Don’t Get Cheated
Have you ever been cheated using promises of something that could not be delivered?
Have you ever purchased a product that made claims only to find it did not do what was promised?
This can be true of things considered to be spiritual. It can be true when it comes to claims of how one obtains sanctification, holiness, a closer walk with God, and so on.
We are offered New Covenant instruction on how to avoid being bamboozled by empty claims.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
Philosophy - a theory or attitude held by a person or organization that acts as a guiding principle for behavior.
Empty Deceit - The promise of something that has no substance to it.
Tradition of men - principles and ordinances observed for generations.
Basic principles of the world - The natural order of things as they can be known and have been known. Practicality, as it can be understood according to how things work in the natural.
The essence of what is being spoken in these verses deals with the reality of how so often many wish to bring others under the supposed idea of how spirituality is obtained. Almost always, these ideas shift the focus away from what Christ did to secure the essential things for us and instead place our emphasis on what we must do to obtain them.
When we let this happen to us, we are allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of.
If I already have something that is working and someone comes along and says I need something more, and I buy into that claim, I am setting aside the thing that truly works for something that makes an empty claim. I am allowing myself to be cheated.
Christ has already done everything to make us complete. Our completion is only in Him. In Him is the fullness. The thing we need most to have revelation of is the beauty and power of what it means to be in Him. Anytime someone comes along and insists on the things you must do to advance in fullness, and it involves anything other than being grounded in what it means to be "In Him," then you should see it for what it is. It is a con job. It is advice rooted in things that have no substance and therefore cannot deliver. Don't get cheated!
