I SAY THIS
IN ORDER THAT NO ONE: Touto lego (1SPAI) hina medeis:
Paul explains why he has made
this great claim for Christ at this point in his discussion. The
treasures of genuine spiritual wisdom are in Christ and, therefore, to
allow oneself to be deceived about this can produce profound disorder
in the Christian’s life. We leave ourselves open for conquest by the
persuasive speech of heretics. On the other hand, the conviction that
all spiritual wisdom is found in Him dispels the false teaching.
Paul’s burden is that the Colossians must not surrender to the glib
and sometimes convincing arguments of false teachers, but remember
that in Christ they have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The heresies of the present century seem to be no less convincing to
the ignorant and unwary!
S. Lewis Johnson
comments on
"I
say this" -- "The
apostle has just expressed his anxious concern for the Colossians
(Colossians
2:1–3), and he now enlarges upon the reason for it. The
touto lego (AV, “this I say”) makes the connection, the
“this” referring to that which has preceded. The treasures of
genuine spiritual wisdom are in Christ and, therefore, to allow
oneself to be deceived about this can produce profound disorder in the
Christian’s life. We leave ourselves open for conquest by the
persuasive speech of the heretics. On the other hand, the conviction
that all spiritual wisdom is found in Him dispels the false teaching."
(Bibliotheca Sacra: Dallas Theological Seminary. page 309, 1962)
What is the great danger?
John MacArthur illustrates the danger
of delusion and persuasive words writing
''There once was an old
church in England. A sign on the front of the building read ''We
preach Christ crucified.'' After a time, ivy grew up and obscured the
last word...''We preach Christ.'' The ivy grew some more, and motto
read, 'We preach.'' Finally, ivy covered the entire sign, and
the church died. Such is the fate of any church that fails to carry
out its mission in the world.''
And such is the fate of any church
that is deluded by persuasive arguments or taken captive by
philosophy. And such a fate happened to the church at Colossae who
began with
"faith in Christ Jesus and...love for all the
saints...in the Spirit". (See note
Colossians 1:3;
1:8)
The Colossian church clearly manifested Christian love, but Paul is
concerned about their ability to discern, something that seems to be a
frequent thought in his mind for all the churches, writing for example
to the church at Philippi "
this I pray, that your love may abound
still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you
may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and
blameless until the day of Christ." (See notes
Philippians 1:9;
1:10)
John Gill
wrote that
Some Christians are more affectionate, and
less knowing; others are more knowing, and less affectionate; it is
well when love and knowledge go and keep pace together"
While it
is true that we must manifest love and approach the Word of God with a
non-critical spirit and an open mind, we also must recognize that
God’s truth provides absolute boundaries.
As G. K. Chesterton once
said,
“Merely having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening
the mind, as of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something
solid.”
Paul would agree.
Calvin adds that
"the
knowledge of Christ is of itself amply sufficient. And,
unquestionably, this is the key that can close the door against all
base errors...those are out of danger who remain in Christ, but that
those who are not satisfied with Christ are exposed to all fallacies
and deceptions...it is a passage, certainly, that ought to be
singularly esteemed. For as he who has taught men to know nothing
except Christ, has provided against all wicked doctrines"
MAY DELUDE:
humas paralogizetai (3SPMS): (Mt 24:4,
Ac 20:30,
Ro 16:18,
2Cor 11:2,
11-13,
Gal 1:8,
2:4,
Ep 4:14,
5:6,
2Th 2:9-11,
1Ti 4:1,
2Ti 3:13,
Titus 1:10-11,
2Pe 2:1,
2-3,
1Jn 2:18,
26,
4:1,
2Jn 1:7,
Rev 12:9,
20:3,8,
Torrey's Topic "False Doctrine")
Delude
(3884)
(paralogizomai from para = beside, alongside +
logizomai
= to reason, to count) is literally to reason beside or
alongside (think about it as reasoning with words "alongside" or
"beside" Truth), to beguile by mere probability that something is true and so
to mislead. It primarily means to reckon wrong, then to reason
falsely, and so to deceive by false reasoning.
Paralogizomai is translated deceive, lead from truth to
error, beguile, elude by craftiness. The preposition para
conveys the idea of counting "beside" or counting "aside" with the
idea of "miscalculating". If the target is the truth, there is
something alongside it that looks very much like the truth, and these
men focus upon that, rather than the truth. We've all met some artful
person who initially deluded us with their false appearance and words,
only later to be exposed.
Vincent
notes...
From para, beside, contrary to, and
logizomai, to reckon, and hence to conclude by reasoning. The
deception referred to is, therefore, that into which one betrays
himself by false reasoning — reasoning beside the truth.
James has
the only other NT use of this word...
But prove yourselves doers of the
word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
(James 1:22) (Comment: The idea of paralogizomai is that
of incorrect reckoning or reasoning, often including the idea of
deliberate false reasoning for the purpose of deceiving. In
mathematics, the meaning is that of miscalculation. Professing
Christians who hear the Word without obeying it make a serious
"spiritual miscalculation", which causes them to delude themselves.
Such a man does not delude anyone but himself! They are self-deceived.
An old Scottish expression speaks of such false Christians as “sermon
tasters who never tasted the grace of God.” Any response to the
gospel that does not include obedience is self-deception. See
discussion of the
relationship
of faith and obedience.
If a profession
of faith in Christ does not result in a changed life that hungers and
thirsts for God’s Word and desires to obey that Word, the profession
is only that—a mere profession. Satan, of course, loves such
professions, because they give church members the damning notion that
they are saved when they are not! He is still their spiritual father
and not God. See discussion of Jesus' stern warning that "not
everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven"
Matthew 7:21;
7:22;
7:23)
Delusion
is one of the favorite weapons of the old serpent, the devil, who
"was more crafty than any beast of the
field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed,
has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" (Gen
3:1)
To be deceived like Eve was is to think you know or are doing
something right, but it is really wrong. A perfect illustration is
seen in the 300+ year of the judges in Israel --
"In those days
there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own
eyes." (Jdg 21:25)
Truth and error
may be made to look almost the same, but one is a counterfeit. In
these days when we have so many counterfeit and imitation things
around we are used to be being deceived and not even be alarmed at how
easy we are "suckered". Plastic looks like metal. Flowers are made of
silk. We are daily touching things that are imitations of the real
thing. But imitations have limitations and if you start regarding them
as real you are in trouble. That is why Paul is "struggling" for
believers he has never seen. The specific delusions Paul has in mind
are alluded to in the specific warnings that follow.
Jacob used
paralogizomai
when he reproached Laban for refusing to live up to his bargain with
him concerning Rachel, saying,
“What is this thou hast done unto
me? did I not serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou
beguiled (Greek translates the Hebrew with paralogizomai) me?” (Ge
29:25).
Paralogizomai
was used in secular Greek writings of a keeper of a state library who
had shown a willingness to "make a wrong use of" certain
documents. Paul uses it to point to drawing an erroneous conclusion
from the reasoning submitted. That which is logical after having
reasoned about something. So they come alongside you with their very
logical sounding reasoning and they cheat their hearers by the use of
this false reasoning. These false teachers were seeking to mislead the
mind or judgment of the Colossians in regard to Who Christ was and who
they were in Christ. Nothing much new here! These heretics sought to
deceive the Colossians so thoroughly with their false logic that the
truth about Christ was obscured.
Clarke adds that paralogizomai
means to
"deceive by sophistry or subtle reasoning, in which all
the conclusions appear to be fairly drawn from the premises, but the
premises are either assumed without evidence, or false in themselves;
but this not being easily discovered, the unthinking or unwary are
carried away by the conclusions which are drawn from these premises."
Guzik comments that
"Those who
taught these dangerous things among the Colossian Christians were very
persuasive. The lure of "hidden" and "deep" wisdom and knowledge can
be strong, but still deceptive. Many today deceive with persuasive
words by quoting a whole bunch of Bible verses. But the Devil himself
quotes Scripture. We must compare everyone's teaching against all of
God's Word. We should all have the spirit of the Bereans (Acts
17:11), who compared even the teaching of Paul with
Scripture...It might sound simple, but deceivers are deceivers. They
won't announce their false doctrine as false doctrine, and it will
often be similar enough to the truth to be dangerous."
Paul gives a parallel warning in
his letter to the Corinthians warning about
"such men (who)
are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as
apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as
an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also
disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be
according to their deeds." (2Cor 11:13-15)
WITH
PERSUASIVE ARGUMENTS: en pithanologia:
Persuasive
(4086)
(pithanologia from peitho = to convince by
argument, true or false [the stem "peith-" or "pith-"
has the basic meaning of trust] + logia = logic, related to the
logos, the "word", which is not just the
word but the "reason", the "intelligence") refers to enticing words
and is practically equivalent to the expression ''To talk someone
into something.'' It refers to the art of persuasion which is the height of oratory,
but it easily degenerates into trickery and deceit (which is how Paul
uses it). The one speaking uses plausible but false arguments (another
good reason to know the Truth!)
Paul claimed on
the other hand that
"my message and my preaching were not in
persuasive (pithos = persuasive also from peitho) words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power" (1Cor 2:4).
Paul warned his young
protégée Timothy that
"the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their
ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in
accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the
truth, and will turn aside to myths." (see notes
2 Timothy 4:3;
4:4)
Pithanologia was used in secular Greek of the law court
and refers to the lawyer’s persuasive speech and its power to
influence an audience towards an unjust verdict. In Classical Greek
the word referred to the use of probable arguments as opposed to
demonstrable arguments. Paul’s point is that even though the arguments
seem to make sense (sound reasonable), they are in the end false and
the Colossians must not surrender to the glib, sometimes convincing
arguments of the false teachers, but remember that, in having Christ,
they have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The heresies of
the present century seem to be no less convincing to the ignorant and
unwary. Paul is not arguing against the study of philosophy or serious
thinking, but is arguing against the uncritical adoption of a
philosophy that is at odds with a proper view of Christ and the ethics
of the Christian life.
Barclay adds that pithanologia
"was a word of the law-courts; it was the word used for the
persuasive power of a lawyer’s arguments, which could enable the
criminal to escape his just punishment. The true Church should have
such a grip of the truth that it is unmoved by seductive arguments."
J. I. Packer warns that the
"Sad experience shows that bad theology
infects the heart with misbelief and unbelief, the spiritual
equivalents of multiple sclerosis! Many who ran well have been
progressively paralyzed through ingesting bad theology, and the danger
remains. Theological expertise can feed intellectual pride, turning
one into a person who cares more for knowing true notions than for
knowing the true God, and that is disastrous, too."
So these false
teachers will use "persuasive logic" as they come alongside. Wayne
Barber tells about how he formerly got into the trap of "confessing
his righteousness". He realizes now that you don't need to confess
your righteousness because you are by His doing in Christ. The
challenge for every blood bought, heaven bound believer is to discover
and re-discover WHO YOU ARE in Christ and then in His power to conduct
yourself thereafter on the basis of "WHOSE" you are! The reason Wayne
got trapped in this subtle false teaching was that their was a lot
about it which was RIGHT. (cp
2 Peter 2:1 "secretly introduce destructive heresies"
-
see note) Wayne
was thinking that he could confess himself into the reality of being
what he was confessing. It sounded so good and so much better than
having to "go to the cross." Don't you hate to think about sin in your
life? The false teaching was that he didn't have to deal with sin
anymore. That was before the Cross. Now I can confess my
righteousness. It's a trap. Look out when they tell you about a "new
TEACHING" that they have. If you ever get away from your total
sufficiency in Christ and His Word, then you're going to have your
mind kidnapped by these people who so cleverly know how to come
alongside you and bring the false doctrine and ease it in. So Paul
prayed that they would be strengthened for the battle, the BATTLE OF
THE MIND.
><> ><> ><>
Great
illustration of the delusion by "persuasive
argument"
They constructed pasteboard look-alikes of tanks and
airplanes to deceive the Germans. From the air this fake
equipment looked real enough to fool reconnaissance
personnel, and it could be easily moved. Satan, whom
Jesus referred to as "the ruler of this world"
(Jn 16:11), is a master deceiver. He was the driving force
behind the teachers who were trying to persuade the Colossians to
accept heresy as truth (Colossians
2:4,
2:8). Followers
of Christ today are in a similar battle. How do we defend
ourselves against deceivers? Paul used military terms in
his comments to the Colossians that can help us to know
what to do. First, he commended them for their "good
order," which refers to being battle-ready, disciplined
soldiers. Second, he spoke of the "steadfastness" of their
faith in Christ, which refers to having a solid front.
They had an unshaken commitment to their Lord and the
advance of His kingdom. Don't be fooled by Satan's lies.
Know the truth of God's Word, and be battle-ready through
a disciplined life and an unswerving commitment to Jesus
Christ. --DCE
The shield of
faith protects us
From Satan's fiery darts;
And he cannot deceive us
With God's Word in our hearts. --Sper
God's truth
is the best protection against Satan's lies.
