16So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
Colossians 2:16-19
I am a checklist, check-it-off girl. Seriously, I will make a list of ‘to-dos’ and add the things I’ve already done just so I can check them off. While there is nothing wrong with the checklist system, when it comes to living for Jesus, we are saved and called by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, not through works of any kind. Even good works like loving others, going to church, praying, reading the Bible, and tithing cannot save us. They are all good things and should be a part of the believer’s life, but they are meant to flow from the heart and be used to build up our relationship with God – rather than a checklist to please man or make us feel better. We most certainly are to live according to God’s pleasure, which calls for obedience to His Word1, but we must not get caught up in the demands and regulations that ‘man’ has added to God’s expressed desires and purpose for His people. To do so is both dangerous and tiresome and brings no pleasure to our God, no matter how many check marks you have on your list for the day. For God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, not the outward appearance and actions.
“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”2
This is why Paul is teaching the Colossian believers (and by extension all believers) to “not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days.” Those who taught the law had also added restrictions and demands to the law that were used to judge the people of God. Yet, Paul had just reminded them that Christ’s death on the cross had not only granted God’s forgiveness for all their sins, but it had also “canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross … disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.” Our rightness in God’s eyes is no longer judged according to what we do or don’t do but solely on our faith in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son. No amount of outward works can save us or make us better in God’s eyes. For, as Paul tells the Ephesian believers, it is “for by grace you are saved through faith…not from works.”
For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Friends, I’m still a checklist girl, but after getting caught up in the ‘faith/salvation’ checklist way of life for far too many years, my checklists are now reserved for work and household tasks. I found that when it came to a faith checklist, I would end the day feeling “puffed up” for what I’d done spiritually or (more times than not) “like a failure” who needed to work harder and do more, not just to please God but to keep His approval and maintain His love. I will forever praise God that He intervened in my life and led me to a different church where the grace of God was the center of the preaching and teaching, and faith in Christ was elevated to its rightful position over works.
It’s one of Satan’s oldest tricks to make people think that their outward morality pleases God.3
Response of Worship
What a beautiful worship song, a wonderful reminder that our salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone! Nothing we ‘add to it’ or do for it can make it stronger or better – for Christ is our all-sufficient merit ❤️✝️
Response of Prayer
Father, we are to be doers of Your Word and not hearers only. We are to live in obedience to Your commands and walk in the light of Your Word, living out our faith for Your glory, and so that others may see our good works and glorify You in Heaven. Thank You for the reminder that this does not mean we live according to man-made rules, regulations, and demands that teachers and experts in the “law” attempt to impose. Instead, we are to walk by faith in the light of Your Word. (Psalm 119:105). Let the joy of my salvation always be found in You alone, not a checklist, or the whims or pleasures or demands of man. ~ In Jesus’ name ~ Amen ❤️
Reflection and Application
We came to faith by believing in Jesus. We cannot/must not then make it about a set of rules, for “It’s only the life of Jesus, His activity in and through us, that God will ultimately honor.
- How can we guard against getting caught up in judging others or others judging us according to what we eat or drink, or what we celebrate and don’t celebrate…?
The More We Know
Paul refers to the Old Testament legal requirements, from verse 16, calling them “a shadow of the things to come.” The Greek word skia, translated as “shadow,” can also refer to “shade, a sketch, or an outline.” Paul contrasts this with the Greek word sōma, translated as “body.” This word can also mean “reality or substance.” This is the reason adherence to the Law is not a requirement: The Law was merely an outline; it is a shadow, or a hint of things to come. Christ is the actual substance. In making this statement, Paul did not speak against the Law, but rather spoke of Jesus as superior to the Mosaic law. It is the difference between a book and the author of a book. The Law could not exist without the Author. Jesus serves as the author of life (Acts 3:15). He fulfilled the Law without contradicting it. Jesus taught, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
Bibleref.com @ Colossians 2:17
Me From the Inside Out 