Paul established the authority of Christ when he wrote, “He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). You would think divergence from His doctrine would be easy to detect—we can compare His word with other philosophies and make the right choice. But the warnings of Colossians 2 remind us that we can be “deceived by persuasive words” if we…