Colossians 2:16-23

(Colossians 2:16-23)

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:  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.  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,  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.  Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,  (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?  Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.


The first difficulty faced by the Saints in the Colossians was the prejudice of Jewish Christians that the grace of the cross of Jesus Christ was not enough. From the Jewish point of view, they thought that the Gentile Christ had to do something more. For this reason, he tried to cultivate the Gentile Christians through the food law and the feast that protects the Jewish identity and the people's ideology. But the Apostle Paul said firmly. "Don't let criticize anyone," don't judge a brother or sister in Christ.

Paul warned against Jewishistic mysticism: "These are the shadows of the future, but the body is Christ's." "The Greek Soma translated into the body" contrasts with "The Greek Skiia translated into shadow." Shadows have no substance. The body is real. Shadows are virtual, but the body is real. Christ came in a human body and will come again as a resurrected body. Those who have been born again in Jesus Christ, even though the body is in this world, are born again as spirit bodies and are at the right hand of God in Christ. It can be said that this is a reality, not an imaginary story.

The Jewish mystics confused the Saints of the Colossians with mystical elements such as angel worship. It is vain exaggeration of what an individual has experienced. Paul said firmly to hold on to Jesus Christ, the head of the Church. Explain the reason : 『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. This is synonymous with 2:6-7. "Walk in Jesus Christ, take root in it and be built up."

It is a warning of Jewish asceticism.『Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 』 Here, ordinance means a principle or power that lives in the world in principle or discipline. The characteristic of these things is that they are used once and disappear. As such, Paul's emphasis is that the man's commands and teachings, defined as the world's primary academic discipline, are wise to afflict the body for a moment, but lack the power to forbid the body.

Being a Christian means changing the inner person and being born again. Keeping the Jewish law and the feasts emphasized by Jewish legalists and ascetics is actually a good way to live a life different from godly living. But there is no life in itself. The important thing is that my inner person must be united with Christ, live in Christ, rooted in Christ, and raised up by Christ. So, as the Apostle Paul says, we must live every day remembering the death.

Being a Christian is a life change. It is not gradually becoming sanctified, but the former is dead and newly born. This is regeneration. Regeneration does not mean the state of the mind, but the physical body received from the parent dies and is reborn as the spirit body. Jesus said in John 3 that we must be born again with water and the Holy Spirit to see the kingdom of God. Experience is not important, but it is saved only when we die each day. Jesus died by the law. Those who die in association with Jesus Christ are also dead by the law. So, the born again must no longer be bound by the law. But those who have not died with Jesus will be judged by the law by God.

 

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