Colossians: Deception and Discernment – Part 2

© 2018 G Kamp www.truthbase.net     Scripture quotations from NKJ

9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

1. Satan grasped at God’s position, but lost. He is now trying to disrupt God’s plan through deception.
2. Deceived people fail to understand the consequences of doing their own will rather than God’s.

Satan appeals to our core desires to try to get us to depart from God’s revealed will (Genesis 3, temptation of the Christ, 1 John 2).

1. He deceives us about the things that please God
2. He deceives us through lies, twisting truth, promoting false belief systems, and false teachers
3. He deceives us about both the positive and negative consequences of our actions
4. The Holy Spirit gives wisdom and discernment so that we are free from deception and do God’s will

In order to not be deceived, believers need wisdom and understanding, the truth, discernment.

Proverbs 2: 10 When wisdom enters your heart, And knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11 Discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things, 13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness To walk in the ways of darkness;

Job 28:12 “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?

Believers get truth through the Holy Spirit by abiding in Christ’s Words, which will set them free from the deception of sin.

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.

John 14:16 He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

John 8: 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

As long as believers are in bondage to the deception of sin, they cannot do God’s will and they bear no fruit.

Romans 6: 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.

Romans 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

But once they are no longer in bondage to sin, they are free to become fruitful and they can do God’s will.

Rom 6: 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Rom 7:6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Gal 5: 13 For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

Psalm 1:3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. Proverbs 2:13 Happy is the man who finds wisdom, And the man who gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold.

Knowledge: Knowing the relevant facts about God and us, and the relationships between them all (who, what, where, when)

Wisdom: Choosing the right objectives and the right means to obtaining them, ie pleasing God by doing His will. (how)

Discernment: Being able to distinguish right from wrong, truth from deception, recognize God’s will from Satan’s/our will.

Understanding: Being able to put things together, know consequences of actions, correctly understand content in context. (why)

The Spirit of truth uses the Word of God to produce in us the mind of Christ.

Questions for Reflection/Discussion/Response

1. If the HS gives wisdom and discernment, who is to blame if we don’t have these? How do we get them?
2. What is the relationship between pleasing God, knowing His will, discernment, and being fruitful?
3. How can you tell if someone is in bondage to sin? How can you help them get free from it?
4. How do you know when you are deceived? How should you respond to someone who tells you that you might be deceived?
5. Are you being fruitful? What can you do this week/month/year to become more fruitful?