spurious asceticism or mental will-o- the-wisp — oil treasures of true wis dom are hidden. He alone satisfies the deepest longings of the soul, in tellectual and moral as well as spir itual. a. —To dangers of false mysticism - 2 : 4 - 9 , 18-19 Nowhere in the Bible is an at tack made on human knowledge as such. Never hesitate to amass any information you can which may help you in establishing con tact with others in order to lead them to Christ. Nor is human wisdom — the ability to correlate items of knowledge — necessarily an evil in itself. What Paul is now attacking is a false and treach erous philosophical system which had become so alluring as to en danger the Colossians’ faith. b. —The contents of this false philosophy—2 :8 The system of thought which threatened the church at Colosse was probably couched in persua sive words. The believers were not to be deluded by attractive ter minology (2 :4 ). The philosophy might be appealing to the natural mind, but it was in reality vain and deceptive (2 :8 ). The worship of angels (2 :18 ), or the undue exaltation of any intermediate created beings in the Gnostic series, was a futile and unwar ranted intrusion into the realm of unreality (2 :18 ). c. —It was based on the traditions of men—2:8 Paul was separated from the Colossians by many miles. But he was with them in spirit, praising God that their faith in Christ was stedfast (2 :5 ). They had “re ceived Christ Jesus the Lord” (2 :6 ). But now man was seeking to intervene, to offer his opinions and vagaries as a substitute for the simplicity of Christian faith. Human wisdom, human conclu sions, human pride — all were knocking at door of the Colossian
Mr. Keith Sisco (seated), office manager for Biola, and Mr. J. R. Bramer, controller, check over some of the important equipment which is used in maintaining Biola's many diversi fied ministries and contact with its Christian friends around the world. assembly. d. —It was after earthly elements —2:8 These were “not after Christ.” Indeed they were the precise op posite of the message of Christ. Gnosticism, incipient or fully de veloped, originated in the world and could not possibly deliver a sinner from his involvements in the world. The Lord Jesus alone had accomplished this. Adherents of false philosophical views might be “vainly puffed up” (2 :18) in mind. But they were actually lost, hopelessly groping in the laby rinth of a world system which knows not Christ. e. —This false teaching was a threat—2:8 It is bad enough to be beguiled (2 :4 ), deceived, tricked by false teaching. But the shrewd pur veyors of error in Colosse were making a spoil of the unwary (2 :8 ). The believers there, who had staked their destiny on the
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