Surrounded by the practices and influences of heathenism, the Colossian believers were in danger of being drawn away from the simplicity of the gospel, and Paul, in warning them against this, pointed them to Christ as the only safe guide."I would that ye knew," he wrote, "what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
"And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words....
As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk yet in Him:
rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power."Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence "iniquity" should "abound," and "the love of many" should "wax cold."Matthew 24:12.He had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies.Again and again Paul warned the believers against these false teachers.This peril, above all others, they must guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel.Christ was the standard by which they were to test the doctrines presented.All that was not in harmony with His teachings they were to reject.Christ crucified for sin, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high--this was the science of salvation that they were to learn and teach.
The warnings of the word of God regarding the perils surrounding the Christian church belong to us today.As in the days of the apostles men tried by tradition and philosophy to destroy faith in the Scriptures, so today, by the pleasing sentiments of higher criticism, evolution, spiritualism, theosophy, and pantheism, the enemy of righteousness is seeking to lead souls into forbidden paths.To many the Bible is as a lamp without oil, because they have turned their minds into channels of speculative belief that bring misunderstanding and confusion.The work of higher criticism, in dissecting, conjecturing, reconstructing, is destroying faith in the Bible as a divine revelation.It is robbing God's word of power to control, uplift, and inspire human lives.By spiritualism, multitudes are taught to believe that desire is the highest law, that license is liberty, and that man is accountable only to himself.
The follower of Christ will meet with the "enticing words" against which the apostle warned the Colossian believers.He will meet with spiritualistic interpretations of the Scriptures, but he is not to accept them.His voice is to be heard in clear affirmation of the eternal truths of the Scriptures.Keeping his eyes fixed on Christ, he is to move steadily forward in the path marked out, discarding all ideas that are not in harmony with His teaching.The truth of God is to be the subject for his contemplation and meditation.He is to regard the Bible as the voice of God speaking directly to him.Thus he will find the wisdom which is divine.
The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have.This is the knowledge that works transformation of character.Received into the life, it will re-create the soul in the image of Christ.This is the knowledge that God invites His children to receive, beside which all else is vanity and nothingness.
In every generation and in every land the true foundation for character building has been the same--the principles contained in the word of God.The only safe and sure rule is to do what God says."The statutes of the Lord are right," and "he that doeth these things shall never be moved." Psalms 19:8; 15:5.It was with the word of God that the apostles met the false theories of their day, saying, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid." 1 Corinthians 3:11.
At the time of their conversion and baptism the Colossian believers pledged themselves to put away beliefs and practices that had hitherto been a part of their lives, and to be true to their allegiance to Christ.In his letter, Paul reminded them of this, and entreated them not to forget that in order to keep their pledge they must put forth constant effort against the evils that would seek for mastery over them."If ye then be risen with Christ," he said, "seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
