When you receive advice from someone, they only have two resources from which to draw. They can provide man’s opinion (theirs or someone else’s) or the word of God. Paul warned these Believers to be discerning regarding their sources of perceived truth. He mentions 3 specific sources of information where opinions can be misperceived as truth.
1. Philosophies of men
Col. 2:4, 8 “And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. 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.”
2. Legalism
V16-17 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”
3. Emotionalism
V18 “Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,”
LESSON - Not all advice is bad, especially if it comes from spiritually mature people offering experiences where God’s word proved to be helpful. We simply must learn to look at everything that we see through a Biblical lens for proof of it’s lasting value and benefit. Not everything that seems good and feels good IS good. Eve discovered this unfortunate reality in Gen. 3:6 " And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
~Mike