Becoming disciples of Christ gives us freedom from enhanced laws false teachers attempt to put on us. This daily devotional looks at how areas that these are targeted for increased restrictions.
Nuggets
- Freedom from judgment can be found in several areas.
- Jesus’ Light will come, and He will cast out the shadows.
Devotions in the Joy in the Gospel series
This was a hard devotion to write. I felt the sermons really didn’t flow about what Paul was trying to tell us.
Let’s see what we can find out.
Let's Put It into Context #1
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Let's Put It into Context #2
“And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2: 13-14 CSB)
Jesus sacrificed His life on the cross so that His blood could be used to pay the penalty for our sins. The Gentiles were spiritually dead because they were not circumcised. The Jews were spiritually dead even though they had been circumcised.
Once Jesus was born, died, and rose again, the religious ceremonies were not enough. What may have been fine in the past, no longer was.
Owen put it this way. He wrote, “The great error of Judaism as the rabbis made it was to mistake religious ordinances for religion; equally fatal is the same error in its pseudo-Christian shape.”
Resource
Most of the time when we are spiritually dead, we don’t know just how bad we have it. It is bad.
If we aren’t focused on God, we just keep getting more and more insensitive to His love. We get worse instead of better.
We fulfill the obligations of morality through love, not because it is the law.
The Areas Free from Judgment
“Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day” (Col. 2: 16 CSB)
Freedom from judgment can be found in several areas.
We’ve talked about these verses before. When I read them then, I was thinking this is getting back to works.
We aren’t saved by works. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2: 8 NIV).
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
But if you put it in the context of the rest of the verses in Colossians, it is talking even more than that.
We have to put it fully in context of the times, though. Jones helped with that. He wrote, “Many are still Jewish in their feelings.”
Resource
I was just talking with someone today, saying that the Pharisees liked their tradition. They probably liked their ceremony, too.
Person of Interest
I think it would be safe to assume there were common Jews who felt the same way.
Jesus wasn’t having any of that. He kept trying to get them to understand that the relationship with God is more important than the religion.
Freedom in Food and Drink
These verses also remind us of what we talked about in Romans Part II. “Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters. One person believes he may eat anything, while one who is weak eats only vegetables” (Rom. 14: 1-2 CSB).
Romans 14 was also telling the disciples not to be making new laws and commandments on topics on which God has shown his indifference. It was saying we are not to give rise to contentious feelings among disciples.
We can’t force someone to believe the same way that we do. We shouldn’t judge someone because of their opinions. We shouldn’t make our opinion of the law.
But the Colossians verses are the flip side.
Here, Paul was saying we have to follow God’s lead as to how we should worship Him. The false teachers don’t get to decide what is the right way.
Maclaren interpreted the meat and drink to refer to that which was used for idol sacrifice. To the Jews, that meat and drink would be unclean.
Resource
As cleanness refers to the Israelites remaining holy — set apart, perfect, and morally pure — uncleanness would refer to that which made them impure.
Spence said that, because the Old Testament had strict dietary instructions in some instances, the Jews would have thought them crucial to salvation, thus making it necessary for the Gentile to follow them to become Christians.
Resource
Jesus was adamant that salvation is not awarded based on what we eat. “It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth — this defiles a person” (Mt. 15: 11 CSB).
Freedom for Festivals and the Sabbath
Maclaren listed a couple of a sacred seasons on which the Colossians were not to be judged. He noted that this verse was talking about annual festivals as well as the monthly feasts of the new moon.
Does it seem odd that Paul would say not to judge on seemingly pagan festivals? It does to me.
Maclaren addressed that. He wrote, “The yearly feasts set forth various aspects of Christ’s work …” No, he does expand on that, except to say “He does not quarrel with the rites, but with men insisting on them.
Resource
But then again, doesn’t it seem strange that the weekly Sabbath day was also included to the list?
Spence said that we are no longer to observe the Sabbath. To Paul, it had no more significance than did the pagan festivals.
Barlow identified why we should not be judged for observing the Lord’s Day. Our relationship with God must be an inward faith.
Jones focused on the Sabbath issues in his sermon. The first one he addressed was the Lord’s Day as compared to the Jewish Sabbath.
Worship was changed from the end of the week to the beginning of the week. Worship is our personal or corporate response of admiration (confession, thanksgiving, praise, etc.) based on our attitude to God’s presence and our imitation of His character.
What Paul was talking about here were two totally different days. The Jewish Sabbath is different than the Lord’s Day.
The Jews would have been used to participating in the Sabbath every week. The Sabbath would not have been foreign to them in that regard.
Baptism was the second point Jones brought up. He was addressing the belief that disciples need to be baptized in order to gain salvation.
Baptism is the symbol of our conversion experience, providing the physical evidence that we have died and been buried to sin and have risen in a new spiritual life with Jesus.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart. means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
- Spiritual death is the spiritual separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
Jones was adamant that baptism did not gain salvation for us. He wrote, “But when it [baptism] is regarded as regenerative, and as creating a relation which it only recognizes, the sign is mistaken for the thing signified, and a simple ordinance converted into a fruitful error.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal requickening in us that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
The last point Jones brought up was the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial instituted at the Passover right before Jesus’ death that uses common elements — bread and wine — to commemorate His death.
Jones cautioned us that we have to remember what the Lord Supper expresses — Jesus’ suffering and love. He wrote, “But when the idea of spiritual magic is introduced, instead of being helpful to piety, it becomes a stumbling-block and an offence (sic).
Resource
Freedom Because of a Shadow
“These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ” (Col. 2: 17 CSB)
Jesus’ Light will come, and He will cast out the shadows.
Ooo, baby. Verse 17 is about as clear as mud.
Maclaren said this referred to the debate that Paul always addressed — how do the Gentiles fit into this new religion? Is Christianity an offshoot of the Jewish religion, or is it something different?
I am having trouble interpreting what Maclaren said. Bottom line is he said that Jesus’ Light shines out and casts shadows. He wrote “The light from the Throne is behind Him as He advances across the centuries, and the shadow is thrown far in front.”
Resource
Spence thought Paul was somehow talking about how Jesus came to be our Savior and Redeemer. His birth and death were foretold throughout the Old Testament.
Making the Connections
How do we connect all of this? It seems like we went here, there, and yonder.
Let’s just say that God has specific ideas about how we should live our lives. Augmenting God’s laws and commandments are not a smart practice. Ignoring them isn’t any better either.
How Do We Apply This?
- Address our desire to throw out all things old.
- We don’t want to add to or subtract from God’s laws and commandments. God will judge us on his interpretation of these, not ours.
- Only Jesus can satisfying the longing in our souls.
Resource
Father God. You instructed Paul to write detailed interpretations of Your laws and commandments. Thank You. Help us when we have trouble comprehending His words. Give us not only the knowledge to know what we are to do, but the heart to act on them the way You require of us. Amen.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Related Links
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
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The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It Was Enough
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
What do you think?
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