Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Related verses:

·        Paul warned us of the devil’s trickery in 2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

·        Jesus referred to the devil in John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Beware – to guard oneself from; to avoid – In the Gospels, Jesus warned His disciples to beware of false prophets; beware of the teachings of the Pharisees and the Sadducees; beware of the scribes; and beware of men who would arrest us for the preaching the gospel. Jesus also taught that we must beware of our own covetousness.

Spoil – to plunder, to waste, to corrupt, to take the booty in war.

We must guard our minds from being controlled by this world’s philosophies and way of thinking. The devil wants to destroy our faith and ultimately Christianity. It is possible for the world to influence us to believe that which is not biblically true. We are constantly being influenced by the people around us, and what we listen to, and what we watch. Here are just some worldly thoughts and ideas that we may be tempted to believe:

·        Christ is not enough; I must do something more to be saved or to be satisfied.

·        Our church must adapt to the ways other churches are promoting themselves for us to be relevant and attract the crowds.

·        Life has no meaning or value. We decide for ourselves our own moral values.

·        Life is all about pleasure and what makes me happy.

·        There are no absolute truths or values. Everything is situational.

·        There are many such philosophies that people use to justify abortion, sexual sins, drinking, drugging, pornography, selfishness, and many negative emotional thoughts and lusts.

Our minds are constantly being bombarded with the thoughts and ideas of this world. We must cast down these evil imaginations that are trying to take us captive. Instead of those thoughts taking us captive, we must plunder and destroy those thoughts and replace them with godly thoughts and the truths of the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Ron Cox - Director of HOPE Ministry