Colossians 2:8

Plain English Version

Some people might try to make you believe some ideas about God that are wrong. Those ideas didn’t come from Jesus Christ, but they came from bad spirits, and from the people of this world. People taught those ideas to their kids, and to their grand-kids. But those ideas are not true. They might sound good, but they are tricky lies. Be careful. Don’t believe them.

Cross References

Matthew 7:15

Then Jesus told them, “Always be careful. Don’t believe everybody. There are some people that reckon they are telling you a message from God, but they are liars. They try to get you to think they are like sheep, like they are soft and will not give you any trouble. But really, they are like wild dingoes. They will give you trouble, like dingoes hurt sheep. If you believe their words, then you will get lots of trouble.

Acts 17:18

Some of that Athens mob always thought about the best way to live, and they always talked to other people about it. Some of them were called Epicurians, and some of them were called Stoics. They talked to Paul, and he told them about Jesus. Paul said that Jesus died, and that God made him alive again. Some of that mob said, “This man is just talking rubbish.” Others said, “We think he is talking about gods from other countries.”

Acts 17:32

The council men heard Paul say that a man died and then came alive again, and some of those council men laughed at Paul. Some others said, “You can tell us more about this later, at some other time.”

Romans 16:17

Listen, my Christian friends, I’m telling you straight, you’ve got to be really careful about people that make you split up and argue with each other. Remember that you heard the true message about Jesus Christ, and you learned to follow his way, but there are some people that want you to leave that way and go another way. They tell you a different story, and they get you to argue with each other. So don’t listen to them. Keep away from them.

1 Corinthians 10:12

So be careful. If you think you are standing strong for Jesus, look out. You might fall down and go wrong.

1 Corinthians 8:9

But you have to be very careful. Even though you are free to eat anything, you have to think about those Christians that can’t work out what is true and what is not true. You don’t want to make them go wrong.

Galatians 1:14

You see, our Jewish grand-fathers told us the way we Jewish people had to live, and I tried hard to live that way. I was becoming a better Jew than most of my mates, the other Jews that were the same age as me.

Galatians 4:3

Now I’ll tell you what that picture story is all about. We were like that little kid. We had bosses too. The bad spirits that are the bosses over this world, they were our bosses.

Galatians 4:9

But then you heard about Jesus, and now you do know God, or really, God knows you. So don’t turn back now to those weak and useless spirits that are the bosses over this world. Don’t let them be your bosses again.

Galatians 5:15

Don’t be like wild animals. They fight each other and eat each other all the time. If you don’t love each other, you are just like them. So be careful. If you fight each other, you might properly finish each other.

Ephesians 2:2

You didn’t do what God wants, but instead, you always did bad things, just like the other people in this world do. You used to do the things the devil wants. He is the boss over those strong bad spirits that are in the air. That devil is working now inside everyone that will not do what God wants.

Ephesians 4:20

But when you learned about Jesus Christ, you didn’t learn to live in a bad way like that.

Ephesians 5:6

Don’t believe anyone that says you can do those bad things. Don’t let them trick you. Don’t believe their lies. God will get really angry with people that do those bad things, and he will punish those people that will not listen to him or do what he says.

Philippians 3:2

Look out. There are some men that want to teach you the wrong things and get you to go the wrong way. They are like dogs. They go the wrong way. They only want to cut men’s bodies. They say that you don’t belong to God unless you do what the Jewish law says and have a young man operation. They are wrong. We have God’s spirit in us, and he helps us respect God the right way. We know what Jesus Christ did for us, and we trust him. We know that ceremonies that people do will not save us, so we don’t trust them. So really, we are the ones that belong to God. Those people that only follow that Jewish law don’t belong to him.

Colossians 2:18

There are some people that tell lies and say, “God has shown us special things.” Those people think up their own ideas, and that makes them feel smart. But they tell you that they are not smart, and then they tell you to show respect to God’s angel messengers, as if those angels are God. But they are trying to trick you. Don’t take any notice of those people, and don’t believe those lies.

Colossians 2:20

Remember that you are joined to Jesus Christ. It is like you died with him when he died. You don’t belong to this world any more, so you don’t have to follow the laws that the people of this world make up about God.

Colossians 2:22

Those laws just come from people, not from God, so you don’t have to take any notice of them. Those laws are just about things that wear out when people use them.

Colossians 2:23

Those laws might sound like they are good, but they are useless. They get people to do things that hurt their bodies, and then they think they are good, and they think it makes God happy. But even when people try to follow those laws, they still can’t stop themselves from going wrong. Their bodies still make them want to do bad things, and then they do those bad things. So those laws are useless.

1 Timothy 6:20

All right, Timothy, God gave you his good message, so you have to look after it properly. Make sure nobody changes it around. There are some people that talk a lot in a stupid way, and they say bad things about God. Don’t listen to them. They might reckon they know all about it, and they might say that you are wrong, but really, they are the ones that are wrong.

2 Timothy 3:13

And those bad liars will get worse and worse. They will go on tricking people, and just like that, other people will trick them too.

1 Peter 1:18

Your grand-parents and elders tried to teach you the way to live, but they didn’t teach you God’s way. That old way was useless, and you weren’t free. But God has saved you from that wrong way. He paid a lot to set you free from that old way. Sometimes people pay money to get somebody out of prison and let them go free. But money doesn’t last for ever.

2 Peter 3:17

But, my friends, you know these things already. So be very careful. Don’t believe the lies that those bad people say. Don’t let them lead you away from God. If you listen to them, you might stop being sure about the true things.