Do Not Be Taken Captive
Introduction: From the Supremacy of Christ to Stability in Christ
Last session, we looked at the background of Colossians and the great declaration of who Jesus is. Paul made it clear that Christ is not merely helpful, inspiring, or important. He is supreme. He is the image of the invisible God, the Creator of all things, the One before all things, the Head of the church, and the One through whom we are reconciled to God by the blood of His cross.
Now in this session, Paul begins pressing that truth into the daily life of the believer. If Jesus is supreme, then the Christian must not be easily moved away from Him. If Jesus is fully God, fully sufficient, and Lord over all things, then we do not need to add religious performance, spiritual secrets, human philosophy, mystical experiences, or man-made rules in order to be complete.
The Colossian church was being pressured by false teaching. This teaching did not necessarily deny Jesus outright. That is what made it dangerous. It seemed to honor Jesus while quietly reducing Him. It treated Christ as important, but not enough. Paul writes to warn them not to be taken captive by anything that pulls their confidence away from Christ.
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
— Colossians 2:6–7
1. Walk in the Christ You First Received
Paul begins with a simple command: “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” The Christian life does not begin with Jesus and then move on to something deeper than Jesus. We begin with Christ, and we continue in Christ. The gospel is not the doorway we enter before we graduate to something else. The gospel is the foundation we keep standing on.
This would have mattered deeply to the Colossians. They had received the true message of Christ, but now other voices were tempting them to believe they needed more. More knowledge. More rituals. More spiritual experiences. More rules. More religious achievement. Paul reminds them that the same Christ who saved them is the same Christ who sustains them.
For men, this is an important reminder. Many of us are tempted to think growth means constantly chasing something new. A new method, a new system, a new insight, a new discipline, or a new spiritual breakthrough. There is nothing wrong with learning and growing, but Christian maturity is not moving beyond Jesus. Christian maturity is going deeper into Jesus.
Where are men today tempted to think they need “Jesus plus something else” in order to be strong, accepted, or complete?
2. Rooted and Built Up in Him
Paul uses two pictures in Colossians 2:7. First, he says we are to be “rooted” in Christ. That is an agricultural picture. A tree survives storms because of what is hidden beneath the surface. Roots are not always visible, but they determine stability. A man may look strong on the outside, but if his soul is not rooted in Christ, pressure will eventually expose what he is truly planted in.
Second, Paul says we are to be “built up” in Christ. That is a construction picture. A life of faith is not built on emotions, opinions, circumstances, or personality. It must be built on the foundation of Christ. What is rooted must also be built. The Christian life involves both depth and structure.
This is why Paul connects being rooted and built up with being “established in the faith.” A stable man is not a man without storms. A stable man is a man whose faith has roots deep enough and a foundation strong enough to endure storms. Paul is calling the Colossians to spiritual stability, not because life is easy, but because Christ is enough.
What usually reveals where a man is truly rooted: success, pressure, conflict, temptation, or disappointment? Why?
3. Beware of Being Taken Captive
Paul then gives a strong warning:
“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 2:8
The phrase “takes you captive” is serious. Paul is describing a kind of spiritual kidnapping. False teaching does not always look dangerous at first. It can sound thoughtful, spiritual, disciplined, impressive, or even biblical. But if it pulls us away from the sufficiency of Christ, it is not harmless.
Paul is not saying all philosophy or deep thinking is wrong. He is warning against ideas that are “not according to Christ.” The danger is not thinking deeply. The danger is thinking apart from Christ. Any teaching, tradition, philosophy, or spiritual practice that reduces Jesus, adds requirements to Jesus, or shifts our confidence away from Jesus must be rejected.
This is still relevant today. Some people are taken captive by worldly success. Some by politics. Some by legalism. Some by self-help spirituality. Some by shame. Some by conspiracy thinking. Some by religious pride. Some by endless online voices. The question is not merely, “Does this sound spiritual?” The question is, “Does this keep me anchored in Christ?”
What are some modern ideas or pressures that can quietly take a man captive and pull him away from Christ?
4. The Fullness of God Dwells in Christ
Paul gives the reason believers must not be taken captive:
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him…”
— Colossians 2:9–10
This is one of the clearest declarations of the deity of Christ in the New Testament. Jesus is not partly God. He is not almost God. He is not a created spiritual being. The whole fullness of deity dwells in Him bodily. Paul is directly confronting any teaching that would lower Christ.
But Paul does not stop there. He says, “and you have been filled in him.” That means the believer’s completeness is found in Christ. We are not complete because we know enough, perform enough, suffer enough, serve enough, or impress enough people. We are complete because we belong to Christ.
This does not mean we stop growing. It means we stop trying to earn the fullness that is only found in Him. Growth flows from union with Christ, not from trying to prove ourselves worthy of Christ.
Why do we often find it easier to believe Jesus is supreme than to believe we are complete in Him?
5. The Cross Canceled the Record Against Us
Paul then takes us back to the cross:
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses… God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us…”
— Colossians 2:13–14
This is the heart of the gospel. We were not spiritually weak people who needed a little improvement. We were dead in our trespasses. But God made us alive together with Christ. He forgave us all our trespasses. Not some. Not most. All.
Paul says God canceled the record of debt that stood against us. The debt was real. Our sin was real. Our guilt was real. But at the cross, Christ did not ignore the debt; He paid it. He nailed it to the cross.
This is why legalism is such an offense to the gospel. If Christ has canceled the record against us, we must not live as though we are still trying to pay it off. We obey God because we have been made alive, not because we are trying to purchase life.
What is the difference between obeying God from gratitude and obeying God from guilt?
6. Do Not Let Anyone Disqualify You
Later in the chapter, Paul warns the Colossians not to let anyone pass judgment on them or disqualify them through religious rules, festivals, ascetic practices, angel worship, or visions. These things may have appeared spiritual, but they were not rooted in Christ.
Paul says such people are “not holding fast to the Head” (Colossians 2:19). That is the real issue. A person can look spiritual and still not be holding fast to Christ. A church can be busy and still not be holding fast to Christ. A man can appear disciplined and still not be holding fast to Christ.
Man-made religion often feels powerful because it gives us something we can measure. Rules can be counted. Appearances can be managed. Religious performance can be noticed. But Paul says these things have “an appearance of wisdom” while lacking true power to restrain the flesh (Colossians 2:23). Only Christ can change the heart.
Why are man-made rules sometimes easier to trust than a real relationship with Christ?
Life Application: Stay Rooted, Not Captive
Colossians 2 calls us to examine what is shaping us. Every man is being discipled by something. We are being shaped by Christ, or we are being shaped by fear, pride, shame, culture, success, pain, habits, screens, opinions, or old wounds. The question is not whether we are being formed. The question is what is forming us.
To stay rooted in Christ, we need to return again and again to the gospel. Christ is Lord. Christ is enough. Christ has forgiven us. Christ has canceled the record against us. Christ has triumphed over the powers that once accused and enslaved us.
This week, ask yourself: What has been trying to take me captive? What voice has been louder than Christ? What am I adding to Jesus in order to feel secure, spiritual, or accepted? Where do I need to stop striving and start standing in what Christ has already done?
A rooted man is not a perfect man. A rooted man is a man who keeps holding fast to Christ.
Closing Encouragement
Paul’s message to the Colossians is not complicated, but it is powerful: do not move away from Christ. Do not be taken captive. Do not let anyone reduce Jesus or convince you that you are incomplete in Him. The fullness of God dwells in Christ, and if you belong to Christ, your life is anchored in the One who is above every ruler and authority.
You may still be growing. You may still be healing. You may still be learning how to walk in freedom. But your completeness is not waiting somewhere outside of Christ. You have been filled in Him. The debt has been canceled. The cross has spoken. Christ is enough.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for giving us Jesus Christ, in whom the fullness of deity dwells. Forgive us for the times we have allowed other voices, pressures, fears, or religious performances to take us captive. Help us to walk in Christ as we first received Him. Root us deeply in Him, build us up in Him, and establish us in the faith. Remind us that our debt has been canceled, our sins have been forgiven, and our life is found in Christ alone. Teach us to hold fast to the Head and to live as men who are complete in Him. In Jesus’ name, amen.