| Introduction Deception is the primary weapon Satan uses to get us to doubt Christ. He is called the father of lies. His strategy is simple and yet effective: get God's people to doubt his Word. That is why the Bible is filled with exhortations for us to pay attention to what is going on. Dt. 11:16 – Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them…. 1 Cor. 10:12 – Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Tim. 4:16 – Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. All these exhortations are there, not only because Satan is a deceiver, but also because we are prone to be deceived. Heb. 12:1 – Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…. Heb. 3:12-13 – Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. As Christians, there is no area of thought that we are more susceptible to deceit than the sufficiency of Christ. Either explicitly or implicitly, thought out or not thought through at all, we tend to doubt that we are complete in Christ. Our enemy knows our weakness in this area and he will exploit. That is exactly what was going on in the Colossian church that led to Paul's writing this letter: false teachers had come into the church teaching them that Christ is a great beginning, but they need something more in order to be complete. To that the Holy Spirit says that we are complete in Christ, 10. I. Beware of Empty and Deceitful Philosophy – An Analysis of the Passage A. Paul has already said that he doesn't want any Christian to be deceived (4), now he more fully explains why we don't have to be deceived. B. Beware = pay attention; see to it. 1. How many times in the Bible we find the Holy Spirit urging us to pay attention to ourselves, to the Scriptures, and to the world around us! 2. Yet, we often go through life unaware of all that is going on around us and in the Scriptures. 3. This is a plea to be thinking people, to consider ideas, not just accept them. 4. Christians of all people should be the most thinking people there is. Rom. 12:2 – And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Phil 4:8 – Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things arenoble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 5. According to our passage, lack of awareness leads to captivity. a. The word translated cheat actually means take captive. b. Wrong thinking has the ability to enslave us. C. We are to be aware of empty and deceitful philosophy, 8. 1. Even though our translation separates them as two independent terms, empty deceit is a description of the philosophy that we are to be aware. 6. It is empty = worthless. 7. But it is attractive, therefore deceitful. 2. Notice that Paul is not condemning philosophy as an academic discipline. a. The word was used in a much broader way than it is today. b. It was the equivalent of the word worldview. c. So Paul is urging us to beware of unbiblical worldviews that might deceive us and draw us away from Christ. 3. This philosophy is empty and deceitful because of at least three factors. a. It is according to the traditions of men. 1) Not every tradition is bad, only those that are in contradiction with who Christ is and what his Word teaches. 2) The traditions of men are not on par with the teaching of Christ and must be examined by the teaching of Christ, that is, the Bible. b. It is according to the basic principles of the world. 1) The literary on this passage is dominated by the discussion of what the word translated basic principles actually means. 2) It is a rare word (used only twice). 3) I think the best way to understand it is exactly how our version has it – basic principles. a) The philosophy/worldview the false teachers are presenting is based on the basic or rudimentary elements of worldly thinking. b) This philosophy must not be entertained because at its very foundation it has the world, which is a system of thought that is antagonistic to God. c. To make sure we get it, Paul says that this philosophy is not according to Christ, primarily because it encourages Christians to not consider Christ sufficient. D. Why is it that we should deny and denounce philosophies or worldview that take our attention away from Christ? "… in Christ there is a perfection, to which nothing can be added." John Calvin, 9. 1. Christ and his teaching are the standard or measure by which all philosophy and ideas must be judged because of whom he is, 9-10. a. Jesus Christ is the only person in whom God and man are united in their fullness; therefore, he is sufficient for all things concerning God and all things concerning man. b. We are complete in him. 1) There isn't a need for something else to fill up the work that Christ began in us. Phil. 1:6 – … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…. 2) Conversely, when we look for fulfillment in something other than Christ, we will never be complete – the more we go away from Christ to find wholeness and fulfillment the less we are going to find it. c. The reason he can complete us that he is the source, the head, of all things. 2. "God intends to flood the lives of men and women, and ultimately the whole creation, with his own love, power and richness…." N.T. Wright E. The main point of the passage à don't allow anyone to take you captive by convincing you that Christ is not sufficient. II. Working through Being Aware of an Empty and Deceitful Philosophy – An Application of the Passage. A. The Women's March is fresh in our minds and the ideas behind it will provide a good real life example of applying this passage. B. Though there may have been well-intentioned women who participated in the Women's March, the driving idea behind the March was feminism. 1. We must all fight for a worldview that promotes dignity, respect, and honor for both man and woman because they were both created in the image of God and bear his glory. 2. We must also fight really hard against an empty and deceitful philosophy that claims to value women, but in reality is in complete opposition to the glory of womanhood and manhood described in the Bible. C. The beginning of the current thought problem. 1. Though feminist philosophy has been around for longer, the contemporary mindset finds its roots in the writings of Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem. 2. Friedan wrote her seminal book The Feminine Mystique in 1963. a. She advocated that strong women pursue power that provided the path toward self-actualization and happiness. b. According to Friedan, women have been encouraged to confine themselves to the narrow roles of housewife and mother, forsaking education and career aspirations in the process. c. She attempts to prove that the feminine mystique denies women the opportunity to develop their own identities, which can ultimately lead to problems for women and their families. d. She encourages women the rebel against anything that would make them sociologically different than the men around them. 3. In the 1970's Gloria Steinem popularized even more Friedan's ideas by writing articles for the newly created New York Magazine. 4. Sadly, the evangelical church was not far behind in adopting these ideas. 5. However, it was neither Friedan nor Steinem who authored the philosophy that power provides self-actualization and happiness. a. It was Satan who first suggested this lie to Eve in the Garden of Eden, Gen 3:1-8. b. He prompted her to challenge God's command to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Gen 2:16-17. 6. The adoption of feministic philosophy by society in general and segments of the church in particular has had devastating effect on men and women. "The tendency today is to stress the equality of men and women by minimizing the unique significance of our maleness or femaleness. But this depreciation of male and female personhood is a great loss. It is taking a tremendous toll on generations of young men and women who do not know what it means to be a man or a woman. Confusion over the meaning of sexual personhood today is epidemic. The consequence of this confusion is not a free and happy harmony among gender-free persons relating on the basis of abstract competencies. The consequence rather, is more divorce, more homosexuality, more sexual abuse, more promiscuity, more emotional distress and suicide that come with the loss of God-given identity." John Piper and Wayne Grudem (slide) D. Is completeness found in the philosophy that teaches you must rebel against the roles that the Bible has given us? E. In other words, where does a woman find her worth? 1. This is an important question because motivation is key to fulfillment and obedience. g. House (decoration, cleaning) 2. Where should a woman find her worth? In Christ! a. In the fact that the God, who created heaven and earth, loved her and showed that love by sending his Son to die for her. b. In the fact that she is a child of God. 1 Jn. 3:1a – Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called daughters of God! c. In the fact that nothing will separate her from the love of her God. d. In the fact that even the angels are her servants because she is a daughter of the king. e. Not in the pursuit of some pretend equality that is never going to be achieved because it doesn't exist. f. Yet, the philosophy of the world is feminism. 1) It is a challenge to be a biblically feminine woman in a society that demands gender neutrality. 2) It is a challenge to be a biblically masculine man in a society that demands gender neutrality. F. Feminism teaches that for a woman to find completeness she must eliminate any differences between her and men in general. 1. This is an empty and deceitful philosophy according to the traditions of men and the basic elements of the world. 2. Everyone loses under this philosophy because we were made complement each other, not to compete with each other. G. So what is the philosophy/worldview of womanhood according to Christ? 1. The biblical woman was created by God in his image equal in glory and honor to the man. 2. The biblical woman is a helper, Gen. 2:18. a. Being a helper says nothing about any inferiority on the woman's part. b. It does speak of the inadequacy of man. 3. The biblical woman exhibits graciousness, Pro. 11:16 4. The biblical woman lives a pure life, 1 Pt. 3:1-2. 5. The biblical woman is modest, 1 Tim. 2:9-10. 6. The biblical woman has a gentle and quiet spirit, 1 Pt. 3:4. 7. The biblical woman teaches and is taught by other women, Titus 2:3-5. 8. The biblical woman, the real woman, believes in the Jesus Christ the Lord – over her life is the banner JESUS IS LORD.
God calls us to be man and to be woman for his glory. Both created in his image with equal worth. Each created to be different from each other. When we live out and celebrate and cultivate manhood and womanhood, we are ready to serve God according to the way he created us. That is true philosophy according to Christ. This is a worldview that acknowledges that in Christ dwells the fullness of God. This is a worldview that acknowledges that we are complete in Christ.
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