Colossians 2:4-7

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TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

Paul Warns and Instructs Against False Teaching

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. False teaching can be very persuasive.

  2. There is protection against false teaching.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Let’s write letters of encouragement to students away at college.

  2. Let’s practice the Lordship of Christ.

QUESTIONS

  1. What was the false teaching in the Colossae area in the first century?

  2. Describe what is meant by the dualistic concept. According to dualistic teaching, how could a person be saved?

  3. Describe another Gnostic teaching, one that resulted in self-indulgence.

  4. State two means of protection against false teaching.

  5. How does being thankful help us to be less vulnerable to false teaching?

ANSWERS

  1. A mixture of Judaism and what later became known as Gnosticism. The deity of Christ was denied.

  2. The spirit was good and matter was evil. Salvation (deliverance from the material world) was accomplished by moving up the “emanation” ladder. A person had to become a part of the elite esoteric knowledge of the Gnostic.

  3. Some Gnostics said that since the body is evil, you can indulge it and do whatever you want, because it’s only the spirit that counts.

  4. Encouragement and establishment in the faith

  5. When we are discouraged, we are particularly vulnerable; therefore, being thankful helps us realize what we have in Christ.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. How could you help a young person away from home to be steadfast in the faith?

  2. How would you refute these false teachings? a. “There is no hell, a good God would not send people to hell.” b. “There are many roads to God, especially if you are sincere.” c. “Christians should be wealthy in this world’s goods. After all, we are children of the King.”

CHALLENGE

  1. Pause often to thank God for salvation and the true teachings of the faith. Never take salvation or biblical teachings lightly.

KEY VERSES

  • “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7



Colossians, New Testament, TalksDeb HarmsColossians 2:4-7