Who is discipling you — and are they telling you the truth?

Everyone is someone's disciple. Someone is teaching you, shaping you, attempting to remake you in their image — the only question is who. In this study of Colossians 2, Dr. Toby Holt urges Christians to weigh the sources instructing them and their children, from the church to the media to the classroom. Paul's warning is blunt: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men... and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Not every source is reliable; some are simply wrong, and some are outright depraved.

Dr. Holt shows the apologetic safeguard Paul prescribes: be "rooted and built up in Him" (Colossians 2:7). The antidote to deceptive teaching is not suspicion of everything but a deep grounding in Christ, in whom "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (2:3). Discernment begins by measuring every voice against the One who is the truth.

Questions this study answers:

1. What does Paul mean that we can be "cheated" through philosophy? That empty, man-made systems of thought can take us captive and lead us away from Christ. Paul warns believers to test teaching against the truth of the gospel.

2. Why does it matter who is teaching me and my children? Because everyone is being discipled by someone. The sources that shape our thinking — media, school, culture — are not neutral, and some actively oppose Christ.

3. How do we guard against false sources? By being rooted and built up in Christ, in whom all wisdom is found. A believer grounded in the truth can discern the counterfeit.

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit... and not according to Christ." — Colossians 2:8 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This study is part of New Geneva Theological Seminary's teaching on apologetics and defending the Christian faith. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.