◄ Stop Thief! ►

Don’t let anyone capture you or rob you of the truth, with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. 
Colossians 2:8

God’s Grace

Paul’s epistles give descriptive details of the riches of God’s grace towards believers. He details over and again our position in Christ – our privileges and our possession. He desires that our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is firmly fixed on truth and not on the philosophies of man.

Deceptive Teaching

He also warns of an increase of false teachers and an inflow of demonic doctrines. Paul does not want believers to be deceived by false teachings or spiritual powers – for God has given us the truth in his epistles and desires that we remain firm in the faith.

Worldly Reasoning

But Paul also gives a further warning that is rooted in the reasonings of the world. He warns of a thief in our midst that seeks to rob believers of our sufficiency in Christ. The thief is the philosophy of the world – the traditions of men – human viewpoint.

Man-Centred Mindset

We are surrounded by high-minded, vain-speculations that come from men’s minds. Such empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense robs us of Christ’s adequacy, and Paul warns us that this thief is out to rob us of our Christ-centred mindset. It seeks to steal our sufficiency in Christ and replace it with a man-centred mindset.

Empty Deceit

There are two mindsets in the world, and we’d be wise to select our viewpoint wisely. The first is the perspective of the world and the second is a Bible-focussed view-point. The philosophies of the world are empty and they emanate from human thinking. But these philosophies castigate our position, possession, and privileges in Christ. They are characterised by empty deceit, vain speculations, and hollow deception.

Undermining Faith

This mindset of the world is rooted in the traditions of man and human viewpoint, and such a perspective robs the believer of all that it means to be IN CHRIST. We must be alert to the many ways that the enemy seeks to undermine our faith.. not allowing ourselves to be swept into the ungodly philosophies of this world – and not permitting false teachings or spiritual powers to rob us of our joy in the Lord.

Positional Identity

We must be aware of the importance of our positional identity in Christ Jesus. We must recognise that we have been sanctified through Christ – once and forever. We must have confidence in the heavenly position to which we have been elevated. We must understand the eternal plan and purpose that God has for each of His own. We must rejoice in our spiritual blessings and glorious identity in Christ Jesus. We must renounce all the lies that the enemy uses to undermine our faith in God.

Eternally Secure

Let us be aware that the enemy seeks in many directions to rob us of our position...  but our position, possessions, and privileges are eternally secure in Christ. The enemy tries to rob us of the security and peace that comes with our position in Him, and he uses the philosophies of this world to knock our trust in the truth of God.

BUT…

BUT... don’t let anyone capture you – or rob you of the truth, with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

INSTEAD…

INSTEAD... live your lives, by faith in Christ. Be rooted and grounded and built up in Him - strengthened and established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness and bubbling over with gratitude to our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.