"4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ."
Colossians 2:4-8
Paul's second imperative comes in v 8 and it is an exhortation to a negative, as the apostle warns against the devilish philosophy of the heretics. Paul sounds the alarm very forcibly. Not only is the believer to 'live in Christ' he is to 'be on his guard' because it is all too easy to lose spiritual freedom and be kidnapped from the truth into the slavery of error. Paul does not mince his words: False teaching and false teachers can so captivate the believer that they become shackled again with the chains of bondage and slavery. The force of Paul's words here speak of the slave trader carrying off, kidnapping his victim, body and soul. These spiritual confidence tricksters may say that they come to bring spiritual fullness and new Christian liberty but, beware, says Paul, they are wolves in sheep's clothing. Now we must be clear about what Paul is and is not speaking about here. He is not claiming that all philosophy is empty and deceitful: He is not speaking about philosophy in general. He is giving his verdict about this one particular false philosophy which seduces believers from the simplicity of their faith in Christ. It is this much acclaimed teaching which the heretics are peddling (as philosophy) which is empty and deceitful. Paul exposes it as a hollow sham, as empty of true content, as seductive and misleading: It is opposed to the word of truth. It is not even Christian because it is not rooted and grounded in Christ, nor is it built upon Him.