Shadows

Colossians

(2:16-17)

A great amount of trouble is made possible by pedantic obedience to things which are in themselves at once transient and unprofitable. The Colossians Christians were troubled by teachers who had a most imperfect knowledge of the purpose of the great Redemption. There were slaves to the letter (law). They could not see that religion might be intensely spiritual, having rise far above all ceremony, and ritual, and elementary appointments of every kind. The Apostle bids the Colossians take heart in remembrance of the fact that they were living members of the living body of Christ. The Gospel has the great message which it would deliver to the inmost heart of the humblest believer: "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Much of our religious trouble would be dried up if we attended to the main things and regulated our lives by the central and essential principles of the kingdom of Christ. The Apostle Paul gave great liberty to men, according to the degree of their faith and according to their spiritual capacity: "One believes that may eat all things: another who is weak, eats herbs. Let not him that eats despise him that eats not; and let not him which eats not judge him that eats: for God had received him, Romans (14:2-3). There have always been clever people in the Church whose object has been to spoil the simplicity of faith. That have had fancies of their own respecting holy days, and new moons, and Sabbath days. They have had in their souls the very genius or 'demon of deception'. They would not allow the simplicity of Christ to stand in its own majesty. The Apostle Paul cautions Christian worshipers against all such foolishly inventive persons: This I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words" Colossians (2:4). Since Christ is indeed God in the flesh and He is in you as your "hope of glory" and you are "complete in Him" with all that being complete in Christ, Colossians (2:10). Entails then don't let someone try to bully you or say you are less spiritual because you don't keep "Christmas" or keep certain days, etc. Christ has admonished the dept. against us and we are no longer under the curse of the law Galatians (3:13). But we are under grace and should so walk.

This is ritualism, just a variant form of legalism. (Jesus fulfilled the Law, both it's moral demands and it's ceremonial demands, Romans (8:3-4).

So Paul says don't let anyone put you under legalism or by trying to make yourself acceptable to God on the basis of externals -- by keeping certain laws, rituals or decrees. God "made us accepted in the Beloved" (in Christ) Ephesians (1:6).

Legalism is bondage! Now that you are free in Christ, why would you want to be enslaved again? Galatians (4:9). Peter called such bondage a “yoke upon the neck” Acts (15:10). If keeping the Law could not make us spiritual before we received Christ as our fully sufficient Savior (fully and forever sufficient to save us the first time at regeneration, our new birth, and then by His Spirit in our daily sanctification), why do we think that keeping the law can make us spiritual after we are believers? Or as Paul rhetorically phrased it:
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? In the flesh verses in the Spirit.

Sadly many genuine believers are living under some form of a yoke of bondage, thinking if I just do this or do that, I'll be more acceptable to God. They may not say this overtly but their actions betray them.

One of the most serious problems facing Christian churches today is the problem of legalism. One of the most serious problems facing the church in Paul’s day was the problem of legalism. In every day it is the same. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian believer, and with the joy of the Lord goes His power for vital worship and vibrant service. At the heart of the problem of legalism is pride, a pride that refuses to admit spiritual bankruptcy. That is why the doctrines of grace stir up so much animosity. “It was a tragic hour when the Reformation churches wrote the Ten Commandments into their creeds and catechisms and sought to bring Gentile believers into bondage to Jewish law, which was never intended either for the Gentile nations or for the church.”Christ Alone is our "spirituality" and we please God by our faith and obedience Hebrews (11:6). Since you have thus been delivered by Christ from the evils which surrounded you and 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.”

Paul conveys a similar idea to the Roman saints writing that "there is now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus (denoting close and intimate union with Him, like that between the Vine and its branches) , who live and walk not after the dictates of the flesh (who do not live to gratify the corrupt desires and passions of the fallen flesh nature), but after the dictates of the Spirit". Do not put yourself under the bondage of any rules and regulations that may be made by "men". If you choose to do anything, or to abstain from something else, because you judge it to be right and beneficial, do so. Christ is your only Ruler and Leader; and if he does not command anything, let it not signify to you who does command, it.

“Do not put yourselves under rules and regulations which God has not ordained. If you think it is right for you to abstain from certain drinks do so, but do not act thus simply because others do so. If you abstain from certain meats, because they have been offered to idols, and the consciences of others might be offended if you partook of them, do not act thus as though it would save you. Do not make yourself subject to the judgment of other men, for Christ is your Law-giver and Lord.” The gospel of Christ does not pronounce condemnation like the Law. The function of the gospel is to pardon while the function of the Law is to condemn.

What Paul is warning about is still with us today. For example, some would say if you want to be "spiritual" then don't smoke, don't drink, and don't go with folks that do.

Paul says don't let someone come along and say you need to keep certain laws, even "good" ones (like you must have a 15 minute devotional time every morning (it's not a bad idea but it won't make you any more acceptable to God for you are already "complete in Christ", if you want to be really spiritual. Jesus is the One to Whom all the Old Testament feasts pointed. Festivals were celebration times pointing to what God had done and to what He was going to do. Today there is no specific day, but in fact we should celebrate Christ every moment of out life because He is the embodiment of all the feasts. Wait a minute. Aren't some of these observances given to us by God to remind us of truth? Isn't there some value to mental or physical health to be gained by doing them?

Paul addresses such an objection by emphasizing that rituals are mere "shadows" and that the reality is found in Christ. Once the reality has been realized, shadows are of no value whatsoever. Shadows are pictures, given in advance, designed to prepare us for something. But if you have found Christ, you do not need the shadows any more. Paul includes the Sabbath day as an example of a shadow, that is what Paul says is wrong with shadows. If you still place primary value on a shadow after the reality has come you destroy your participation in the value of that reality. Now the reality, here, is Jesus! He is the center of all life and the source of excitement in a Christian's experience. He is the One who accompanies us through life, to comfort in times of need and strengthen when we are being tempted. He is a place of refuge to run to when we are troubled or uncertain about life. To lose him is to lose all source of excitement and vitality in life. That is the danger in observing shadows. 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.

”What "Shadow" might be our "Sabbath" today? Many things could be turned into "modern day Sabbath keeping". For example, Christmas', even going to church might become a person's "Sabbath", in the sense that they legalistically dare not miss that day! Sure it is best to try not to miss going to church on Sunday, Hebrews (10:24). But if you think that by your going to church on Sunday, you will be "more spiritual", then you need to reassess your motives. The point is that going to church does not make anyone spiritual. The point is what is your motive for going to church? Are you going because you love God and His people or are we going to prove that you are spiritual or to earn favor from God? Legalism says "Do This" so you can prove to others that you're spiritual. Grace says "Rest in Him", fully confident of the truth that you are complete in Christ, Colossians (2:10). When you come to Him and obey His Word, walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, you can rest assured that He will take care of the rest! Colossians (1:10).

It does not take a keen observer to discover that most professing Christians are doing a poor job at spiritual growth. We see this in the lack of biblical understanding and application to personal life. Programs and activities that do nothing to further one's sanctification have replaced growth. Consider the Pharisees of Jesus' day. They believed that because of what they did and did not do, they were elevated to a new plateau spiritually. They scrupulously followed all of the laws relating to Sabbath observance because earlier legalists spelled these out as having promise. Even though the Pharisees neglected mercy and justice, as did their Old Testament counterparts, they believed that their rigid observance of Sabbath laws qualified them for super-spirituality. But being under the new covenant, the Christian is not bound by the legalisms of Sabbath observance or festivals. The early church shifted to Sunday as the day of gathering to worship and giving offerings for the Christian church.

"Here is the danger of all these things. They are substitutes for your completion in Jesus Christ. They all insist that there is another level of spirituality beyond what Christ has done for you. Because of a dependence upon one's own performance, these legalisms leave the believer in bondage. They keep the Christian always looking somewhere else, to the next experience, to the next Christmas day, to the next rigid observance of a law, to the next set of do's and don'ts to find joy. But it is never there. There may be a momentary sense of satisfaction because of their observance, perhaps even a little cheering on by their fellow legalists. But there is no deep, lasting satisfaction. And there cannot be, for it is an attempt to find satisfaction outside of Jesus Christ and the fullness of his work.

Reverend William Bowers