Colossians 2:16-23 | Free in Christ

Let’s open the Bible to Colossians 2:16-23. Last week, Paul exulted in our life in Christ, who has overcome all earthly and demonic opposition. Today, Paul fleshes out what it means for us to live as new creations now that Christ has triumphed over all other powers.

Let’s read it now.

COLOSSIAN 2:16-23

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

INTRODUCTION

Here’s an important question we must all answer at some point. How do you know you are truly a Christian?

How do you know?

Are there certain things you do? Certain things you don’t do? Certain things you know that others don’t?

How do you know you’re a Christian?

That was the question the Colossians faced. Someone was questioning their Christianity, judging them, and deeming them religiously insufficient. They were told they needed Jesus, plus something: the proper ascetic lifestyle and religious rule-following. But Jesus, plus something, though it may be a religion, is not Christianity. Jesus, plus anything, is a distortion of the gospel. It is an offense to the free grace of God in Christ.

Listen to what Jesus says in John 6:63. “The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh is no help at all.” Did Jesus say the flesh is some help? He said the flesh is no help at all. We cannot define our Christianity by what we do in the flesh. It is no help at all. We must define our Christianity by what God has done for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The gospel is news we receive, not a badge we earn. The gospel is not Jesus plus; it is Jesus only.

The gospel does not come to us in our Father’s wisdom to say, “Here’s an outline of life if you’d like to use it for yours.” The gospel does not come to us from the nail-pierced hands of Jesus our Savior and say, “Here’s my body and blood to give you a boost.” The gospel is not spoken to the deep places of our hearts by the Spirit to say, “You can do it, and here’s a little internal motivation.” No, the gospel proclaims over us, “You are redeemed by God finally and fully, for God’s glory and by his grace. The only thing you contributed to this finished work is the sin that made salvation necessary. But that is taken care of in the cross of Christ. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

There is the temptation to come to God with more than empty hands, but he asks for nothing more. Listen to what the Bible says. In Isaiah 55:1-2, God speaks through his prophet, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.” In Matthew 28:11, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” We don’t bring our resumes. We don’t list our achievements. We come with nothing. In fact, to come with anything but nothing is to not come at all.

There are no conditions we must meet. As Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Charles Spurgeon said, “Between that word ‘save’ and the next word ‘sinners,’ there is no adjective. It does not say, ‘penitent sinners,’ ‘awakened sinners,’ ‘sensible sinners,’ ‘grieving sinners,’ or ‘alarmed sinners.’ No, it only says, ‘sinners.’” The only qualification we need for the salvation of Christ is our need. We need only be a sinner. We bring the sin. He provides the saving. No need to qualify yourself through deeds. No need to clean yourself first. There is only the call to come. The gospel call of God is a simple one. I might say even an easy one. It is a light one. It is an inviting one. It is a promise to save all who merely come to him, who go straight to him with the empty hands of faith. Nothing else is needed. When we come, we find in him the fullness of salvation, with all the benefits we could ever have in Christ, now and forever, fully and freely given to us.

Some people in Colossae believed that was good enough for a start, but it doesn’t take you to the deep end. Some people today believe that too. But the gospel isn’t merely the start of our journey. It’s not just the doorway but the pathway. The gospel is not something we graduate from and then go on to get our Ph.D. in spirituality by other means. The way to a deeper spirituality is to dive into the gospel deeps. The deeper in we go, the bigger it gets, and the more holy we become.  Not because of what we are doing, but because of what Jesus is doing in us.

So to the question, “How do you know you are a Christian?” the answer is not more difficult than saying boldly by faith, “Because Jesus saved me.” True spirituality does not consist of outward appearances by inward reality with Christ.

To encourage these Colossian believers, Paul wants to confront the false teachers and break the bonds they attempted to tie around the church. Paul does this in three exhortations.

1. Only God can judge you (16-17)

2. Only God can qualify you (18-19)

3. Only God can free you (20-23)

ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE YOU (16-17)

Inside the Colossian church was a self-appointed jury that looked out on others with judgment upon their spiritual lives. There was an Inner Ring claiming the inside scoop on true spirituality.

So far in Colossians, we haven’t heard exactly what the false teaching was, but we see some specifics starting in verse 16. It included abstaining from certain food and drink and observing certain days: festivals, new moons, and the Sabbath. This sounds like Jewish law. Most scholars don’t believe this was purely a Jewish heresy, but whatever it was, it included Jewish elements.  Regardless of its roots, the false teachers set the boundaries of true spirituality around these doctrines and judged others accordingly. Paul wants both parties, especially those who cling to Jesus as their only hope, to know that this judgment is wrong. No man can judge another. Only God can judge. And God has already passed his judgment on these Christians on the cross of Christ.

As we saw last week, God forgives our trespasses and cancels our debt by nailing it to the cross. Jesus was perfect in every way. He never sinned. But on the cross, Jesus was judged for our sins as if they were his sins, as our substitute. This is why the cross is called the great exchange. All our sin was placed on Jesus, and in return, all his righteousness was granted to us. So now it is not only just as if we never sinned but also as if we have always obeyed.

If that’s true, who is left to judge these Colossians? If God has judged and acquitted in Christ, there is no higher court of appeal. That’s Paul’s point. No one can judge you now because, in Christ, you have been judged and found not guilty by grace. That’s not only true when you first believe, but it remains true for the rest of your life. Every day, you are as free as if Jesus died for you yesterday.

Now, in fairness, perhaps the false teachers would agree Jesus paid for our sins, but they still held to a certain path as the way to true spirituality. But that is only a new law. Like the Old Testament law, it’s only a shadow of the things to come. As Paul said in Romans 7:4, when Christ died, “You also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead.” If we have died to the law, what good is it to live to it again, as if it can give something Jesus can’t?

Paul says these false teachers are merely chasing shadows. They’re after the old age, but the new age has come. The law was a shadow of the good things to come (Heb. 10:1). The substance belongs to Christ. He is the fulfillment of the law, and we have that fullness now in him. Why then go back to the law?

The problem can be boiled down to one word: legalism. Legalism is the idea that we earn favor with God through works. Obedience is important. God requires it. But it does not gain us favor with him. We have all the favor we will ever need in Christ by grace. Our works add nothing to that, any more than the works of your children add to your love for them. You love them because you love them, and for those in Christ, God loves you because he loves you.

Maybe you’re a child with many siblings, and you know your parents love you, but you’re the black sheep of the family. No way your parents love you like your all-star brother or sister. I doubt that’s true, but let’s just grant for a moment it is. Is that how God loves? With degrees of affection? No. He loves you as he loves Christ. The doctrine of the adoption of God means we are adopted as sons and daughters in Christ. As Jesus prayed in John 17:23, “You…have loved them even as you have loved me.” You have the fullness of God’s love and favor in Christ freely and fully.

But legalism says you don’t. Legalism establishes requirements of moral conduct beyond what the Bible teaches and then sets the boundaries of true spirituality and acceptance dependent upon adhering to those requirements. In its ugliest form, legalism forces that theology on others. The only way someone is fully “in” is to fully obey their rules, and faith becomes a side-bar issue. Works are what really matter. This is what happened to the Colossians. Legalists were excluding Christians from the Church. The problem is, they aren’t in charge. Jesus is.

One of my favorite phrases is “the finished work of Christ.” When Jesus died on the cross, he did not say, “My part is done, now your turn.” No. He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Jesus lived the perfect life we failed to live and, on the cross, atoned for all our sins to set us right with God now and forever. He finished that work and was raised on the third day. What Jesus has accomplished and filled up on our behalf, he does not also ask us to do to earn his favor. What God has deemed finished, let no man continue.

God asks us to obey him, yes, but out of his fullness of grace, not as a path to it. We obey because we are loved, not to be loved. We obey because we have spiritual life in him, not to gain it. True spirituality is found in Christ alone, in communion with him, in living inside his gospel promises, in going into the gospel deeps, not in eating or drinking the right things or observing the right days, but in loving the Savior and following him only.

That’s God’s judgment, and only he can judge you. Secondly, only God can qualify you.

ONLY GOD CAN QUALIFY YOU (18-19)

Paul cast off their judge in verses 16 and 17, and in verses 18 and 19, he goes after their self-appointed referee, who proclaimed they violated the rules of the game and therefore were disqualified. Whereas before it was a matter of dos and don’ts, now it is a matter of whos and whats. Who do they worship, and to what are they holding fast?

They insist on asceticism, which is a Greek word for humility. They thought themselves humble for their actions, but it was a false humility. True humility doesn’t hold others to its standard. It goes to the low place. Their humility lifted them above others as judges and referees. It puffed them up. In the area of worship, they venerated angels. This was common in the ancient world. The author of Hebrews confronted something similar. They also go on about their visions. They are puffed up by a sensuous mind. In a word, they are misfocused, looking at things other than Jesus.

The key for these false teachers is this mysticism that seems spiritual and supposedly leads one to the “fullness of life” but is not Christ-centered. Too many other things are crowded in with him. Jesus may have a seat at the table, but he’s one of the board members, not the one head.

That’s an easy reality for us to fall into. We can crowd our lives with all kinds of “spiritual” things, but the one true source of spiritual health is Jesus and him alone. True spirituality is found only in Christ because the fullness of deity dwells in him (2:9). Fullness is not found in the angels. It’s not found in mysticism. It’s not found in asceticism. It’s found in Jesus alone. Anything done apart from holding fast to Jesus is a dead end. It may claim spirituality, but it is the opposite. The only truly spiritual people are those who hold fast to the Head because the body is nourished and knit together with growth from God.

Francis Schaeffer said, “This is where true worship is found: not in stained-glass windows, candles, or altarpieces, not in contentless experiences, but in communion with the God who is there—communion for eternity, and communion now, with the infinite-personal God as Abba, Father.”

It comes down to one simple thing, communion with God. That’s why Paul says in verse 19 that the problem with all this extra stuff is that it leads to a puffed-up mind. It doesn’t do anything at all to connect one to Jesus. Whether one is a Christian is not their observance of dietary laws of observance of days or even their super-spiritual lifestyle but whether one belongs to Jesus. It’s not about a certain experience but a certain reality—reality with Christ. Jesus must be not only a board member but the only leader of your life.

Paul uses the illustration of a body in verse 19. A body has only one head, and for the church communally and the Christian individually, that is Jesus. We are nourished by him. We are knit together through joints and ligaments, and the growth is from God himself, apart from all other things. If you are in Christ, you are a part of his body. A body part does not qualify itself. Merely being joined is enough.

True spirituality is Jesus reigning and ruling and guiding and leading and caring and providing and nourishing our life. If we have him, he will take us to the deep places of true spirituality. If we leave him, no matter how spiritual we may look on the outside, we are but whitewashed tombs inside.

Jesus joined us to himself. Let’s not cut ourselves off. No one can say to a body part, “You don’t belong.” Let no one say it to you, either.

Only God can judge you. Only God can qualify you. And third, only God can free you.

ONLY GOD CAN FREE YOU (20-23)

Verse 20 takes us into the crux of Paul’s argument. It is the same as what we saw last week. It all hinges on the death of Christ and our death in him at the cross. Notice the logic Paul uses. Everything the false teaching did was only enslavement to the things of this world. But “If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations?” The false teaching said if you would only do these things and not do these other things, you will find spiritual freedom. But that was a lie. It looks good, but it’s ineffective. Rules and regulations can never free you. Only God can free you.

True spirituality is not a negative reality but a positive one. Galatians 5:1 says, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” God’s desire is not our continued enslavement to this world or the powers of this world but rather freedom in Christ to live as we were made to live. So many people look at religion and see only shackles. I understand why they do. If we define our spirituality in terms of dos and don’ts, I don’t know why anyone would ever want it. But if we define our spirituality in terms of freedom in Christ, I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want it.

So what does it mean to be free in Christ? Let’s just think about that for a little while as we close this sermon.

To be free in Christ means we are dead to everything unholy in this world. We are no longer slaves to our sinful desires. We may not always win the battle, but Jesus won the war for us. Sin may tempt us and sometimes even trip us, but it can never rule again.

To be free in Christ means we are dead to the law, which, though a gift of grace from God, was only our schoolmaster to keep us until the coming of Christ who can free us. Because Jesus obeyed the law perfectly and gave his perfection to us in his sacrifice on the cross, we now have the power to obey in a way we never did before. It’s not just a clean slate; it’s the righteousness of Christ that is ours for the taking.

To be free in Christ means we don’t need to be impressive because we are fully known and yet deeply loved. Everyone in this world is afraid of being found out. But God sees and knows everything in your life, and all it did was give him even more reason to save you. God knows your deepest fears and longings and regrets and temptations and all the rest, and he lavishes his love and grace and mercy upon you in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, moment by moment.

To be free in Christ means you are fully qualified for heaven right now. You didn’t earn it because you couldn’t. God gave it freely in Christ. He earned it for you. He is your entry ticket. More than that, he is your life. Your life is bound up with his. You are hidden in him. You are seated with him. All you want most deeply is found in him and can never be lost and will never fade. Your future is incredibly bright, and you nor anyone else can do anything to change that. No one can snatch you from his hands.

To be free in Christ means more than we can even say here today. It will take eternity for us to plumb the depths, and there will still be more.

In Christ, you have all you will ever need. Cling to him. Don’t chase shadows. Hug the substance. Don’t cut yourself off. Hold fast to the Head. Don’t live for this world. Rejoice in your death in Christ. Even more, rejoice in your life in him.

Let’s pray.