In our Scripture passage this morning—the apostle Paul begins to address the Colossian heresy head on. The heresy is why Paul wrote to the church in the first place. It involved one or more individuals that came into the fellowship and began to teach things that were not true.

Therefore, Paul’s letter becomes the instrument or tool by which the church can exercise discernment concerning what’s being taught. This letter was a valuable resource for the church back then….and for us today as well.

For example, if someone were to come here and try to teach that Jesus was a historical person—but not really God. We can draw their attention to 1:15, 19, 2:9 and ask what these verses mean then? If someone were to teach the blood of the cross is gory and unnecessary…then we can ask about the meaning of verse 1:20. And when someone tries to say that a person can go to heaven by some way other than Jesus…we can respond by saying not according to 1:27. All of these have been part of heretical teaching over the centuries…and still are today.

False teaching has been around as long as man (Gen 3), therefore we need to know how to discern what is true and what is false, what is right and what is wrong. Discerning minds need to know what the Bible has to say because it is the instrument or tool we have to use to expose heresy.   

In our Scripture passage this morning—there are at least 4 things that Paul has provided that will help us in the church today when we find ourselves confronted with any type of heresy.

1. Remember who we are. [2:6-8]

Paul tells us in verse s 6-7 that we are Christians. We are among those that have ‘received Christ Jesus as Lord.’ He goes on to say that we are to ‘live’ out our life in Christ since we are ‘rooted and built-up in Him.’ This phrase should help us understand that our life as a Christian is on a solid foundation…The Rock.

Paul also tells us that we find ‘strength’ for our faith in what we are ‘taught’. Immediately—we see how important solid teaching is to the life of the church…Amen. We should praise God for it! The Bible tells us that when we become a Christian we’re no longer who we used to be (2 Cor 5:17). There’s been a change in identity…and we need to remember that.

One of the things that I believe that’s destroying our country today is similar what Paul said in 2 Corinthians. People used to come to America from all over the world to become Americans. Now they want to still be who they were…but receive the benefits of America. When a person receives citizenship here in America…they are supposed to become Americans. When we receive Christ Jesus as Lord…we become Christians and we’re supposed to remember that. It impacts every area of our life here and now…and eternity. Remember who we are!   

2. Realize that we have adversaries. [2:8]

When Paul says here—see to it that no one takes you captive, he’s not talking about romance. As if you’re being taken captive by love…the idea here is being taken captive as a prisoner of war. What do we know about prisoners? They lose their freedom. What Paul’s saying is simple—if you get caught-up in the teaching that is built upon ‘hollow and deceptive philosophies’…you’ll lose the freedom you have in Christ (John 8:36).

This is a little bit like when hollow chocolate Easter bunnies started taking the place of solid milk chocolate bunnies. They looked the same…but when you bit into one you knew you had been deceived. Church—any teaching that depends on tradition instead of Christ…is hollow and deceptive. It’s man-centered and the purpose is to manipulate us into believing something that is not true. Take note—the end result of that teaching will be the loss of personal freedom. So then, what are to do?

3. Remind ourselves of what Christ accomplished. [2:9-15]

Church—it’s always good to go back to the basics when something seems wrong,

You’ll remember that I’ve mentioned before when you find a word or phrase being repeated in a Scripture passage it usually means something or someone is being emphasized. In the passage I just read the word Christ or the pronoun Him, used in reference to Christ…is used 9 times in 7 verses. Paul wants to remind us of what Christ accomplished.

In the interest of time this morning—we’ll not be able to deal extensively with all that’s in this passage. What I want to do is this; 1) try to summarize what Paul is saying in a sentence or two, and then, 2) tonight, if you come back go over this passage line by line and talk more about what Christ accomplished for us.

I believe what Paul is saying here in the passage is this, God, through Christ, has taken our sin debt, spelled out in the Law, away from us at the cross of Calvary. Therefore, we who were once dead, now, by faith, through the power of God in Christ, have been spiritually circumcised in our heart and are publicly identified with Christ through baptism unto a new life free from any authority other than our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words—Paul said the same thing in Ephesians 2 like this…we were dead in our transgressions and sins, but because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. This is what He accomplished…Amen.    

4. Remain firm in the face of false accusations. [2:16-23]

Here Paul begins to flesh out some of the heresy that was being taught in Colossae. Notice it all has to do with physical activities. Eating, drinking, observing special days, and denying themselves of certain things. Apparently the false teachers were requiring people to hold on to some of the teachings of their former way of life no matter what religious background they came from. Judaism or paganism

Look at verse 20…Paul says, since you died with Christ to the basic principles of the world, why, live as though you still belong to it? You belong to Christ. Now—look at verse 16…don’t let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink. Yet—Paul is in no way advocating irresponsibility here for a Christian

I believe that Paul is simply saying people/teachers who advocate anything other than the truth found in the Bible as a means of worship (especially physical activities)…have lost sight of who Christ is. It’s possible to worship God from a translation other than the King James Version. It’s possible to worship God ladies with a skirt on that doesn’t go to the floor. It’s possible to worship God even if the preacher doesn’t have a tie and jacket on.

Church—the list could go on and on—but I believe what Paul is saying to us is simple, “When someone accuses you of not genuinely worshipping God because you’re not following their list of demands…stand firm.” Tell them we’ll just see what my Father has to say about that and then look it up in the Bible. It’s there—you’ll find everything a discerning mind needs to know…Amen.

Our invitation this morning is quite simple: Is your hope of heaven in anything or anyone other than Jesus Christ? Has someone convinced you that you must do certain things…things not found in Scripture in order to worship God? Are you having a hard time discerning what to do with a situation right now? Let us help you.