Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Beguiling Colossians 2:4

Paul the apostle had great concern for the church members in Colosse as he knew there were false-teachers among them which included the “Gnostics” who denied the deity of Jesus Christ and the “Judaizers” who promoted works and faith as the means for salvation. He showed them the preeminence and truth of Jesus so their “hearts might be comforted”, they would be unified, and they would acknowledge “the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ”. If they knew that in Jesus “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”, they would be less likely to be deceived. In chapter two and verse four of his letter to them, Paul gives the reason of others “beguiling” them as a reason for his words where we read:

And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

The verse begins, “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you...” Paul continued his words with “And” which denotes a continuance of his previous thought from the last verse as he adds, “lest any man should beguile you” which means “to reckon wrong, miscount, to cheat by false reckoning, to deceive by false reasoning, to deceive, delude, or circumvent”. Paul knew if the Colossians followed the heresies of those who denied the deity of Jesus, they would be deceived and cheating themselves from the truth that lies within Him.

The verse continues, “...with enticing words.” Paul also notes how this “beguiling” will be enacted, “with enticing words” or with words that are “speech adapted to persuade, discourse in which probable arguments are adduced, in a bad sense, persuasiveness of speech, and specious discourse leading others into error”. It wasn't as though the arguments of those who came against the truth were blatantly off-base. They were very persuasive in their words, and their arguments sounded like they were speaking the truth. Paul knew that if he set forth the truth with the church members of Colosse, they would be less likely to be persuaded by others no matter how “enticing” their words would be.

The idea of “beguiling” is somewhat like a person who wears a mask. Outwardly they appear one way, but beneath the mask, they are totally another. There was great concern on Paul's part for the church members to be “beguiled” or deceived, and he took measures to insure they were not. The truth from the word of God about Jesus Christ was imperative to distinguish between the truth and a lie. Perhaps as we think about this idea, we too will be encouraged to know the truth as presented in the word of God so we also will not be “beguiled”. May the Lord help us to know His truth and discern that which is error no matter how convincing others' words may be.

Next time Paul writes about himself being absent and yet present with the Colossians, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow...there is more...

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.




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