As one reads the New Testament one is struck by two complementary truths about the proclamation, defense, and passing on of the gospel. First, there is the sad fact that people quickly depart from the truth and substitute it for false teaching. As fallen creatures, we seem to love and embrace error faster than we love and rejoice in the truth. Second, in light of the first reality, we are constantly exhorted to stand for the truth, which requires constant diligence and Spirit-wrought faithfulness to our triune God in the face of our Lord Jesus Christ and his word.
The Drift and the Stand
The first truth is ubiquitous throughout the New Testament. For example, think of Galatia. Paul himself is astonished at how quickly this church has turned to another gospel, which he makes very clear is “really no gospel at all” (Gal. 1:7). But Galatia is not an isolated occurrence. Think of Paul’s warnings to his young pastor-apprentice Timothy where he describes the “last days” as characterized by those who identify with the church but who are “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Or, as Paul continues to remind Timothy: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Tim. 4:3). Many more examples could be given, but the sad truth is this: the tendency is for fallen people, even those who profess Christ, to rapidly depart from the truth.
However, the second truth is also unmistakably taught. In light of the fact that people so quickly depart from the truth, Scripture exhorts us to “guard the good deposit” (2 Tim. 1:14); for leaders to “keep watch over yourselves and all the flock” (Acts 20:28); and for the entire church to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1). Scripture is clear: We must love God and the gospel by being vigilant in proclaiming it, standing against those who attempt to replace it by “another gospel,” and faithfully passing it on to the next generation.
Nothing New under The Sun
What is true in the New Testament is also true in church history. In every era, the church is in a constant battle to stand for the truth and not to substitute it or “mix” it with something else. In the Patristic era, the church battled against Gnosticism and Arianism as she faithfully proclaimed Christ and formulated Trinitarian and Christological orthodoxy rooted and grounded in Scripture. In the Reformation, the church had to correct numerous errors of Roman Catholicism and stand firm on biblical authority and the finished work of Christ resulting in our justification, as reflected by the Reformation solas—sola Scriptura, sola gratia, sola fide, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria. In the rise of the “modern” world, the church had to stand against “liberalism” which sought to “mix” the gospel with worldview thinking that stood opposed to the truth of Scripture.
Today, the church must stand against forms of secularism, naturalism, pluralism, and postmodernism as represented by critical theories, the LGBTQ+ agenda, and the false ideologies of our age. In every era of the church, syncretism—taking the Bible and correlating it to the current thought of the day—has always been a constant danger for the church to stand against. For, in the end, syncretism results in a distortion and rejection of the truth of the gospel. But sadly, within the church, the call to stand for the truth has not always been heeded. Ours is a day of untethered niceness, winsomeness, and nuance, and too often these characteristics are a cover for accommodation. But the reality is this: until Christ returns, the church is called to stand for the truth of the gospel without compromise, which often requires a “loving confrontation” (to use the words of Francis Schaeffer).
How to Spot a Heretic
In light of these two truths, it’s important to ask: how do we recognize false teaching in order to counter it? Jeremy Jackson has suggested that what unites all heresies is the denial of Christ and his work.[1] I agree with him. So how do you recognize a “false teacher” or a “false view,” whether it’s an ancient or a present-day one? We must ask the all-important question: Who do you say that the Lord Jesus Christ is? What do you think about him and what he achieved for us?
1. See Jeremy C. Jackson, No Other Foundation (Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1980), 31–42.
Why is Jesus so central to all heresies? The answer is quite straightforward: He is the one who takes us to the heart of who God is, as the divine Son, the second person of the Trinity. To get him right means that we get our entire doctrine of God right, who is the Creator and Lord of all. Furthermore, to get his work right means that we grasp the God of sovereign grace who alone can save us. For fallen creatures, the idea of salvation by God’s grace—involving a real incarnation, effected on a cross, publicly demonstrated in an empty tomb, and doing something we cannot do—offends us. As sinful people, we have a hard time receiving Christ and his finished work; it reminds us that we have nothing to contribute. In our sin, we think we are good enough to save ourselves. But to grasp Christ and his work reminds us that salvation is by God’s sovereign initiative and invitation, not ours. God’s solution in Christ speaks to the nature of our radical problem! We think we can contribute something, but we cannot. We want to be our own Lord and master, so we hate the idea of a sovereign God and Savior. That is why getting Christ right is central to getting the truth of the gospel right!
But if a wrong view of Christ and his work is at heart of all heresy, then the remedy to false teaching and the temptation of syncretism is a proper view of Christ and his work. This truth is taught throughout the New Testament, but specifically in Colossians 2:6–10. The church at Colossae was in danger of succumbing to syncretism. They faced what some have called the “Colossian heresy.” This heresy seemed to be the attempt to dilute the glory, sovereignty, and sufficiency of Christ with some version of Greek and Jewish thought. This is why Paul warns the church to stand firm in Christ and not to “mix” the truth of Christ with the thought of the day.
Paul’s Warning to Avoid Syncretism
Paul’s warning is given in Colossians 2:8, which builds on what he has said in Colossians 2:1–7. Paul wants the church to be grounded and established in Christ, “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). He does not want them to be hoodwinked by “fine-sounding arguments” (Col. 2:4) that leads them away from Christ or seeks to “mix” the truth of who he is with some kind of viewpoint contrary to Scripture.
In fact, he warns them by reminding them what he has already said in the great Christological text of Colossians 1:15–20. In Colossians 2:6, he says that the church had “received” Christ Jesus as Lord, a reference to his discussion of Christ’s lordship in Colossians 1. “Received” is a technical term that speaks of the church receiving the apostolic message centered in Christ, and Paul exhorts them to continue to “live,” or (a better translation) to “walk” in Christ, being “rooted and built up in him” (Col. 2:7). In other words, do not depart from the apostolic gospel because in it alone is given Christ and all his glory.
Why ought we “to live” in Christ? Because “Christ Jesus is Lord” of all (Col. 2:6). In Colossians 1:15–20, Paul has already unpacked the nature of Christ’s Lordship and what this entails. Christ, who is the divine Son of the Father is the “firstborn,” i.e., supreme over creation because in and through him the Father has created all things (Col. 1:16). As such, the Son is Lord over the entire universe because he is the Creator and Sustainer of all things (Col. 1:1–17), and in fact, the entire universe has been created for him (Col. 1:17). As the divine Son, he equally and fully shares the divine nature with the Father and Spirit so that all knowledge and all glory are found in him. No wonder, Paul exhorts the Colossians to “live” in him. But there is even more: Christ is Lord because he is both the Creator and Redeemer. In him, due to his incarnation and work, he is “the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead” (Col. 1:18). In him alone is redemption and reconciliation, the forgiveness of sin, and the dawning of the new creation (Col. 1:13–14). By his creation and redeeming work, Christ is Lord twice, and as such he is supreme over all. Apart from him, there is no knowledge, no wisdom, no life, and no salvation. But in him, he is all that we need for knowledge, wisdom, life, and salvation. Indeed, in Colossians 2:6, there is an implicit warning given: to go to “another Christ” is utter foolishness given who he is and what he has done for us. Christ Jesus our Lord is more than able to meet all our needs; indeed, in him alone can our needs to be met. Nothing or no one can replace him. Christ Jesus is Lord!
It is this crucial point about Christ’s person and work that Paul reminds the Colossians about in Colossians 2:6–7 before he warns them explicitly 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.” Paul’s warning is strong: “Don’t be kidnapped, or exploited, or carried off as spoil.” In other words, don’t be fooled by any thought that is not grounded in Christ. Paul’s warning and exhortation shows how seriously he stood for the truth and warned against the error of false teaching and teachers. In fact, Paul is explicit in what he has in mind, something that the church was in danger of capitulating to. Don’t be taken captive by “hollow and deceptive philosophy,” which is in contrast to the “glorious riches” in Christ (Col. 2:3). Such philosophy is “deceptive,” meaning that is seductive, misleading, and wrong.
Two Competing Philosophies
Paul is not saying that all “philosophy” is wrong. God is the source and standard of truth, knowledge, and wisdom and in loving God, we are to love the truth! Paul is not opposing human thinking, reasoning, and rationality. In fact, in Colossians 2:8, he clearly states that Christians are to ground their philosophy in Christ. Instead, what he is opposing is philosophy that is grounded in “human tradition” and not in the wisdom of Christ. As “tradition” it may appear to have an authority, but Paul denies that it has any divine origin at all. It is simply human. In fact, it’s not merely human because Paul goes on to say that behind these human “ideas” are “elementary principles,” which is probably a reference to demonic powers.
This is why Paul warns the church as he does. Not all “philosophy” is equal. There is a true philosophy but also a false one. Christians need discernment to know which one to embrace and the criteria is found in whether such “philosophy” conforms to Christ. In other words, the standard by which we are to evaluate all ideas, ideologies, and philosophies is the standard of Christ and his word. If human thought is not consistent with this standard, then it must be rejected. By itself, it has no authority, and ultimately it stands opposed to Christ. In other words, its teaching is not merely mistaken; it’s a denial of the truth that leads to error, spiritual slavery, and away from the truth that is found in Christ alone. This kind of false “philosophy” must be avoided like the plague and it needs to be critiqued by the standard of Christ.
Paul was very concerned that the Colossian church heeded this warning. This warning reminds us of the danger of syncretism. It is simply impossible to “mix” human tradition that stands opposed to Christ with Christ. The same danger faces us today. Human thought by itself has no authority. As human thought reflects something of God’s created order, what we call natural revelation, then it can say things that are true. But we only know that it is saying something true as we compare and contrast it with the truth found in Christ and his word.
Paul’s Remedy for Syncretism
Paul’s warning to avoid syncretism also gives his remedy on how to do so, which we have already mentioned above. In not wanting this church to be taken captive by hollow, empty human thought, as I noted, Paul is not denying that there is a true philosophy that we ought to embrace with joy. This true philosophy is not found in human tradition, but in Christ. And it’s found in Christ because Christ Jesus is Lord (Col. 1:15–20). In Colossians 2:9, Paul reiterates this same point by saying that we are to find our love of wisdom and knowledge in Christ alone because “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”
This is a staggering statement, which reminds us once again that Jesus is the divine, eternal Son and thus of the same nature (homoousios) with the Father and Spirit. But Christ is not only the one in whom “God in all his fullness dwells,” but now, in light of the incarnation, God in all of his fullness now permanently resides in the incarnate Jesus in bodily form. It is on this basis that the later Chalcedonian Definition is made. Who is Jesus? Jesus is God the Son incarnate, i.e., the divine person of the Son who has always shared fully and equally the divine nature with the Father and Spirit, but who now permanently subsists in two natures.
It’s this Jesus, who is Lord that Christians have come to know and been united to in faith. This Jesus who is “head over every power and authority” (Col. 2:10) is now our new covenant head, due to his sovereign grace, so that in him, we are complete.
Two Applications
There are at least two implications for us.
First, Paul gives us the warrant for a Christian worldview/philosophy, but not one that is grounded in non-Christian thought, but ultimately rooted and grounded in Christ. For this reason, we must test all ideas, philosophies, and ideologies by the standard of Scripture, which is nothing less than Christ’s word. The question we must always ask is this: Are the claims of non-Christian philosophy, science, psychology, sociology, etc. consistent with the truth of Scripture? This is the standard by which Christians are to judge all matters and critique all thought. If non-Christians say something that is true, then it is fine to accept it, but we only know this if it corresponds to what God has spoken in Christ Jesus our Lord. Christ and his word is the only standard by which we evaluate all human thought.
Second, we are to find our sufficiency in Christ. We are to find it in no one else. Why would we go after broken cisterns and trade our birth right for a mess of pottage? The constant temptation of the church is to go after every idea, fad, and gimmick. But given who Jesus is, in him we have everything for now and eternity. The one in whom the fullness of God himself dwells has come to our aid and given us all we need. We no longer need to feel oppressed by our sin, guilt, the powers, and so on. We are complete in him.
Syncretism is a constant danger for the church. Scripture repeatedly warns us against falling prey to its tantalizing lure. But the only remedy is Christ in all of his deity, glory, majesty, beauty, wisdom, and redeeming grace. May the church warrant what it believes only in Christ, and may we continue to live in him and find in him our all in all.
