8-10 Watch out for people
who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to
drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything.
They spread
their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions
of spirit beings.
But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets
expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a
telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and
the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness
comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. 11-15 Entering into this
fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of
observing an initiation rite or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some
secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone
through for you, destroying the power of sin.
