in 61 AD, and Paul would certainly be worried about the Church today being fooled.
Let me rewind this letter a little bit and just look at the level of Paul’s concern that you and I might be fooled.
Colossians 1:9 (NLT)
9 . . . We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Colossians 1:11 (NLT)
11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need . . .
Colossians 1:23 (NLT)
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News . . .
Colossians 1:25 (NLT)
25 God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you.
Colossians 1:27 (NLT)
27 . . . And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
Colossians 1:28 (NLT)
28 So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone . . .
Colossians 2:1–2 (NLT)
1 I want you to know how much I have agonized for you . . .
2 . . . I want [you] to have complete confidence that [you] understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
THAT is the level of Paul’s concern that you and I would not be fooled.
And so, today, he starts with Colossians 2, verse 4.
Colossians 2:4 (NLT)
4 I am telling you this so no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.
The primary focus of the Book of Colossians is this: KNOW the real thing so that you will be able to discern the false thing. It’s not “teach you about the false things,” it’s “teach you about the real things.” When someone comes and gives you some whacky idea, you can just say, “That’s not right. I mean, there’s just something in me that says that’s not right.” If you know the real thing, you’re going to know the false thing.
KNOW the real thing so that no one will deceive you with well-crafted arguments.
KNOW the real thing so that you won’t be fooled by all the false things that are being pushed on you by this world
The Colossians hadn’t been fooled – yet. But Paul knows the deceiver is coming into the Church. And the deceiver is coming to fool people into thinking there is some “better way,” some “new way,” or some “more glamorous way,” and Paul is desperately trying to prepare us so we won’t be fooled when the deceiver begins his work.
And so, he says in verse 5,
Colossians 2:5 (NLT)
5 For though I am far away from you, my heart is with you. And I rejoice that you are living as you should and that your faith in Christ is strong.
I rejoice that you’re doing so good – right now
I rejoice that your faith is so strong – right now
But I’m concerned for you – I’m worried about you because I don’t want you to be fooled.
And so, in verse 6, Paul says,
Colossians 2:6 (NLT)
6 And now, just as (in the same way as) you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
The word translated “just as” means “in the same manner.” In the same manner that you received Christ as your Lord, you must continue to follow him.
And, HOW is it we received Christ?
We received Jesus Christ into our lives – by faith alone.
We received Christ by putting our faith in him personally – By trusting Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. We began our relationship with Jesus by putting our faith in who he IS and what he’s DONE. We didn’t receive Christ by receiving a philosophy, an idea, or a religion.
We received Christ
By being identified with him
By becoming one with him through faith in him alone
And so, in order for us to not be fooled by empty spiritual philosophies and high-sounding nonsense – in order for us to not be fooled by that – we must continue to follow Jesus in the same way that we first received him, which is by total faith in him personally. By total faith in our personal relationship with him.
We’ve got to let the roots of our life grow down into Jesus in an ever-deepening relationship with him, and we’ve got to let our lives be built on Jesus – personally – trusting completely in WHO he IS, trusting completely in WHAT he’s DONE for us. This is what Colossians 2, verse 7 says.
Colossians 2:7 (NLT)
7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
In order not to be fooled by the counterfeit thing, we’ve got to know the real thing better.
We have got to know Jesus better.
We’ve got to let the roots of our lives grow down into him
We’ve got to let our lives be built on him.
And as we get to know the real thing better, our faith will grow strong in the truth.
And through that deeper and stronger relationship with Jesus, we will ultimately overflow with thankfulness.
And so, C28 (C Two Eight) says this:
Colossians 2:8 (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
This is one of my family’s most famous verses. We kind of grew up with an awesome clothing company/evangelism ministry called C28. Breezy worked for them, and she learned the secrets of being a corporate buyer from them, and all of us were involved with the evangelism ministry side. And for a while, they were actually putting our Word By Mail CDs in every online order.
That was an awesome time for our family. But the verse is more awesome.
Colossians 2:8(a) (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you . . .
NKJ starts with the word Beware.
Beware – Don’t let anyone fool you – Don’t let anyone capture you.
Colossians 2:8(b) (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense . . .
I love this line.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense
Don’t we get so easily captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense?
Isn’t it amazing how easily people will buy into empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense but then so flippantly reject the supernatural, miraculous Word of God?
The Word of God has been miraculously proven over and over again for 2,000 years in every area of history, archeology, and science. But if someone with a connection to the Oprah Winfrey show writes a book about how you can get the universe to “Bring to you” whatever you want, we snap that up like it’s more true than gravity – while at the same time easily rejecting the 2,000-year-old proof of the truth of Jesus Christ in God’s Word.
Guys, don’t get captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. WHY?? Well, first, because they ARE empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense. But second, because of what C28 says next.
Colossians 2:8(c) (NLT)
8 (they are) . . . empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.
These empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense come from human thinking AND the spiritual powers of this world.
Do we think that it is just human thinking that comes up with the crazy notion that you can control the universe with what you want? Doesn’t that make you – like God if you think you can control the universe?
And do you realize that is exactly what Lucifer wanted when he got thrown out of Heaven? Isaiah 14 says Lucifer wanted to be like God and all of the Bible makes it clear that did not go well for him.
And yet, we are so quick to be captured by the empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that not-so-subtly imply that we can be like God in some way. And Colossians 2, verse 8 says these ideas don’t just come from human thinking – they come from the spiritual powers of this world.
And the goal of the spiritual powers of this world is to capture us with anything that is not the truth. The spiritual powers of this world don’t care what you are captured by as long as it is not the truth of the Person of Jesus Christ.
That’s why the end of Colossians 2, verse 8, separates all these things into just two categories.
On one side is every philosophy and idea, and approach to God that comes from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world.
On the other side, standing all alone – is Jesus Christ!
That’s how it is because Jesus Christ stands alone – in all Creation.
WHY??? Why can the Bible say that Jesus Christ stands alone, opposite of every other philosophy and idea and approach to God?
WHY? Because of what the next verse says.
Colossians 2:9 (NLT)
9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.
Contrary to what the devil wanted for himself and contrary to what the devil wants you to believe, there is ONLY ONE GOD. And in Jesus Christ, ALL the fullness of God, lives in a human body.
Jesus Christ IS God in a tent of flesh. He is the fulness of God in a human body. And so, how can anything else make you more complete than God himself? That’s why everything else is lumped together on the “empty philosophies” side, and Jesus Christ stands by himself as the only genuine way, truth and life.
Verse 9 says – in Jesus Christ lives the COMPLETE fullness of God in a human body
Verse 10 says we are complete through our union with Christ by faith in him.
Colossians 2:10 (NLT)
10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
The Bible makes it clear that when we put our full faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord that we are made one with him. We are united with him through our faith. His life becomes our life. What Jesus has done in conquering sin, death, and the grave becomes what we have done through our identification with him.
And verse 10 says we are complete (spiritually) through our union (becoming one with) Jesus Christ. We are complete in him. The word means we are “filled up completely” through our union with Christ – by faith. And us being “one with Christ” and us being “complete in Christ” sets us apart from every other spiritual philosophy or idea or approach to God because the end of verse 10 says Jesus Christ is the head over every ruler and authority.
So, IF Jesus is the Head over all rulers and authorities (and he IS), and if Jesus is fully God in a human body (and he IS), and if we are complete through our union with Jesus by faith (and we ARE) – then why, why, why would we be fooled into “being captured by empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ”?
Don’t do it!!! Don’t be fooled!!!
Put your full faith in Jesus Christ. Send the roots of your life deep into Jesus. Build your life on the solid rock of Jesus, and DON’T BE FOOLED.