Colossians 2:16

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of. feast day or. new moon or. sabbath day:

'LET NO MAN' -Christians are to guard the liberty and freedom which Christ has given them (Galatians 5:1). The phrase 'no man', infers that false teaching is to be rejected, no matter "who" is advocating it (Galatians 1:6).

'THEREFORE' -Connecting this verse back to the previous verses. Based on the truth laid down in Colossians 2:8-15, these are the logical, immediate and pressing applications.

'JUDGE' -2919. krino kree'-no; properly, to distinguish, i.e. decide (mentally or judicially); by implication, to try, condemn, punish: -avenge, conclude, condemn, damn, decree, determine, esteem, judge, go to (sue at the) law, ordain, call in question, sentence to, think.

-'Prohibition present active imperative...forbidding the habit of passing judgement in such matters.' (Robertson p. 496)

-Obviously, 'judge' in. negative sense, i.e. to condemn, take one to task, sit in judgement upon one.

Points to Note:

1. The verse infers that the false teachers were or would be very vocal and intimidating in Colossae. 'the present imperative...probably implies that this sitting in judgement was already being done by some.' (O'Brien p. 138)

2.. am impressed that God wants Christians to enjoy their faith. God admonishes these Christians to refuse to let the false teachers intimidate them into thinking that they are "less of. Christian", because they don't observe certain aspects of the Law of Moses.

3. Clearly, we are to reject all teachings which don't harmonize with the Scriptures, including doctrines which demand more than what the Bible teaches (Revelation 22:18). God wants His people to be confident and settled in their convictions (Ephesians 4:14; Colossians 1:23). And not always questioning whether they are saved or not. This infers that the truth is sufficiently clear is let us know if we are on the right track or otherwise. For if we are always questioning whether we have believed the truth or not, we won't have any time to convert others!

'IN...IN RESPECT OF' -'in the matter of' (TCNT). Carefully observe: God isn't telling these Christians, 'Don't let anyone criticize you', or, 'never admit that you may be wrong'. Rather, the area of condemnation is specific, i.e. don't let anyone condemn you for neglecting things which God doesn't require of you. The wise man does listen to constructive criticism (Proverbs 9:8).

'IN MEAT' -'for what you eat' (Con). Referring to the various food laws which were found in the Law of Moses (cf. Leviticus 11:1). (1 Timothy 4:1).

'OR IN DRINK' -The O.T. did contain some laws in reference to "drink". 'Though the Mosaic law did not dwell so much on drinks as meats, yet...it included some statutes about drinks and drinking vessels' (Eadie p. 171). See (Leviticus 10:9; Numbers 2:3).

Point to Note:

We must not infer from this statement that Paul is saying that the Christian can drink all the intoxicating beverages they desire. For the N.T. condemns drunkenness as well as the O.T. (Galatians 5:21).

'OF. FEAST DAY' -i.e. like Passover, Pentecost, etc...

'OR. NEW MOON' -'The yearly feast, the monthly new moon, and the weekly sabbath' (P.P. Comm. p. 92). (Note the same type of language in 1 Chronicles 23:31; Isaiah 2:13; 2 Chronicles 2:4; 2 Chronicles 31:3; Ezekiel 2:17; Hosea 2:11. For the feast of the new moon, see Numbers 2:10; Numbers 2:11.

Points to Note:

1. In this verse Paul hits basically everything in the Jewish calender, i.e. yearly, monthly and weekly celebrations.

2. If one argues that the Sabbath Day is still binding upon Christians, then one must concede that all the other Jewish festivals are also still binding, for Paul lumps them all together, they either stand or fall together. The Gr. Ex. N.T. correctly notes,. The Sabbath is placed on the same footing as the others.' (p. 531)

'OR. SABBATH DAY' -

Points to Note:

1. The expression is plural in the original Greek, but the plural is often used for the singular (Luke 4:31; Acts 20:7). In fact Vincent notes, 'The plural is only once used in the New Testament of more than. single day (Acts 17:2).' (p. 494)

2. The Seventh Day Adventists argue that Paul doesn't mean the 'weekly' Sabbath day, but other 'special Sabbaths'. In this verse they argue that the word Sabbath refers to yearly or monthly Sabbaths: (a) The term "sabbath" appears 60 times in the New Testament, and even modern Seventh-Day worshippers admit that the other 59 refer to the weekly Sabbath Day. (b) The term "sabbath" in this passage is in the genitive plural, which is identically the same form in which it is found in Exodus 2:8 in the Septuagint. (c) God also may have used to plural to include and cover every Sabbath, i.e. yearly, monthly and weekly. (d) Nothing in the context or the passage would allow us to limit the word "sabbath" to merely monthly or yearly sabbaths. (e) The translators, experts in the original Greek language, obviously saw nothing in the language which would lead them to believe that the weekly Sabbath wasn't included, notice the language. or. sabbath day ', i.e. any Sabbath day.

3. In practice the Seventh Day Adventists and other groups which adhere to the Sabbath Day are found guilty of teaching that the Sabbath Day was more important to God than the Passover celebration, Pentecost, Tabernacles or the Year of Jubilee. Did God see it that way?