Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”
In this context there are two senses of “spoil you”. First, is to be robbed of all that is good and valuable to us. Second, is to be taken away as a captive slave. Paul’s concern was that wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15) would both rob and enslave them (and us) by teaching carnal “philosophy” and using “vain deceit”; that is, the robbers were smooth talkers and used distortions and lies to lead them away into false doctrines and practices. “the tradition of men” refers to men’s ideas on religion, versus the Word of God. The Jews had (have) a formal body of teaching, a “tradition”, that adds to and expands and alters the Lord’s Old Testament Commandments to the point that no one can actually live under their burden of their legalistic teachings; Jewish converts were trying to add these traditions to the Christian Church. The Gentiles had pagan religious rites and practices that appealed to man’s basest carnal lusts, the pagan converts were trying to drag these rites and practices into the Christian Church. Both the Jewish “tradition” and the Gentile “tradition” are “after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ”; that is, their traditional doctrines and practices are designed to satisfy man’s carnal lusts, and they do not give glory and honor to God. In adding in these traditions, they are, in effect, robbing the Church of the joys of true worship and service to our Lord and they are binding the people to vain religious leaders and not to God. This stark warning, “Beware lest any man spoil you” is also directed to us, in our generation! To worship the Lord in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) is to both practice and “preach the word” (II Timothy 4:2) of God and nothing else! Let us heed Paul’s warning!