BATTLING THE CULTS

                                                     
             
  For everything worthwhile, there exist a counterfeit
      " See to it that no one takes you into captive through hallow and deceptive philosophy  (Philippians 2:8)

     You see them in strange outfit on street corners, chanting phrases with too much vowels and punctuating the chants with a noisy tambourine.you think of them as crazy cults, populated by misfits. Then one day you heard about a friend of yours.
     She seemed normal. Until suddenly without warning she snapped. Her parents searched desperately even hiring private detective only to get her back. They found her surrounded with an allies with new name, new hair style and it seemed new brain. She stared at them and told them they were missing out of the most wonderful experience of life. She had joined a cult.

A BREEDING GROUND

     Cults come in variety. They demand much from their members: A lifetime of discipline and absolute loyalty. And they also promise much in return: The pathway to a secret, hidden  knowledge
available only for those who follow them.
     Many cults didn't reject Jesus outright;  the merely worked him into a more elaborate scheme. Christ and simple form of worship were fine for beginners but for the deep things of God, well some further steps would be required.

THE BEST DEFENSE

     Paul doesn't give a complete glossary of a hollow philosophy the colosians were sorting through. From his arguments, we can gather the philosophy must have included Jewish legalism mixed in with angel worship, Greek philosophy and strict self denial.
     The best defense is a good offense. Paul countered with a positive theology. The principle he outlines today in his book is the best defense to judge new cults.
     " Christ is enough, " Paul declares. He is a God. the fullness of God. The one who made the world. The reason that everything exist. All the mystery, treasure and wisdom can be found in the person of Jesus Christ.

APPROACH GOD DIRECTLY

 

     Because Jesus bridged between God and us,  We don't need to approach God  indirectly, through a ladder of saints, angels or other gods. We don't need to prove our worth through
superior behavior. We can come to God boldly and directly because of Jesus.