Is the Sabbath Done Away?

Colossians 2, verses 16-17, is one of the most commonly used passages to document the claim that the Sabbath and God's Holy Days are not required to be kept under the new covenant. The conclusion is that the judgment refers to Judaizers that are trying to pressure the Colossians to keep God's Holy Days and Sabbaths, and to which, supposedly, Paul says to them that they should not be kept because they are only a shadow of the spiritual reality which is Christ. That's what people say. No wonder, no wonder they say that, because I'm going to read to you now Colossians chapter 2, verses 16-17, from the New Living Translation, from the NLT. Now pay attention how it reads. Quote, So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come, and Christ himself is that reality. I was shocked when I read this verse in the New Living Translation because I was having a person coming to church and a new person had come from another group, and he was saying, well, we don't have to keep the holy days, and he was quoting Colossians 2, 16-17. And I said, well, let's read it in your own Bible. So he opened his own Bible, which was the New Living Translation, and when I read it, I was stumped.

Because that is not what is written there. That is an absolutely incorrect paraphrase. You see, this reading is very different than what you have in, for instance, in the New King James Version. And so today, brethren, I want to make a full analysis of these two verses to see what they really mean. And to do that properly, I want to look at the context. But when I mean the context, I mean both the context of what was happening in that time frame, in that era, and also in the region, in addition to the context of the Scriptures, of what Paul is writing in Colossians. So let's just give you a better background. The Epistle to the Colossians was written about AD 6062, when Paul was a prisoner in Rome. And the population of Colossia was mostly Gentile, but there was a large Jewish settlement there since the days of Antiochus the Great, some 223 to 197 years before Christ. And so there was a mixed population of Jews and Gentiles in Colossae. And this was reflected both in the makeup of the church and in the heresy that plagued it.

There was an heresy that was plaguing it, and Paul was addressing this heresy. And so the church in Colossae began during Paul's ministry in Ephesus, where he stayed there for three years during his third missionary journey. You can read that in Acts 19, and I get that he was there three years from Acts 20 verse 31. Now, the founder of the church in Colossae was not Paul. You can read that in Colossians 2 verse 1, but Epiphras. Colossians 1 verse 5 through 7. Apparently, Epiphras was converted when he visited Ephesus, and then he heard Paul, and then he went back to Colossae, and then he started God's church there in Colossae. Several years after its founding, a dangerous heresy arose to threaten the church in Colossae, and that heresy contained elements of what later became known as Gnosticism. Gnosticism. It was not from Judaizers, but from Gnostics that the heresy was coming. Epiphras was so concerned with this heresy that he made a long trip to Rome. You can see that in Colossians 4 verse 12 to 13 when Paul was a prisoner in Rome. And so in return to this, then Paul wrote this letter, or this epistle, to warn the Colossian brethren about this heresy. And therefore he sent the letter, the epistle, the book of Colossians, by Tacochus. He was accompanying a runaway slave, Onesimus, back to his master, Philharmon, which was a member of the Colossia church. Colossians 4, 7 through 9. Now note that the heresy in Colossia was not a case of Judaizers, but a case of Gnosticism. And we'll prove that. And also note that Gnosticism was not a religion. Gnosticism was not a religion, but it was a religious concept. In other words, a a concept that could be combined with any religion to allegedly making that religion better, to improve that religion. So it was a twist that was a change or a variation to any religion which had this Gnostic approach. It's like in a practical example to ladies in the kitchen, it's like a special mix that you apply to what you're cooking that makes that cooking easier. For instance, some mix for ground meat to help you make a hamburger. So it would be called like a hamburger helper. But therefore Gnosticism was something that had affected already Judaism.

Gnosticism, this idea, this twist, had already affected Judaism because it had combined with Jewish religious practices to allegedly improve this Judaism. And so we need to understand that then this Gnostic Judaism seeking to absorb the emerging Christian faith brought this syncretic or this mixture. And this is what Paul was fighting in Colossians. And we can see it's the same situation that was happening in Galatians and in other New Testament books. It was a concept that was happening at that time in that era that was changing religions. And so this fact is very important for us to understand the points that Paul is making in Colossians 2, verses 16 and 17. So that's what I mean, the context of the era. So let's understand a little bit more about Gnosticism. A few key points. There are others, but just a few key points that will help us to understand the philosophical foundations of the problems that were happening in Colossia and which Paul was dealing with. One of the basic principles of Gnosticism is that God is good, but matter is evil. God is good, but physical flesh is evil. Physical matter is evil. And one of those extremes is what they call asceticism. Which basically means you avoid any physical pleasure because it was considered evil, because anything physical is evil. And so the idea was that you needed to purify yourself from evil matter through asceticism, avoiding physical things, avoiding physical pleasures, avoiding a good meal. Like after church, we have a potluck and we enjoy the fellowship. All but to ascetics. Ascetics, that's bad because that's evil.

And so this is obviously the target of what Paul was addressing in Colossians chapter 2, was asceticism. Other aspects of Gnosticism is the worship of angels, or let's put it this way, demons, worship of demons. And it also that Christ was an emanation from God, and so that the belief of who Christ was just an emanation from God, and also that you needed higher secret knowledge in addition to the scriptures, to really understand you needed to have the secret knowledge. So the actual context of the situation in Colossae in that age was that the Colossian heresy embraced aspects of Jewish legalism as well as rigid asceticism. Now having now seen the context of this of the age of the the environment they lived in, let's look at the context of the epistle, of the actual written text. And so if we look at Colossians, it starts at the beginning with the usual greeting of Paul. He starts a normal greeting in all these episodes with a very simple introduction.

Let me just get to it. Colossians chapter 1, and he identifies himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ by God's will, and then he says, you know, grace to you all. So he has the normal type of introduction that he has. So then after that, he emphasizes his desire that the Colossians should be filled with an increase in knowledge. You see that in chapter 1 verse 9. It says towards the middle of verse 9, and asks that you may be filled with the knowledge of God's will. There is a subtle touch on the concept that you need signal knowledge. No, it's the knowledge of God's will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. And then he says, and then in verse 10, that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. And so he is saying, basically, because the word knowledge in both verses 9 and 10, is a Greek word epi-nosis. And epi means, which is a preposition, which means complete. You need complete knowledge, not this false knowledge of Gnosticism. Then the next thing, Paul addresses the primacy of the incarnate Jesus. In other words, Jesus in the flesh. Now think about it. Their whole belief is that flesh is evil. So how could you have God in the flesh?

And so he emphasizes, for instance, in verse 22 of chapter 1, he says, in the body of his flesh, through death to present you holy and blameless. So he emphasizes that Christ was in the flesh, had a body, a fleshly body. Also in chapter 2 verse 9, look at chapter 2 verse 9 in Colossians, he says, for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily in his body. Oh, this was inconceivable to the Gnostics because you couldn't have divinity and humanity together because God is good and physical is evil. That was their concept. And so Paul emphasizes also in this not only the physical body of Christ, but then he brings the analogy of the spiritual body of Christ, which is the church of God. And you can see that in one, Colossians 1 verse 18, then he talks about, is the head of the body the church? In other words, the spiritual body, which is the church? He emphasizes that the body of Christ is the church in verse 24. We also see that in chapter 2 verse 17, the body of Christ. And that is the verse that we'll be analyzing again. And we see it in verse 19 and we see it in chapter 3 verse 15. So Paul emphasizes a number of times that the church is the spiritual body of Christ. And then it very clearly identifies the heresy in chapter 2 verse 4 through 8, talking about the people of pervasive words and bringing in at the end of in verse 8, beware let anybody cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit. You see, so he is addressing their philosophical arguments.

It's basically a philosophical system which really was based on the worship of demons, demon worship. Because it says, according to the tradition of man, according to the basic principles of the world. The word principles of the principles, it comes from the Greek word stoikion, which means rudiments or principles of the world, which basically means spirit beings that control the world. Just like you and I know, the god of this world is Satan and he's got demons impacting the societies today. The Expositors Bible commentary says that this is dealing with elemental spirits. Because we know from Colossians 2 verse 18 that the heresy was the worship of angels. Look at Colossians 2 verse 18 says, let no one cheat you in your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels. So you can see all these Gnostic concepts being brought into this context. Also in Colossians 2 verse 8, where he talks about beware that no one cheats you, that cheats you, that means that no one makes you captive. He's describing false teachers as kidnappers of men through philosophy and empty deceit. You see, they wish to capture the Colossians and drag them into spiritual slavery of demons. And this is the heresy or worship of angels or demons according to the rudiments or according to the elements or basic principles of the world and not according to Christ as you read at the end of verse 8. See, they were being led captive, as we read in verse 8, by these ideas, Gnosticism, which are basically things of men, which are really basically things of demons and not according to Christ. And so you can see the theme is clearly Gnosticism. It is very important to understand that Paul is clearly identifying the Gnostic influence. And this is that Gnosticism had already been mixed with Judaism, and that became a catalyst for introducing Gnosticism into Christianity. And so we need to understand this Gnostic twist behind the supposed Judaizing. You see, Paul is not condemning so-called Jewish customs, like keeping the Sabbath or keeping God's early days. They so-called Jewish customs. No, Paul is not criticizing that. He is criticizing the Gnostic approach to these God-given holy days and Sabbath days. You see, why? Because the Gnostics were judging Christians about the way, the how, the manner, that true Christians were observing God's Sabbath and early days. How do you and I observe Sabbath and God's early days? We enjoy physically with food and drink, right? You have God's early days. You enjoy them with food and drink and Christian fellowship. They were criticizing that. That was their problem. And so Colossians chapter 2, and we can read this, the context here, is that they are putting pressure on the church in Colossia, Colossae, was from Gnostics, not from Judaizers. You see, let's look at some of the context before verse 16 and 17, and some of the verses after verses 16 and 17.

And first, let's start in verse 16, because verse 16 says, so let no man. If you read that in the in the King James Version, it says, therefore, let no man. It means it's a conjunction that it's connecting verse 16 with what he said before. What he just said before. So, or therefore, because of what I just said before, don't allow this to happen. And so let's look at what he said just before, starting, for instance, from verse 13. In verse 13, he's saying that Christ forgave our sins. He says, here was made alive, He has forgiven all your trespasses. Christ has forgiven our sins. And verse 14, the first part, verse 14, having wiped out the end writing of requirements. In your margin, may say, the certificate of death with us.

In those days, when a criminal was crucified or nailed to a cross, at the same time, they put a little write-up, a parchment, a little like today, we call it a piece of paper or whatever it is, a note that would identify the violations to the law, which this man was being punished. So you'll have like a note of indebtedness, why he was being punished. And so Paul is graphically comparing Christ's forgiveness of our sins. And through that, he's wiping out that ink from that parchment, from that written document, because he's wiping it out. And the second part of verse 14 says, which was contrary to us, and is taken out the way, having nailed to the cross. And so he says that these end-writing of requirements, or these debts of ordinances that was against us, of things that were against us. And those requirements come from the Greek word dogma, which means determination of guilt, of the decree. And this had to do with ordinances of man. Note that in verse 8, talking about philosophy and empty words, tradition of man, and in verse 22, it says, which all concerned things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of man. So the context is saying, all these things were ideas of man. And so this was written off by Christ's sacrifice. You see, our sins include traditions of man.

And that's one way that people sin. We are involved in society and there are traditions of man. And all those sins, all the sins were placed upon Christ, and those sins were nailed to the cross. And thus he paid the penalty in our place for all our sins. And so Christ's sacrifice completely erased our certificate of debt that was against us, making our forgiveness complete. And then in verse 15 says, and therefore, through this, having disarmed principalities and powers, in other words, through his death, Christ destroyed the power of demons and therefore Christ's triumph over them. We can see that in Ephesians 6-12, that it's talking about demons. And so we can see that what Paul is saying is what Christ has done is destroyed the Gnostic worship of angels of demons. And so that is before verse 16 and 17. We can see the context is clearly talking about Gnosticism. Look at after verses 16 and 17. There is verse 18. And verse 18 says, let no one cheat you of your reward. The Greek word is katabriel, which means the fraud you of a prize to disqualify you, because we are going to receive a crown, right? So let no one disqualify you or don't lose your crown.

The NIV says, do not let anyone with the lights disqualify you from the prize. And others say, do not let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial. And so we can see that this self-denial, which is asceticism, would prevent people from getting their full reward. And then in verse 18 says, taking delight in false humility. What do you mean false humility? Because the synosic things of, oh, I'm not going to do this physical thing. I'm not going to have a meal. I'm better than you. I'm very humble. I'm not going to be part of this meal. I'm not going to eat and drink with you after during a holy day or a Sabbath. I'm not going to have a potluck. I'm not going to because I'm better than you. In other words, it's a false humility. It's a pretext. It's a false pretext, false humility and worship of angels. And so we can see from the context of the era of the philosophy that's going around that time by reading verses before and after verses 16 and 17 that clearly was talking about Gnosticism. And so let's now tackle verses 16 and 17. Verse 16, we see the collusions were being judged for two things. Number one, food and drink. Now the expression that, for instance, the NIV says, by what you eat or drink is incorrect. Or the expression for what you eat or drink is also incorrect as per the NLT, the New Living Translation. That is inaccurate and misleading translations of the Greek words in broses and in poses. You see, the practices under attack are not related to what you eat or drink, like those translations put it, about what you eat or drink. It was not about what you eat or drink, but about how we were eating and drinking. That's different because physical things can't be of enjoy, good meal, a potluck, can't be a right way of worshiping God. You can't mix that with worship of God during the Holy Days and the Sabbath. You can't mix the two. And so by what you eat or drink, or for what you eat or drink, is misleading.

You see, the practices under attack, once again, were not related to what, but to how, because they were addressing, Paul was addressing, the synostic concept. You see, the law of God, the law of God, concerning clean and unclean meats, because those people today say, oh well, this is about clean and unclean meats.

The law of clean and unclean meats is not ascetic in character. And indeed, clean and unclean meats have nothing to do with drink. It's only meat. You don't have unclean drinks. You see, the subject was not clean or unclean meats, but the ascetic behavior that they did not want people to have joy and happiness in Christian festivals. The second era that comes across in this verse 16 is the phrase, in verse 16, regarding a festival. The word regarding comes from the Greek word, meros. Grammatically, it's a noun, not a preposition. And it means a part or a portion of the whole.

This word is used 43 times in the New Testament, and it's translated as part or portion. Luke 15, 12 says, give me the portion, meros, of the goods that falls to me. Revelation 16, verse 19 says, in the great city was divided into three parts, meros. Revelation 20, verse 6 says, blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, meros. You see, so it's actually talking only a part of an aspect of the inherent quality of God's feasts, or the new moon, or the Sabbath, which was being criticized, namely, how they were being observed. The part is how they were observed. Notice, by the way, that the only new moon commanded in the Bible to be observed is the day of trumpets, which occurs, obviously, in a new moon and symbolizes the second coming of Christ. So, Gnosticism had no problem with observing of special days. They had a problem in how? Because the mixture of these physical things. And now, let's analyze the last verse, which is verse 17. And the first part, yeah, in verse 17, it says, which are a shadow of things to come. Look at the two verbs, are and to come. Are is in the present, active, indicative, tense, is not past. And things to come is future. It's not past. Not already done and gone. And so, that's why they say they are shadows of things to come at the second coming of Christ. So, it's actually referring particularly to the fall festivals, the holy days, the day of trumpets, and also the Sabbaths, which also point not only to creation, but to the future millennium and rest that we have. And the last part of point to note, in verse 17, which says, but in the King James Version, says, but the body is of Christ. If you look at the New King James Version as the word substance, but in a margin says body. So, the actual Greek there is body, but the body is of Christ. But note that the word is is in italics. The word is is in italics. Some versions, some others might not have it, but you look around, you'll see it's in italics because the word is is not in the Greek. And so, the literal translation is the body of Christ. And what is the body of Christ? Is the spiritual body of Christ is the Church of God. And so, what Paul is saying, in Colossians 2, verse 16 and 17, he says, and if we do a proper exegesis of this verse, it should read, let no one judge you in eating or drinking, or in any part of the observance of the feast days, or new moon, which is the day of trumpets, or Sabbaths, which are things to come, but the body of Christ, which is the Church of God. You see, God's festivals are a reminder, annual and weekly, of events, the spring holidays of the past, and the fall holidays of Christ's Second Coming. And so, in conclusion, brethren, Colossians 2, 16 through 17 is not one of the passages that documents the claim that the Sabbath and God's holidays are done away under the new covenant, but rather, Colossians 2, 16, putting it very simply, says, let no one judge us concerning how we keep God's festivals, but only the Church of God. That's what it says in very simple words. And in verse 18 says, therefore, let no one defraud you, defraud you of your crown, with some excuses that, hey, you don't have to do this. Because for us, are we putting away the crown? Are we putting our crown at risk by persuasive words of people? Look in Colossians 2, verse 4, says, now, as I say, lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words. Reverness reminds us of the warning to the era of God's Church at the end time. In Revelation 3, verse 11, says, behold, I can quickly hold fast what you have. Let no one take your crown.