According to Paul in Col. 1:6, it is possible for people to understand “the grace of God in all its truth,” and even in one day! Yet Paul warned the Christians at Colosse in strong terms against allowing themselves to be deceived by philosophy based on the first principles of the world (stoichea), legalism, mysticism, and asceticism.

They understood the doctrines of grace, including the fact that they were the elect of God (Col. 3:12). Yet could they be deceived by false teaching? Jesus’ rather sarcastic remark in Matt. 24:24 (“For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible”) would seem to indicate that it is impossible to deceive the elect.

In God’s ultimate preservation of His chosen people to everlasting life, He would surely safeguard us from damnable heresies. But God’s people show a history of being deceived by sin and error temporarily, until God brings them to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Even temporary deception can cause much damage to ourselves and others, so the Christian is wise to be on guard against the wiles of the devil and his agents.

The warnings in the Bible are real and meant to be taken seriously. It is through the admonitions of God’s word that He intends to preserve His elect unto eternal life. Thus full knowledge of the doctrines of grace cannot be expected to preserve us from deception unless those doctrines are stressed, repeated, urged, taught, preached, explained, and explicated on a regular basis! Next week we shall examine some instances of deception among the elect of God in the early church.