Religion vs. Jesus

Colossians 2:8-12 “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. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

When a counterfeiter wants to pass off fake money, he doesn’t use Monopoly money. Rather, he tries to make the bills look as genuine as possible. When you click on that phishing website and enter your personal information, they don’t tell you that they are going to open bank accounts in your name and ruin your credit. They attempt to look like a legitimate site and fool you into giving you information because it looks like something familiar to you.

However, reality sets in when you take that counterfeit bill to the bank. The teller holds it up to the light, doesn’t see the authenticating mark, and says, “Your $100 bill is worthless! You are the victim of a counterfeiter!” Or when you notice some strange activity in your bank account and you realize that you made a mistake and you were fooled and now your identity has been stolen.

Even more serious is when someone is deceived by a counterfeit Christ. The victim doesn’t just lose a hundred dollars or their online identity. They lose their eternal life and spiritual identity! Satan is the master spiritual counterfeiter! He doesn’t try to pawn off religious Monopoly money. He makes his schemes look as much like the original as possible. He speaks about Jesus Christ. He uses the Bible and Christian terminology. Satan’s supposedly “Christian” religions promote good works and family values. They advocate “Christian” morality. But invariably, they present a human way of salvation that denies the deity and substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ. The undiscerning think that this religion will get them into heaven, but it leads them to hell.

This was the exact sort of thing Paul was combatting in Colossae. If the Colossian heresy had been totally non-Christian, it would not have been so difficult to detect and resist. But it was a blend of Christian terms with Judaic and Greek thought.

Remember, the church at this time did not even have a complete Bible. They devoted themselves to the Apostle’s teaching, and that teaching was based on two things, the revelation of God and his eternal plan through the Hebrew Scriptures and the memories and teachings of Jesus illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Everything was being written down for future generations, and the writings of Paul and the other Apostles were being widely circulated throughout the churches.

When the authority of Scripture is denied, then it makes it easy for all kinds of sideways thinking to sneak its way into the church. These early churches were very susceptible to Christian-sounding ideas. As many are today because they don’t have any real knowledge of Scripture on which to base their opinions of these teachings. If someone stands up on a stage in a building with a cross on the roof and starts talking, that doesn’t mean that whatever comes out of their mouth is truth.

In our text, Paul warns against being taken captive by these destructive heresies. Paul’s instruction here is needed just as badly today as it was when he wrote because the enemy is still in the counterfeit religion business. Paul is drawing a contrast between religion that claims to be “Christian” and the living Christ.

The basic idea that Paul is trying to get across and that I want to unpack is that, “Union with the living Christ is superior to empty religion.” Remember, the overarching theme of Colossians is the “Christ is Sufficient and Superior in all things.”  

Paul gets pretty heavy into some difficult stuff in this passage, but we are going to plow through with the Holy Spirit’s help and I’m going to encourage you all to do more study on your own. As always, don’t trust anything I say. Be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who studied the scriptures to make sure the things that they were taught were true.

First, Religion apart from the living Christ is empty and dangerous.

Colossians 2:8: “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.”

New Testament scholar J. B. Lightfoot gave a paraphrase which I think is helpful. “Be on your guard; do not suffer yourselves to fall prey to certain persons who would lead you captive by a hollow and deceitful system, which they call philosophy. They substitute the traditions of men for the truth of God. They enforce an elementary discipline of mundane ordinances fit only for children. Theirs is not the Gospel of Christ.”

Verse 8 is the only occurrence of the word “philosophy” in the New Testament. Paul was probably taking the false teachers’ term for their teaching and saying, “It sounds impressive and it promises a lot; but it’s a deceptive empty shell. If you’re not careful, they’ll carry you away as captives to it.”

General Philosophy is not what Paul has in mind here. He is specifically warning against those philosophies that are empty and deceptive. There are those that have taken this verse and used it to support the idea that all philosophy is bad, and to some degree, I understand that. In our increasingly secular society, what is being presented in the average college introductory philosophy class on a secular college campus is “according to human traditions and the elemental principles of the world” and nothing is according to Christ. If that is all there is to philosophy, then I would agree it is bad. However, that is not what Paul has in mind here.

The term philosophy is a compound word that is literally translated “love of wisdom.” However, that simple translation is now outdated. When anyone refers to Philosophy today, they are talking about an academic discipline in “the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence” or the “theory or attitude that guides one’s behavior.”

However, at that time philosophy was used in reference to theories about God, the world and the meaning of human life. It included not only the ideas among the pagan Greek philosophers but also the ideas within the Jewish schools of thought.

When Paul says that it is “according to human tradition.” He’s saying that it originates with man, not with God. It draws people in, like Satan deceived Eve, by questioning what God has said. There are plenty of people out there who, like Eve, are prideful enough to think they can determine what is spiritually true or false! Let’s not be like them.

Paul also describes this false, human, religious philosophy as being “according to the elementary spirits of the world.” Paul uses the same word in verse 20, as well as in Galatians 4:3 & 9. There is so much debate over this one word στοιχεῖα (stoicheia) that is translated or interpreted elementary principles, elementary spirits, or rudimentary things. We get this word 4 times in the New Testament and it’s used in lots of different ways outside the Bible. The Greek phrase used here could refer to several concepts: the basic religious teachings of Jews and Gentiles; the material parts of the universe (such as water, earth, and fire); or spiritual powers (such as evil spirits or demonic entities). Whenever I see a bunch of smart people arguing about what something means and none of it is heresy, then I like to say that it is all of the above.

The big idea is that Paul makes it clear that these teachings or building blocks or powers or whatever are negative influences. We especially see this in the other place Paul uses this in Galatians where he tells them that when they were children they were enslaved to these stoicheia and they should turn back to these “weak and worthless” stoicheia to which they were once enslaved.

Some of the meaning gets lost in translation, but I think that Paul is referring to an approach to God by keeping certain rules. He’s kind of winking at the false teachers and using some sarcasm. He’s saying that their “wisdom” is nothing more than a nursery rhyme like the ABC’s.

Paul is saying that their so-called “philosophy” is like going back to spiritual kindergarten. I grant that demonic powers are often behind such human-based philosophies. But rather than primarily referring to evil spirits, I think Paul is referring to religion that seeks to approach God through keeping rules.

In Galatia, the false teachers emphasized the ritual of circumcision, along with other Jewish ceremonial laws, such as observing days, months, seasons, and years (Gal. 4:10), as necessary for salvation. In Colossae, the false teachers also may have emphasized circumcision (Colossians 2:11). They also emphasized certain food and drink, along with keeping religious festivals and Sabbath days (Colossians 2:16, 21). But it all detracted from the person and work of Christ and it provided a basis for people who kept these man-made rules to glory in the flesh. As Paul goes on to say (Colossians 2:23), such rules-based approaches may appear to be the right way to live, but they fail because they cannot deal with sin in the human heart. Only Christ and the new birth can change the heart.

In our day the rules may have changed but the enemy still uses this legalistic, flesh-exalting, approach to lure people away from the gospel. It usually elevates minor points of doctrine into major issues, or it emphasizes man-made rules as more important than the two great commandments, loving God and loving one another. In every case, it appeals to human pride by saying that by believing certain non-essential things or by keeping certain manmade commandments you can be acceptable to God. Such religious approaches to God are counterfeits.

How then can we know true Christianity? Paul sums it up with the phrase (Colossians 2:8), “according to Christ.” Jesus Christ is at the center of true Christianity. Paul goes on to show that union with the living Christ is all we need (Colossians 2:9-12).

Paul makes three assertions about the sufficiency of Jesus Christ, setting off each with the phrase, “in Him.” The first (Colossians 2:9) talks of the sufficiency of Christ Himself; the second (Colossians 2:10) and third (Colossians 2:11-12) talk about the sufficiency we enjoy through the blessing of our union with Him.

Christ is sufficient because He is eternal God in human flesh.

“For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” (Colossians 2:9) is one of the most direct and clear statements of the deity of Jesus Christ in all Scripture. It’s hard to conceive how it could be stated any more plainly. It certainly seems like the false teachers are denying Jesus’ divine nature, they also may have viewed the flesh as evil, thus denying the true humanity of Jesus. Against those errors, Paul asserts both the full deity and complete humanity of Jesus Christ.

The word “Deity” is used only here and one other place in the New Testament. In Romans 1:20, it is translated as  God's “divine nature.” Paul says there that it is clearly seen in creation. There Paul is saying that if you look at God’s creation, you can learn something of what He is like.

But here in Colossians 2:9 he’s saying that Jesus Christ was, and is, absolute and perfect God. He’s not just part of the divine nature or “divine quality” as the Jehovah’s Witnesses mistranslate this, but the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus Christ. “Fullness” refers to the totality of the Divine powers and attributes, and “dwells” is in the present tense showing that Jesus is and always has been God. This isn’t just a claim of Paul. Jesus himself equated himself with God in John 8:58, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

But Paul also asserts that Jesus is truly human: God’s fullness dwells in Jesus bodily. This refers to His incarnation when the eternal Word took on human flesh through the virgin birth. Jesus possessed a sinless human body. If Jesus is not fully human, then He could not bear human sins. He could not sympathize with our human weaknesses, to be our faithful high priest (Hebrews 2:17; 4:15).

So Paul’s point is that if Jesus Christ is the eternal God in human flesh, what more could we need? A philosophy of man-­made rules cannot compare to the perfect Savior we have in Christ. He alone can atone for our sins. He alone lives to make intercession for us. Religion is empty, but a relationship with the eternal God in human flesh is all we need.

Christ is sufficient because in union with Him we are made complete.

Verse 10 says, “And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” “Filled” is related to the Greek word used for the “fullness” of Deity in Christ. Paul is saying, “Christ has the fullness of Deity dwelling in Him. You are in Him. Therefore, you have been made full in His fullness. You don’t need anything else.” The Living Bible paraphrases, “So you have everything when you have Christ, and you are filled with God through your union with Christ.”

When you’re born into this world, you’re born complete. You don’t grow arms and legs later, like a tadpole. You’ve got everything you’ll ever need. You can’t use it all until you grow in age and strength, but you’ve got the whole package right from the start. It’s the same spiritually. You get everything in Christ the instant you’re born again. You’re joined to Him in such an intimate way that Paul often refers to it as being “in Him.” As Peter puts it in 2 Peter 1:3, “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” We may not understand it all or be able to use it all until we grow in the Lord. But we have it all!

Paul adds that Christ “is the head over all rule and authority.” As were going to see in a couple of weeks, the false teachers were even promoting worship of the angels (Colossians 2:18). Paul is pushing the point that not only did Christ create all angelic beings but he also rules over them. Why worship the creature rather than the Almighty Creator?

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Okay, but how does all this help me practically? I live in a real world where I struggle against sin and I often lose. How does all this stuff about being complete in Christ relate to where I live?” I’m glad you asked because that is Paul’s next point.

Christ is sufficient because union with Him in His death and resurrection gives us power over sin.

Colossians 2:11-12: “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

There was another heresy floating around during this time. The Judaizers were emphasizing circumcision and making it a qualification of salvation. God ordained circumcision in his covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). The Jews held tenaciously and proudly to circumcision as putting them a notch above the uncircumcised Gentiles. The issue of whether the Gentiles needed to be circumcised to be saved was resolved at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15), but the Judaizers who promoted that view continued to spread that pernicious teaching.

One of the main symbolic meanings of circumcision was the removal of the flesh as a purification before God. The Old Testament talks about being circumcised in heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6), which points to the inward reality behind the outward ritual. That’s what Paul means by “a circumcision made without hands.” When we were joined to Christ, He cut off our sinful nature so that we can live in holiness before Him.

In the New Covenant, Jesus established the ordinance of baptism to show this purification instead of circumcision. When a believer is immersed in the water, it symbolizes his burial with Christ, being identified completely with His death. When we come out of the waters of baptism, it pictures being resurrected with Christ, whom God raised through His power. All of this takes place at the moment a person puts their faith in God, but it is subsequently symbolized in baptism, which the apostles associated closely with the new birth (Romans 6:3-7).

This raises two questions: First, if baptism now replaced circumcision as the sign of the covenant, should it be administered to infants, as circumcision was? I have several Pastors that I respect who are paedobaptists. We agree on just about everything except this issue and it is something that I can understand their framework for believing what they believe.

While there are obviously some spiritual parallels between circumcision and baptism, there are also many differences. Jesus made it clear that the sign of the New Covenant is the Lord’s Supper, not baptism (1 Corinthians 11:25). While there is a specific command to circumcise the male physical descendants of Abraham, there is no command or example in the New Testament to baptize the physical descendants of Christians. Even if you grant that baptism is the spiritual fulfillment of the physical reality of circumcision, then just as circumcision was administered to the physical descendants of Abraham, so baptism ought to be administered to the spiritual descendants of Abraham, those who have faith (Galatians 3:7).

Baptism pictures conversion, which infants have not experienced. Whereas, circumcision represents covenant. Paul specifically links baptism here and in verse 13 with faith, and he does the same thing all over the Book of Acts. Since infants, while cute and precious, cannot believe in Jesus, baptism should be reserved for those who have experienced conversion.

The second practical question is, “If my sinful nature has been cut off by Christ, why does it seem to be alive and well?” Good question! Let’s try to answer it by letting Paul speak for himself. In Colossians 3:3, Paul says, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Yet two verses later he says (literally), “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you”. If I’m dead, why do I need to put my flesh to death?

Paul wouldn’t contradict himself within the span of two verses. Rather, it is a paradox between our position in Christ and our practice of that position as we walk in this sinful world. We need to understand and act upon our new identity in Christ. What is true of Christ is true of us. When He died, we died with Him. When He was raised from the dead, we were raised in Him. Now, as He is seated at God’s right hand, we are seated there in Him (Ephesians 2:6; Colossians 3:1). All these things are true of us by virtue of our union with Him, through faith in Him. As we set our minds on these truths (Colossians 3:2), they will govern our behavior (Colossians 3:5-10).

Thus when Paul says that Christ has removed the body of our flesh (our sinful nature) through spiritual circumcision, he does not mean that the old nature has been eradicated. Any honest Christian can tell you that it’s alive and kicking! Rather, we are to adopt a new attitude toward that old nature which used to dominate our lives. Its power has been broken so that we no longer need to be slaves to sin (Rom. 6:6). We are to view ourselves as completely identified with Jesus Christ in His victory over sin so that we can then act that way by putting to death the deeds of the flesh in our ongoing struggle against sin.

Conclusion

So Paul is saying that because God has raised Christ from the dead, victorious over the devil, we can have victory over sin and the devil because we’re in Christ through faith.

We don’t depend on man-made rules or outward rituals, such as baptism or communion, but rather on the spiritual reality behind those rituals. Christ is all we need because union with Him in His death and resurrection gives us power over sin. Religion with its rules and rituals is a spiritual counterfeit. Being united with the living Christ links us to His power over sin when we are tempted.

So make sure that you aren’t into religion, but rather that you are in union with Jesus Christ.