Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser
In a world full of noise, opinions, and competing truths, not every voice deserves your trust. Some sound wise. Some sound comforting. Some even sound spiritual. But behind many of them lies a subtle danger – deception. The Bible tells us that Satan is the prince of this world, and his greatest weapon is not force, but lies. He does not always appear evil; he often appears as logic, culture, and “reasonable” thinking that slowly pulls hearts away from Christ. The Apostle Paul warns believers not to be misled by fine-sounding arguments or taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies. If we are not watchful, Satan’s lies can shape our thinking, weaken our faith, and capture our hearts without us even noticing. This article calls us to spiritual alertness. A call to truth and to stand firm in Christ.
The apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians church, said, “I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments (Colossians 2:4). In verse 8, he said: “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ”.
“The basic principles of this world.” This is a system of thought based on worldly principles rather than godly ones. Many people are being taken captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition and the elemental spirits of the world. All of these things deal with words and thoughts. Many people think Satan is endowed with supernatural power that he uses to overpower us and force us into obeying his desires. This is not true. Satan’s only power is deception, and Paul was warning the Colossians against that. Satan’s only power over your life is deception, and once you know the truth, his power against you totally evaporates. When you base your knowledge on God’s Word, the enemy has no power to force you to do anything! Satan’s strongest attack is not a frontal assault against the truths of the Gospel; rather, he uses subtle deception. Perversion of the truth has captured more people than outright denial. Paul warned against the enticing words the Enemy used to turn their hearts away from the Truth.
In Genesis 3:1, the devil didn’t choose the most powerful creature to confront Eve. Satan didn’t use the biggest, most powerful animal to approach Eve and tempt her; he used the most cunning. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”” (Genesis 3:1). Satan chose the subtlest. That’s because he had no power or authority to force Adam and Eve to do anything. He had to deceive them into destroying themselves. Satan uses the same tactics on us. That’s the way it is with us. The Gospel of Christ is so simple that someone has to help you misunderstand it. The sad fact is that there are more than enough people willing and able to help us confuse the issues. In the case of the serpent deceiving Eve, Satan took a simple truth and complicated it. God said, “Don’t eat or you die.” Satan made it much more complicated and deceived Eve through his sophistication.
Today, we can identify with Adam and Eve’s experience in the garden. If Satan could persuade perfect people, living in paradise and free from physical problems, to believe they were missing something, to doubt God’s Word, and to question His goodness, then he can certainly persuade people living in a fallen world – where pain, tragedy, lack, and need are all around us – to believe the same. But Adam and Eve were not missing anything before the fall, and neither are born-again believers today. If you have been born again, you have everything you need in Christ. You are complete in Him (Colossians 2:10). Everything you will ever need has already been given to you. Your task is to stand against Satan’s lies and deception. Many people have adopted a “without” mentality: without identity, without authority, without value, without enough. They are convinced they lack what it takes to succeed, whatever “it” may be. Like Eve, they have been deceived into believing that something is missing. But the Bible says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
" When you base your knowledge on God’s Word, the enemy has no power to force you to do anything. "
Here, Paul gets to the heart of why he wrote this epistle. He wanted the Colossians to be so firmly grounded in the truth that no one could turn them away from their faith in Christ. Rather than focusing mainly on every potential error, he expounded the truth, especially the truth of “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). Once we understand that Christ dwells in us in His fullness and that we are complete in Him, what could ever draw us away from this truth? What could compare with it? Those who have abandoned their faith in Christ for something else have never fully appreciated what they possessed. As David said, “O taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:8). Once people have truly “tasted” the goodness of the Lord, nothing else can satisfy them. The Christian life is a continual struggle against Satan, who seeks to corrupt us. Most Christians recognise that we are at war, but many misunderstand where that warfare takes place.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The weapons of our warfare, which we use to tear down the devil’s strongholds, are not “carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4). To be carnal is to be governed by human nature and strength rather than by the Spirit of God. Satan and his forces of darkness cannot withstand the power of God on which we rely. Scripture makes it clear that the battle takes place in our minds. The serpent did not use brute force against Eve; he deceived her with words. In the same way, Satan seeks to corrupt us by planting thoughts that contradict the Gospel. Deception was his original tactic, and it remains his method today.
The apostle Paul said to the Corinthian church, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). We must remain constantly on guard against the devil’s deception. Satan cannot force us to turn away from the truth; he must deceive us, and he does so through words. We need to recognise his tactics and diligently guard our hearts against anything that contradicts God’s Word. But we cannot guard against deception if we are not thoroughly acquainted with God’s truth. As Paul teaches here, we must be firmly grounded in the foundational principles of the Gospel. The battle against the devil is fought in our thoughts. That is why God’s Word is essential. Satan’s power lies in deception. He lies and presents himself as more powerful than he is. But truth is the antidote to deception. Apart from the power we give him by believing his lies, Satan cannot steal anything from us.
