In our passage this week, the nature of the pressures faced by the Colossian church are brought to light at last with Paul’s pastoral concern for them and his condemnation of the practices and the practitioners of the false teachings that threatened to undermine the believers’ faith in the all-sufficiency of their salvation in Christ. Paul names several practices in verses 16–18 which were being pressed upon the church.
Give Me That Old-Covenant Religion
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. —Colossians 2:16–17
The first set of practices appear to come from Jewish religious observances springing from the Old Covenant. “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” The strict dietary laws (possibly Nazirite requirements as well), together with the annual festivals and monthly feasts, and strict Sabbath observances were established in the Mosaic Law as a means of demonstrating to Israel not only their need to be holy before their God, but their utter inability to do so. Their purpose was to be, “a shadow of the things to come,” but Paul reminds us that “the substance belongs to Christ.” These laws and observances could not cleanse hearts or put away the sins of those who kept them, but pointed forward to the One who could, the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we read of “shadows” in the Old Testament, think of a spotlight shining back through history, with Jesus standing in front of it. That light casts his shadow as long as the millennia of God’s promises, all the way back to creation. But the shadow is merely a shade, an insubstantial shape of a figure which holds no life or power in itself. And yet, it is also a promise that at the foot of the shadow there stands the One of substance who holds in himself the power of Life, “[f]or in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (2:9). So, the Old Testament Law and festivals did have an important role in the life of Israel—they were placeholders for the Son of God who would fulfill their every promise. Once the Promised One had come, to return to the shadows would be the height of foolishness, for, “Christianity was not fashioned to resemble Judaism, but Judaism was fashioned to resemble Christianity” [1] . . . . “This means, as Paul argues here, that Christians do not practice their faith in an Old Testament manner. Rather, the new life in Christ, with its freedom from symbolic structures and ritual restrictions, has taken the place of the Old Testament practices that foreshadowed it.” [2]
Add Some New-Fangled Spirituality
Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God. —Colossians 2:18–19
The Colossian believers were also being shamed for not participating in false spirituality, “asceticism and worship of angels,” by one who apparently threatened to “disqualify” them, while “going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind” (18). Evidently the false practices were being urged upon the church by a particular individual, perhaps the ringleader of a group of false teachers, who was “pass[ing] judgement” (16) on the true believers and claiming they needed these extra observances in order to qualify for a higher or truer spirituality than what they could attain by simply practicing “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). John Devenant writes, “It is the peculiar character of seducers to load the consciences of men with ceremonies, as things necessary for salvation, and to condemn them for the omission thereof.”[3]
This person is arrogantly “puffed up” by his super-spirituality, but his beliefs and practices demonstrate that he is operating outside of true faith, for he is neither “holding fast to the Head” (19), which is Christ, or clothed in humility toward the rest of the church, and is therefore in peril of opposition from God (1 Pet. 5:5). In fact, Paul’s letter to the Colossian church is God’s rebuke. Clearly, “[t]he problem relates to this teacher’s character as well as to his beliefs.”[4]
As we have already learned, Christ is the Head of his church, the body (1:18), and from him flows the life and vitality we need, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who is not “clinging to” Christ is not living out of dependence upon our Lord for life and godliness, and is therefore a blind guide to those who would follow him (Mat. 15:14). The believers in Colossae must not follow such a person, nor should we today. Rather, we must seek out shepherds and mentors who are clearly following Christ (1 Cor. 11:1).
Give Me Jesus
Paul displays the foolishness of following such a one and his practices by reminding the Colossian believers of what he has already written—the reality of their position and blessings in Christ because of who he is and what he has done for them in their salvation.
If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. —Colossians 2:20–23
These worldly regulations hold no power over them, because they have died to them in Christ! Therefore, they are no longer bound by merely human precepts and teachings. “For all its seeming piety, a life centered on “do not” is actually “self-made” religion. . . . God’s idea of salvation involves a positive embrace of life to his glory, not a denial of legitimate pleasures.” [5] While there may be legitimate reasons (health, allergies, preference, etc.) for abstaining from various foods or drink, to abstain because of a religious requirement no longer imposed by our new covenant faith in Christ is to forfeit God’s good gifts in favor of the shackles of legalism. There may be, due to a tender conscience not yet accustomed to this freedom, some for whom it would be sinful to partake, and Paul elsewhere encourages us to be considerate and make the choice to limit our own freedom for their sakes when needed (1 Cor 10:23–33). And tucked into that call for compassionate moderation, he reminds us “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).
Finally, these man-made requirements hold no sway over the believer in Christ because we have “died to the elemental spirits of the world,” and therefore there is no need to “submit to regulations” from that world. These are the spirits over whom he triumphed when he rose from the grave and disarmed and put them to open shame (2:15)! As we discussed last week, if we are in Christ, we too died, were buried, and rose in him to a new life established in faith (2:11–14, 7). We must hold fast to Christ our head because “only in relation to him can true knowledge and wisdom be found.”[6] All the treasures of them, in fact (2:3)! The Colossian believers didn’t need the approval of the false teachers and neither do we, for in Christ we have been qualified by God the Father himself (1:12).
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. —Colossians 2:6–7
[1] Richard Phillips, Colossians & Philemon, Reformed Expository Commentary (P&R: Phillipsburg, NJ, 2024), 201–202
[2] Phillips, 202
[3] Cited in Phillips, 203
[4] Alistair Wilson, Colossians, “Colossians,” in Ephesians –Philemon, ESV Expository Commentary, vol. 11, ed. Iain Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 238
[5] Phillips, 209
[6] Wilson, 213
*Photo by Marlys Stahl
Grateful 