New Testament Sabbath Proof 3. COLLOSIANS 2:16
COLLOSIANS 2:16 CONTEXT PLEASE
Paul was confronting a heresy. False teachers had entered the congregation in
Colossae. These deceivers had influenced the Colossian Christians by
introducing their own religious philosophy. This prompted Paul to warn the Colossians,
“Beware lest anyone cheat you through
philosophy and empty deceit according to the tradition of men” (Colossians 2:8).
Humanly devised tradition—not the revealed instruction of God are Word in the
Bible—was the problem Paul was countering.
Paul tried to keep the
Colossians focused on Christ as the head of the Church (Colossians 1:18; Colossians
2:10-19). But these false teachers were trying to persuade
them to direct their worship toward angels (Colossians 2:18)
and neglect their own bodies (Colossians 2:23). No such distorted ideas are taught anywhere
in the Scriptures.
What type of deceitful regulations did Paul combat? “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle …
according to the commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:21-22). The heretic’s advocated man-made regulations
concerning physical things that “perish with the using” (verse 22)
The deceivers were probably
forerunners of a major religious movement, Gnosticism that flourished in the
second century. They did not represent the mainstream Jewish thinking of that
day, nor were they faithful to the Scriptures.
They believed salvation could be obtained
through constant contemplation of what is “spiritual”—to, as Paul explained,
the “neglect” of the physical body (Colossians
2:23). It appears they believed in various orders of angels and in direct
human interaction with angels.
Paul indicates they regarded all physical
things, including the human body, as decadent. He explicitly states that the
heresies he was countering “concern things which perish with the using
[physical things] according to the commandments and doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:22). Paul tells us he was
countering human commandments and doctrines—not the commandments of God.
The Colossian heretics had introduced various man-made
prohibitions—such as “Do not touch, do
not taste, do not handle” (Colossians 2:21)—against the enjoyment of
physical things. They especially objected to the pleasurable aspects of God’s
festivals—the eating and drinking aspects—that are commanded in the Scriptures (Deuteronomy 12:17-18).
When Paul wrote, “… Let no one judge you in
food …” (Colossians 2:16), he wasn’t
discussing what types of foods they should or should not eat. The
Greek word brosis, translated “food,” refers not to the kinds of foods
one should or should not eat, but to “the act of eating” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary
of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, “Food”). The point is that the deceivers disdained feasting—any type of
eating and drinking for enjoyment.
Paul instructed the Colossian Christians not to be influenced by
these false teachers’ objections to eating, drinking and rejoicing on Sabbaths,
feast days and new moons.
The Colossian deceivers had no
authority to judge or determine how the Colossians were to observe God’s
festivals. That is why Paul said, “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 …” (Colossians 2:16-17, King
James Version).
Notice that Paul tells them to reject false human
judgment, not the judgment of God found in the Scriptures.
God’s festivals are times for
joy and celebration. He commands us to attend them and rejoice with our
children—our entire family (Deuteronomy 12:5-7; Deuteronomy 14:26). He wants us to
delight in them. No wonder Paul condemns the misguided ascetic philosophy of
the Colossian heretics with such vigor. Paul was defending the Christians’
right to enjoy feasting at God’s holy festivals.