### Colossians 2_8-10 - Over Investing in Philosophy and Our Fullness in Him > [!Bible] [Colossians 2:8-10 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/51/2/) > 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. > 9. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, > 10. and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. #### v.8 - Philosophy and Logic as Crutches if Used Incorrectly I know what this feels like, and I feel like it's a good time to bring up the two kinds of conclusions you can reach in logic, inductive and deductive. As defined in [[Logic - A Complete Intro Pt 1]], the logic we work with in our studies of scripture should be almost purely deductive. ![[Logic - A Complete Intro Pt 1#Inferences]] By using deductive logic, we make a statement that says all that we can learn in this passage is contained in its premises. A premise is a proposition that is assumed to be true or used as evidence for a conclusion. The premises for any scripture is scripture interpreting scripture. We can only draw proper conclusions for scripture using it, and as it is the Word of God, it is superior to any word of man: > [!Bible] [1Peter 1:24-25 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/60/1/) > 24. for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, > 25. but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. We trust the Word because Scripture is written by the Spirit through men: > [!Bible] [2Peter 1:19-22 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/61/1/) > 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, > 20. knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. > 21. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. There is a trend of pulling from secular history as the basis for drawing scriptural conclusions rising up lately in my generation. What I mean by this is to say that they believe the Word of the Bible is not inherently trustable and therefore must be backed up by the surrounding history. This leads people to the conclusion of [[Pseudepigraphal Authorship]] for most of the books of the Bible. This is to say that authors other than the namesake of the book, actually wrote the book. You see this commonly backed up by arguments like, “But we know that they could not have written this because the book was written 1-800 years after they died.” If you can't believe that the person who wrote the book actually wrote the book, how can we believe any claim they make? They make each author of every book of the Bible out as liars. They also attempt to separate the written Word of God from the spoken Word of God. This is foolish. Scripture is the written Word of God, and this is proven in the root word itself: “Script” or to scribe. “But wait, what does it say in the Greek, Micah?!” It’s *graphe* which, surprise, surprise, means a writing. So to them, I will respond as Christ responded, for He Himself grounded His arguments in the written Word more than all. To those that say the Word cannot serve as a basis for argument when discussing the Word: > [!Bible] [Matthew 22:29 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/40/22/) > 29. But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God." One argument they use is that Christ is the Word of God, therefore the Bible cannot be. This is foolish. Christ is the Logos of God. Once again, Peter, the Rock, comes in clutch. > [!Bible] [2Peter 1:19 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/61/1/) > 19. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, The prophetic “word” used here is Logos, which is then used synonymously with Scripture in the next passage: > [!Bible] [2Peter 1:20 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/61/1/) > 20. knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. Let me say, I think there is value in philosophical and evidential apologetics, but I think this is where presuppositional apologetics shows its necessity. If we do practice philosophical understanding, it should be planted firmly atop a concession to scripture. I think back to these words from Sproul's commentary on biblical inerrancy often: > “If I find something in the Bible that seems to be contradictory or false, I do not assume that the Bible is wrong. I assume that I have made a mistake in my interpretation or that I have missed something in the text. I do not question the authority or veracity of the Word of God; I question my own ability and understanding.” This is because Sproul understands the deductive and exegetical nature of scripture. I adjure you to go find any New Testament passage of the scripture where conclusions are drawn apart from previous revelation. Even in the cases where an apostle is ordering a church in a direction for their sanctification, if the apostle(mostly the younger Paul) cannot find a rationale based on previous scripture, they will outright say, as is the case in 1 Corinthians 7, this is not a command of God. > [!Bible] [1Corinthians 7:6 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/7/) > 6. Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. > [!Bible] [1Corinthians 7:10 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/7/) > 10. To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband > [!Bible] [1Corinthians 7:25 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/7/) > 25. Now concerning the betrothed, I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. > [!Bible] [1Corinthians 7:40 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/46/7/) > 40. Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think that I too have the Spirit of God. The Apostles do not assume to bring their own command and study of philosophy and right thinking to equal footing with the Word. They explicitly state when a suggestion or command is not God’s. This is because it is of vital importance that the Word of God confirms itself. Why else would the Bereans use it to confirm Paul’s teaching? > [!Bible] [Acts 17:10-11 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/44/17/) > 10. The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. > 11. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. I say all this to go back to the heart of my statement. The modern trend that we can only trust the Bible based on premises external to the Bible turns what should be deductive logic into inductive conclusions, and therefore unprovable in any sense of the word. I studied the word *stoicheia* or elements earlier in the year when I was reading through Peter: ![[2 Peter 3]] To continue on this thought process, the elements Paul is referring to seem to be the same principles he combats in Acts 17:18: > [!Bible] [Acts 17:18 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/44/17/) > 18. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities” — because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. The root of the word elements or *stoicheia* is, in fact, stoic. Paul became a Greek to the Greeks, so he is able to combat them using their own terminology. #### v. 9-10 - Fullness, Again In Colossians 1, we talked about pleroma, or fullness: ![[Colossians 1_19 - The Fullness of God]] - We know that Christ is full of divinity, the Spirit, and life everlasting. I think this is meant to point us to John 4: > [!Bible] [John 4:10-15 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/43/4/) > 10. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” > 11. The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? > 12. Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” > 13. Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, > 14. but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” > 15. The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” - So as we transition into verse 10, we see the verb pleroo, or fill, because we are filled with the eternal water of life overflowing from the fullness of Christ. We drink from His cup, hallelujah. - Once again, we see that our inheritance is not separate, but linked in kind by the authority of Christ, who, as the passage says, rules all rulership and authors all authority. - This is the same inheritance from Colossians 1:12, Romans 8:17, 1 Peter 1:4, and Ephesians 1:11-14. > [!Bible] [Colossians 1:12-14 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/51/1/) > 12. giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. > 13. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, > 14. in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. > [!Bible] [Romans 8:17 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/45/8/) > 17. and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. > [!Bible] [1Peter 1:3-5 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/60/1/) > 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, > 4. to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, > 5. who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. > [!Bible] [Ephesians 1:11-14 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/49/1/) > 11. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, > 12. so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. > 13. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, > 14. who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. - Our inheritance is adoption to the royal priesthood of Christ. We receive eternal life not in a separate vein, but borrowed from Him, which is why I say we are filled as He is filled. We receive water from the well, fruit from the tree of life, and the Spirit of God from the only immortal, from whom we receive the same life and immortality: > [!Bible] [1Timothy 6:13-16 - ESV](https://bolls.life/ESV/54/6/) > 13. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, > 14. to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, > 15. which he will display at the proper time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, > 16. who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. [[Colossians 2_8-10 - Over Investing in Philosophy and Our Fullness in Him]]