3552 — Let No Man Judge You
By Editor
Will you please explain Col. 2:16: "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days"? We wish that our readers would note the context. The one thing seemingly above all others which the apostle desires us to obtain in Colossians is the wonderful truth that we are complete in Christ Jesus our Lord. He desires to present every man "perfect in Christ." In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and "in Him ye are made full, who is the head of all principality and power." Verses 9 and 10. In Him have we been buried in baptism, in Him raised to walk in newness of life, being made alive together with Him, having had all our trespasses forgiven. He has blotted out the bond written in ordinances which was against us, which was contrary to us, and taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. He has won the victory for us over all sin, and all that represents sin. In Him we are complete; and if we have accepted that fulness of our Lord Jesus Christ we are in that place where no one can condemn us. Therefore the apostle declares, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast-day or a new moon or a Sabbath day." God alone is He that judges us. We are not to regard the condemnation of men. But would we understand by that that we are not to observe the Sabbath of the Lord? that we are not to honor our father and mother? that we may freely transgress the commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me"? We could not partake of the fulness of Christ and thus do; for having been clothed with His righteousness, we could not consistently go into sin. Having His righteousness placed upon us for our idolatry, we could not consistently go back into idolatry, and thus crucify the Son of God afresh. Having had His righteousness placed upon us for profanity, we could not consistently indulge in profanity. His righteousness would not cover that. Having had His righteousness placed upon us to cover our Sabbath-breaking, we could not consistently go back to Sabbath-breaking. Before the world we would make Him a transgressor in us. Says the apostle Paul: "Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" Christ died to save us from that transgression, and to place within our heart God's holy law in all its fulness. That law was wrought out in His character in all perfection, so that He was indeed the living law of God in character. And when we come to God with confession of sin, God's righteousness in Christ covers all the sin that we have given up to Him. That is, in the place of the sin, God looks upon the righteousness of Christ, and reckons that to our account. In the place of our Sabbath-breaking, He reckons Christ's perfect Sabbath-keeping. In place of our idolatry, He reckons Christ's reverence and faithfulness in the worship of God. And so with every commandment of the law. We may not observe the Sabbath in the way that somebody else demands. Jesus did not. The Jews had their traditionary way of observing the Sabbath. Jesus observed it in the perfect way, in honoring God and doing good to others. They even sought to kill Him because He did not keep the Sabbath in their way. Some of the Jewish converts to Christianity still observed yearly sabbaths. It is to this, doubtless, that our text refers. There were yearly days which pointed forward to Christ; and some of the converts, with a heart of reverence for the old feasts appointed by the Lord, kept these yearly sabbath days. They are referred to in Leviticus 23. In verse 38 we are told that these are "beside the Sabbaths of the Lord." Some Christians kept the Jewish feast-days. Some of them kept the monthly feasts, or the new moons; others, looking upon the matter in a larger way, did not. These were not things in which the convert should be disturbed. Let no man judge them in those things. Those things were shadows, Christ was the substance. All these yearly days were typical; the weekly Sabbath was not. It antedated sin. Looking upon it in this way all is clear and beautiful. The text does not in any wise speak against the observance of God's Sabbath, any more than against any other commandment of the Decalogue; and the connection in which it is used shows that the ones to whom the apostle is speaking are those invested in the very fulness of Christ, the perfect Commandment-Keeper, in every respect. The apostle's fear was that troublers would come in, those who would endeavor to disturb, and so weaken the hearts of the young converts in getting them to feel that they must do this, and they must do that; they must keep this tradition, or they must keep that tradition. The instruction is that Christ is the fulness; they must hold fast the Head, they must receive from Him, walk with Him, live in Him, follow Him.