See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit,
according to human tradition,
according to the elemental spirits of the world,
and not according to Christ.
Col. 2:8
Boy is this one tough! Why? Because any hollow philosophy that conforms to the "elemental spirits of this world" seems so natural to us. It is a rule of life that comes directly from "human tradition." By and large, we like fitting into human tradition. We desperately want to be accepted by our peer group (whoever that may be).
In other words, all of us are naturally and easy drifting toward being held captive
by worldly philosophy and empty deceit.
Not so sure? Check out the blogs and website of many "christian thinkers" this election season. I have never seen more "christian" people giving up or redefine so many major orthodox beliefs of the Christian faith for politics. One would think Jesus was a progressive democratic (This is the popular position for trendy christian writers). One would think that Trump represents godly leadership.
The sadness for me as I read these blogs is that these folks are well-meaning. They are sincere. They believe what they are saying is "biblical truth." The problem is that they have adopted some very contemporary ideas about human nature, redemption, personality, transformation, and self-expression. These ideas are informed by our contemporary political scene.
What has happened? These folks have taken a modern definition of words or ideas, and they have read back into the biblical text to get it to say what is acceptable to today's standards. As such, they have redefined biblical truth instead of allowing biblical truth, as it was written and intended to be understood, to define our understanding of Truth.
Why would they do this? Why would so many affirm them instead of calling them to task?
Our naturalistic, contemporary, human tradition believes that every opinion is equally valid. We believe that texts (like the bible, the constitution, or any other text) only have the meaning that we bring to the text. Original intent does not matter; or if it does matter, it only is one voice of meaning.
Friends, this idea will lead many into error. It will lead many astray. It will also put the eternal souls of many in danger. (This sounds so harsh, doesn't it? Our cringing at such statements only illustrates the hollow philosophy of today!)
Why? Jesus is True God of True God. The fulness of deity dwells within Him (Col. 2:9). He does not leave us alone. He had revealed Himself to us because on our own, we would not be able to figure it out.
How did Jesus reveal himself? The clearest expression is the Word of God. The 66 books found within scripture. God does not lead us in ways that contradict the Word of God. The Spirit still is speaking and leading believers to know the will of God, but the Spirit also will not contradict the Word of God. This means we need to know and to trust God's revealed Word! This takes time and effort.
We also have to know and to identify the false, worldly philosophy of our day. We have to call it false. We need to safeguard our thoughts, our feelings, and our faith against the false teaching. We need to repent when we are caught up in the worldly philosophy of our day. We need to cling to Jesus and pray for ourselves, our family, our friends, and our countries. Pray that grace and truth will again be known. As Paul says,
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,
just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
Col. 2: 6-7
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