Colossians 2 Expounded.
The following is an excerpt from an article entitled, Should Christians Keep the Sabbath Day?. It is authored by and copyrighted to Anthony Coore.
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days".
As in the case of Rom 14, reading this text with the preconceived idea that Sabbath-keeping is not important, gives one the impression that this text supports such a notion. However, when examined closely, this text does no such thing.
Re-read the verse. Is Paul saying to let no one judge you in whether you keep those days? Notice it does not say that. There is at least one other way of understanding what he said.
Let us assume just for a moment, that the matter of whether the days in question should be kept, was a non-issue. Let us assume that Christians (both Jews and Gentiles), during this time, kept these days.
With this in mind, it is not hard to imagine that Paul is referring to how we celebrate these days, and not whether we do. If it is possible that Paul is referring to how, and not whether, these days are celebrated, then this text would not justify the non-Sabbatarian's case. Let us therefore examine the context of Paul's statement in verse 16, to understand what Paul is saying, and what he is not saying.
(A detailed analysis of the text will not be undertaken here, as it is possible to show that this text does not support the non-Sabbatarian's case, without having to go into too much detail.)
The word "therefore" in verse 16, indicates that a conclusion is being made based on what has just been said. Let us understand the argument that Paul is making.
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (vs 13-15).
It is because of all of this that Paul says to let no one judge us in the things mentioned in verse 16.
The non-Sabbatarians who use this text to justify Sabbath-breaking, argue that Paul is saying that the law was nailed to the cross, and consequently, laws concerning Sabbaths and holy days, are no longer relevant.
One problem with this is that Paul says nothing here about the law being nailed to the cross. He says it is the "handwriting of ordinances" that was nailed to the cross. Furthermore, the nature of the ordinances specific to the situation, in which the Colossians were being judged in, is identified in verse 21.
"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; which are all to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?" (vs 20-22).
Notice that the ordinances the Colossians were being judged in were not about whether they should be keeping the Sabbath or not! These imposed ordinances were actually commandments of men. The commandments to keep the Sabbaths and holy days, are not commandments of men.
So if the judging taking place was not a matter of whether the Sabbath is to be kept, then what is the meaning of verse 16?
To understand what Paul is saying, we need to back up to at least verse 13.
"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses".
Notice that Paul is making the point that we were dead, but are now made alive, since our sins have been forgiven. As our sins have been forgiven, "the handwriting of ordinances" has been blotted out completely. Our death sentence has been removed.
"And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it".
These "principalities and powers" which held us condemned, have been disarmed, as our sins have now been forgiven.
The purpose for Paul saying all this, is to show that those in Christ are complete (see also vs 10) and have been cleansed from all sin, so therefore do not need to undergo any ritual of forgiveness or cleansing to bring us closer to God. Ordinances, whether man made or God ordained, that served the purpose of cleansing, forgiving or making one more acceptable to God, are now made obsolete by the death of Christ into which we are baptized. (Obviously baptism is not included in the obsolete ordinances). Faith in the sacrifice of Christ cleanses one from sin and makes one acceptable to God. Therefore we do not need to be subject to such ordinances.
"Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days" (vs 16).
Paul is not saying that the Sabbath and festivals are ordinances that no longer matter. We have already seen that it is the ordinances that are supposed to cleanse or forgive one, that are now unnecessary to keep. The Sabbath and festivals however were never ordinances of cleansing or forgiveness. We have also seen that the ordinances specific to the situation had to do with not touching, not tasting and not handling (vs 21).
Notice that such regulations are
ascetic practices. It is absurd to think that anyone would encourage ascetism
by imposing festival observances. The Sabbaths, holy days (excepting the Day of
Atonement) and new moons were times of feasting (Neh
What Paul is saying in verse 16, is that the Colossians should not let anyone impose on them certain ordinances relating to eating or drinking or Sabbath and festival observances. Apparently the ordinances being imposed were for the purpose of assisting in the cleansing of sin. Since one is completely clean or forgiven in Christ, then the imposed ordinances cannot effect a better state of being clean or forgiven.
Essentially, the concern in the Colossian church was not about whether the Sabbath and other feast days should be kept, but how they should be kept. Paul in effect tells the Colossians that they do not need to restrict their Sabbath and festival celebrations by being subject to ordinances such as "touch not, taste not, handle not". (Incidentally, this shows that the Colossians were keeping the Sabbaths and holy days). None of these ordinances have any real value in cleansing sin, as the fullness is in Christ (vs 9,17).
"Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ" (vs 17).
The point here is that since the things referred to previously in verse 16 are a shadow (of what is to come) and Christ is the real substance, then the imposed ordinances cannot have any value in making one more godly, as they do not affect the real substance.
Verse 23 reaffirms this.
"These [touch not, taste not, handle not] have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh" (RSV).
We have examined
Once again recall the reason given in Ex 20 for why the Sabbath was said to be holy then. If Paul was really saying we do not need to keep the Sabbath, then what in his reasoning nullifies the reason given in Ex 20 for the sanctity of the Sabbath?
The excerpt (as well as any others from the article) above may not be distributed without permission from the author, Anthony Coore, who can be contacted at [email protected]. Mr. Coore permits and encourages distribution his article in its entirety, which can be accessed at the following url: http://www.geocities.com/atimco/sabbath.html. This study was taken from: http://www.geocities.com/atimco.
· Colossians 2: Paul’s True Message
· Feasts of God: The Hidden Design
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