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Not Deceived - Colossians 2
Not Deceived - Colossians 2
“I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument” (Col. 2:4).
“Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 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. 2:6-8).
Deception is real. Disciples who have heard, learned, understood, and believed can be deluded, deceived, and taken captive.
Satan’s tools include DECEPTION, primarily based upon LIES. He is the ‘father of lies’ and lying is his ‘native language’ (John 8:44). We now live in a world that is simply filled with deceiving ‘truths’! Satan is thus ‘the god of this world’ (2 Cor. 4:4), the ‘ruler of this world’ (John 12:31) and the world lies in his power (1John 5:19).
History is filled with examples of false ideas that were accepted as truth by the majority of people! So, we simply can not allow ourselves to believe everything we hear, see, or even think. 2000 years ago John taught disciples to ‘not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God…” (1John 4:1). Since then, we have been deluged with deceptive thoughts and concepts!
This is not a call to discouragement and pessimism, but a call to diligence of faith – being very careful what you believe.
Unfortunately, most of the world simply does not take this seriously. Paul warned of “… one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10 and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness” (2 Thess. 2:9-12).
Yes, we believe many things, but WHY?
Hugh DeLong
