See to it that no one takes you captive...

Colossians 2:8-23 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

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. ⁹ 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; ¹¹ 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. ¹³ 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 canceled 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.

¹⁶ Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— ¹⁷ things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance  belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, making his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

²⁰ If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ²¹ “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” ²² (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? ²³ These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

“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.” These things that Paul says can take us captive can come both from the unbelieving world and from religious people within the church. Philosophy is defined as: the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.   The truth is we cannot understand and comprehend an eternal, infinite, omniscient, omnipresent God with our finite minds. We cannot rationalize God. To try to rationalize God through the logic and philosophy of men would be like trying to explore deep space in a child’s toy rocket ship. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25  says:      ¹⁸ 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. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.     This difference between the wisdom of God and man’s knowledge, wisdom or understanding is why it is fruitless to debate spiritual truths with an unbeliever.

Paul is writing though to believers. The application of these principles is for us not the world. Empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ, is the next thing Paul addresses. The tradition of men is where we can easily become entangled in religion rather than faith and relationship in and with Christ. It’s ironic how human nature will cause us to disregard rules and regulations that we don’t want, while at the same time creating additional rules and regulations that support our view, way of thinking, or lifestyle.  God gave the Israelites 613 Levitical laws governing everything from worship to relationships to hygiene. That was not enough though for the religious leaders, through the years they added hundreds of additional laws, regulations and traditions.  In Matthew 23, Jesus reprimands the religious hypocrites saying: … “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves…   “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

We need to be careful though and understand that Paul is not condoning sinful behavior. In the end of today’s text he says:   “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,  “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”  (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?  These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”     We don’t need rules and regulation, traditions of men to tell us what is right or what is wrong. All the violence and evil that exists in our society today cannot be changed by adding more rules or laws. God has put within each person a conscience to know right from wrong. He has also created each person with a free will to choose for themselves whether to do what is right or what is wrong.  Rules and regulations “are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Whether violence, greed, racism, addiction or any other evil in our society, the root of the problem is fleshy indulgence. It is individuals choosing to do whatever they want, encouraged by our culture and society to satisfy self. No laws or regulations can change the heart of men. In Jeremiah 17:9-10 , God says:  "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.…”  In Ezekiel 36:26 God says: "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you…”

A new spirit, The Holy Spirit of God, given through faith in Christ; It is this Spirit who will:   … convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;  concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me;  and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me;  and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged…will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you. (John 16:8-15)

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, Your wisdom is above all wisdom. Thank You for making me, a foolish man, into Your likeness through Christ. Amen.