“So let no one judge you in food or drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” – Colossians 2:16-17
Scripture reading: Colossians 2:16-23
Paul now commends the Colossians for what they have in Christ. He is their head and she is His bride. Still, some excluded the Colossian Christians from the body of Christ because they were not practising the rituals of Judaism or paganism.
We are not positive what heresy was being practiced in Colosse. The Colossians were being criticized and were in danger of giving in to the vain philosophy and false religions that were being merged with the pure truth of the Gospel. Added to that was a legalistic pietism. What precisely was the heresy about angels, is difficult to ascertain. Whatever the case, Paul says we need Christ; in Him is all the substance and glory of true religion. You know that that was what the Reformation was all about in those days when the Roman Church elevated the rituals and obscured the Redeemer.
The rituals of the Old Testament were, in a manner of speaking, pregnant with the reality of Christ, but when Christ came, their message continued in Him, but the symbolism and practice were no longer necessary. Christ had died on the cross, and the spiritual and material were joined. Paul teaches them that they have matured in Christ and moved on from the principles of this world. In Christ, we are freed from human doctrine and self-willed religion. In Christ, we are free indeed. In Christ, we have the substance, and in Him, we have all we need.
Suggestions for prayer
Pray for the protection of the church and the purity of her religion. Pray that nothing would obscure the pure gospel in the church.
Pastor Al Bezuyen is married to Sanya and has been blessed with six children and two grandchildren. He is a Mid-America Reformed Seminary graduate serving at the Zion United Reformed Church of Sheffield, Ontario. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.
