Colossians Chapter 2 Verses 16-19

Col. 2:16 “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: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. 18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.” 

“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:” The ordinances in the Old Testament often centered around meats forbidden or acceptable and meat and drink offerings. Also, there were observances of holydays and Sabbath days, etc.  However, Paul addresses these things and the fulfillment of these things in the book of Hebrews showing us that Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament types and shadows.  In this New Testament age we should not be judged in our religious observances by our dietary practices or of our observations of holy days or Sabbath days.  While these things often are associated with certain denominations, it should not be associated with the Lord’s church and its members.  Some examples of groups who observe similar things today are those who associate their worship with dietary habits such as not eating meats, or having meatless Fridays or of not eating pork, etc.  Others associate themselves by their observation of religious holidays as being special observances.   

“Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.”  Two verses in the book of Hebrews speak to us about shadows: 

    1.  Heb. 8:5 “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount.” 

    2.  Heb. 10:1 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.”   

We note that shadows are only reflections of the body that is casting the shadow.  The shadow is never as clear and important as the object casting the shadow.  However, a shadow does give an image of the object casting the shadow.  Thus those Old Testament shadows point us to Christ, the body is far more important than the shadow.  The body is of Christ and he should be the central object of our worship and not the shadows.  Today we are not to worship under the Old Testament shadows, but we are to worship Christ in spirit and in truth.  Therefore we should avoid associating ourselves with the observance of dietary practices or observations of holy days or Sabbath days in our religious exercises. 

“Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,” The words “beguile” and “reward” are translated from the same Greek word and means to practice fraud, i.e., to defraud you.  Therefore, we should be aware that there are men who for their own vain arrogance and pride defraud people of the true and acceptable worship of God through: 

    1.  Voluntary humility – meaning they are not near as humble as they try to pass themselves off to others.  Rather they are full of pride but believe through a voluntary humility they can get people to follow them in their false teachings. 

    2.  Worshipping of angels – The word, angel, literally is defined as messenger.  These false teachers often try to get people to worship writers or teachers of old who taught the false teachings or practices that they are espousing.  We, of course, know that the bible teaches us that we are to worship the Lord only and no man or any other thing. 

    3.  Intruding into those things which he hath not seen – The Lord said in John 3:11: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.” These false teaches often speak of God’s secret will or of having a private interpretation or revelation from God.  If God has a secret will that is contrary to God’s revealed will, then how could these men know God’s secret will if it is secret?  It is a good idea to reject the teachings of anyone who speaks of God’s secret will.  God does not contradict himself.   

“And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.”  Even in the natural body, the head is the source of nourishment of the rest of the body.  Our head is Christ and we are spiritually nourished by His word alone and as a result we as individuals and as local church bodies increase with the increase of God.