… by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.
Summary: In this passage, Paul gives us a rule about rules.
Let’s review the entire verse before we start our meditation:
“Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.”
Paul begins with “Therefore…” referring to his prior statement that God made us “alive in Christ” (Col 2:13) and has canceled our “legal indebtedness” (Col 2:14) by means of the cross, “do not let anyone judge you by legalistic requirements.“
This is not a mysterious statement or a confusing metaphor. Paul is speaking as plainly as humanly possible here. There is no chance that anyone would or could misunderstand his point.
Except we do.
All the time.
Constantly.
Almost every Christian I know has a rule of some kind. Personally, I have to constantly fight my tendency to make “rules” about being a Christian. Anybody different than me is liable to fall under these rules.
Should Christians wear a hat inside the church? Should they drink alcohol? Should we dance or not dance? Is some music more “Christian” than others?
How about drinking coffee at church or eating those little breath mints in the crackly cellophane wrappers? Should crackly food wrappers be allowed in church?
What about how people dress or whether they have tattoos? Should Christians get up early, or does it matter? What about people who don’t go to church? Are they still Christian?
Are Christians judged by their theology? Do you believe the whole Bible or just parts of it? Have you experienced the gifts of the Spirit the same way I have, or are you different? Then there is my favorite of all time — Which translation of the Bible do you use?
Even Paul has his own ideas about how Christians should behave and dress* which makes this topic a bit complicated.
Being a Christian can be a lonely business. Weirdly, that is kind of the way Jesus wants it. He says, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
Maybe Jesus wants us to simply focus on him.
Application: Set aside all the rules for a day and just focus on Jesus.
Food for Thought: What does it feel like to live entirely without rules?
*See 1 Corinthians 11: 1-16
A culture that lives entirely without rules would lead to chaos and anarchy. I think the ultimate question is whose rules do we live by. Even Jesus commanded us to make disciples, be His witnesses to the ends of the earth and to love God and others. If we focus on what He wants and not what I want or others want, then I think following His rules are a good guide to life. In the sermon on the mount Jesus even shared what His expectations are of His followers.
Thankfully, when it comes to salvation it is not based on rules, but the cross.
There are rules for living a healthy life that honors God (see the ten commandments especially the fifth command). But we should probably strive to live according to His word to please Him and not add any rules of our own. This is definitely hard to do, but worth the effort.
Thank you, Brother!
It is true that God’s Law remains in place even when we look at the freedom of living under Grace in Christ!
An interesting thing is happening right now. I am sitting at my computer responding to today’s meditation and my 6 year old is sitting here asking me about it (because he saw the picture of the man sitting in church). So I have tried to explain the lesson for today and he said in response “If Jesus is in your heart, He will tell you what rules to follow.” I think that is pretty spot on.
I think Rich brings up an important point. This present world without rules would be anarchy, and would give rise to oppression. If everyone loved God first and their neighbor as themselves, it would be a different story. But we are not there.
I think though, your question is asking something different, which is actually closer to my heart. What is like to live without rules in the sense of living under God’s grace. To not rely on a checklist of activities or set of “do’s” and “don’ts” as a means to “feel” worthy or justified. That in God’s grace, through Christ, He counts us a justified because of Christ’s sacrifice, and nothing we do or don’t do will change that. We are given grace to grow in His presence. In growing, we learn to listen to and trust the voice of the Holy Spirit. In that sense, all the rules go out the window, as we know that the Holy Spirit will guide us only to the love of God and in how to express love to God and to our neighbors.
What does it feel like to live entirely without rules?
More peaceful than with the rules. I don’t feel like I am “toeing the line” all the time, as I felt for much of my life prior. Plus, I feel like I get advanced warning. “If you go down this road…” “Think about what this means…” “Is this what love requires…” are common thoughts that come into my mind in daily life. Not in fear, but in knowing that going in that direction steers me away from His Presence.
Ezekiel 36:26–28 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
2 Corinthians 3:17–18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Thank you, Chris!
I like your son’s answer!! 🙂
Tell him “Good job!” from me! 🙂
What does it feel like to live entirely without rules?
How about we all choose our individual way to spell words as being the proper spelling for words, or our driving speed/habits are the correct speed/habits for every roadway, under all conditions? Or maybe we choose to change our birth gender to whatever we want ( today man’s recorded total is up to 81 instead of 2 created by God ).
We would be choosing to live in our own reality, our own definition of truth, as we ultimately sought chaos and disorder, over order, and insanity over sanity. A world in total chaos. A life living in conviction of the Holy Spirit, separated and eventually given over to a reprobate mind by God. The goal of our enemy, and the final destination of a life with no rules.
Romans 1:20-32, John 16:8-11
Thanks, Ron!
You got me! I have a hard enough time spelling as it is. If it wasn’t for “spell check” on the computer I could give you a real-life example of what you are talking about. 🙂
In my defense, I should point out that my premise was that we end up putting all our attention on Jesus! 🙂
How about this? Romans 12:1-2
New International Version
A Living Sacrifice
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Thanks, Paul!
I like it!! That verse captures the spirit of what Paul is telling us in today’s passage.
What does it feel like to live entirely without rules?
That’s called anarchy and we’ve decided that’s a bad idea.
Thank you, T&A!
When the “self” is in charge, you are absolutely right. But what about when Jesus is the focus of our lives instead of rules? What does that feel like?