Col 2:16-22 | KingComments | STEP | . Paul has made your position clear in Christ. You have life. God’s purpose is that you live this life of freedom and that is a life of victory. Outsiders will judge your life. That is alright. But sometimes there are outsiders who want to tell you that you have to adhere to certain statutes. You should not yield to them an inch. Remember, religious statutes have no authority over those associated with Christ. Do you know what it means if you allow these things in your life? You deny the perfection of the work of Christ and its glorious consequences for you personally. The enemy indeed is disarmed; but certainly his cunning strategy is not over yet. His greatest weapon, death, is no longer a threat. However he wants to devastate your life of faith. He knows how effective Jewish and other religious statutes are. He is successful, if only he can make you comply with them. The five things mentioned are the characteristics of the religious system which the false teachers hold on to. None of them is spiritual, it is all material and earthly. There is nothing wrong in eating and drinking, but when a religious significance is added to it, it is a mutilation of the true worship to God. In Israel food laws had their place, specifically for annual festivals, the monthly new moon and the weekly sabbath. When these things are brought over into the Christian era, the true meaning of Christendom is lost. . The covenant observances of the Old Testament were shadows of the substance that was to come. The substance is Christ ( ). Christ is the fulfillment of all Old Testament shadows. He is our true food and our true drink indeed. He is the fulfillment of everything that is presented in the various festivals. To implement parts of this shadow in Christendom is to cast a shadow on Christ. This is like viewing the photo of a person while the person himself is physically present. The one who is satisfied with the photo and ignores the person rejects the person himself. Whoever changes his attention between the photo and the person himself offends the person because he says thereby that the person himself is not sufficient. The desire to mix the shadows with the substance means that Christ is not enough. Regularly there is a discussion about keeping the sabbath. There are voices which want to make the sabbath, in some form or other, an integral part of the Christian life. A discussion on this subject in the light of what is presented here is completely useless and even dangerous. Of all the twenty-one letters in the New Testament this is the only occasion where the sabbath is mentioned. To keep it? No, on the contrary to abandon it. Is that not instructive? . In Paul points to the threatening danger from the Jewish side, the observance of the laws and covenants. In he points out the danger of falsely so called knowledge in the form of mysticism. Maybe you know of people who claim to have had visions. They drive hard to impress that they have seen things others have not seen. Thus they present themselves as more spiritual than others and view themselves as a kind of mediator. You must go to them to learn specific things about God. They are very humble in their behavior as though they do not seek their own glory. But they worship the angels because these creatures are in the immediate presence of God; through them they can learn more about God. If you open yourself up to such people and their ideas you run the risk to be robbed of your prize. And that means that after your Christian race you will be robbed of your crown. The only angels who want the worship of humans are evil angels, demons. Holy angels decline this worship ( ). Another pernicious form of worship is that of Mary as the mediator, as though she is necessary to draw near to God or to the Lord Jesus. This is not the humility with which one seeks the honor of God. It is a false humility and the worship of a creature. Paul exposes these people by saying that their ideas come out of their own depraved thinking, the thinking of the sinful flesh. There is absolutely no basis for this. . Whoever accepts such ideas no longer holds on firmly to Christ the Head. You are – this is true of every member of the church – personally connected to the Head, without any intermediate person of whatever kind. Your growth results from this direct connection with the Head, Christ Jesus, without any intermediary. God has ordained it thus. Growing this way is growing with a growth which is from God. Do not let anything or anyone come in between you and Christ. Each member of the body is in direct contact with the Head to fulfill its own function. Through the Head you are connected with all the other members of the body and you grow up together. Do you realize that if you give in to false teachings and traditions of men, not only your own growth is disturbed but that of other members too? . You are again directed to the death of Christ in order to escape from the dangers of the Jewish and philosophical systems. What to die with Christ means is that you are dead to the systems of this world and to its elements. Then how can you subject yourself to certain specific statutes. If you have died then you cannot continue to live as though you still belonged to that system. All laws and regulations and other things are no longer applicable to you because you are dead. Is there anything that could still exercise power over the dead? Can a dead man respond? Can we expect any action from him? Christendom is not keeping all kinds of commandments or prohibitions. You are liberated from all those because you died with Christ. A renewed attention to these things means that you go back to the world toward which you died. . In summary, the decrees “do not handle”, “do not taste”, “do not touch” are earthly and material things. Like all legalism, they involve prohibitions ( ). They are not applicable to you. It would also be foolish to get involved in them. They are also things that have absolutely no lasting value; they all perish after they are used. This is because they are according to the commandments and teachings of men. What is devised by man will not last long; only what is conceived by God will last forever ( ). . Sometimes what is invented by man appears to have great value; nevertheless it is only apparent, and the reality is hollow. Their talk sounds wise, but the content is foolish. Self-will is dominating. The ‘I’ stands in the center. There is no bowing down before God and His Word. They bow down indeed and appear to be very humble, but that is not their attitude toward God. It is their attitude toward creatures which they look up to, perhaps to exceptionally gifted men or even angels. In the spiritual realm they worship those who are superior to them, but in the realm of matter created by God there is no respect. Thus the body was regarded by the Greeks as a prison in which the spirit was imprisoned – as if were mere dust, meaningless. To allow the spirit to develop, the body was tormented with self-flagellation and fasting. The needs of the body were not to be satisfied. The pride of man wants to dominate everything, even the God created bodily needs. This effort is nothing more than the satisfaction of sinful flesh. If you are conscious that you died with Christ the enemy will try in vain to gain entry into you with his errors. Now read Colossians 2:16-23 again. Reflection: Have you discovered ‘commandments and teachings of men’ in your faith life as a result of this section? What should you do with them?

‏ Colossians 2:16-22

Holding the Head

Col 2:16. Paul has made your position clear in Christ. You have life. God’s purpose is that you live this life of freedom and that is a life of victory. Outsiders will judge your life. That is alright. But sometimes there are outsiders who want to tell you that you have to adhere to certain statutes. You should not yield to them an inch. Remember, religious statutes have no authority over those associated with Christ.

Do you know what it means if you allow these things in your life? You deny the perfection of the work of Christ and its glorious consequences for you personally. The enemy indeed is disarmed; but certainly his cunning strategy is not over yet. His greatest weapon, death, is no longer a threat. However he wants to devastate your life of faith. He knows how effective Jewish and other religious statutes are. He is successful, if only he can make you comply with them.

The five things mentioned are the characteristics of the religious system which the false teachers hold on to. None of them is spiritual, it is all material and earthly. There is nothing wrong in eating and drinking, but when a religious significance is added to it, it is a mutilation of the true worship to God. In Israel food laws had their place, specifically for annual festivals, the monthly new moon and the weekly sabbath. When these things are brought over into the Christian era, the true meaning of Christendom is lost.

Col 2:17. The covenant observances of the Old Testament were shadows of the substance that was to come. The substance is Christ (Jn 5:46). Christ is the fulfillment of all Old Testament shadows. He is our true food and our true drink indeed. He is the fulfillment of everything that is presented in the various festivals. To implement parts of this shadow in Christendom is to cast a shadow on Christ.

This is like viewing the photo of a person while the person himself is physically present. The one who is satisfied with the photo and ignores the person rejects the person himself. Whoever changes his attention between the photo and the person himself offends the person because he says thereby that the person himself is not sufficient. The desire to mix the shadows with the substance means that Christ is not enough.

Regularly there is a discussion about keeping the sabbath. There are voices which want to make the sabbath, in some form or other, an integral part of the Christian life. A discussion on this subject in the light of what is presented here is completely useless and even dangerous. Of all the twenty-one letters in the New Testament this is the only occasion where the sabbath is mentioned. To keep it? No, on the contrary to abandon it. Is that not instructive?

Col 2:18. In Col 2:16-17 Paul points to the threatening danger from the Jewish side, the observance of the laws and covenants. In Col 2:18 he points out the danger of falsely so called knowledge in the form of mysticism. Maybe you know of people who claim to have had visions. They drive hard to impress that they have seen things others have not seen. Thus they present themselves as more spiritual than others and view themselves as a kind of mediator. You must go to them to learn specific things about God. They are very humble in their behavior as though they do not seek their own glory. But they worship the angels because these creatures are in the immediate presence of God; through them they can learn more about God.

If you open yourself up to such people and their ideas you run the risk to be robbed of your prize. And that means that after your Christian race you will be robbed of your crown. The only angels who want the worship of humans are evil angels, demons. Holy angels decline this worship (Rev 19:10 ; Rev 22:9). Another pernicious form of worship is that of Mary as the mediator, as though she is necessary to draw near to God or to the Lord Jesus. This is not the humility with which one seeks the honor of God. It is a false humility and the worship of a creature.

Paul exposes these people by saying that their ideas come out of their own depraved thinking, the thinking of the sinful flesh. There is absolutely no basis for this.

Col 2:19. Whoever accepts such ideas no longer holds on firmly to Christ the Head. You are – this is true of every member of the church – personally connected to the Head, without any intermediate person of whatever kind. Your growth results from this direct connection with the Head, Christ Jesus, without any intermediary. God has ordained it thus. Growing this way is growing with a growth which is from God.

Do not let anything or anyone come in between you and Christ. Each member of the body is in direct contact with the Head to fulfill its own function. Through the Head you are connected with all the other members of the body and you grow up together. Do you realize that if you give in to false teachings and traditions of men, not only your own growth is disturbed but that of other members too?

Col 2:20. You are again directed to the death of Christ in order to escape from the dangers of the Jewish and philosophical systems. What to die with Christ means is that you are dead to the systems of this world and to its elements. Then how can you subject yourself to certain specific statutes. If you have died then you cannot continue to live as though you still belonged to that system.

All laws and regulations and other things are no longer applicable to you because you are dead. Is there anything that could still exercise power over the dead? Can a dead man respond? Can we expect any action from him? Christendom is not keeping all kinds of commandments or prohibitions. You are liberated from all those because you died with Christ. A renewed attention to these things means that you go back to the world toward which you died.

Col 2:21-22. In summary, the decrees “do not handle”, “do not taste”, “do not touch” are earthly and material things. Like all legalism, they involve prohibitions (Mk 7:1-23). They are not applicable to you. It would also be foolish to get involved in them. They are also things that have absolutely no lasting value; they all perish after they are used. This is because they are according to the commandments and teachings of men. What is devised by man will not last long; only what is conceived by God will last forever (1Pet 1:24-25).

Col 2:23. Sometimes what is invented by man appears to have great value; nevertheless it is only apparent, and the reality is hollow. Their talk sounds wise, but the content is foolish. Self-will is dominating. The ‘I’ stands in the center. There is no bowing down before God and His Word. They bow down indeed and appear to be very humble, but that is not their attitude toward God. It is their attitude toward creatures which they look up to, perhaps to exceptionally gifted men or even angels.

In the spiritual realm they worship those who are superior to them, but in the realm of matter created by God there is no respect. Thus the body was regarded by the Greeks as a prison in which the spirit was imprisoned – as if were mere dust, meaningless. To allow the spirit to develop, the body was tormented with self-flagellation and fasting. The needs of the body were not to be satisfied. The pride of man wants to dominate everything, even the God created bodily needs. This effort is nothing more than the satisfaction of sinful flesh.

If you are conscious that you died with Christ the enemy will try in vain to gain entry into you with his errors.

Now read Colossians 2:16-23 again.

Reflection: Have you discovered ‘commandments and teachings of men’ in your faith life as a result of this section? What should you do with them?