Don't Be Deceived Pt 2

to the book of Colossians chapter 2. Colossians chapter 2.

Last week we started into a series that chapter 2 will take us through. And the series is called Don't Be Deceived. Don't Be Deceived. Paul had written to the Colossians because of false doctrine beginning to spread through the church there. And so he really turned our eyes back on Jesus in chapter 1. But in chapter 2 he gets us focused in on what exactly is going on

in Colossians and begins to address it. And so last week as we looked at this phrase do not be deceived or don't be deceived, we talked about the conflict that Paul had. The struggle that he had on behalf of the Colossian people because he did not want them to be deceived by the false doctrine that was going around. That they would, that they would not be deceived by the things that were taking place.

And so now we get even more into the heart of what the deception is. And he's going to warn us about the philosophy. The philosophy. And so we pick up in verse 8 of chapter 2. And this is what it says. See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception. According to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world,

rather than, according to Christ. For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him you have been made complete. And he is the head over all rule and authority. In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. In the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Having been buried with him in baptism,

in which you were also raised up with him through faith, in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him. Having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us and has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities, he made a public display, having triumphed over them through him.

And so, as we look at this next part where he gets us into the philosophy, again, there's three things he's going to do. He's going to give us the warning. He's going to talk about the fullness of Christ. And then he's going to remind us once again of the gospel. But let's first of all look at the warning. The warning starts off with a very interesting phrase.

See to it that no one takes you captive. See to it that no one takes you captive. See to it that no one takes you captive. See to it that no one takes you captive. See to it that no one takes you captive. That phrase, see to it, is kind of interesting because it's a phrase that really brings a warning. Literally, it could be translated, be on your guard. Be on your guard.

Now, I think this is an important thing for us to pay attention to in the world that we live in today because it's so easy to let our guard down. It's easy to let our guard down and think we can just kind of coast in life and just sort of keep rolling through life and taking it kind of easy. But as believers in Jesus Christ, we can never let our guard down. We can never let our guard down.

We can't let our guard down with the philosophies of the world. We really can't let our guard down with anything of the world. And so he exhorts them to be on your guard. Have your eyes open. Keep your ears open. Have your mind constantly in tune to what's going on around you and in tune to what God's word has to say. Because listen, like we talked about last week,

the enemy is deceptive. And the thing about deception is that it's very, very tricky, right? Like that's what makes it deceptive. If it wasn't tricky, it wouldn't be deceptive to us at all. We would just see it coming and we would know immediately to deal with it. But the deception is always tricky. So we have to always be on our guard. He tells us to be on your guard

so that no one takes you captive. That phrase, no one takes you captive. I think the new King James and the old King James translates it, let no one cheat you. But the phrase, the phrase literally means led astray as prey. It's a military term. Again, same idea. It's interesting how many military terms Paul uses in the book of Colossians. But again, it's a military term

that was used when a conquering King would come in and take over and he would lead the captives away as prey, as those who would be led off to destruction. And that's the idea. We have to be on our guard so that we are not taken captive, so that we are not taken captive. We are not held hostage and led astray as prey. And what could lead us astray? Through philosophy.

Through philosophy. Now listen, the phrase philosophy, the word philosophy, carries with it no inherent danger, right? The word philosophy literally means the love of wisdom. And so philosophy is not usually the problem. The problem is usually the philosophers, right? I've been listening to a great book, but it's a book that I'm now going to have to, once I finish it, go back and read it again.

I like to listen to books, but then sometimes I also need to listen and read and print at the same time because I'm a little slow on the uptake. And I'm reading this book, it's called I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist. It's an amazing book by Frank Turek and Norman Geisler co-wrote it with him. And it's awesome. But they start going through the philosophies, right?

And what you find is that most odd teachings are just philosophies. For instance, evolution is just really a philosophy, a philosophy in nature, right? It's just philosophical. Most of the things that science tries to say disprove God are actually very philosophical in nature because they don't actually have any evidence to prove it. And so they start going into all these philosophies

and I'm going, I don't think I'm smart enough to be a philosopher. I don't think I think deeply enough to be a philosopher. I don't sit around and think, I wonder what is, and I wonder what isn't. But that's kind of what we think of when we think of philosophy, right? Is this love of wisdom. Right? That's not the kind of philosophy that Paul's talking about.

The kind of philosophy that Paul's talking about is a vain speculation. It's the type of philosophy that puts man in the center and puts knowledge as the focus. Not knowledge of God, but knowledge itself. Knowledge itself as an end and man as the center. And he goes on to describe this philosophy in four different ways. He gives us four descriptions of this philosophy

that we must, be on our guard about so that we are not taken captive. First of all, this philosophy is an empty deception. It is an empty deception. It's actually exactly how it's described right there. He says, see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception. The phrase means this, devoid of truth and futile. Devoid of truth and futile. So what we know about this

philosophy is that it doesn't have truth at its heart and it's actually very futile in nature. And I will tell you right now, I've listened to what a lot of these different philosophies are this past week or so, and they are exactly that. They are devoid of truth and they're futile. The more that you think about them, the more that you ponder what people actually believe, the more you realize how empty it actually is. They are devoid of truth and futile. I love the way that the

Amplified Bible translates this. It calls it pseudo-intellectual babbling. Pseudo-intellectual babbling. I like that because I thought that's exactly what I heard. Sounds really smart, just a bunch of babbling, right? And then of course, I believe it was the J.B. Phillips translation that put it like this, intellectualism and high-sounding nonsense. So first of all, the way that he describes this philosophy that we are to be

on our guard against so that we are not taken captive, is that it is empty deception. But here's why you have to be on your guard. When smart people start spouting philosophies that are actually empty deceptions, when you first hear it, you go, they're so smart. They're so deep. They have learned something that the rest of us have not come across yet. No, it's pseudo-intellectual babbling in which they are trying to justify

their sin. So this philosophy is, first of all, empty deception. The second thing about this philosophy that he tells us is that it is based on the idea that we are to be on our guard against based on the traditions of men. The traditions of men. In its nature, these were Judeo-Gnostic teachings that they depended on. There was Judaism in their roots, and it was Gnostic in their roots,

and so there was Jewish tradition that was being used, and there was Greek tradition that was being used. But what was at the center is that they were the traditions of men. Now, we have to be careful about traditions, don't we? There are some traditions that are really, really good. For instance, we have traditions here at Calvary Chapel. As much as we try to be

non-traditional, we have traditions, right? Our tradition is that the first Sunday of the month, we take communion together. And so that's a tradition that we have. We usually have a Christmas Eve service. That's a tradition that we have. There are certain things like that that are very traditional in nature. In and of themselves, there's nothing wrong with traditions. The

problems with traditions come from the fact that we have traditions. We have traditions that are when two things begin to happen. First of all, if you begin to worship the tradition instead of what it is supposed to point us to, that tradition becomes a problem because now you are worshiping the creation rather than the creator who is blessed. The second problem that comes into play with traditions is sometimes they're not based on the Bible. I hear people say this all

the time. Yeah, but what about tradition? Look, if it's not a tradition based on scripture, throw it out. I hate to be harsh, but that's just the way that it is. You got to get rid of the things that are not biblical. And we should hold every tradition that we have up against the word of God. This would end a whole lot of other religions that base themselves upon tradition. It would end a whole lot of other sects of Christianity

that are only based upon tradition. We have to be careful about the traditions of man and know that they line up with the word of God. We have to be careful about the traditions of man and know that they line up with the word of God. Because if they don't line up with the word of God, then you should probably get rid of them because they are not a beneficial tradition. And this philosophy that was going around

in Colossae at the time was very traditional in nature because it combined Jewish tradition and Greek tradition, but they were the traditions of men. I was listening to Joe Foch teach on this, and I always love when somebody brings up this particular point, because it's a very important point. And I think it's a very important point. Because it always reminds me of how simple the word of God really is. As we as New Testament

believers look at God's word, there are three things we should always pay attention to. Was it taught by Jesus? Was it exampled in Acts? And is it instructed in the epistles? He brought up a really interesting example. He said, Jesus washed people's feet. He washed the disciples' feet. It happened one time. One time in all of scripture, do we see Jesus washing people's feet? One time in

the book of Acts, Jesus washed the disciples' feet, and that's in the book of John. He taught them the importance of servanthood through foot washing. But in the book of Acts, we don't see any example of foot washing. We don't see any instruction on foot washing in any of the epistles. So it leaves us to a conclusion. Foot washing must not be the tradition that we need to hold on to. We need to

instead pay attention to the point that he was trying to make, which is servanthood. Because servanthood was taught by Jesus. It was exampled in Acts, and it's instructed on in the epistles. Does that kind of make sense? So that's how we look at things in the word of God. That's even how we decide what from the Old Testament is still applicable to us today. Was it taught about by

Jesus? Was it exampled in the book of Acts? And is it instructed in the epistles? Because that's how we know this is what's important for us to pay attention to. If those things aren't the case, we need to start asking, then why are they traditions? Make sense? So these things were based upon the traditions of man. But number three, they were elementary principles.

Elementary principles. The word elementary means rudimentary or basic teaching. Rudimentary or basic teaching. And the basic teaching that they were giving was teaching that only dealt with external exercises. Teaching that only dealt with external exercises. He'll deal with it later in chapter two, but things like do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,

things that only deal with the outside but have no bearing upon your soul. We put them in two different categories. One category is called legalism. The other category is called asceticism. Now that's a really fun $2,000 word that we'll get to probably next week. But both of them deal with external practice that has no internal results. Legalistic in nature. And so these rudimentary or these basic teachings were teachings of the law.

But remember, the law had one purpose. The law's purpose was never to make us holy. The law's purpose was to point us to the one who could make us holy. And so these are rudimentary, elementary teachings. They're basics that never really get into the true aspects of faith. And that brings us to number four. They are not according to Christ. They are not according to Christ. Now, I think this is important for us to pay attention to. And

why I think it's important for us to pay attention to it is because of what we're told in the book of Hebrews chapter one. In Hebrews chapter one, verse one, we are told that in various times and in diverse places, the Lord spoke to us through his prophets. But in the last of these days, that's how the Greek actually puts it. In the last of these days, he has spoken to us through his son.

That means that as last days Christians, which is what we are from the day that Jesus went home from the day that he was, uh, that he ascended into heaven. We have been living in the last days. And as last days Christians, the things that we are to pay attention to is the last revelation that God gave to us. What is the last revelation that God gave to us? He gave it to us

through his son. When did that begin? It began on the day that Jesus started his earthly ministry on top side of planet earth in the gospels. When did it end? That's the real question. When did the revelation of Jesus Christ to us end? It ended in the book of, wait for it, revelation. Do you know what the revelation is referred to as? The revelation of Jesus Christ.

Why do you think at the end of the book of revelation, Jesus told John, if anybody jacks with these words, all of the curses of revelation are to be added to him. Why? Because it was the final revelation of Jesus Christ. Do you know when the book of revelation was written? It was the last of the books to be written by John, one of the last living apostles. It was the final revelation

of Jesus. That means after the book of revelation was written, we didn't keep writing new revelations. We don't keep writing new doctrine. We don't keep writing new principles because from the book of Matthew to the book, Revelation, that are, those are the things that are according to Christ. That tells us that this philosophy got outside of the things of Christ. So if we want to make sure that we are not taken

captive by this philosophy, what does that mean that we need to do? Make sure that we know what Christ says. How can you know what Christ says? It says it in the word. And we have this revelation. And it is so important. Because do you know what comes out all the time? People say, we found a new revelation. Do you know what I say? No, you didn't. You didn't. Because it seals it. It seals it at the

end of the book of Revelation. And these things are not according to Christ. And I say this because everybody's coming out with new revelations right now. And it's been happening since Jesus left the earth. It's been happening since Jesus left the earth. It's been happening since Jesus left the earth. It's been happening since Jesus left the earth. People say, we've come up with something new. And it's so deep. And it's so wise. And it's so

amazing. And only the select few can know it. But if you come talk to me for only $19.95, you can know it too. Right? And this is what's happening in the world today. This isn't just Paul's time. This is happening today. This is why people are saying, we've learned more. We can have a wider table. We can have a broader mind. No, you can't. Well, you can't. But Jesus isn't involved. Because it's not according to Christ. And he says, beware of this

philosophy. Because it's empty. It's simply based on the traditions of men. It is elementary in nature. And it is not according to Christ. He says, be on guard against this philosophy. Now, why is it so important to be on guard? Against this philosophy that doesn't involve Christ? Because there is a fullness in Christ. Notice what it says. Let's read over these words one more time. Start in verse 9.

For in him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. And in him, you have been made complete. And he is head over all rule and authority. And in him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands. Three main things that he tells us about the fullness that we have in Christ. First of all, in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. Let's break that verse down.

All the fullness of deity. In other words, every aspect of who God is. All of the deity of God. All of the triune God. Or all of the Godhead dwelt in Jesus Christ and bodily form. Not all the triune Godhead. I did not mean for that word to come out of my mouth. I meant to just say Godhead. Because there is an entire philosophy out there that teaches that there is no Trinity. It's Jesus only. He is the Father. He is the Son. And he is the Holy Spirit.

So that's not what I'm saying. I disagree with that. I disagree with that theology. But all of the Godhead dwells in him. That means that Jesus is 100% God. Now, this is important because there are some other churches around here right now. There are some other churches around here right now. And they have some fun names like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons and some of those people.

And they don't believe that Jesus is 100% God. And this is one of the strongest verses in all of Scripture to say that he is 100% God. Because it says, all the fullness of deity. Next word I want to point out to you. Dwells in him. That word dwells is a fantastically powerful word. It means to continuously and permanently dwell. Find its home in him. John explains this to us a little bit more in John chapter 1 verse 1 when he says,

in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Not a God like some of the other translations that some of those other cults use. But was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And then when Jesus lived on earth, he continued to show himself to be God when they came to him. And Thomas said, show us the Father. And he says, have I been with you so long and you haven't seen me? If you've seen

me, you've seen the Father. Because he is 100% God. And then as Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, who declares himself to be God, fullness of deity is continuously and permanently at home in him. And it dwells in him. Look, in bodily form. Why is it important that he uses the phrase bodily form? Why is it important that he uses the phrase bodily form? Why is it important that he uses the phrase bodily form?

That feels mildly redundant. Would you agree that that feels a little redundant to say it dwells in him in bodily form? Well, because part of the Gnostic philosophy is that everything material was evil. Therefore, Jesus could not have lived in a human body because God could not dwell in a human body because everything material is evil. So they deny the incarnation of Christ. And he says, no, no,

there was an incarnation because it dwelt in him, listen, in bodily form. He is the image of the invisible God. Why is it important that it has to be according to Christ? Because in him, the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. The second thing that we see about being in him is that in him, you have been made complete. I want to point out that little phrase

he starts off with. It was his favorite phrase in Ephesians. And that phrase is in him. In other words, when your life is found in him, when your life is hidden in him, this is what's true of you. And it's always a great time for me to ask the question, are you in him? Beautiful picture that's given to us in the Old Testament of this. I've shared it lots of

times. It seems like a good time to share it again. When the children of Israel came to spy out the land the second time. And Joshua said, I'm not going to spy out the land. I'm not going to spy out the land the second time. And Joshua said, I'm not going to spy out the land the second time. And Joshua she was sent two spies to check out Jericho. They found themselves in need of a place to hide. And

so they found a place where they could hide in the home of a lady named Rahab who happened to be a prostitute. But she knew, she knew that their God was the one true God. She had heard the rumors and faith had taken its hold in her heart. And so she said, I will protect you guys, but you have to help me. When you guys come in and take over the land, preserve me and my family.

So they made a deal with her. They said, okay, this rope that you're letting us down with, you hang this thing out the side of your house, a scarlet rope, by the way, you hang this thing out the side of your house on the city wall. And everybody who is in the house with the scarlet rope when we invade will be saved. Anyone who is outside of the house will be destroyed.

So in order to be saved, you have to be in the house. And that's what you and I need to be. We need to be in Christ. We need to be hidden in the shelter that is Jesus Christ himself, because that's the place of safety. That's the place of protection. And that's the place where we are found complete is when we are found in him. He says in him, you are complete.

This word complete is great. It means filled to the full with the present result that you are now in a state of fullness, filled to the full, to the point where you are now in a, present state of fullness. In other words, you're not empty anymore. Do you remember how you felt before you came to Jesus? Do you remember how it felt on the inside? All of the things that you

were trying to do, all of the things that you were trying to fill yourself with, and none of it worked. It all left you a little bit more hollow at the end of the day. It all left you a little more hollow than it did the time before, because you're still chasing that first high. You're still chasing that first feeling and you can't get it back. And always, you just felt so empty on the

inside. And then you came to Christ and it was like, now not only are you not empty, but you're, you're overflowing. Because in him, you are complete, filled to the point where you are now in a current state of fullness. You're complete in him. And listen, I think part of the problems we're having in our culture right now is even in the church, people aren't realizing that you're

complete in Christ. We think I'm complete in Christ and these other things that I do. I'm complete in Christ and being a wife and being a husband. I'm complete in Christ and being a parent and making sure that I educate my kids the proper way. I'm complete in Christ and my kids being on a traveling ball team. I'm complete in Christ and my job. I'm complete in Christ

and my house that I live in. I'm complete in Christ and the toys that I own. I'm complete in Christ and what everybody else has to say about me. And because so many people are living like i need jesus and all of these things to be complete you're not really basking in the completeness of who you are and then there's some of us that are running around saying i'm complete in christ and all of my good works and you think if i can just do a little bit more i'll feel complete in christ and it's time for you to realize that there's nothing you can do to make yourself more complete because he did it already because if you are in him you are complete you don't need anything else you don't need any other work done to you he's done it all

david guzik had a great quote and i had him put it up here you are complete in him it is a fact to be enjoyed not a status to be achieved isn't that great that's who you are you are complete in christ and you need to stop striving to be complete in everything else find your everything to be complete in everything else find your yourself resting. Find yourself sitting down. Find yourself giving up and saying, Lord, I don't want to do this anymore. I just want to be complete in you. One of my favorite song lyrics of all time

comes from a band that nobody's ever heard of, and I love them to death. And it says this, I thought I was a good man, and I fell short of my standards. And now what am I left with? All of nothing, but my first taste of freedom. Because I finally realize my completeness is not in me. It's in Christ. And I think that we as the church need to just learn to rest in who we are

in Christ. He says, and you are complete in him. And he is the head over all ruler and authority. And then the third thing he tells us is that in him, you have been, made clean. In him, you have been made clean. Notice what it says, verse 11. And in him, you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now, again, from a Jewish mindset, which if he's

teaching, if these false teachers are teaching legalism, they're teaching Judaism, which means that they're teaching that if you are a Gentile, the only way that you can really be saved, if you want to know that deeper knowledge of God, you need to also perform the act of circumcision. You must do something outward to prove who you are on the inside. You must do something outward to prove all of those things. And he says, but in him, that's already been taken care of. In him, you have a circumcision that's made without

hands because it's something very spiritual in nature. It's the circumcision of Christ because now no longer do we need some outward sign to prove who we are. Now we are who we are because of what Christ has done. Because there is something that Christ did in our hearts when he made us brand new. And when he made us brand new, he cut away the fleshly part of our heart and gave us a brand new heart because that's what it means to be born

again. He goes on to reference something that was going on in that day, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him. Through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead, having been buried with him through baptism. Now, what he's talking about here is not the actual physical act of baptism. What he's talking about is the spiritual reality of baptism. The physical act shows what the

spiritual reality is. And it's something that we do in obedience. But the spiritual reality took place the day that you became a Christian. And it's something that we do in obedience. We're actually told the exact same thing in Romans chapter six. And Kenneth Weiss has a great way that he puts this because in Romans chapter six, when it talks about the fact that

we have been baptized with him, we have been united with him in his death. That word baptized or united there speaks of something being dipped in or introduced into something new for the first time. And the idea behind the wording is this. You have been given an introduction into Christ through his death. And you have been raised with him through his death.

Through his resurrection. And so the day that you became born again, the day that you came to Jesus Christ and said, I need to be brand new in Christ. I am a sinner and I am in need of saving. You were introduced into the death of Christ. And at the same time, you were also raised with him in his resurrection. And so that's what makes baptism the most beautiful thing in the world.

Because now when you go out into that water, exactly what's pictured, you tell everybody in the world that what happened the day that you were saved is 100% who you are because you are united with him in his death. And you are united with him in his resurrection. And that's why I think baptisms are the most powerful thing that we can ever do to declare to the world around us, I've been born again. I've been made brand new.

I've been made brand new because I was united with him in his death. And now I'm united with him in his resurrection. That's why it has to be done by somebody who's already born again. Now, at the time when Paul was writing this, altar calls weren't a thing. Apparently, from what I understand, altar calls weren't really a thing till closer to the 16, 1700s. And so when somebody made a public proclamation of faith, they didn't come down

to an altar. They went out and got baptized. That was their way of saying, I want to come to faith in Jesus Christ. I want to come to faith in Jesus Christ. I want to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Which is why we see so many people in the New Testament being baptized as their first act of faith because there were no altar calls at that point in time. Found that out from Joe Foch too.

I thought that was kind of a fascinating little tidbit of church history there. And so that's why it's so important to be baptized because it's that public declaration, but it's already taken place. You have already been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised with him through faith. And I love this next part, middle of verse 12. Notice what it says, in the working of

God who raised him from the dead. How were you born again? I genuinely have no idea, right? I don't know how that works, but what I do know is that it's in the working of God. It's in the working of God because who I was before isn't who I am now. It's like I shared last week, the day that I truly gave my heart to Jesus, the day that I truly started following him, nobody had to tell me to

bring my Bible to church anymore. You know how? A lot of times I got, I got kids, you know, you have to be like, dude, bring your Bible to church. Come on. And, and they're like, oh yeah, I should probably get that thing. And then they bring it, they leave it in my office. I'm like, oh shoot, I forgot that thing in my office. Well, man, when I really started walking with Jesus, I stopped doing things like that, right? When I was like, man,

I just want to follow Jesus. I was like, let's bring this crazy thing. I don't understand what half of it says, but apparently I can learn about Jesus in here and I'm going to read it as much as I possibly can. Nobody had to tell me to do that anymore. Why? Because it was the working of God in me. Because I'd been raised with him and alive people, they try to find who else is alive

and they act like people that are alive. And so we have been made clean in him. And that of course gets, gets Paul's juices flowing. And you can imagine having to be the guy dictating this. And Paul says, who raised him from the dead. And he starts to go back into the gospel because he just can't help it, help himself. He loves the gospel. So much. Notice what it says. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of

your flesh, he made you alive together with him. Having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of death, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us. He has taken it away, having nailed it to the cross. Paul now brings a direct application of the gospel. Why do they need to be aware of this philosophy? Because this

philosophy ultimately will pull them away from Christ. And it's important that they not get pulled away from Christ because, because Christ is the fullness. He's the fullness of deity. He is the fullness of my completion. And he is who makes me clean. And then Paul says, because remember who you were, you were dead. That's who you were. That's the first word of the gospel. You were dead.

You were dead. And what were we dead in, in our transgressions and the uncircumcision of our flesh. And that's who we are. And that's who we are. And that's who we are. And that's who we are. You were dead in your transgressions and your uncleanness. And those of us that came to Jesus after we did some dumb things, we can say both of those things are true. I was both a transgressor

and I was unclean when I came to Jesus. He was the only one that cleaned me up. You were dead. That's the real problem that we have. That's why we need the gospel. That's why people aren't coming to Jesus right now. It's because they don't know you're dead. But when you were dead in your uncircumcision and the transgression of your flesh, he made you alive with him. He made you alive. He brought you back

to life. He made you brand new. He made you alive. And how did he make you alive? He made you alive having forgiven us all of our transgressions. Do you remember what we said that word forgiven means? We talked about this a couple of weeks ago, maybe three weeks ago now. The word forgiven means to lift off of. And that's what he did to us. We were dead in our transgressions and sins and he made

us alive. And how did he make us alive? He forgave us of all of those transgressions. He lifted the burden off of us so that we no longer carry it anymore. And what else did he do to the burden? Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us, and he took it out of the way, he nailed it to the cross. Again, an important thing that the Roman world understood. Because

when you were a debtor in the Roman world, unfortunately, you had to pay back your debts. There was no canceling of loans that took place in the Roman world, right? Interesting, I know. We don't understand that in today's world. So there was a certificate of debt that was actually written against you. And all of what you owed was written out and it was nailed to

your doorframe so that everybody that came by knew that's the debt that you owed. And that's the debt he owes. Well, isn't that kind of interesting? Because that's how you and I are. We all owe a debt. And it's nailed not to the doorframe of our home, it's nailed to the doorframe of our heart. And we carry that debt around with us everywhere and everybody around us, even though

it's just nailed to the doorframe of our heart, it shows in the way that we live. Everybody around us goes, he, she owes a debt. And all we do is walk around with this certificate of debt nailed to us. Put upon us. That's why, again, I think depression is one of the leading causes of mental illness in the world today. That's why I think anxiety is destroying the world today. That's why suicide

seems to be what everybody thinks is the right way to handle things today is because they feel hopeless. Why do they feel hopeless? Because they're all carrying around a certificate of debt and they just keep trying to push it down and fill themselves with the next new thing and fill themselves with the next new high. Or the next new self-help book or whatever it is. And all of these things are in an effort

to deal with that certificate of debt because we want the burden lifted off of us. Why do you think that there's a pride month? Why do you think there's a pride month? And I say this brokenheartedly. It's because there's an entire culture of people that are broken over their sin, but they want to tell everybody, what I'm doing is right and you should celebrate it with me because it's going to make me feel

better about the certificate of debt that I'm carrying on my heart. This is why when pride month comes along, I tell you, please don't be the protesters. Please don't be the people that put straight pride month on your social media wall because that doesn't help. These are lost and broken people who need the truth of the gospel. And they're carrying around a burden that is so heavy and they need to be set free.

And he says that certificate of debt that you owed, he canceled it. Now, this is what's really cool. If you remember, Jesus on the cross cried out one last thing before he gave up the ghost. Remember what he cried out? He cried out the words, it is finished. And the Greek, I paid in full canceling the debt that we owe because he paid it in full having nailed it

to the cross. I love this. Notice what it says. And he has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Now I want you to, I want you to picture something. Okay. Because this, this image has been going through my head all week. As I've been reading this, uh, I just, so, so picture this, if you can. Um, I know some people, somebody told me the other day,

they're like, I don't have the same imagination you do, Ryan. I don't get it when you say picture this. So if you don't, that's fine. Uh, do the best you can. Okay. So, so picture this. I want you to picture everything that you've done wrong written on a piece of paper. Don't do it too long because you'll freak out. Um, all the things you've done wrong, all written on a piece of paper.

Now I want you to picture that piece of paper being nailed to a cross. Like somebody took it, like just like these little sheepies over here. These are God moments. That's a good thing. But, but picture that. Just, it gets nailed to the cross. Okay. You got that picture in your mind. Now, as you have that picture in your mind, I want you to think about that piece of paper slowly, but surely disintegrating

into dust and flittering away to where all that's left is the little nail that at one point in time was holding it up there. All of those things flitter away and go away. Why? Because having nailed it to the cross, he has taken it away. That's the image I want you to have in your mind. Because all of the things that you've done wrong, all of the things that sometimes maybe you still

carry around on your heart, God's not carrying them around because he already canceled that debt and carried it away. And I don't know why, and I don't know if it's first service or second service, but somebody needs to hear this. Maybe it's both. All those things that you've done, you need to let them fade away. All the, all the guilt that you hold onto, you need to let it

fade away. You need to let it fade away. You need to let it fade away. You need to let it fade away. And maybe, and maybe you need to do this exact thing. I don't know. Maybe you need to write it all down on a piece of paper and maybe you need to get a lighter and you need to set that thing on fire and just realize it's gone and let it flitter away because it has been canceled

on the cross. It has been taken away and it is no longer yours to carry. You are complete in him. You are forgiven in him. You are made alive in him. Don't let yourself be taken captive by philosophies that are elementary in nature. Don't let yourself be taken captive by things that don't point you to Jesus. Don't let yourself be taken captive by traditions of men. Listen,

that will put you back in bondage. Live in the freedom of who you are in Christ. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I thank you for the truth of your word. Father, I thank you for warnings that you give us. But I thank you that in the midst of warnings, you bring us so much comfort in knowing who we are in you. And so, Father, I want to lift up each person that's here this morning, every person

that's watching online. And Lord, I pray that if there is anyone that has found them, led astray by the philosophies of the world, by the traditions of men, by the elementary principles, by empty deceit, things that don't point them to you, I pray that you would set them free this morning. Lord, I pray that those that are holding on to that certificate of debt, Lord, they clutch it like it's the one thing that's going to bring them life because they feel like if they let go, if they allow themselves to be forgiven, they truly let go, it might mean that they're not serious in their walk with you. But Lord, it's the only thing that's holding them back in their walk with you.

And so, Lord, I pray for freedom this morning. Lord, I pray for an understanding of who we are in Christ this morning. Lord, I pray for hearts and minds that are aware. And Lord, I pray for hearts and minds that are free. Father, we thank you for who you are. May your word, continue to marinate deeply into our souls. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.

Yes, Father God, we praise you this morning, Father. You are worthy of all of our praise. God, for what you've done for us, God, for what you're doing, for the new life that we have in you. And because you're coming to get us again, you're coming again to take us home to be with you, Lord God. We praise you. As we leave here today, Lord, I just pray that you go with us, your Holy Spirit,

go with us and just continue to minister to our hearts, to continue to minister to mine. We love you, Father. We praise you and we thank you. In Jesus' name, amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.