Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
The shadows are the Jewish religious system with its sacrifices, ceremonies and ordinances, which pointed forward to Christ and especially to His death, while Christ Himself is the substance and reality to which they pointed. At His death type met antitype, so the ceremonial system was fulfilled, nailed to the cross and ceased to be binding, freeing those under the gospel from observing its rites. That ending did not abolish the Ten Commandments, which remain binding and changeless, and whose violation made the offerings necessary. The body belongs to Christ as its Head and center, from whom knit together by joints and bands it receives nourishment and increases. The contrast calls for inward reality over outward profession, since ceremonies cannot cleanse the heart, and for holding fast to the Head rather than being beguiled from Him.
Shadow and Substance Defined
The verse sets a shadow of things to come against the body, which belongs to Christ and is found in Him, so substance and shadow are real and distinct and must be kept distinct. In religious things this calls for discernment between what is real like pure gold and what is only shadow like mere glitter, a right discernment that requires cultivated religious faculties. The most deceptive assault on that distinction comes on the highest, most elevated plane through spurious scientific theories and problems regarding God and His Word, spiritualizing the doctrines of present truth until no distinction remains between substance and shadow. Failure to distinguish substance from shadow leads to accusing and criticizing those God is using, and to accuse and criticize them is to accuse the Lord who sent them.
The verse is a treasure house of encouragement to the believer, holding rich, full, abundant and assuring promises of God to be received. It exposes the folly of turning from Christ to humanity for help and calls believers to appreciate Jesus so they see the salvation of God. It shows what Christ is to them and what they may be to Him as His helping hand.
Jewish System Pointed Forward
The shadows are the Jewish religious system in its full breadth — its Levitical service, Mosaic law, ritual and ceremonial law of ordinances, divinely appointed services, ceremonies, forms, symbols, rites, sacrificial offerings and animal sacrifices. They pointed forward to the gospel and to Christ, to His mission and work, and especially to His death as the Son of God. The Jewish ceremonies and ordinances were temporary shadows prefiguring that death, unlike the Ten Commandments which are a lasting reality. Their role ended when Christ died, and confusing the ceremonial laws with the moral law as though both were abolished confuses the shadow with the enduring law of God.
Christ is the substance, reality and antitype to which those shadows pointed, in whom type meets antitype. He is the foundation and center of the whole Jewish economy from Adam's day, the author and foundation of all the religion of God's chosen people and the finisher of the faith. He Himself originated the sacrificial system, being its originator and the originator of the entire Jewish system of sacrifices, whose central object was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the guiltless one foretold by Moses and the prophets to bear the sins of the guilty, the vindicator of truth and vindicator of His Father's law, and the fulfiller of all prophecy and of prophecy concerning Messiah. The forms and ceremonies were not wrong in themselves; the error was keeping them while rejecting Christ, the fulfillment of the whole system.
God appointed those types and shadows to keep faith alive among His people and to teach religious faith, obedience and practical godliness to all people. With the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world as their central object, the types and figures given through the prophets revealed sacred truth link after link. The Jewish economy was a compact prophecy of the gospel, presenting the gospel in figures through its ceremonies and symbols with Christ as their substance, while the Old Testament first taught practical godliness which Christ brought out in His teaching.
Their full meaning was veiled until the ancient prophecies concerning Messiah were compared with the facts of His life, death and resurrection to establish their fulfillment in Him. Christ's death revealed the meaning of the ceremonies, and He lifted the veil from understanding so their meaning was seen clearly. Christ honored the offering laws during His life, including when He directed a healed leper to present the offering required by Moses. That honoring distinguishes the ceremonial ordinances, which were shadows pointing to Christ and fulfilled when He died, from the moral law and the statutes that explained and guarded it, which His death does not make temporary.
Fulfillment at the Cross
At the death of Christ type met antitype and what had been shadowed came to pass. The typical law, the ceremonial system and the sacrificial offerings of animal sacrifices and ceremonies pointing forward to Him and His death reached their substance and reality in Him. They were fulfilled, abolished, nailed to the cross, rendered valueless, and ceased to be binding, to have force for God's people, and were to altogether cease. That ending did not do away with God's law and did not mean the Ten Commandments ended with Him, for their violation is what had made the offerings necessary.
That fulfillment authorized a change in the Hebrew manner of worship once specified by God. Christianity was not required to connect itself with Jewish laws and ceremonies, and those living under the gospel were freed from observing those rites. Insistence on still connecting Christianity with them comes from slowness to discern the end of what was abolished. Continuing to offer sacrifices after the crucifixion denies Christ, by signaling a wait for a Redeemer yet to come and lack of faith in the Redeemer who died.
The past service is therefore not to be held in contempt. The light of the gospel sheds glory upon the Jewish religion and gives its ancient rites a new significance by revealing what they pointed to. This marks the difference between living faith and dead formalism.
Many clung to type and shadow while rejecting the antitype and substance. The spiritual and eternal import of the shadow had become obscured under rigorous devotion to forms, human traditions claimed as the Mosaic system, and false theories mingled with them, which became barriers to correct understanding and practical piety. Fastened by Satan's deceiving power upon unconsecrated minds, in blind suppositions and incorrect interpretations, they were blinded so they did not know Him nor the time of their visitation. They resisted the real true light shining on their way because it did not substantiate their own ideas and interpretations, proudly displaying their ceremonies before His very face while rejecting Him Himself, and so destroyed themselves.
Moral Law Remains Binding
The verse draws a dividing line between two laws: on one side the temporary ceremonial ordinances, Jewish ceremonies, types and shadows pointing forward to Christ and fulfilled when He died, and on the other side the moral law with the statutes that explain and guard it, which are lasting reality and not part of that passing shadow. The ritual, ceremonial law of ordinances reached its substance when type met antitype in Christ, and was therefore abolished and nailed to the cross, but the verse applies only to that temporary system and does not do away with the law engraven on stone. Christ honored the offering laws during His life, as when He directed a healed leper to present the offering required by Moses, yet His death revealed their meaning and ended their binding force, while leaving the moral law and its enduring statutes untouched.
That ending did not abolish the Ten Commandments; treating ceremonial and moral law as though both were abolished confuses the shadow with the enduring law of God. When type met antitype at the crucifixion the typical sacrificial system, the entire shadowy system of animal sacrifices and offerings, ceased and was rendered valueless, but this did not do away with God's law. The ten commandments are not part of that shadow and remain to be kept in letter and in spirit, and insistence that Christianity must connect itself with Jewish laws and ceremonies comes from slowness to discern the end of what was abolished. Only the typical law ended at His death, while the moral law remains to show a person a sinner, leading to dying to sin, obedience, faith in Jesus as Saviour, baptism and earnest preaching. It was violation of the moral law that had made those offerings necessary, and Jesus did not make the law of God of no effect but came for the express purpose of vindicating His Father's law, magnifying and honoring it as author and foundation of His people's religion from Adam's day and finisher of the faith.
Paul did not abandon the Ten Commandments when the reality foreshadowed by sacrifices and ceremonies arrived; he continued to keep them in letter and spirit as faithfully after conversion as before, still claiming to be one of the children of Abraham. Putting the moral law in the place of the ceremonial law so as to make it void is part of Satan's continuing rebellion against God's law, while the verse sets the true moral standard of the gospel that must not be perverted. That standard shows that what is sown is reaped, so each must know whether sowing tares or wheat, learning sincere love and gratitude to Him who gave His life only in the deepest sense of ruin, walking in greatest humility closest to Christ's example and avoiding harm to His flock by precept or example.
Body United Under Christ
The body is of Christ, and Christ is its substance and Head and center. From Him the whole body by joints and bands, knit together, receives nourishment and increases with the increase of God. The members grow only as they are joined together under Him, rather than acting independently or at random. The ceremonial services and sacrifices were shadows pointing forward to Him as their reality and fulfillment.
All lines of God's work are but parts of one great whole, and Christ is head over all the institutions God has established. The church and its different lines of work are to remain connected under Christ, with every part functioning in ordered relation rather than independently, disjointed, or random. They are to be joined part to part in perfect order and relation in church capacity to reveal God's wisdom. God's plan of salvation works in this ordered, connected way through His united church to spread the influence of the cross.
The cross is central to God's plan of salvation, and its influence reaches every part of God's work. It must occupy the central place because it is the means of man's atonement and exerts influence on every part of the divine government. To be beguiled by voluntary humility and worshiping of angels and fleshly pride into not holding the Head cuts off that nourishment and unity.
Living by Substance Today
The contrast between shadow and substance rebukes outward profession without inward reality, for outward ceremonies and performances cannot cleanse the heart or recommend anyone to God. The Jewish ceremonial observances and sacrificial ceremonies were shadows pointing forward to Christ the Sin-bearer and true offering for human sin, and when He died type met antitype so their purpose was fulfilled and they no longer have force. The people had made the forms central while failing to see the substance those outward rites represented, grasping outward profession while genuine godliness was lost. When the temple service ceased the outward ceremonies were removed so that heart service could be revived and spiritual worship revealed, requiring inward cleansing and religion of the heart and life with the heart purified from selfishness and earthliness by God's grace and Spirit.
To spiritualize present-truth doctrines and the doctrines of present truth until no distinction remains between substance and shadow undermines and destroys the foundations of faith. Substance and shadow are distinct and must be kept distinct, with the substance found in Christ. This spiritualizing is the enemy's most specious temptation coming on the highest, most elevated plane through spurious scientific theories and scientific problems regarding God and His Word.
In religious things there is substance like pure gold and shadow like mere glitter, and right discernment between them requires cultivated religious faculties. Failure to distinguish substance from shadow leads to accusing and criticizing those God is using, and to accuse and criticize them is to accuse and criticize the Lord who sent them.
Colossians 2:12-17 sets the true moral standard of the gospel that must not be perverted, showing that what is sown is reaped so each must know whether sowing tares or wheat. There is decided danger in harming the flock of God by precept or example. Only in the deepest sense of ruin is sincere love for Christ learned, with proper gratitude to Him who gave His life, and those who live most closely to the example given in the life of Christ walk in greatest humility and humbleness of mind.
The shadows are the Jewish religious system with its sacrifices, ceremonies and ordinances, which pointed forward to Christ and especially to His death, while Christ Himself is the substance and reality to which they pointed.
At His death type met antitype, so the ceremonial system was fulfilled, nailed to the cross and ceased to be binding, freeing those under the gospel from observing its rites.
That ending did not abolish the Ten Commandments, which remain binding and changeless, and whose violation made the offerings necessary.
The body belongs to Christ as its Head and center, from whom knit together by joints and bands it receives nourishment and increases.
The contrast calls for inward reality over outward profession, since ceremonies cannot cleanse the heart, and for holding fast to the Head rather than being beguiled from Him.
Shadow and Substance Defined
The verse sets a shadow of things to come against the body, which belongs to Christ and is found in Him, so substance and shadow are real and distinct and must be kept distinct. In religious things this calls for discernment between what is real like pure gold and what is only shadow like mere glitter, a right discernment that requires cultivated religious faculties. The most deceptive assault on that distinction comes on the highest, most elevated plane through spurious scientific theories and problems regarding God and His Word, spiritualizing the doctrines of present truth until no distinction remains between substance and shadow. Failure to distinguish substance from shadow leads to accusing and criticizing those God is using, and to accuse and criticize them is to accuse the Lord who sent them.
The verse is a treasure house of encouragement to the believer, holding rich, full, abundant and assuring promises of God to be received. It exposes the folly of turning from Christ to humanity for help and calls believers to appreciate Jesus so they see the salvation of God. It shows what Christ is to them and what they may be to Him as His helping hand.
Jewish System Pointed Forward
The shadows are the Jewish religious system in its full breadth — its Levitical service, Mosaic law, ritual and ceremonial law of ordinances, divinely appointed services, ceremonies, forms, symbols, rites, sacrificial offerings and animal sacrifices. They pointed forward to the gospel and to Christ, to His mission and work, and especially to His death as the Son of God. The Jewish ceremonies and ordinances were temporary shadows prefiguring that death, unlike the Ten Commandments which are a lasting reality. Their role ended when Christ died, and confusing the ceremonial laws with the moral law as though both were abolished confuses the shadow with the enduring law of God.
Christ is the substance, reality and antitype to which those shadows pointed, in whom type meets antitype. He is the foundation and center of the whole Jewish economy from Adam's day, the author and foundation of all the religion of God's chosen people and the finisher of the faith. He Himself originated the sacrificial system, being its originator and the originator of the entire Jewish system of sacrifices, whose central object was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He is the guiltless one foretold by Moses and the prophets to bear the sins of the guilty, the vindicator of truth and vindicator of His Father's law, and the fulfiller of all prophecy and of prophecy concerning Messiah. The forms and ceremonies were not wrong in themselves; the error was keeping them while rejecting Christ, the fulfillment of the whole system.
God appointed those types and shadows to keep faith alive among His people and to teach religious faith, obedience and practical godliness to all people. With the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world as their central object, the types and figures given through the prophets revealed sacred truth link after link. The Jewish economy was a compact prophecy of the gospel, presenting the gospel in figures through its ceremonies and symbols with Christ as their substance, while the Old Testament first taught practical godliness which Christ brought out in His teaching.
Their full meaning was veiled until the ancient prophecies concerning Messiah were compared with the facts of His life, death and resurrection to establish their fulfillment in Him. Christ's death revealed the meaning of the ceremonies, and He lifted the veil from understanding so their meaning was seen clearly. Christ honored the offering laws during His life, including when He directed a healed leper to present the offering required by Moses. That honoring distinguishes the ceremonial ordinances, which were shadows pointing to Christ and fulfilled when He died, from the moral law and the statutes that explained and guarded it, which His death does not make temporary.
Fulfillment at the Cross
At the death of Christ type met antitype and what had been shadowed came to pass. The typical law, the ceremonial system and the sacrificial offerings of animal sacrifices and ceremonies pointing forward to Him and His death reached their substance and reality in Him. They were fulfilled, abolished, nailed to the cross, rendered valueless, and ceased to be binding, to have force for God's people, and were to altogether cease. That ending did not do away with God's law and did not mean the Ten Commandments ended with Him, for their violation is what had made the offerings necessary.
That fulfillment authorized a change in the Hebrew manner of worship once specified by God. Christianity was not required to connect itself with Jewish laws and ceremonies, and those living under the gospel were freed from observing those rites. Insistence on still connecting Christianity with them comes from slowness to discern the end of what was abolished. Continuing to offer sacrifices after the crucifixion denies Christ, by signaling a wait for a Redeemer yet to come and lack of faith in the Redeemer who died.
The past service is therefore not to be held in contempt. The light of the gospel sheds glory upon the Jewish religion and gives its ancient rites a new significance by revealing what they pointed to. This marks the difference between living faith and dead formalism.
Many clung to type and shadow while rejecting the antitype and substance. The spiritual and eternal import of the shadow had become obscured under rigorous devotion to forms, human traditions claimed as the Mosaic system, and false theories mingled with them, which became barriers to correct understanding and practical piety. Fastened by Satan's deceiving power upon unconsecrated minds, in blind suppositions and incorrect interpretations, they were blinded so they did not know Him nor the time of their visitation. They resisted the real true light shining on their way because it did not substantiate their own ideas and interpretations, proudly displaying their ceremonies before His very face while rejecting Him Himself, and so destroyed themselves.
Moral Law Remains Binding
The verse draws a dividing line between two laws: on one side the temporary ceremonial ordinances, Jewish ceremonies, types and shadows pointing forward to Christ and fulfilled when He died, and on the other side the moral law with the statutes that explain and guard it, which are lasting reality and not part of that passing shadow. The ritual, ceremonial law of ordinances reached its substance when type met antitype in Christ, and was therefore abolished and nailed to the cross, but the verse applies only to that temporary system and does not do away with the law engraven on stone. Christ honored the offering laws during His life, as when He directed a healed leper to present the offering required by Moses, yet His death revealed their meaning and ended their binding force, while leaving the moral law and its enduring statutes untouched.
That ending did not abolish the Ten Commandments; treating ceremonial and moral law as though both were abolished confuses the shadow with the enduring law of God. When type met antitype at the crucifixion the typical sacrificial system, the entire shadowy system of animal sacrifices and offerings, ceased and was rendered valueless, but this did not do away with God's law. The ten commandments are not part of that shadow and remain to be kept in letter and in spirit, and insistence that Christianity must connect itself with Jewish laws and ceremonies comes from slowness to discern the end of what was abolished. Only the typical law ended at His death, while the moral law remains to show a person a sinner, leading to dying to sin, obedience, faith in Jesus as Saviour, baptism and earnest preaching. It was violation of the moral law that had made those offerings necessary, and Jesus did not make the law of God of no effect but came for the express purpose of vindicating His Father's law, magnifying and honoring it as author and foundation of His people's religion from Adam's day and finisher of the faith.
Paul did not abandon the Ten Commandments when the reality foreshadowed by sacrifices and ceremonies arrived; he continued to keep them in letter and spirit as faithfully after conversion as before, still claiming to be one of the children of Abraham. Putting the moral law in the place of the ceremonial law so as to make it void is part of Satan's continuing rebellion against God's law, while the verse sets the true moral standard of the gospel that must not be perverted. That standard shows that what is sown is reaped, so each must know whether sowing tares or wheat, learning sincere love and gratitude to Him who gave His life only in the deepest sense of ruin, walking in greatest humility closest to Christ's example and avoiding harm to His flock by precept or example.
Body United Under Christ
The body is of Christ, and Christ is its substance and Head and center. From Him the whole body by joints and bands, knit together, receives nourishment and increases with the increase of God. The members grow only as they are joined together under Him, rather than acting independently or at random. The ceremonial services and sacrifices were shadows pointing forward to Him as their reality and fulfillment.
All lines of God's work are but parts of one great whole, and Christ is head over all the institutions God has established. The church and its different lines of work are to remain connected under Christ, with every part functioning in ordered relation rather than independently, disjointed, or random. They are to be joined part to part in perfect order and relation in church capacity to reveal God's wisdom. God's plan of salvation works in this ordered, connected way through His united church to spread the influence of the cross.
The cross is central to God's plan of salvation, and its influence reaches every part of God's work. It must occupy the central place because it is the means of man's atonement and exerts influence on every part of the divine government. To be beguiled by voluntary humility and worshiping of angels and fleshly pride into not holding the Head cuts off that nourishment and unity.
Living by Substance Today
The contrast between shadow and substance rebukes outward profession without inward reality, for outward ceremonies and performances cannot cleanse the heart or recommend anyone to God. The Jewish ceremonial observances and sacrificial ceremonies were shadows pointing forward to Christ the Sin-bearer and true offering for human sin, and when He died type met antitype so their purpose was fulfilled and they no longer have force. The people had made the forms central while failing to see the substance those outward rites represented, grasping outward profession while genuine godliness was lost. When the temple service ceased the outward ceremonies were removed so that heart service could be revived and spiritual worship revealed, requiring inward cleansing and religion of the heart and life with the heart purified from selfishness and earthliness by God's grace and Spirit.
To spiritualize present-truth doctrines and the doctrines of present truth until no distinction remains between substance and shadow undermines and destroys the foundations of faith. Substance and shadow are distinct and must be kept distinct, with the substance found in Christ. This spiritualizing is the enemy's most specious temptation coming on the highest, most elevated plane through spurious scientific theories and scientific problems regarding God and His Word.
In religious things there is substance like pure gold and shadow like mere glitter, and right discernment between them requires cultivated religious faculties. Failure to distinguish substance from shadow leads to accusing and criticizing those God is using, and to accuse and criticize them is to accuse and criticize the Lord who sent them.
Colossians 2:12-17 sets the true moral standard of the gospel that must not be perverted, showing that what is sown is reaped so each must know whether sowing tares or wheat. There is decided danger in harming the flock of God by precept or example. Only in the deepest sense of ruin is sincere love for Christ learned, with proper gratitude to Him who gave His life, and those who live most closely to the example given in the life of Christ walk in greatest humility and humbleness of mind.