Spoiled. Colossians 2:8. When we truly consider it, what we face is more like actual warfare than just a casual meeting somewhere to discuss minor issues. The stakes are high when philosophies clash; eternal destinies are at risk, not merely life and our view of it. We might not fully grasp the opposition before us. The word “spoil” goes beyond simply becoming useless; it means to take captive and kidnap someone who belongs to God. The typical goal in human philosophy is to elevate the opinions of some person, to put human beings above us, and to diminish God to no more than a man. This way, philosophers claim, we can control our own lives, and mankind sets the standards for life—even what is right or wrong.
Men create their traditions, practice them for a time, and base them on the fallen world's elements (rudiments), which are often spiritual in a negative sense, then turn them into laws. The main consideration when this happens is whether it fits our needs and opinions rather than what the original cause was. Many traditions began with good intentions, but human traditions have evolved. Those who first established them would find them strange after a few generations. The serious issue is that this is not in accordance with Christ. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
The basic principles of this world do not aim at God's glory. The common belief is, "Go for it! Make yourself a name!" That began long ago when men built the tower of Babel. The minds of people whom Satan binds are captivated, “spoiled,” and robbed by evil spirits (teachings) that lead proud people to worship the creature instead of the Creator. Some people see animals, trees, the wind, storms, etc., as being just as “soulish” as humans and deserving of devotion and the power of their intellect. The Christians in Colosse were drawn to these philosophies, hoping it would make them more knowledgeable, but Paul wanted them to see that these ideas were not according to Christ.
People are still trying to find their own way to heaven and create their own heaven if they can. Similar ideas are found in the social gospel of humanism (self-effort, reform without salvation by grace), humanitarianism (social service, responsibility to others without salvation), Gnosticism (nobody knows anything for sure, so don’t worry), and modernism (moving away from the faith and the scriptures). People often believe that if they cannot understand something, it either does not matter or is not true. Phrases like “Your truth is your truth, and my truth is my truth” are common among those who don’t think for themselves or want to avoid facing who they truly are.
All these philosophical efforts to persuade others to follow them are doomed to fail and leave people feeling empty because none address the problem of sin. Even the most reasonable philosophy overlooks a fundamental issue: sin can't be truly resolved until the sinner dies. Every philosophy mankind has devised is destined to fail. This isn't just a serious problem; it also damages what human life is supposed to be. Life doesn't even fulfill its purpose when God isn't given full control, and the inner man remains unsatisfied until each finds rest in the soul.
That rest can only be found in Christ, not in an idea, but in a real Person; who, though we haven't seen Him with our natural eyes, everyone has something in them that responds to the thought that there is One bigger than me, whom I will meet someday. A person's entire life and existence are forever ruined if they are unprepared to meet the Savior. Some “Christian” churches, instead of standing firm on the proven word of God, now teach and preach what people want to hear. The fundamentals of the faith no longer form the foundation of their messages.
The fundamental doctrines of the scriptures have not, nor ever will, change: the verbal inspiration of the scriptures in the original language, God is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the depravity of mankind because all have sinned, salvation is by grace through faith—not works, faith produces good works, there is a heaven and a hell, and when God saves a sinner, they are in Christ forever and will not lose their salvation.
We need to be alert and cautious in how we evaluate what we listen to. Philosophy is the love of wisdom, which is not inherently bad. However, if we pursue it through our own research and personal intellectual pursuits rather than seeking wisdom from above, we risk being deceived. Some clever individuals are spiritually dead and morally unclean, boasting a lot of "God-talk" but promoting vain speculation, human traditions, and outright deception in the name of God to gain material benefit. In our quest for knowledge, we face dangers like trickery, foolish ideas, and fraud. Moreover, such speculation can cause people to accept human traditions as if they are ultimate truths.
Traditions claim authority because they originate from those who have passed down ideas from others, passing them on to those who lack their own convictions based on what is from God. Traditions can also be helpful as long as they are rooted in the Bible and honor Christ. When we hear materialistic teachings driven by worldly practices that neglect Christ in any way, we must remember that such teachings oppose God. The appeal to the natural man and his fears causes people to worship the creature rather than the Creator and appeals to human vanity. Any teaching that disregards Christ is wrong.
There are various forms of Gnosticism today that deny the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and still claim to be Christian. Some well-known groups are growing rapidly because those who listen to their doctrine forget to compare authentic truth found in the scriptures and the teaching of biblical practices with the deception of those seeking followers and funds. The contrast between them is starkly revealing. Our completeness as believers is in Christ alone, not in our understanding of the religious forms being propagated. The rudiments of the world are things set up in a row, like letters of the alphabet to repeat in elementary school or ceremonial training in religious practices, instead of being centered on the Person of Christ, who is the basic measure of all human knowledge.