See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.—Colossians 2:8–10

Introduction

Baited Traps: Cultural Captivity vs. Religious Captivity

Today is Vision Sunday for our children and youth ministry. Bethlehem cares deeply about partnering with parents in pursuing the eternal joy of children and youth. I would like to take a moment to speak directly to children and youth who are present in our services. Children, your joy is our aim. We recognize that there are many forces today that are competing for your attention and your allegiance. Many parents are rightly worried about worldly influences from the culture corrupting you. These are real fears because there are real reasons why cultural forces can capture you and leave you broken and bloodied. We don’t want you, our children and youth, to be taken captive by the culture.

But I have observed that many times parents who fear this cultural captivity do not have an equally healthy fear of religious captivity. We can so fear “worldly culture” that we try to replace it with “church culture.” Church culture can still take people captive because a culture of religion cannot save anyone.

Here at Bethlehem, we often talk about driving off the road into the devil’s ditches of deceit. Our text today uses a different picture; it uses the imagery of being taken as a live captive in a trap. It got me thinking about mousetraps. Have you seen how many different types of mousetraps you can buy today? You can still buy the mousetrap in which the mouse takes the bait, and then the bar comes smashing down on the mouse. They are inexpensive, but they leave you to deal with a crushed mouse. Or you can have a mousetrap that is a live trap. It is like the mouse goes in a tunnel and then can’t get out again. Another kind of trap has poison so that the mouse eats, goes his merry way not knowing that he has been poisoned, and then soon dies.

The latter two traps work by using the illusion of freedom. The mouse is not smashed or killed right away. In one, the mouse can move around a bit, but he is still trapped. The other has an even greater illusion of freedom. The mouse can go wherever it wants, but it does not know that it is in the process of dying. In both, the mouse probably thinks he will get away—or has gotten away—with some kind of gain.

Satan sets traps for us just like this because he is a master at bait-and-switch tactics. The devil has devised two deceitful live traps. He places one on each side of the path of truth. They both promise different things. One promises freedom for the flesh, and the other promises freedom from the flesh, but both of them use a philosophy or picture of fullness of life for the bait. Let me further explain each trap.

The first trap promises freedom for the flesh. This trap proclaims that fullness of life is found in escaping all religious rules. It says, “Here is the reality: you are filled with raging desires. The problem is that religion comes along with its stress on self-control, and it tells you that you can’t act on those desires— they are forbidden. You’re supposed to say ‘no’ and fight them, but what you really want to do is give in to them.” (The bait looks really tasty, doesn’t it?) “Here is the solution. Quit fighting the desires of your flesh! Say ‘yes’ to your desires. Just do it. Feast on the forbidden fruit. Enjoy freedom from the rules and embrace freedom for the flesh.”

The second trap promises freedom from the flesh. This trap tries to say that fullness of life can be found in systems or rules that help you say “no” to your flesh. It says that the reality and the problem are the same: that you have all of these raging desires for forbidden things. The solution is religion and regulations. “Just learn to say ‘no’ to your desires by following a system of do’s and don’ts. These guidelines will give you what you need. And if you fight the flesh long enough, you can get victory over it. The path of life is not found in escaping the rules, but in keeping the rules.”

So the first trap sees the call to self-control as the enemy, but the second trap sees self-control as the savior. Or another way to say it: The first trap sees fulfilling the desires of the flesh as savior, and the second traps sees fulfilling those desires as the enemy.

Some get caught in the first trap. Paul said that Demas left him because he was in love with the world (2 Timothy 4:10). But Paul looks at some in the Colossian church and sees that they are caught in the second trap. In many ways, the second trap is even more sinister than the first. We will look at why in a moment. The first thing we need to address is the main question: Why are both baits false?

Both baits promise freedom apart from Christ. Fullness is impossible apart from Christ. Here is the main point of the text: Fullness is found only in Christ—all other paths are empty deceptions. This is the good news of Christianity: There is no hidden hook, no bait and switch. There is actual fullness of joy in Christ because Christ has all the fullness and we have been filled with it in him. Maintaining this fullness in Christ means means staying captivated by him. Therefore, we must resist being taken captive by things that are empty compared to the fullness of Christ. The more captivated you are by Christ, the more protected you are from being taken captive by empty things, and you are truly filled with the fullness of life. 

Let me summarize then. The first trap says that fullness is found in freedom for the flesh (just say “yes”). The second trap says that fullness is found in freedom from the flesh (just say “no”). But the truth is that fullness of life is found in Christ alone and to be captivated by him is to be truly free.       

In the rest of this sermon, I want to explain our freedom in Christ from the first verse of our text. Then I will discuss the fullness of Christ himself described in verse 9, followed by discussing our fullness in Christ in verse 10. Lastly, I want to show that, because of the fullness of Christ and our fullness in his fullness, we do not need to be captive to anything but him.                

Our Freedom in Christ: Resist Captivity

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.—Colossians 2:8

Paul warns against being taken as a live captive. It is not a full assault from the front; it is a sneak attack. The devil does not use brute force; he uses “philosophy and empty deceit.” The phrase “empty deceit” shows that it is a sneaky trap; it is deceiving. The bait promises fullness of life, but in the end that promise is empty and leaves you trapped. Paul had already warned them about this sneaky verbal assault back in verse 4 when he said, “I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments” (v. 4). Fine-sounding words with deceptive intent are the bait with a hidden hook. They use an honorable pedigree of tradition. But the tradition is a smokescreen that attempts to hide the hook!

This warning is a big deal because Paul sounds this alarm three more times in this chapter alone. All three alarms have a similar structure of thought. First, there is a warning against being held captive and judged by others’ standards (Colossians 2:8, 16, 18). Then there is an explanation of why the judgment and standards are wrong (vv. 8, 16–17, 18). Lastly, there is recognition of Christ as the right standard (vv. 8, 17, 19).

Let me start in verse 8 and do a brief overview to get perspective for our text today.

In verse 8, Paul commands the Colossians to not be taken captive by empty things that do not accord with Christ’s fullness. Verses 16–17 command them not to let anyone “pass judgment on them” concerning things that are simply empty (Paul calls them “shadows”; Christ is the substance.) Verse 18 commands them not to let anyone seek to “disqualify” them by insisting upon the value of certain experiences that puff them up to make them feel superior but have no substance. (Think of a hot air balloon). Verse 19 says that a devotion to these false standards would cause them to not hold fast to Christ. Earlier in Colossians, in verse 18 of the first chapter, Paul uses a picture of the human body that puts this idea in simple terms. Christ is the Head, and his people are the body. If the head and the body are connected, there is life and nourishment, but if not, there is death. Paul is saying that in Christ we are nourished, and there is “growth that is from God.” But apart from Christ, there is no growth in God (v. 19).

After seeing that overview, perhaps the best way to interpret verse 8 is to look even farther ahead, into verses 20–23. Here, Paul uses the phrases “elemental spirits of the world” and “according to human precepts and teachings.” He also acknowledges that these teachings have “an appearance of wisdom.”

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.—Colossians 2:20–23

Here, you can plainly see the teachings that Paul is referring to. These teachings are fundamentally religious. They are a system of regulations. The bumper sticker of the philosophy is “just say ‘no’.” Verse 21 says so clearly, “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch.”

Paul says that these teachings have the “appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body.” He says that deception is in them because they have the appearance of wisdom but not real wisdom. They appear to have wisdom, because trying to stop indulgence of the flesh by fighting against the flesh seems like a reasonable solution. “The best way to beat the flesh is to fight it.” But the problem is that they are trying to fight the flesh using the flesh, so it does not work. So Paul says that these regulations are “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (v. 23).

This solution is anything but that. Rather, it is a deception because it is not God’s solution. Where does this deception come from? At a glance, it looks like these teachings come from man. But look closer. Even though they appeal to human tradition (v. 8) and “human precepts and teachings” (v. 22), they really come from the pit of hell. Both passages say that these teachings are in line with both human teaching or tradition and the elemental spirits of the world (v. 20). There is some debate on this phrase, but the majority of commentators see it as a reference to demonic spirits. Paul makes the demons a focus all the way through Colossians (1:16; 2:10, 15, 20), and there is a stunning parallel in 1 Timothy 4:1–5.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

In these verses you can see that trusting in a religious regimen of regulations (just saying “no”) is actually a ploy of demons to get you to trust yourself and create a self-made religion of rules. This passage highlights just saying “no” to marriage and certain foods. Our text for today shows that the self-made religion of the Colossians made rules to just say “no” to handling, touching, and tasting certain earthly things. But this philosophy does not work; it appears wise but is empty. It looks like it is a fruitful philosophy for dealing with the flesh because it looks like it brings a fierce fight (“asceticism and severity to the body”), but here is where it falls very short: It fights the right thing but in the wrong way. It is right to fight the flesh, but there will be no victory when you try to fight the flesh as you are under the power of the flesh.

Let us look at two reasons why this trap is so sinister by drawing comparisons between the two traps.

First, most people look at those caught in the first trap and say, “Those people are lost and unsaved,” because they see them giving into fleshly desires to try to find fullness in the world. Few would ever look at those in the first trap and say, “Wow, he must be a Christian because look at how much he rebels against the rules.” But the second trap, the religious trap, is harder to see. Most people will look at religious people who outwardly keep the rules and will say, “That nice young man or woman must be a Christian. I can tell because he or she is so good.” The second trap is sinister because it makes you look better in other people’s eyes; it appeals to our pride.

Second, it is also more sinister in that you may not discover that it is a trap until it is too late. When it comes to the first trap and the bait of fleshly freedom, you can attain enough of some experience or pleasure and find that you are still empty. Many times it leaves you more miserable than before; you feel guilty and ashamed and in constant need of the next “fix” of whatever desire is greatest. But you notice that you begin to disintegrate. Other relationships fail. You have to make sacrifices to your desires, and they become your god. Trusting in things will disappoint you eventually. But in the second trap, religion is something that you can keep doing. You can keep up the deception because of two lies. First, you might think that by your rules and regulations you are getting to heaven. That lie might not be obvious to you until you die! Second, you like to keep up the deception of rules because you can find pleasure in looking good and being respected in the eyes of others.

The first trap makes the things you pursue into idols because you put your faith in them; you hope that they will give you fullness of life. You make much of created things, not the Creator. The second trap actually puts faith in yourself to say no to things. Do you see the problem? You are not making much of stuff; you are making much of yourself. When you put faith in yourself, you make yourself your god. You make yourself an idol.

Christian, say "no" to this posture of performance. Don’t look at the bar of God’s judgment as something requiring moral performance. It is not true that if you can be good enough, you can jump over it and land yourself in heaven. There will be no standing on the platform of the spiritual Olympics with your song playing and handshakes of congratulations.

Say "no" to your attempts to save yourself. Verse 9 is targeted at self-made rules and regulations. It is there to blow all self-exalting thoughts out of the water. The solution is to say “yes” to Christ alone. He alone has all the fullness. The song of praise goes to him alone.

The Fullness of Christ: Captivated by Christ

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.—Colossians 2:9

This is a one-sentence summary of orthodoxy on the natures of Christ: fully God (“whole fullness”) and fully man (“dwells bodily”). He is not part God—very God of very God. He is not part man—he does not merely appear to be human—he is fully human, flesh and blood. He got tired, hungry, and thirsty. He cried, and he died. The Bible says he was tempted like us in every way and yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He is human so he can sympathize (fully man), yet he did not sin so he can save sinners (fully God). These two natures are our very hope for salvation. A mediator must be able to represent both parties. Jesus is the mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) between God and men because he is fully God and fully man.

Right now your mind should be spinning. Heaven and earth cannot contain God, and yet the whole fullness of deity dwells in a body. Saying this is like saying all the oceans of the world could fit into a cup. We are talking about the infinite fullness of God, of deity, dwelling in a human body with these two natures joined perfectly and indivisibly.

Who is this, “in whom the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”? The phrase “all the fullness” takes us back to Colossians 1:19, where it occurs for the first time. Notice the word “for” and how it is a link that Paul forges between fullness and first place.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.—Colossians 1:19–20

Then, Colossians 1:21–23 tells us how we become holy and reconciled to God:

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.—Colossians 1:21–23

Paul is saying, “Don’t let anyone take you captive so that you shift from the hope of the gospel.” But how? You can start saying “yes” to trusting and hoping in Christ instead of yourself. He alone saves us, reconciling us to God, and presenting us as holy, blameless, and above reproach before him. The verses that follow our text celebrate this great salvation!

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.—Colossians 2:13–15

We are saved and have fullness of life because God has forgiven our sins. He did this by canceling the record of debt by nailing it to the cross. Do you see the solution? Moral performance is not the answer. You don’t try to pay back the record of debt. You can’t. Victory only comes when we trust in Christ and realize that he nailed our whole debt to the cross.

Yes, we must fight against sin, but we do not do it in our own strength, in the power of the flesh. To fight it in God’s strength, you must be reconciled to God; you must be forgiven by him. Religion fails because it doesn’t reconcile you to God, and until you are reconciled to him, you are fighting against unforgiven sin, sin that still has power over you. But trusting in the cross means that now you are fighting forgiven sin, sin that no longer has ultimate power over you. It makes me think of a line in the song “It is Well with My Soul”: “My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, / my sin, not in part but the whole / is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more! / Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul!”

I want to mention one more grace here. As those in Christ, we can fight sin not with what we hope to be superior willpower but with the superior pleasure of Christ. Christ truly is better. So when you fight sin, you don’t have to just say "no” and be left empty. You can say “no” because you’ve actually say “yes” to something bigger, greater, and fuller. There is nothing bigger, greater, and fuller than Christ. His fullness and pleasure can truly and deeply fill you.

Our Fullness in Christ: the Foundation of Our Identity

And you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.—Colossians 2:10

Christ’s fullness is the foundation of our identity. We are sitting ducks for spiritual captivity if we are confused about our identities. Let me ask some questions and draw out a common scenario I think we experience.

How did you feel when you came to church today? Empty or full? We can say that we worship and love and follow Christ, but then feel empty most of the time. I think this is because we check the wrong gauge.

How we characterize ourselves is the gauge, the barometer of how much we grasp our union with Christ and our identity in him. Paul will not let us picture ourselves as empty if we are in Christ. Christ is complete—he lacks nothing—and if I am in him, I too am complete, lacking in nothing. How could you have more than Christ?

I love the tense of the verb here. Paul does not say that we were filled or we will be filled or we are being filled. He says we have been filled. We were filled up, and we are still full. How? Because we are filled with Christ, and there is no emptiness in the fullness of Christ. There is no leak in our identity. Do you feel the fullness that you have in Christ? Or do you often feel empty?

Let me give you an analogy to make this plain. My wife and I used to play a game early in our married life (though not as much now that I use it as a sermon illustration). We would not just say “Happy anniversary” every year but every month. We would try to be the first person to say it, even if it meant waking the person up at midnight to say, “Happy three-month anniversary.” We also would say, “I love you.” And the other person with a twinkle in their eye would say, “I love you more.” And then it would begin. “Oh, that is the way you want to play. Well then let the games begin. I love you 10 times more.” “I love you a billion times more.” And it would always end when one of us would say, “I love you infinity.” You had to stop there. You could not pull a Buzz Lightyear and say, “to infinity and beyond.” You can’t say, “I love you infinity plus 10.” It’s not romantic; it is just bad math.

In the same way, it is simply bad theology to say that we have Christ and then to think that we need a supplement or addition. In Christ, we have all the fullness, infinite fullness. There is no more fullness than infinite fullness.

Imagine driving your car and looking at the gauge. You keep thinking that your gas tank is empty. It is almost constant, even though you just filled up. You become an easy target for the scammers, who tell you that you need a certain kind of fuel or that your car needs certain repairs in order to fix the fuel problem.

In our text, Paul is like the good mechanic that comes along and says, “Actually, your gas tank is full. Have you been looking at the right gauge?” This is what has made us sitting ducks: We have been looking at the wrong gauge. Instead of looking at the fullness of Christ, we have been looking for fullness elsewhere. If we looked at him, we would see that we are always full.

Let me give another illustration. In a Pastor’s Conference message on C.H. Spurgeon back in 1995, Pastor John used the image of a carnival of mirrors. You look in one mirror, and you are short and fat. But you look in another mirror, and you are tall and skinny. You look in another mirror, and you have a deformed look; you see yourself contorted with jagged lines. That is what it is like when you let your self, other people, circumstances, or other things define you. You can let circumstances or things define you very easily. If you have them you feel rich, but if you do not have them you feel poor. You can let people define you: If people like you then you feel good, but if they do not like you, then you feel small and slighted. Too many of us use a physical mirror and ask, “Do I measure up to what society calls beautiful?” Self-esteem gives you a similar measure, and tells you to speak lies to yourself like, “I can be good enough; I can try hard enough.”

But all of these are distorted mirrors. Each of them seeks to make you believe that fullness and salvation are some type of performance, but they are not. There is no high jump we can do that will clear the bar of God’s judgment. So the cross invites us to look in a different mirror, a mirror that shows the truth. In it, we see all of our sins nailed to the cross so that we bear them no more. This mirror alone speaks the truth.

Let me speak to students quickly. This mirror of truth can transform student culture. Let me ask you this: What standard do you use when you size people up? Nice clothes? Good looks? Fun-loving, outgoing personality? Do kids that don’t fit the majority culture have a place?

In Colossae, the Colossians were dividing up the church into the “haves” and the “have nots.” Don’t we do this all the time? We base the “haves” and the “have nots” on all kinds of arbitrary distinctions. Do you wear the right clothes? Are you good enough at sports? Are you smart enough? Are you cool enough? Are you giving some other factor first place in whether or not you accept someone into your circle?

Christ is and should be the key to belonging. If you have Christ, you are not and cannot be a “have not.” All who are in Christ “have” because of his fullness.

Conclusion

The Treasure Hunt in Class and in Communion

Our children and youth classes are intended to be a treasure hunt. We are hunting for all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in the fullness of Christ. We are asking that “their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ” (Colossians 2:2–5).

A singular focus on Christ may seem narrow, but it is amazingly broad. Of all the things in the universe that we could focus on, there is one that is worthy of being our singular focus—Christ. He alone has first place.

But a singular focus on him doesn’t not make everything else unfocused. When Christ comes into focus, he brings everything else into focus because all things were made by him and for him. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in him. “All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” is not a narrow selection. The source and purpose of all things is singular: Christ. And in his fullness, all else becomes clear.

Here is my call to you today as we think about the need for classroom teachers, helpers, and partners to kick-off our children and youth classes: Join the treasure hunt. You will be richer for three reasons. First, you will see more of Christ personally. Second, you will help our children and youth see more of Christ. Third, you will find connection and community as you serve Christ and these children. Let’s just make the need go away today because we would have so many step up to serve. Let Christian hedonism be your rallying cry. The pursuit of the joy of the next generation is a means of pursuing fullness of joy in Christ.

Now, let’s enjoy the treasure of Christ by partaking in Communion together. Communion is a family meal where we unite around the treasure of Christ that we have found. We taste the treasure together! The symbol of Communion portrays what we proclaim. We each get a small cracker and a small cup of juice. By sight, they do not look like the fullness of Christ that we have been thinking about. The cracker and the cup are small. They certainly will not fill you up physically.

But we taste these by faith, not by sight. By faith, we see that this is a celebration of such immense proportions that we cannot make the physical dimensions match the spiritual dimensions. The cracker and the cup would be bigger than this room could contain, bigger than the universe could contain. In order to match his fullness, we would have to have infinite crackers and juice. With that in mind, let’s spiritually taste the fullness of the treasure together. Taste the sweetness of full assurance of salvation in Christ. All the promises of God find their “yes” in him. Let our eating and drinking be our response to his “yes.” We say a singular “yes” to trusting in Christ alone firmly and fiercely. We do it together to remember that there are no empty Christians here. There are no “have nots.” We are all full. Let’s be celebrate and be captivated by the fullness of Christ and our fullness in him.