Text: Colossians 2:8-15

Theme: We need to defend the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we need to understand that through Christ we have been made dead to our old man and raised to new life in Christ.

Intro:

  1. The Apostle Paul has just given us an exhortation to allow our faith to take deep root in Christ and to be built up in Him, stablished in the faith. Now Paul gives us a warning against false teachers who bring another Gospel.
  2. In these verses, Paul gives us a description of how the false teachers try to undermine our faith, Paul then explains our position as being dead to sin and no longer oppressed by the law.

I. Beware of Men’s Philosophies (Vs 8-9)

  1. Beware of the danger false teachers present (Vs 8a)
    a. “Philosophy” refers to a love of knowledge, but not necessarily of a useful kind.
    b. “Vain deceits” furthers this idea as it refers to empty delusions.
    c. The traditions of man are the typical views that men hold when they exclude God form their worldview.
    d. The rudiments of the world are the things of material concern, rather than spiritual benefit.
  2. Beware of the deception of false Christs (Vs 9-10)
    a. Once again, Paul is explaining to the Colossian Christians the error of the Gnostics. The Gnostics believed that Jesus wasn’t God in human flesh, but rather, that he showed us the way to God by the way he lived and died.
    b. The entire scope of who God is in his personhood, in his power, in his divine attributes is found in Christ the God-man.

II. Being Identified with Christs’ Death (Vs 11-13)

  1. Circumcision is a picture of the removal of sin from the soul.
    a. As circumcision pictured separation from sin, so our circumcision in Christ separates us from the sins of the body so that the soul may live.
    b. Our death to self comes by our identification with Christ, being buried with him by baptism into death, wherein we are also raised with him to new life, through faith in the power of God who was able to raise Jesus Christ from the dead.
  2. In Christ, we have forgiveness of sins (Vs 13)
    a. 1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

III. Be Assured of Spiritual Freedom (Vs 14-15)

  1. We have been freed from the judgement of the Law (Vs 14a)
    a. The Law of God shows us that we are sinners, because we have broken the law by our rebellious actions against God.
    b. Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”
    c. The Law showed us our sin debt and held sway over our souls because we were subject to its demands.
    d. The Law was against us in that it demanded justice without mercy.
    e. The Law was contrary to us, in that it offered us no help.
  2. We have been freed from the penalty of the Law (Vs 14b)
    a. I mentioned that the handwriting of ordinances refers to a bill of debt which we must pay. The picture given in the blotting out is that Christ paid our debt and the bill has been totally wiped out. There is nothing left to pay.
    b. The Lord Jesus accomplished this for us through his death on the cross.
  3. We have been freed from the power of darkness.
    a. The Devil, no doubt, rejoiced at the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus. He believed that the world had rejected him as their Messiah and that this was the end of the story.
    b. But through his death on the cross, the Lord Jesus brought the death blow to all the powers of darkness. Through his cross he defeated that old serpent, and sealed his fate for eternity.
    c. The Lord Jesus took the spoils of his triumph over the powers of darkness, and he put his victory on display for all the world to see.

Conclusion:

  1. Beware of the empty philosophies of men who would lead you away from faith in Christ.
  2. Understand that, through salvation, you are identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.
  3. Be thankful that the Lord Jesus took away the penalty of sin and the judgement of the Law, so that you might live in freedom from them.