Spiritual Intimidation: Legalism, Col 2:16-17

(16) 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 — (17) things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (18) 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, (19) and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. (20) 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, (21) “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” (22) (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) — in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? (23) These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. (2:16-23)

Because of the abilities of today's mass media to broadcast world events in real time there has also been an unprecedented amount of false teachings invading the airwaves. From false religions like Mormonism and Jehovah's Witnesses to Islam and Atheism, it seems there is no end. There has also been the influence of false teachings within what some would call Christian circles. So-called 'christian' teachings like 'name it and claim it' and 'laughing revivals' have polluted the true doctrines of Christ leading many believers to seek a shallow gospel of greed. There are also beliefs like “Christian Nationalism” and “Ethnonationalism” which seem to appeal to our baser human nature bordering on racism. Still others like “KJV Onlyism” appear to be divorced from facts, reason and logic. Secular beliefs and teachings like psychology, philosophy and naturalism have been imported into Christian theology to moderate the perceived harshness and backwardness of many biblical doctrines only to lead Christians once more down a path of selfishness and narcissistic egotism. In the words of John MacArthur,

On every side, the sufficiency of Jesus Christ is either openly or implicitly denied. False philosophy has infiltrated the church in the guise of psychology, which is all too often viewed as a necessary supplement to God's word. Many lean towards mysticism, claiming to receive visions and extrabiblical revelations. Others are legalists, equating holiness with observing a list of cultural taboos. Still others urge the practice of asceticism, arguing that poverty or physical deprivation is the path to godliness. Pastors, elders and other church leaders, who are responsible to warn the church against false teaching, are often the very ones proclaiming those errors. [1]

Just like the church today, the Colossian believers faced deceptive beliefs trying to impose their doctrines upon the faithful. As was true in Paul's day, the church is called to face these heretical beliefs head on, providing a clear and distinct message promoting and defending the truth. In this passage Paul refutes the need to add legalism (what can and cannot be eaten), mysticism (how truth is understood) and asceticism (what can and cannot be done with and to the body) as ways of gaining some higher and hidden spiritual truth or enlightenment for mankind.

Sometimes the Gospel of Jesus Christ can appear to be 'too easy' or 'too simplistic' to be true. Our natural tendency to want vengeance for things done wrong to us can cause us to believe that there is something more required in the process of salvation. That makes us susceptible to those pedaling a works based salvation or sanctification as some way to feel better about the sins we have committed in the past or are still committing. But it creates self-righteousness and breeds egotism in our already too self-centered mentality. We know better than others, we are wiser, more enlightened, more spiritual. And then, all of a sudden, the Gospel of Christ has become a Gospel about Me.

And as before, Paul once again, implores the Colossians to keep what they already have and not exchange it for a lie. Jesus Christ is sufficient for salvation and sanctification, He is all we need. Paul implores them to not be intimidated into accepting a false gospel based on what they do for themselves or to themselves, but their sufficiency is based upon what God already did for them in Christ.

Legalism

Legalism is the first of the three threats which Paul addresses. One could view legalism as the religion of human achievement. Legalism measures some one's spirituality by how well they follow man-made rules.

‘Therefore no one is to act as your judge’ –

Definition: ‘judge’ – The Greek word, krino { kree’-no } means to separate, put asunder, to pick out, select, choose; to approve, esteem, to prefer; but more specifically to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong; to pronounce judgment, to subject to censure. Louw and Nida added, “to make a judgment based upon the correctness or value of something.” [2]
To be judged means that you are guilty of doing something wrong, of breaking a law. That judgment is intended to require you to follow that law.
As Albert Barnes pointed out,

The word judge here is used in the sense of pronouncing a sentence. The meaning is, "since you have thus been delivered by Christ from the evils which surrounded you; since you have been freed from the observances of the law, let no one sit in judgment on you, or claim the right to decide for you in those matters. You are not responsible to man for your conduct, but to Christ; and no man has a right to impose that on you as a burden from which he has made you free." [3]

Concerning the judgment that was being made of the Colossians, John Gill had this to say,

Since they were complete in Christ, had everything in him, ... and particularly since the handwriting of the law was blotted out, and torn to pieces through the nails of the cross of Christ, the apostle’s conclusion is, that they should be judged by no man; they should not regard or submit to any man’s judgment, as to the observance of the ceremonial law. [4]

There were those that wished to impose their legal and moral viewpoint upon the believers at Colossea, which would in effect take away the freedom Paul was telling them they already had in Christ. Earlier in this chapter Paul had dealt with circumcision because it was the first Jewish law being imposed upon the believers as a judgment of their true faith in Christ. Paul's point is as relevant today as it has been for the past 2000 yrs. No one has the power to force believers to be subjected to the law or the observances of specific rites for which Jesus has died on the Cross to deliver us from following. If Christ is in us, that law is written on the heart. This doesn't give us liberties to act immorally or unrighteously; Paul is simply saying that following law for the sake of law does not produce righteousness in mankind.
Legalism’s only purpose is to measure someone’s spirituality by their ability to follow and keep a set of manmade rules. One would think that it’s an easy way to live but it is the exact opposite. It leads to a rigid, confining and lifeless life. Worst of all, it creates in us a hypocritical pride, as we see from the Pharisees in other parts of the New Testament. And it is not different for us today. As Max Anders wrote, “A focus on conformity to a code can cause one to forget things like arrogant pride, smug judgmentalism, anger, and a host of other dark sins that never seem to make the list.” [5]
It needs to be pointed out that legalism is pointless and meaningless since it cannot change the heart of man. Anyone, even an unbeliever, can act the part and keep a set of rules and regulations, yet not be changed by those rules and regulations. A 19th century pastor named Gardiner Spring wrote this warning,

A merely moral man may be very scrupulous of duties he owes to his fellowmen, while the infinitely important duties he owes God are kept entirely out of site. Of loving and serving God, he knows nothing. Whatever he does or whatever he leaves undone, he does nothing for God. He is honest in his dealings with all except God, he robs none but God, he is thankless and faithless of none but God, he feels contemptuously and speaks reproachfully of none but God. ... He was not dishonest, nor untrue; he was not impure nor malignant; and not a few of the divine commandments he had externally observed. [6]

Outward observances of rules do not produce righteousness. Only a changed heart can do that.

‘in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day’ –

These are what would appear to be the things that the Jewish teachers were attempting to impose upon the Colossian believers: the dietary ceremonial law, as well as their observances of holy days.
‘food or drink’ – The true kingdom of God is not in outward ceremonial laws. Outward observances do not bring righteousness; it is only the inward, internal changes that God brings about in a person's heart that bring true righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. As Jesus pointed out in the Gospels (Matt 15:10-20 and Mark 7:14-23), it is not what goes into a person that defiles them, but what comes out. All of God's creatures are clean, as they were before the law was given. Nothing in its own nature is common or unclean if used in moderation and with thankfulness because God pronounced everything good at creation.
As Giesler pointed out, Christians should not be condemned or feel condemnation for eating any foods (Rom 14:1-4) because they were, “created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.” (1 Tim 4:3) He goes on to say that this kind of teaching was taught by demons (1 Tim 4:1) and are the very same principalities and powers that were disarmed in Col 2:15. [7]
‘a festival or a new moon’ – As with what went into the body, the same was true of the festivals and holy days (with the exception of the Sabbath, see Lev 23; Num 28:11-14) – none of these were binding on the Christian either. Both Gnostics and Jews observed these holy days which belonged specifically to God, and for which certain things must be done and others things must not be. Some commentators even pointed out that neither group did a very good job of observing these requirements. What it caused was an identification of religion with ritual. Each and every day is a holy day for the Lord, if He really resides in our hearts. If you have been delivered from legalism, why would you want to go back to it?
‘Sabbath day’ – The inclusion of this has baffled some commentators. Some view this as referring to the fact that the Sabbath requirement was only for the Jews to keep since the commandment was given specifically to the Jew, going so far as to say that it was unlawful for the Gentile to keep it. Others attempt to qualify this saying that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27), saying that its requirements are both perpetual and continual.
The Sabbath referred to here seems to be about how the Jews observed it, not the aspect of rest which we see was a part of creation (Rom 14:5-6; Gal 5:2-4). There are also a number of reasons why the Sabbath observance does not seem to apply to Christians: [8]

Under the New Covenant, Christians are not required to worship God on the Sabbath. According to Scripture (Ex 31:16-17; Neh 9:14; Eze 20:12) the Sabbath was given to Israel and was a sign of the Old Covenant.
The NT does not command Christians to observe the Sabbath. In fact the only glimpses we have of church services in the NT are that they met on Sunday (Acts 20:7).
The OT does not require or expect Gentile nations to observe the Sabbath. In fact, the Gentiles are never condemned for failing to observe it.
There is no evidence of anyone keeping the Sabbath before the law was given to Moses.
The Jerusalem council never imposed the Sabbath upon the Gentile believers (Acts 15).
Paul never warned the Gentiles about breaking the Sabbath. In fact, Paul rebuked the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days, including the Sabbath (Gal 4:9-11). He also taught in Rom 14:5 that keeping the Sabbath was a matter of Christian liberty.
And finally, the early church Fathers, from Ignatius to Augustine, taught that the OT Sabbath had been abolished.

‘things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.’ –

Definition: ‘shadow’ – The Greek word, skia { skee’-ah } means an image cast by an object and representing the form of that object; a sketch or an outline of an object, or a prototype.
A shadow represents an outline of something real, but its representation of that object is very poor, lacking detail, color, dimension and depth. A shadow indicates that something is present, but that something may be difficult to identify simply by viewing the shadow. Objects cast shadows, not the other way around. And once the object can be seen, the shadow becomes irrelevant.
Paul was saying that under the OT these were types, figures, and representations of spiritual and evangelical truths which God had always intended the Jews to understand, but for which they did not. They were, however, plain to see under the Gospel of Christ.
To put it another way, Paul was pointing out that the different "food and drink" of this verse was represented as clean or unclean, allowed or forbidden by the law, and symbolized the two people, the Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were clean, the Gentiles unclean (this as in reference to salvation, not universalism). But because of Christ they were now both one in Him, and the distinctions between clean and unclean had ceased. The shadows were now gone, as were the distinctions between what the OT called circumcised and uncircumcised. [9]
This was also the case for the celebrations of "holy days" and "festivals" for the Jews. These remembrances of the Passover and Pentecost, were types of Christ; the feast of tabernacles, though it was in remembrance of the Israelites dwelling in tents and booths when they came out of Egypt, yet they were also a representation of the people of God being indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
All of these things were shadows, the food, the festivals, and the holy days; they were all shadows of Jesus, who was to come. Jesus was and still is the substance of everything they needed; the shadows fulfilled. Whoever was attempting to substitute these other things for the reality of Christ, were in blatant error. God intended the food, the festivals and the holy days to serve as a shadow of what would be fulfilled in Christ. (John 1:17; Heb 8:5, 9:9, 10:1)
Paul's concern, as expressed here in these two verses and in other letters (Tit 1:14-15; Rom 14-15; 1 Cor 8-10), was that no believer should ever be intimidated by the legalism that religion places upon man. Nothing that was intended to represent the realities of Christ should be used to replace Him now. As believers we are freed from the requirements of shadows because we have the real thing now.

(16) Therefore let no one judge [pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong] you in regard to food and drink or in regard to [the observance of] a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. (17) Such things are only a shadow [a very poor image lacking detail, cast by an object and representing the form of that object] of what is to come and they have only symbolic value; but the substance [the reality of what is foreshadowed] belongs to Christ. (Col 2:16-17)

Footnotes

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 362.
John Gill’s Expository Notes on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005. NOTE: I have purposely removed the words “were circumcised in him;” from the quote above because they give the impression that circumcision is required for salvation.
Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 308–309. The first part of this paragraph was condensed for his commentary, as well as what is quoted.
As quoted in John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992) p. 117.
Norman L. Geisler, “Colossians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 678.
John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992), pp. 118-19.

The primary sources for this study use J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, from bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2020 Bible.org, (Col 1:1 through 2:10), and all attributions are reprinted with permission granted by bible.org; and John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992). I drew heavily upon his chapter and division headings.

This study uses many of the commentaries, dictionaries and the Greek Lexicon which are all part of 'The Online Bible', Computer Program, © 2023, Larry Pierce, http://www.onlinebible.net/, unless otherwise referenced. See Colossians Bible Study for full attribution. All word definitions are from either Strong's and/or part of the Online Bible Program.

Where noted, Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p/o Logos Bible Software, Faithlife, LLC, © 2023.

All Scriptures quotes are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Revision, unless otherwise noted. Verse links from Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/

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