Crawford Toy was elected to the faculty of Southern Seminary in 1869 at the age of 33.
At the time he was said to be “no ordinary star, but a brilliant meteor.”
He would prove true, the old adage, “Shooting stars in their 20’s and 30’s are falling stars in their 40’s and 50’s.”
10 years later he left the Seminary after having abandoned his belief in the authority of Scripture…a few years later he would abandon his Christian faith altogether.
Before joining the seminary staff he had been a brilliant young scholar, completing 3/4 of the required seminary course work in a single year, and becoming proficient in multiple languages.
While teaching at a local college he met a brilliant young lady named Charlotte (Lottie) Moon.
Our annual Christmas missions offering is named for her…she gave her life for the gospel on the mission field.
They eventually became engaged, but she called off the wedding because of Toy’s theological drift…and her own commitment to Christ and Scripture.
Toy was once told by a mentor that within 20 years, if he continued to trust himself over Scripture, he would discard all belief in the supernatural as an element of Scripture.
He protested that this would not happen.
It did, but it didn’t take 20 years, it took 10.
He eventually denied the Christian faith altogether, a belief in the Trinity, the Scriptures, and Jesus as Lord.
He had gone to Germany to learn from the renowned biblical scholars of the day…the problem was…they didn’t actually believe the Bible was truth without mixture of error.
They trusted themselves to decide what parts of the Bible were true.
It is a short trip from there to the place where none of it is true
Toy was determined to master Scripture rather than being mastered by it.
This is not to say that Toy was an “evil” man…there is no indication that he was.
It is common today to cast those who we disagree with as being bad people with bad motives.
He was in fact a very smart and educated man…clearly pride was a part of his drift…but still, he should have paid close attention to what Paul wrote in Colossians 2:8
“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
A couple of weeks ago I went to set the clock in our bedroom to match the actual time.
Christy commented that she liked it running a bit fast…it helped her as she got ready in the morning.
My reply, mostly jokingly was, “The purpose of a clock is to tell us what time it is, not what time we want it to be.”
Of course, she knows that…she has her own way of staying on track and she does a great job at it…but it illustrates a point.
The purpose of Scripture is to tell us what is true and real…we must never start with ourselves, what we want to be true.
Scripture is the revelation of God…the gospel is the good news of Jesus, God made flesh and dwelling among us, dying for us, and raising from the dead.
This is the foundational truth of our lives and Jesus is the sun around which all our lives are to orbit.
Today we are in Colossians chapter 2…Paul is applying his own words from the end of chapter one:
There he wrote:
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. (1:28-29)
In chapter two he warns against error and teaches the foundational reality of Jesus in order that his readers might become mature in Christ…this is what he gave his life for.
Maturity in Christ is not the same as theological brilliance.
Toy, and many like him had intellectual brilliance…but they trusted their own minds over Scripture.
Paul was brilliant, more so than Toy…but he submitted his mind, and his life to the revealed Word of God.
Maturity in Christ is about beliefs, values, and behaviors that are fixed and unshakable.
-It has nothing to do with intellectual ability…it is about who do you trust and how will you train?
My Grandmother was not educated, and she knew very little of theological nuances…Toy would destroy her in any argument.
But he was wrong and she was right about Jesus and the Bible.
She had maturity in Christ that the brilliant skeptics lack.
She trusted Christ.
We all trust someone…ourselves or God. (Some trust themselves to decide what author, blogger, influencer to trust).
-We trust ourselves to decide who to trust…it is still a binary choice.
-We trust God or ourselves.
We are all training to become someone. Everything we believe, value and do is shaping us into someone, something…everything, every day, all day is shaping us.
We should never look in the mirror and ask…”How did this happen?” “How did I get here?”
We all are becoming who we are becoming through trust and training over time…intentionally or unintentionally.
We are to intentionally trust God and train for godliness in order to become like Christ.
1-5: We have Paul’s purpose statement:
2:1 I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
- His efforts, even for those he hasn’t met…are for their spiritual good.
-A heart for God empowers a heart for others…this is always going to be the case.
-The truest test of the condition of our hearts in regard to our love for God…is whether our heart for others is growing larger.
-This isn’t revealed in mere feelings of good will for “humanity” in general…but in in actual efforts to help others come to know Christ and to grow in their faith.
- His purpose is that they may know Christ.
In Christ, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found.
This means, he is our meaning…we don’t have to keep searching.
Humans are wired to look for bottom lines, Theories of Everything, the one thing that explains everything…we are desperate to understand “why”…what does it all mean?
If you know Christ…you are good to go in terms of ultimate reality…you are squared away in the things that matter the very most.
The foundational “why” of your life…is settled.
So…no need to keep searching…you can go live the decided, not the deciding life.
This is a really good thing.
Because Paul goes on…
- Knowing Christ as God’s complete revelation is the protective factor against falling prey to deception that comes packaged in fancy words, impressive arguments and from convincing people.
His purpose is to present them mature in Christ…then on to his challenge.
This is what I’m up to…here is what you are to be up to.
Colossians 2:6,7
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened (established) in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
So then…since you have received Christ as your Lord (boss of your life)…let him and no one else establish your beliefs (what is true), values(what is important) and behaviors (how you will live).
You have crowned Jesus as Lord…now work out what it means to live your life under his Lordship.
Paul gives four word pictures to illustrate this life under the Lordship of Christ.
Rooted like a tree, built up like a house, established like a legal document, and overflowing like a wine jar.
- Rooted: Like a tree (past tense) (We are not Ents, walking trees from the Lord of the rings)
-I have planted bare root trees 26 years ago that are now 40 feet tall.
-For years they barely grew on the surface…but I left them in place, I knew the roots were
going deep to prepare for growth on the surface.
-Our roots are set…we don’t move.
- Built up: (agriculture, to architecture) Like a house (ongoing project)
- Strengthened (established): Like a legal document. (Done deal. There will be no new truth, the gospel is the full revelation of God)
- Overflowing with thankfulness: Like a wine jar. Gratitude is a key protective factor against error, lies.
*We don’t let discontent cause us to continually scan for something new because we are unhappy or bored…or this is getting hard.
We give thanks in all circumstances, and this builds our spiritual immune system, so we are less susceptible to lies.
Paul’s overall point here is that you don’t need some new truth, there is nothing deeper than Christ.
What we need is to stay rooted in Christ’s Lordship then dive deeper and deeper into him.
This is an undertaking that will consume all our lives and the rest of eternity.
Purpose, challenge, then his warning and charge
8 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.
See to it!
My grandsons will say, “I didn’t mean to.”
Sometimes that is a valid response…but other times it is not.
There are certain things where I have specifically told them to be sure something doesn’t happen.
Then, when it does…the “I didn’t mean to” is invalid because they have told clearly to “mean not to.”
They were to “see to it.”
We are to see to it that no one takes us captive by philosophy and empty deceit.
We are responsible (which means we are able, it is not beyond our control) to ensure that we are not enslaved, made a prisoner of lies.
The problem is not philosophy per se, which means a “love of wisdom” the problem is hollow (empty) and deceptive (sounds good but is not true) philosophy.
There have been many philosophies and philosophers throughout history, but they are largely variations on a limited themes.
- The physical world is all there is: There is nothing transcendent, nothing spiritual.
-The Universe is a closed system…it is an eternally existing or self-created.
-Even a multi-verse is the same idea multiplied many times
- The non-material is what is really real: All physical reality is illusion.
- We can’t know: So…
-Despair
-Make something up
-Do whatever you want
These hollow (nothing solid to them) and deceptive (often they appeal to parts of our sin nature) ideas enslave people.
They go from philosophies (ideas about reality) in someone’s mind through vectors into the minds of the masses…eventually into the choices of individual people…those choices lead to broken families, hearts, lives, and entire broken cultures.
Vectors in the spreading of disease are things like ticks, fleas, flies, rats, mosquitoes.
Vectors in spreading lies are things like social media, music, movies, books.
I am not exaggerating the case here…ideas become beliefs, values, and behaviors…these turn into anger, murder, fatherlessness, broken marriages, empty and addicted lives.
You can read news stories everyday of someone who made a terrible choice with terrible consequences.
This was not because they woke up one day and time and chance had conspired against them…they became the person who would do that thing…through who they trust and how they train.
This is not to say we can’t make terrible decisions…we can.
This is not about being angry…but becoming an angry person.
It’s not about acting with greed or malice…but becoming a greedy and evil person.
Who we are becoming is the result of who we trust and how we train.
In 2018 Psychologist Robert Plomin wrote: Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are.
In the book he uses his long studies on twins to argue that inherited DNA differences are the single most powerful source of our psychological individuality, out-stripping parenting or environment.
There is no dispute that our genetics are an important part of who we are…the thing that science cannot discover or measure is the inner work of the Holy Spirit to transform a life from the inside out.
Genes don’t explain how a person can become a new creation in Christ…Plomin didn’t consider this factor in his studies.
When we trust Christ and train to become like him…this doesn’t eliminate the impact of genetics…it adds an entirely new factor into the human life.
The power of God.
But back the vectors of bad ideas…when people believe what is wrong and fail to believe what is true…then they are stuck in their genetics and old patterns.
This becomes generational sin patterns…that leads to wide spread personal and social harm.
Richard Weaver wrote a book in 1948 against relativism called, “Ideas have consequences.”
Years later Chuck Colson added to that truism: “Ideas have consequences, bad ideas have victims.”
We are responsible to see to it that we do not allow lies to capture our hearts and minds…How do we “see to it?”
Look back to verses 6,7…what did we see there?
- Continually crown Jesus Lord of your lives, keep him on the throne of your heart…mess up, fess up, move on.
- Continue in him established in the faith. (proactive)…the thoughts we go and get and put in our minds and the ones we put out of our minds are the ones we are allowing to shape our lives.
- Continually give thanks…gratitude is the opposite of demanding.
-Demanding that God and others submit to us is how our hearts and our faith shrink.
-Never underestimate the powerful protective factor of gratitude.
*There is a reason Scripture majors on remembering, thanksgiving, gratitude…God knows how he has made our hearts.
*In the Army Master Resilience training there is a huge focus on what they call, “Hunting the good stuff” in order to build mental and whole life resilience into soldiers.
What this means is they have “discovered” what God has revealed…gratitude is essential for human health and thriving.
Gratitude for the gospel is a key protective factor against falling prey to lies.
Okay…we are to see to it, to mean not to…being taking captive by empty lies that are not according to Christ.
What Paul does next is remind us of what the fullness of truth according to Christ is (verses 9-15) before outlining the empty lies that are not of him (verses 16-23)
So…9-15: The fullness of the truth of Christ.
and…16-23: The emptiness of the lies that are not of him.
First…what is true…then what is not.
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 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, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Lots of theology in that passage but let’s do a bottom-line summary:
Christ is God: the creator of the cosmos, the point of everything…it is all about him, our lives are about him.
The staggering statement: In Jesus all the fullness of deity (God) dwells bodily.
The incarnation: The maker of the cosmos became part of the world, took on flesh…dwelt among us.
In Christ and in Christ alone God has decisively and exhaustively revealed himself.
All that we can know, or experience of God is therefore found in our relationship with Christ.
What does that even mean practically?
It means whether Jesus gives you a business to run, a delivery truck to drive, children to raise, a life as a single person, or a hospitable bed on which to die…our lives are for his glory.
It is all about him.
But look at what he has done for us…for his glory and our good.
He has defeated the power of sin in our lives, given us new life in him, and he has cancelled our sin debt forever.
Physical circumcism was a sign of the covenant between God and his people…it was a physical experience pointing to a spiritual reality.
Likewise, baptism points beyond itself to what Christ has done…we have died to the old life and now live a new life in Christ.
Jesus took our sin IOU and nailed it to the cross.
Look at verse 14, 15:
He cancelled 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.
The roman government and leaders of Israel…rulers and authorities of the time stripped him naked, put him on public display…and then he conquered them on the cross.
They tried to shame him…he triumphed over them.
He also triumphed over evil spiritual forces on the cross…not just religious and political ones.
This is similar to 1 Cor 15:55, a passage I read last week at a funeral service…it is a victory taunt.
Paul asks rhetorical questions…he isn’t looking for answers…he is making statements.
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Then in verse 56…
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Christ has defeated sin and death on the cross
All our old allegiances are gone; old debts are paid…we are free as we serve our Lord who died for us.
That is the content of the truth that must shape our lives…this is the truth that sets us free and keeps us from being enslaved by contrasting lies…which he will address next.
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 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— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 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.
All this is addressing both Judaism as well as Roman philosophies as being empty and powerless without the fulness of Christ.
- Laws, special days, rituals…all pointed forward to Christ.
-There were shadows, he is the substance
- Asceticism: False humility, self-denial for self-glory…philosophies that were current then and now…are empty…they don’t change hearts.
- Experiences, strange ideas, all about drawing attention to self rather than to Christ.
- All this has no real wisdom and no power because they do not ultimately change a person’s life…they can’t change our hearts like the gospel can
*This is all trying to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps…it is the empty and vain stuff Paul warned against.
This doesn’t mean that spiritual disciplines have no value
Discipline & Disciple share the same root.
You cannot be a disciple without the disciplines necessary to follow Christ.
The difference between disciplines of the disciple and these shadows and asceticism is that a disciple’s disciplines are a means to a greater end…they are not ends in themselves.
They are not “Look at me!”
They are about following Christ.
When I was a child I would sometimes exert effort to work alongside my dad on house projects…I also, very often complained.
But nonetheless…when I did discipline myself to work with my dad it was not to earn his favor it was to enjoy it.
Some children grow up seeking to earn what they do not have through their efforts.
I was blessed to not experience this.
Whether your earthly father was good and godly, demanding or absent…your heavenly Father has nailed your sin debt to the cross.
We are to train, we are to “see to it”…not to earn, but to enjoy God’s love.
Christ changes us from the inside out…sin’s mastery over us is gone.
Scripture again offers us this balance of grace and grit.
We are to see to it that we do not live in sins slavery…but rather to live in the fulness of the freedom in Christ.
This is all grace and it is full intentional effort.
1:28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Labor, struggling…with all his energy.
See to it that you live in the freedom that is yours in Christ.
Do this by choosing who you will trust and continually choosing how you will train.
Sounds hard?
Slavery is hard, being the prey of lies and of our own foolish desires is hard.
Broken relationships and life without purpose is hard.
It is all hard bad.
Seeing to it, trusting and training is hard good.
Two Mondays ago, I came home and my grandsons Ellis and Oliver were sitting in the house sucking up AC and looking bored and unmotivated.
I said, “Guys we are going to Sedgwick county park to run the hill.”
They looked at me sidewise and I said, “Just in case you were wondering, I wasn’t asking if you wanted to.”
As we pulled into the park and spotted the hill (It was around noon, pretty warm) I heard Oliver say quietly, “oh boy.”
Thirty minutes later, two smiling boys got in my truck and Oliver said, again, quietly, “That was fun.”
It was fun now that it was done…but the thing is…it changed how they lived the rest of that day…and if you string together other similar days then it shapes who they are becoming over time.
See to it…trust Christ and train to become like.
Not to earn but to enjoy…the freedom that is yours in Christ.