Lesson 9: Guard Your Freedom In Christ

Colossians 2:16-23 — study notes

Scripture: Colossians 2:16-23 (NIV)

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

19 They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules:

21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"?

22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.

23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

1) Introduction

The church at Colossae was under a new teaching that involved certain disciplines combining food restrictions, calendar regulations, and a form of angel worship. Paul warns the church against those threats and calls them to live in the freedom they have in Christ.

2) Colossians 2:16-17 — Don't Let Anyone Judge You

Don't let anyone judge you in matters of food or drink — a topic Paul addresses in other letters as well.

These believers were under pressure to impose Jewish food laws on Gentile believers — the idea of not eating certain foods and judging those who do. Paul calls this the Principle of Conscience, which he addresses in Romans 14.
Paul lays out the principle of Christian liberty given to us by Christ, "who declares all foods clean" (see Mark 7:19).
Paul also introduces the principle of a voluntary limitation on our Christian liberty — the principle of the tender conscience of a "weaker brother" (Romans 14:13-21 and 1 Cor. 8:7-13).
In verse 17, Paul may be referencing the Law of the Old Testament as a "shadow" which is now fully manifested in Christ.

Romans 14:13-15 (NIV)

13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.

14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean.

15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died.

3) Colossians 2:18-19 — Don't Be Disqualified by False Humility

Don't let anyone disqualify you by a false humility and angel worship. These people exhibit a false humility rooted in their own pride.
Humility is a genuine Christian virtue (Col. 3:12; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3), but it must come from God — not manufactured by human religious effort.
The false teachers have lost connection with the Head (Christ) and therefore do not function in harmony with the body of the Church.

4) Colossians 2:20-23 — Dead to the World's Rules, Alive in Christ

Paul tells us that we died with Christ, and in that death our former relationship to bondage and sin has been terminated.
From that point on we are dead to the old order — why then go on serving that former existence? (Gal. 2:19-21).
Paul encourages believers to enjoy the liberty that Christ has given them.
Do not fall for rules imposed by man that will perish anyway and have no spiritual value.
Instead, serve God in the liberty that Christ has given you.

Galatians 2:19-21 (NIV)

19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Action Plan for This Week

Stop one performance-based habit. Replace the thought "God likes me if…" with gospel truth: you are already fully accepted in Christ.
Practice one connecting habit daily. Begin each day with a short prayer and Scripture meditation that turns naturally into worship.
Choose one freedom-for-love act. Serve someone quietly this week without seeking recognition.