The Gospel’s Freedom • Colossians 2:16-23
By Don Hicks
Today’s focal passage begins with the word, “Therefore.” Here, “Therefore” refers to God’s total defeat of the rulers and authorities who opposed Him. The Apostle Paul says it this way: “by nailing to the cross. He (Jesus Christ) disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him” (Colossians 2:15 CSB). This defeat of the rulers and authorities who opposed Him gave us freedom in the Gospel.
This releases us from being judged by others for trivial rituals and meaningless religious customs. Paul chooses to state this very strongly when he says, “Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day” (Colossians 2:16 CSB).
The nagging, disagreeable, trivial issues of food and drink or a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath are not completely in the past, so we have to face head-on the questions of our day. Some issues we may need to face might include the style of music to use in worship; hymns, other songs, and sermons projected on a wall; ties and coats for men; appropriate clothing for worship in general; etc.
Paul says, “These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ” (Colossians 2:17 CSB). We certainly do not want to miss Paul’s strong, clear answer to handling the shadow questions. The real thing that we must remember is the only substantial and trust worthy answer is Christ Jesus.
Paul’s emphasis on “the substance is Christ” is the same doctrinal teaching that was stressed when Jesus told Thomas: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6a KJV). Jesus explained the importance of the fact is this: “no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Paul tells us the effect of these truths should be: “Let no one condemn you by delighting in the ascetic practices and the worship of angels, claiming access to a visionary realm” (Colossians 2:18 CSB).
Jesus Himself dealt directly with religious leaders who thought they could limit the freedom of those who live by the Gospel. The seventh chapter of the Book of Mark tells us of this encounter.
The chapter begins with the Pharisees and some of the scribes verbally attacking Jesus’ disciples for eating bread without ceremonially washing their hands according to the prescribed way. “He [Jesus] answered them, ‘Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands. Abandoning the commands of God, you hold on to human tradition’” (Mark 7:6-8 CSB).
Jesus told them specifically about one of the ways they had abandoned the commands of God and held to human tradition: “You say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban [devoted to God as a gift]’” (Mark 7:11 CSB).
Once a person announced the money for which their parents might have need was instead being devoted to God, they prevented the use of it for the care for their parents. Yet Jesus reminded them that Moses said, “Honor your father and your mother.” Jesus said, “You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you handed down” (Mark 7:13 CSB).
Paul wrote about Gospel freedom this way: “If you died with Christ to the elements of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: ‘Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch?’ All these regulations refer to what is destined to perish by being used up; they are human commands and doctrine” (Colossians 2:20-22 CSB).
In the final letter Paul wrote to Timothy during his second Roman imprisonment very shortly before his execution, he told Timothy how to present the Gospel:
— Preach the Word in season and out of season (2 Timothy 4:2).
— Correct, rebuke, and encourage with patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2).
— A time will come when people will not tolerate sound Biblical teachings (2 Timothy 4:3).
— During this time, people will seek out teachers according to their own desires (2 Timothy 4:3).
— These teachers will tickle their ears with what the hearers want to hear and not the Truth (2 Timothy 4:3).
— But you who follow Christ should “exercise self-control in everything, endure hardships, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:5 CSB).
Hicks is missions director for Jasper Association in Bay Springs. He may be contacted at donaldwhicks@gmail.com.
