Colossians 2:6-8 – So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.
“Moving from this Christocentric principle, Paul then emphasizes the reality in which the believers already find themselves: they are filled in Christ, they have died and been raised with him, and they share in the victory over all competing moral and cosmic forces. This affirmation of the supremacy of Christ and of the finality of His salvific work is, therefore, not simply an abstract truth; it affects the very self-understanding of believers, who find their true identities in what Christ has done for us.” [David W. Pao, Colossians, Philemon, ECNT, p. 151]
In verse 8, being ‘taken captive’ can be understood as becoming a ‘victim of fraud.’ In this age of email scams, we feel there is no way we would fall for such lies and deception. Yet, when we live victory-less, hopeless, lifeless, we have been defrauded. Let’s “see to it” that we live in the victory of Christ alone.
Let’s pray that God alone would take us captive, that we would live in his cosmic victory. Worship with the song “This We Know” (Click here).
– AK