Colossians 1:13 Who delivered us out of the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 2:8 Beware that no one carries you off as spoil through his philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
To be delivered out of the authority of darkness is to be delivered from the Devil, who has the might of death (Heb. 2:14). We have been delivered from the Devil, Satan, by the death of Christ (Col.
2:15) and by the life of Christ in resurrection (John 5:24). We have seen that the authority of darkness is the kingdom of Satan and that Satan himself is darkness. The kingdom of Satan is a system.
Not everything in this system is evil. On the contrary, many things are good, or at least are considered good by society. Satan uses various things, both good and evil, to systematize people and to keep them in his system.
For those who are fond of gambling, Satan uses gambling to systematize them. Therefore, in his kingdom there is a ministry, a department, of gambling. Another department of the kingdom of Satan is the ministry of philosophy.
After speaking of the authority of darkness, Paul goes on to mention ordinances, observances, philosophies, and the elements of the world, all of which are aspects of this satanic authority. Today a great many people are held under Satan's control by philosophy. For this reason, it is often easier to bring a gambler to Christ than a person devoted to philosophy.
In China we found it difficult to convert the followers of Confucius. Satan used the ethical teachings of Confucianism to systematize and to control large numbers of Chinese. Satan controlled them and kept them under his authority through ethical philosophy.