Colossians 2:16-23
When I was in high school and even into college, I can remember one of the biggest conversations revolved around the idea of legalism. It could get pretty tricky, and created a lot of anxiety because if you weren’t careful, you’d find yourself looking over your shoulder instead of resting in the freedom that Christ had given you. This is in the context of youth group and my Christian friend group, but when you are told enough times to read your Bible everyday, it starts to seem like it’s a requirement as a Christian, instead of something that we should WANT to do because we love Jesus and want to get to know Him more. When you are told enough times what kind of music you SHOULDN’T listen to, you can start to believe that you are a bad Christian if you do. I remember in high school I would buy hip-hop CD’s from Wal-Mart because they edited all the profanity out. But then I would start to believe I was a bad person, so I’d throw it out the window of a car in an act of trying to please Jesus. Then a week later I’d be back buying the same CD. I believed that the music I listened to determined my level of spirituality. I had Jesus, but I still believed I had to earn his favor by the decisions that I made.
What we find this morning is a similar struggle that Paul is addressing in which the Colossian believers are being told that there are certain things they must do in tandem with following Jesus. It’s Jesus AND. They were being told that Jesus wasn’t enough, that Jesus was supplemental to the Jewish laws and traditions that must continue to be followed. “If you want to remain in good standing with God,” they were told, “then you must do these things as well.”
Before we read the text in its entirety, I want to begin with the first word. (Colossians 2:16.
Paul begins with “therefore,” which means we must look back at what this section is in response to. If you remember last week, Paul did a masterful job of explaining the implications of the work of Jesus on the cross. Because of His death and resurrection, we are filled in Him, our hearts have been circumcised by Him, we join with Him in His death, burial and resurrection, we are made alive in Him, our debt of sin has been canceled and we are completely forgiven. Not only that, but Jesus disarmed Satan who now holds no power over us, he has nothing to bring before the Father to prove our guilt. THEREFORE.
Therefore, because of the freedom that you now have:
Colossians 2:16-23
Big Idea: There is nothing we can do, apart from Christ, to earn favor from God.
See here’s what was happening. The Jews who were creating the problems for this young church were not only denying the deity of Jesus, but they were also telling the believers that they had to continue to uphold the Old Testament Laws and traditions in order to be counted righteous before God. They were unwilling to let go.
Legalism
Legalism is the idea that one must keep the law in order to be accepted by God. So even if we are saved by grace, we still have to continue working to remain in God’s favor. Let’s take a look at what the Jewish people were trying to add to a relationship with Jesus.
Food and drink: There were many kosher laws in the Old Testament, essentially what the people of Israel could and could not eat. Paul includes drink because in his time, the laws had to come to include the drinking of wine.
Festivals: In Leviticus 23 we find 7 different feasts and festivals that Israel was to observe. The term festival also means “appointed times.” So the idea was that at a specific time laid out by the Lord, Israel was to honor Him in very specific ways. The 7 festivals are the Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Firstfruits, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
New Moon: The significance of the new moon in Bible times is that it marked the beginning of a new month (the Hebrew Calendar is lunar-based), and it was a time when the Israelites were to bring an offering to God.
Sabbath: Weekly observance of spiritual and physical rest. It came to include 39 sections of prohibition, things you could not do on that day of rest. These 39 rules can be placed into 4 categories: (1-11) the preparation of bread; (12-24) manners of dress; (25-33) writing; and (34-39) work necessary for a private house.
Examples:
A radish may be dipped in salt, but not left in it too long, for that might pickle it.
A person could not wear false teeth on the Sabbath lest they fall out and that person be tempted to pick them up and carry them, which would be a burden.
The prohibition about tying a knot was much too general and so it became necessary to state what kinds of knots were prohibited and what kind were not. It was accordingly laid down that allowable knots were those that could be untied with one hand. A woman could tie up her undergarment, and the strings of her cap, those of her girdle, the straps of her shoes and sandals, of skins of wine and oil of a pot with meat. She could tie a pail over the well with a girdle, but not with a rope
Matthew 5:17, Jesus says, “I did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets, I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” In other words, I have come to bring them to completion. They have reached their fullness, and are no longer necessary. Does this mean it’s wrong to be careful what we eat and drink, that it’s wrong to carve out specific time to remember what the Lord did, to take a real and true Sabbath to rest? Of course not! But, when those become a requirement for righteousness, then we have a big problem.
Paul expounds further - Colossians 2:17.
All of these things, the rituals and celebrations, are all a shadow of Jesus. Think about a shadow outside on a sunny day. If you are standing right on it, you don’t get the full picture, but you know there is some object casting that shadow. Then you take some steps back, and the shadow begins to take shape, and you realize there is some kind of tree. But you only get a small picture of what that object might be. So you begin to walk towards it, and the shadow grows shorter and shorter, until you are standing at the trunk of that tree, close enough now to touch it. You get the full picture now of what was casting the shadow. And you don’t need the shadow anymore to tell you about the tree, you have the physical tree!
And this is what Paul is saying here. The laws were pointing to something in the future. A sacrificial system that looked forward to the ultimate and perfect sacrifice. Festivals that were designed to remember the Passover, in which the lamb’s blood caused death to pass by the families of Israel. But once Jesus came, the shadow’s that were cast are no longer needed! He is fulfillment in totality. Nothing else is needed to see Jesus clearly, to maintain relationship with God.
Paul lays out a few other add-ons in verse 18. This time however, there is an outward, visible, physical manifestation.
Asceticism: Practice of self-denial. “In theory, asceticism is supposed to remove worldly obstacles between the believer and God. Doing away with greed, ambition, pride, sex, and pleasurable food are intended to help subdue the animal nature and develop the spiritual nature.”
“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others.” (Matthew 6:16)
Worship of Angels: A common practice back then. Even John struggled when coming face to face with an angel during his revelation experience: Revelation 19:10 says, “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.”
Visions: One of our students had a really cool opportunity years ago to go on a 3 month mission with a well known missions organization. Her training took place at a church in Northern California, and she called me one day very distraught. She was in a classroom setting, and the teacher told everyone to close their eyes and ask the Holy Spirit for a vision. After a few minutes, they went around the room and shared the vision that they had. Problem was, she didn’t have one, and she thought that she didn’t have enough faith. We had a great conversation, with one talking point being that we don’t get to make demands of God, and it had nothing to do with her lack of faith.
But there was something in Paul’s day that afforded someone a certain religious status if you had visions from God. This is why Paul says they were puffed up, over-confident, arrogant. But where had they gone wrong?
Vs. 19
They had disconnected from the source of life. Jesus is the source of life. Jesus is enough. Without Jesus the body does not function properly. Without Jesus, WE do not function properly. The danger that these believers were facing was a pressure to hold tightly to Jesus with one hand, while reaching for other spiritual practices with the other. The circuit is broken, and now the life that was once flowing dies out. Jesus is enough!
“Why,” Paul asks, “do you continue to submit to these rules and regulations if in Jesus you have died to the necessity of those things?” The purpose is to show others how spiritual you are! But extreme self-discipline, physical torture of the body, these things don’t stop the passions of the flesh. The only thing that can do that is the circumcision of the heart that we talked about in the previous section, a cutting away of that flesh, and that is accomplished by Jesus. There is nothing that we can do in our own power that will save us. There is only one way, and that is Jesus.
Application:
So what about us? If you want to be spiritual, “don’t smoke, don’t chew and don’t go with folks that do.” I jest.
We have to be really careful here, because spiritual disciplines and practices that we engage in, like reading the Bible, fasting, praying, abstaining from certain things, watching what we eat and drink, what we put in our bodies, entertainment choices, those are all really, really important.
We have to start with an understanding of salvation by grace alone through faith alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
There is absolutely nothing we can do to gain salvation, it’s only because of the work of Jesus on the cross. And once there, once we receive salvation, we are secure. God looks at us and sees Jesus. God looks at us and sees the blood of Jesus covering our sins. When we mess up, and don’t live up to the standard of Jesus, God still sees Jesus in us. When we do really well, God looks at us and sees Jesus in us. So let’s just set the stage with that.
Now, the big difference between legalism and sanctification is the motivation that drives those things. So the question is this:
Do we practice spiritual disciplines because we believe that it brings us into right standing with God? Or, do we discipline ourselves because we love Jesus and want our lives to be a living sacrifice for His glory and His kingdom purposes? Do we love Jesus enough to live in His freedom?
Do I read my Bible because it’s something that I feel like I have to do, or do I read it because I want to, because I want to learn more about God.
Do I pray out of obligation? Or do I pray because I am completely dependent on God?
Do I go to church because it makes me a good Christian? Or do I go to church because I want to be in community, to grow in faith, to worship God with other believers?
Nothing we do will ever change God’s perspective of us. We can’t earn it His favor any more than He already favors us. We can’t lose His favor either. We are free in Christ, free to live in the way that He has called us to live. Not out of obligation, but out of love and a desire to please Him.
We have to be careful here though, because if we aren’t careful we can swing to the other side as well. We can look at our freedom as something that allows us to live however we want, because in the end, nothing I do can change my standing with God. Paul is very clear on this as well.
1 Peter 2:16 - “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.” Don’t just “eat, drink, and be merry” and then say well, “freedom in Christ” so I’m just going to live my life. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m still saved! Nothing can separate me!”
So let’s wrap it up with this. Let’s end with the same equation I talked about last week, Jesus + Nothing = Everything. There is nothing we need to add. Jesus is completely and wholly sufficient.
