Colossians 2 - What do Ouija Boards, Tarot Cards, The New Age Movement, and The "Secret" All Have in Common?

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My goal 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.

Yesterday we mentioned that one of the purposes of Paul's letter to the Colossians was to equip them to recognize the heresies that men were trying to bring into the church. One of the heresies was Gnosticism, which taught that one could obtain secret knowledge that would help one to understand the mysteries of God and gain power. But the gospel is that Jesus came in human flesh to reveal the mystery of God that had been kept hidden for ages. In Jesus all the wisdom and knowledge of God is made known for all to see.  

You can see the contradiction. 

Gnostics believed that a great mass of elaborate knowledge was necessary for salvation. That knowledge they set down in their books which they called apokruphos because they were barred to the ordinary man.” (Barclay) Paul wanted all to know that real wisdom was not hidden in secret books, but deposited in Jesus Christ so that all can access it. (Guzik)

Spiritual Fullness in Christ

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Receiving Christ as one's Savior is the beginning of our life of faith. It is like the good seed that has been rooted in the ground. As believers we are rooted in Christ, we still need to grow up as we continue to abide in and be rooted in him. 

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.

Paul continues to teach that being rooted in Christ prevents one from being deceived by teaching based on human traditions, or elemental spiritual forces. Though tradition in itself in the Church is not a bad thing, it is dangerous if it takes away from the all sufficiency of Christ. If tradition adds to anything or contradicts anything Jesus has taught it is dangerous. 

The elemental spirits were also part of the Gnostic heresy. 

Many ancient mystery religions thought of the world as a dangerous place, threatened by spirits or spiritual forces they called elements or elemental forces (such as Paul uses the word in Colossians 2:8 and Colossians 2:20). They thought one was protected from these dangerous spiritual forces by either worshipping them or by finding protection under a greater deity or spiritual power that was superior to these elements.

Here is the defining verse for Colossians. 

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:9-10

When you look at any false doctrine or teaching it always has to do with a misconception about who Jesus is as fully God and fully man. Paul makes it clear that everything we need to know about God resides in Jesus, because He was God in human flesh. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, and being filled with His Holy Spirit, we are brought to fullness. 

Because we are in Christ and He is in us, we don't have to worry about any other spiritual forces because we have the real thing. Every spiritual power or entity must bow to Jesus because Jesus has power and authority over them. Because we have the Spirit of Christ, we also have power over forces of spiritual power and darkness. 

Some people dabble in things like Ouija boards or tarot cards seeking secret wisdom. This is a modern day version of what Paul is dealing with in the Colossian church. The New Age movement is also another version of modern day Gnosticism, as is the "Secret" movement. Anything that claims to offer secret wisdom and knowledge apart from Christ is not to be trusted. 

Click Here to Read Why the "Secret" Movement is Not Christian

Freedom From Human Rules

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. 19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Another offshoot of this heresy is that we somehow gain this secret knowledge by a host of ritualistic activities. This is also related to worship of angels and spiritual pride. 

The Old Testament law had certain provisions that are done away with in Jesus, regarding such things as food and sabbaths. It isn’t that those laws were bad, simply that they were a shadow of things to come. Once the substance – Jesus Christ – has come, we don’t need to shadow any more. - Guzik

False humility and the worship of angels do not make anyone more spiritual. Instead, holding fast to the Head (Jesus) makes us truly spiritual. - Guzik

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Paul is addressing another side of the false teaching, which was legalism. It is also called "asceticism". These were all sorts of additional teachings in addition to the bible prescribing what one could and could not do to achieve a state of moral purity. You can see three "do nots" listed. Legalism is about trying to escape from the world by obedience to self imposed rules. 

The problem is first, we can never achieve moral perfection. Second, it doesn't even work. As Paul says, "they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence!" 

Christianity is not about "do" it is about "done". Jesus' death on the cross has cancelled the written requirements of the Law. We are saved by grace through faith, which set us free from the law of sin and death. It is for freedom that Christ set us free, so going back to all kinds of religious rituals is a return to bondage. 

This is why Paul was so passionate to warn the Colossians to watch out for these false teachers. They were anti-Christian, and if listened to they would take away the precious freedom and joy Jesus came to bring! 

These forces are always at work in the church trying to turn the Gospel back into the Law. Let's make sure we don't by their lies and expose them for what they really are.