Note 20 at Col. 2:4: Paul is now at the heart of the reason he wrote this epistle. He wants the Colossians to be so grounded in the truth that no one can move them from their faith in Christ. He does this by not so much attacking all the potential errors but expounding on the truth-specifically the truth of "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Once we get a true revelation that Christ is in us in His fullness and we are complete in Him, how could we ever move away from that for anything else? What can compare to that? Those who leave faith in Christ for something else never fully appreciated what they had. As the psalmist said, "O taste and see that the Lord is good" (Ps. 34:8). Once a person has truly "tasted" the goodness of the Lord, nothing else will satisfy.

Note 21 at Col. 2:4: The word "beguile" means "to deceive, cheat, or divert" (New A.H. Dict.). Satan's strongest attack is not a frontal assault against the truths of the gospel but subtle deception. A perversion of the truth has captured more people than an outright denial of truth (see note 8 at Gal. 1:7, p. 1054).

Note 22 at Col. 2:4: Notice that Paul is warning against the enticing words that the enemy will use to turn their hearts away from the truth. Satan didn't use the biggest, most powerful animal to approach Eve and tempt her but he used the most cunning (Gen. 3:1). That's because he had no power or authority to force Adam and Eve to do anything. He had to deceive them and get them to destroy themselves. That's the way it is with us.

Satan can't force anyone away from the truth. He has to deceive us, and he uses words to accomplish that. We need to be aware of this and protect ourselves by diligently guarding our hearts against any words that oppose the truth of God's Word. We can't do that if we are not thoroughly acquainted with God's truth. Therefore, as Paul is arguing here, we need to be grounded in the foundational principles of the gospel (see note 20 at this verse).