Christ Is All We Need – Colossians 2
‘Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.’ — Colossians 2:8
Distraction is a danger for Christians. The distracted Christian does not necessarily deny Christ, he just forgets His preeminence. The entire book of Colossians places a great deal of emphasis on Christ, His deity (1:15), His preeminence (1:18), and His fulness (1:18).
In Colossians 2, we are warned against several things that can spoil our focus on the Lord Jesus – philosophy (man’s wisdom), vain deceit (empty deception), traditions of men, and rudiments of this world. These things are talked about more in the chapter:
- 2:4 Beware of being beguiled by the enticing words of men.
- 2:9 The fulness of the Godhead dwells in Christ and so there is nothing and no one else that we need.
- 2:10 We are complete in Christ. If we have Christ, we have all we need.
- 2:13-17 Because we are in Christ, we no longer are under any obligations to keep the law or meet any legal requirements.
- 2:18-23 Because we are in Christ, we should not be tricked into thinking that anything other than Christ is essential for our righteousness.
Various ideas, suggestions, philosophies, and laws will continue to come our way, implying that to really be righteous and complete, we need to do them. But all of these things distract us from Christ.
He is our Saviour. He is the ultimate revelation of God to us. There is no more of God and no more righteousness than that found in Christ. So let us focus on Him. Let us not allow anyone to distract us from Him. Let us continue to walk in Christ and rejoice in Him and all that He has done for us.