Colossians 2:8-15 Worldly Wisdom or Complete in Christ

Bible Studies in Colossians

Colossians 2:8-15 Worldly Wisdom or Complete in Christ

by I Gordon

Last time we looked at Colossians 2:5-8 and called the sermon  'Firmly rooted or strangely deluded?' Delusion and deception were afoot in the city of Colossae. Today we will carry on with Colossians and while the thought of deception and delusion is in this text, Paul focuses more on the answer. And that answer is found by focusing more on what we have 'in Christ'... That we are complete in Christ! We'll look at a complete salvation, a complete identification and a complete forgiveness. Let's have a read.

Col 2:8-15 'See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. (9) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, (v10) and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (11) In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, (12) having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. (13) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins (14) having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the Cross. (15) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the Cross.'

Don't be taken hostage!

Col 2:8 'See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.'

Deception is rife in our world. And I'm not talking about spiritual deception... well, not yet. But just in the normal everyday world people are out to deceive. People are fleeced of their savings in this world all the time. Each day people enter Ponzi schemes through so-called honest, plausible sounding men. Each day desperate people are tricked into buying bogus sure-thing health products through clever sounding cons. Each day people are fooled into entering their bank account usernames and passwords into fake websites.  [1]  Deception is this world abounds and spiritually speaking it is no different.

'See to it that no one takes you captive' is Paul's command. The Greek word for captive is interesting and has the thought of being kidnapped or taken hostage. Hopefully you live in a country where this sort of thing doesn't happen to Christians physically. Not all are so fortunate but hopefully you don't have to live with this fear. But wherever we live we can still be robbed, kidnapped and taken captive mentally or spiritually. You probably know someone that this has happened to. You've probably seen people held captive by thoughts or teachings and have seen that the result can be just as difficult to escape from as if you were physically held hostage.

What is the means by which we can be taken captive? Paul says 'See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception' (NASB).' A quick word about the latter first...what is empty deception?  [2]  Empty deception is something that promises so much and delivers nothing. Well, actually, in the spiritual world it can be worse than nothing. Paul also said not to be taken in by philosophy. Philosophy is from the Greek word 'Philosophia' - 'Philo' means 'friend or brotherly love' and 'Sophia' means 'wisdom'. So this philosophy is a love of wisdom. Now there's nothing wrong with that now is there? What's wrong about loving wisdom? Well, nothing, if it is godly wisdom. But this one's not. The philosophy mentioned here is that based on human tradition - It is a human or worldly wisdom.

Godly versus Human Wisdom

1Co 1:18-24 'For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (19) For it is written, "I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE." (20) 'Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (21) For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (22) For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; (23) but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, (24) but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.'

Here is a passage that contrasts the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world. God's wisdom is a person - Jesus Christ. Specifically Christ crucified and also all that God did through the death and resurrection of His Son. What did the Greeks make of it? Foolishness! Stupidity! Nonsensical! Laughable! We need to remember that Corinth, a Greek city, and was filled with Greek philosophy. The Greeks were obviously well known for their philosophers, of whom they were incredibly proud; with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle being the big three. So the Greeks loved their philosophy and their philosophers. But the word concerning Jesus and Him crucified was like foolishness to their ears. Pretty similar to how Christianity is mocked today in some 'academic' circles. It's nothing new  [3]  though it does seem to be getting more aggressive in this age.  [4] 

 1Co 1:30-31 'But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, (31) so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD." 

But Christ is our wisdom. He is our boast. God's wisdom is all in a person. He is the antidote to such empty human philosophy. Here is the solution for the humble human heart! Let's go back to Colossians and look at how Paul brings this out.

Complete in Christ - Complete Salvation

Col 2:9-10 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, (10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

Verse 9 starts with one of the clearest statements of the deity of Jesus. When you look at Jesus, you look at the complete and utter fullness of Deity in a man! And then Paul says 'in Him you have been made complete!' When Jesus performed miracles in His earthly ministry, He healed people completely. It wasn't a partial healing or a gradual ongoing healing lasting months or years. It was complete, finished and final. The deaf would hear, the blind would see, the lame would walk. Amazing! And yet as wonderful as this work was and is, His greatest work is the salvation and spiritual healing of the human soul. Like His physical healings, it is a complete, entire and final healing. It is perfect. The outworking of it in your life will take a life time...and then eternity to stand in amazement at what He did. But it is as complete and perfect from the day you enter into it as it is when you are stand before Him in your heavenly home  [5]  . Remember, the Apostle Paul is giving his antidote for spiritual deception here. He is saying 'why would you look elsewhere instead of what has been done in Christ Jesus!' Don't get sucked in and end up with Jesus plus... something. So the first point is a complete salvation. You are complete in Christ.

Complete in Christ - Complete Identification

Col 2:11-12 'And in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; (12) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.'

In the Old Testament, circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant and God said that every Jewish male was to be circumcised on the 8^th day. Let me go on a slight detour... Why the 8 ^th day? Why not the 7^th or the 9^th? Well, there are medical reasons concerning the body's blood clotting ability because it has been shown that the body's Vitamin K and Prothrombin levels are at their highest on day 8.  [6]  But there is more to it than that for the number 8 points to a far greater spiritual reality in Christ Jesus. In scripture, 8 is the number of resurrection. It is the number associated with Jesus. You probably know this but God chose two alphanumeric languages to write the Bible (Hebrew and Greek) so both have numeric values for all their letters. In Greek, the name of Jesus has a numerical value of 888 emphasising resurrection. In Noah's ark, a picture of baptism, there were 8 people who came through the waters and where saved 1 ^st Peter tells us:

 1Pe 3:20-21 '...God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water,  and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also  --not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The 8^th day is also the first day of the new week. Why is this important? Well, the first seven days point to God's creation in Genesis... the first creation. But it was on the 8^th day, or the first day of the new week that Jesus was raised from the dead - the start of the new creation! So Paul is showing us here that true circumcision today isn't something outwardly or physical, performed with human hands. It is spiritual and within, performed by the Spirit of God in baptising believers into the death and resurrection of Jesus. All true believers have full and complete identification with Jesus Christ in His death and resurrection. What does that mean? Well it means that a believer will never, in God's view, be seen independently of Jesus Christ ever again. What does that mean? Well, it means that it terms of our position before God, we are perfectly righteous and completely whole... because Jesus' own righteousness is ours. To say it better, Jesus Himself is our righteousness. When God looks from Heaven upon the world, He sees those that are in Adam and those that are in Christ. To put that another way He sees those that have been born once and those that have been born twice... He sees those that are spiritually dead and those that are spiritually alive! Believers are seen as a perfect new creation now. Why? Because of the complete identification with Christ! That's why Paul said to the Galatians:

 Gal 6:12-15 ''those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ... Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.' 

Perfect complete identification! That's why all these verses in Colossians say 'In Him' or 'With Him' so consistently.  [7]  In terms of our walk, believers may slip up, and do - and God deals with us as a Father does. But as to our position and standing, we are in Christ and thank God that Jesus never will slip up and we are eternally bound and identified with Him. He is our standing. I read an interesting illustration of this during the week. F.B Meyer was a well loved Bible teacher and a friend of D.L Moody in the late 1800's and early 1900's. I really liked his application of this story!

 F. B. Meyer wrote about two Germans who wanted to climb the Matterhorn. They hired three guides and began their ascent at the steepest and most slippery part. The men roped themselves together in this order: guide, traveller, guide, traveller, and guide. They had gone only a little way up the side when the last man lost his footing. He was held up temporarily by the other four, because each had a toehold in the niches they had cut in the ice. But then the next man slipped, and he pulled down the two above him. The only one to stand firm was the first guide, who had driven a spike deep into the ice. Because he held his ground, all the men beneath him regained their footing. F. B. Meyer concluded his story by drawing a spiritual application. He said, 'I am like one of those men who slipped, but thank God, I am bound in a living partnership to Christ. And because He stands, I will never perish.' 

Complete in Christ - Complete Forgiveness

Col 2:13-15 'When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (14) having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (15) When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.'

I mentioned the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle earlier. Socrates was like the father and his best student was Plato. In like manner, Plato's best student was Aristotle. They liked to argue about the meaning of life, and death and the human soul. H.A Ironside records that Socrates and Plato argued one day concerning the forgiveness of sin. He said that Socrates turned to Plato and said 'It may be that God can forgive sins but I do not see how.'

Socrates, in all his human wisdom, couldn't see how God could forgive sins. He was a wise man but even he could see that God would become a man and thus pay the price of the debt of sin himself! What an incredible plan! But what a price that had to be paid! This last section tells us how that plays out and speaks of complete forgiveness.

The Apostle Paul first describes our state before coming to know Jesus Christ. When we were 'dead in sins', in the 'uncircumcision of your flesh', we were made alive and forgiven how many transgressions? ALL OF THEM. Complete forgiveness. He took, paid for and forgave ALL our sins. How did Jesus do that? Paul speaks of something called a 'certificate of debt'. The NIV says 'written code' but that isn't very helpful. Literally the Greek means 'Handwriting' and according to the Complete Word Study Dictionary it was 'a record of debt, a note written by the hand which makes one obligated to fulfill what is written.' It was used by those who were in debt and they would sign the document to legally acknowledge their debt to the creditor until it was paid off. They may have had several of such documents. I have also heard that a similar thing existed for the prisoners of that day (whose crimes did not require death) in that they would have this handwritten certificate placed above their cell door that listed their crimes (their debt) and the punishment that that they had to pay. So we each had a certificate of debt before God. Probably a large stack of them! Think for a little while about your certificate of debt before God. It would list all your crimes against Him, all your sins that you have committed both in thought and in deed. Think about what it would have been before you became a Christian. Think about what it would have been since becoming a Christian. Doesn't make for very pleasant thoughts, now does it?

So what happened to your massive stack of debt certificates each showing yet another sin and debt that you owed? It tells us clearly in our text - they were nailed to the cross! Jesus said I'll take them. I'll deal with them. And you have probably heard that in Paul's day, when the debt was paid, they wrote the Greek word  'tetelestai' on this certificate of debt. This word means 'finished' or 'paid in full'. What was the last word spoken from the cross before Jesus died? Tetelestai! Our Bible's translate this 'It is finished' but it is also 'Paid in full'.

That single utterance is the greatest word of assurance and victory in the New Testament!

Conclusion

This passage is a fantastic few verses on the completeness of Jesus' work for all believers. The passage shows a complete salvation, a complete identification and a complete forgiveness. No wonder the enemy would try to take you captive with other ideas and philosophies. But see to it that that doesn't happen! Don't let yourself be side-tracked, deluded or distracted by human or worldly wisdom. Victory is 'in Christ'. Abide in Him... Who He is and what He's done.