All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible 1995 Ed. (NASB95) published by The Lockman Foundation

Although the predominant disbalance in western Christianity is a careless tolerance for sinful and foolish behaviors, often called licentiousness or antinomianism, yet there’s still a disturbing prevalence of making divine laws where there are no laws. This is what’s called “legalism,” and it’s a horrible blight on the body of Christ, especially among Reformed and fundamentalist believers (although legalism reaches to every branch of Christianity). This is one of the chief tendencies of sinful thinking, as we seek to add to God’s requirements of us, in an effort to make ourselves more acceptable to Him, and/or better than others. And the congregations that Paul taught were not excluded from this tendency.

In fact, from the beginning of the salvation of the Gentiles, false teachers assaulted them with Jewish legalism, telling them that they needed to follow Old Testament laws and rituals in order to become accepted by God. Paul refutes these teachings in a few of his letters, including in his letter to the Colossians. However, the false teachings the Colossians were confronted with weren’t only legalistic, but also ascetic and mystic. Some men claimed to have had visions telling them that Christians needed to observe the Old Testament food laws, festivals, and holy days, and they were persuading some of the Colossians to do so. Further, they also told the Colossians that they needed to deprive themselves of certain earthly comforts and pleasures, so that they could lessen the strength of their sinful desires. Paul assures them that such legalistic measures are worthless for making someone less sinful, but are rather contradictory to their heavenly character and nature based on the gospel.

So, after having warned the Colossians to guard against human philosophies based on the basic false presuppositions of the world, and urging them to live their daily lives through faith in Jesus, and in their identity with Him in death and resurrection, he goes on to warn them against specific false teachers. He points out that these teachers are delusional, and trying to get the Colossians to follow rules that were mere foreshadowings of the heavenly realities that have been granted them in the Messiah, and can do nothing to help them become holier.

Paul tells them three main things in the last section of chapter 2 (vss. 16-23), and then begins a new line of thought, which we’ll consider briefly for context:

  1. Let no one judge you about shadows. (vss. 16-17)
  2. The defrauders stand on thin air. (vss. 18-19)
  3. The decrees of spiritualism are terrible. (vss. 20-23)
  4. Your destiny is seated at God’s right hand. (3:1).

So, first we’ll see that the legalistic rules are partial realities pointing to Christ. Then, Paul will describe the baseless motivations of the false teachers. Third, he’ll point out the uselessness of their ascetic laws. And finally, he’ll point the Colossians to the only place of true spiritual freedom and power.

Before delving into Paul’s admonishment to avoid letting people judge the Colossians about Old Testament laws, let’s look at Paul’s own words in this section:

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day – things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and hled together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do  not touch!’ (which all refer to things detined to perish with use) – in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and sever treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

Let No One Judge You About Shadows

Again, Paul’s first call to the Colossians is to work to prevent anyone from bossing them around about observing ritualistic laws that have their basis in Old Testament legislation for Jews. The reason is that these were symbols, figures, and representations pointing forward to future realities that would be manifested through the life, teachings, and accomplishments of Jesus the Messiah. Paul makes three points in his admonition. He first describes the illegitimate encroachment on the Colossians’ liberty of conscience as judging. Then, he details the two categories of practices that these legalistic attackers were enforcing on them. And finally, he provides the true nature of them in relationship to the Messiah, or Christ, who is Jesus.

But he precedes this first warning with the word “therefore,” showing that he’s basing it on the main point he’s just made in the letter. And what is this point? That the Colossians are “comple”e” or whole through being one with Jesus. Thus, he’s said already that they’ve been spiritually “circumcised” by having “the body of the flesh” removed from them (v. 11). And though they were once spiritually dead, now they’ve been made “alive together with Him” (v. 13). Further, they no longer have a “certificate of debt” standing against them, since God has cancelled it, freeing them from any guilt or condemnation from Him (v. 14). In sum, they aren’t bound to God through any legal requirements, but through faith in His Son, and by being united to Him in spirit. Their relationship to God isn’t one of law, but of grace and love.

Hence, Paul’s argument that they have an obligation to stand up against anyone who would impose Old Testament laws upon them, and hold them to that standard as if they were judges. But what were the laws these false teachers were advocating to the Colossians? There are two categories Paul lists. The first have to do with “food and drink” and the second with “festivals”, “new moons”, and “a Sabbath day” (v. 16). So, these meddlers were seeking to impose Old Testament dietary restrictions (the clean/unclean food distinctions) and holidays (the feasts, new moon festivals, and Sabbath) on the Colossians. In essence, they were trying to turn them into Jews.

Paul’s answer to such arrogance and foolishness is clear – these Old Testament regulations were “a shadow of what is to come” (v. 17). That is, they were unclear pictures, or types, of the spiritual realities that “Christ” has brought into being. That’s why he says “the substance” is from Christ (v. 17). All that the Old Testament laws and regulations pictured were the character and works of the Messiah, or the anointed One. And now the Colossians are enjoying these realities through the Spirit. There’s no need to go back to the Old Testament shadows in their practice.

Next, Paul will show them the demented motivations of these false teachers, and their alienation from Jesus.

The Defrauders Stand on Thin Air

Paul’s second point is to remind or inform the Colossians that the advocates for Jewish legalism are idolaters, mystics, and unbelievers. Further, the consequence of them conceding to their imposition of Old Testament law-keeping is to forfeit their “prize” (v. 18). What is the prize that these false teachers are robbing from them? From the immediate context, at least part of this prize is what Paul has recently described as “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge,” which are hidden in Christ (v. 3). In other words, it’s the knowledge, enjoyment of, and conformity to, the Lord Jesus, which these legalists are depriving the Colossians of through their empty deception based on human tradition.

But if it’s so clear that the Old Testament rituals are shadows of the realities of Jesus, then how are these people persuading themselves and the Colossians to submit to them? First, these legalists are motivated by self-absorption and idolatry. Paul says that they’re actually defrauding the Colossians (“let no one keep”) by “delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels” (v. 18). So, they actually take joy in abasing themselves through these legalistic rituals. But what’s even worse is that they’ve also added to this legalism a mystical idolatry of worshiping angels. This wasn’t actually uncommon to Jews in the 1st century, since some of them had taken the Old Testament emphasis on God’s use of angels too far, and used them as objects of worship, rather than messengers and servants of God and of people. Only a casual knowledge of Old Testament history shows that angels have a prominent place in God’s dealings with people there, but some Jews took it a step further and replaced God with these messengers.

And why do these attackers advocate their self-abasement and angelolatry? Because he’s taken this stand “on visions he has seen” (v. 18). In other words, they base their perceived authority for enforcing Old Testament legislation on their self-purported visions about their teachings. However, Paul makes clear that these visions are either demonic or imaginations, since they’re actually inflated, or puffed up, by their “fleshly mind”. Rather than having minds animated by the Holy Spirit, they’re only controlled by the sinful desires of their flesh.

Due to this, Paul points out the main problem with these false teachers. They refuse to rely on the Head of all rule, authority, and wisdom. He then implies that they’re not a part of the body of Christ because of this disconnection. On the other hand, Paul assures the Colossians with the same words that they’re parts of the spiritual body of Christ, which grows from the Head because it’s “supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments” (v. 19). And what are these joints and ligaments? They are the virtues that hold Christians together – their love for, devotion to, and encouragement of each other. Not to observe obsolete commandments, but to know, learn, study, and obey Jesus more. But Paul still needs to rebuke the Colossians for their acquiescence to legalism still further, and show them the utter inconsistency and foolishness of their behavior.

The Decrees of Spiritualism are Terrible

The best way I can think of to describe the way the Colossians were beginning to live as they followed the legalists is by calling it “spiritualism”. Two other common terms used for the practices they were engaged in are “dualism” (viewing the physical life as separate from the spiritual) and “asceticism” (denying yourself physical pleasures to become more pleasing to God). At the insistence of the false teachers’ law preaching, they were abstaining from everyday activities in an effort to follow the Old Testament Law. Because they were former Gentile pagans, it’s likely that this mostly took the form of ceasing from common ways of living they had been used to for all their lives. For example, they probably were avoiding shopping at meat markets where idol-dedicated meat was sold, as well as abstaining from eating any such meat. Obviously, since they were being taught to observe the Old Testament food laws, they probably were maintaining kosher diets. Perhaps there were other things related to their past paganism that they were no longer engaging in because of any connection to pagan idolatry. Regardless, Paul asks them why they’re submitting themselves to decrees like “do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” (vss. 20-21). It’s evident that they were giving in to the legalists.

Paul gives them four main arguments for why their spiritualism is absurd. The first is a repeat of what he’s already told them in chapter 2. They’ve “died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world” (v. 20). What are these basic principles? The same ones that undergird the philosophy and deception he warned them to guard against being ensnared by earlier (v. 8). More concretely in this context, the principles he’s concerned with are the world’s presuppositions about winning God’s favor through one’s diligent effort. All man-made religions teach this idea in some way or another. And the Colossians were following such thinking as if they “were living in the world”. But since their old, sinful, worldly, selves had died with Jesus’s death when they were made alive together with Him through faith, they ultimately no longer live in the world. Why? Because their true, full, and eternal lives are in heaven, where Jesus is. Hence, they ought not to live as if they are bound to the basic presuppositions and ideologies as the unbelieving world.

Paul’s second argument against their legalistic behavior is that the rules they’re following deal with physical things that are going to be destroyed anyway (v. 22). Paul’s thinking is echoing that of Jesus when He taught against keeping to a diet of clean foods. In Mark 7, John Mark writes that He “declared all foods clean” (Mk. 7:19). And what was His reasoning for this? The fact that food you eat can’t spiritually corrupt you, since they don’t connect to your soul and heart, but are eventually destroyed. Put another way, what you eat doesn’t stay with you for eternity. Thus, it can’t make you any less pleasing to God, or change your inner character.

Third, Paul repeats what he’s been saying throughout this chapter of his letter. Rather than being based on divine revelation, the rules the Colossians are foolishly and naively following are according to “the commandments and teachings of men” (v. 22). Based on this statement, we can learn that the false teachers weren’t only advocating for the observance of Scriptural laws, but also for their own made-up ones. But Paul is also teaching a vital principle here about the Christian’s relationship to the Old Testament Law for Israel. It’s that the belief that Christians are universally obligated to follow these commandments (like “food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day”) is a man-made one that Jesus didn’t teach His apostles. Put simply, believers aren’t under the Law of Moses, but under the law of Christ (1 Cor. 9; Gal. 6).

Paul’s final argument against observing ascetic practices is that they don’t accomplish the goal for which people use them. The goal is to lessen one’s sinful desires and actions. But Paul simply says that they are “of no value against fleshly indulgence” (v. 23). Now, he concedes that setting up these rules, and setting out to obey them, has the “appearance of wisdom,” but it’s part of a self-made religion, which is self-abasing, and severely treats the body. Any religion that starts with self is contrary to the teachings and commands of Jesus, and will do nothing to empower abstinence from sin. The solution to the believer’s sins is to focus heavenward, instead of self-ward and earthward, as Paul will now begin to explain.

Your Destiny is Seated at God’s Right Hand

Paul has just said that the Colossians, and all believers, don’t live in the world, so they have no harmonious relationship with worldly principles and decrees. So where do you believers live, and how are we to live? The beginning of Paul’s answer is that Christians live in heaven, and therefore should pursue heavenly realities and experiences. Why? Because according to the first verse of chapter 3, we have been “raised up with Christ”. This logically follows from the fact that we’ve died with Christ, spiritually speaking. In other words, we’re no longer vitally connected to this present, earthly world, but are connected to, and currently experiencing, the world of heaven, where we live with Jesus through the power of His resurrection.

Based on this truth, Paul’s counter to the instruction of legalism, dualism, and asceticism, is to “keep seeking the things above” (3:1). What are these things? All the conditions and ways of life that will be perfectly experienced when Jesus establishes the new earth, “in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pe. 3:13). And we seek these things, because they are manifested where Jesus is, who is “seated at the right hand of God”. As such, He has all authority in heaven and on earth, and is directing all things to the perfect end determined by God the Father.

What follows this first verse is a summary of the basic rule of life for all Christians, which we’ll dissect and apply in the next section.

Guard Against Legalism, Visionaries, and Asceticism

To sum up, there are three main ways to apply this passage to our walks with the Lord. The first is to be extremely wary of any teaching or belief obligating people to obey any of the Old Testament laws reserved for the nation of Israel. We need to consider these commandments, and the practices they enjoined, as pictures and symbols of the spiritual experiences we now, or will, enjoy through Jesus.

Second, it’s important to be very cautious about anyone who claims to have seen visions from God. If the tenor of their teaching is inconsistent with the teaching of the New Testament, then any claim to be seeing visions should be called into question, if not completely discounted. God would not give visions to someone if He didn’t also enable that person to use said visions to grow in his understanding of God’s written word, and be able to better teach the gospel of Jesus.

Finally, we should be careful about following demanding and physically hurtful rules if they aren’t completely necessary to faithfully serving the Lord. Further, if we think that denying our bodies comforts and pleasures will automatically lessen our sinful desires, we’re mistaken. Nevertheless, there is a place for taking measures to avoid situations in which our sinful desires are incited, and we’re tempted to sin. Disciplining your body, abstaining from sinful desires, and avoiding giving opportunity to the satisfaction of them are all essential for growing in Christlikeness through the Spirit’s power in our minds and hearts.

In sum, the remedy to all these dangers is to zealously, reverently, and diligently strive to obtain the realities that await us in heaven, where our Lord and Savior is seated until He comes again to conform us perfectly into His image.