Taken Captive to Empty Deception

[Christsfreeservant]

“See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:8-12 NASB1995)​

As those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, our hearts and minds must be guarded against the lies of Satan and of his many hordes. We must pray for wisdom and discernment so that no one takes us captive through worldly philosophy and empty deception. For there are many “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us, and many teachers of a false gospel who would like to take us captive to their lies via their trickery and their smooth talk and their convincing rhetoric. So we must test them all against the Scriptures.

In our modern day culture, one of the tools that they use on the internet is memes, where they can share short messages. But not all memes are bad, mind you. Some of them are very good. But we live in a culture where so many things are getting shorter and shorter, and this includes the teaching of the gospel. The more they cut it short, the more it is not teaching the truth, but the lies. It may sound good, and it may sound biblical, but if too short, it is often out of context and often it is teaching a lie and not truth.

What appears to be the most popular today, at least here in the USA, is a gospel message that teaches we can pray a prayer to receive Christ into our hearts, or we can make a verbal profession of Christ as Lord, or we can merely acknowledge what Jesus did for us on that cross and now we are saved and on our way to heaven, but regardless of how we live. And that is not the biblical gospel which teaches that we must deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands.

So, just because someone quotes a passage of Scripture, or what they say sounds religious, and so it appears to be biblical, it does not mean that what is being taught is biblical in its truest sense. Many people today are teaching Scriptures out of context and they are twisting them to say what they do not say if taught in context. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in context so that we get the correct biblical interpretation of what the Scriptures are actually teaching. And we must pray.

For, if our faith in the Lord Jesus is genuine biblical faith, it will result in us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to our Lord’s commands in holy living. That is what is meant by “the circumcision of Christ.” For in his death on that cross he put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will now die to sin and live for God, living to please the Lord in all that we do and say, for the glory and praise of our Lord. And this does not make us perfect, but this should be our life practice.

So, if all we do is give lip service to the Lord, yet we continue living sinful lifestyles, not in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, then according to the teachings of the Scriptures, taught in context, we are not saved from our sins, and we do not have the hope of eternal life with God. And so we are warned in the Scriptures against being taken captive by people in their deceitful scheming who are teaching lies, and not the truth. So test everything you hear against the Scriptures taught in context.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

For Our Nation

Professionally recorded in Nashville, TN
Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

Taken Captive to Empty Deception
An Original Work / July 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love