Commandments for Christians – Colossians 2

In my introduction to this series of blog posts, I drew attention to verses that supported my belief that the ten commandments were no longer applicable to the believer.

Verses like Romans 10:4, that I understood taught the law ended at the cross.

I hope you have noted that during our discussions in this topic, I found that the keeping of the ten commandments is a fruit of living in the Spirit, not a requirement to keep the Spirit.

Massive difference, and one which makes so much sense.  But what about those earlier verses?  I can’t just ignore them, or relegate them to some dustbin of irrelevance.  No no no – that won’t do!

So in this epilogue, I thought I would consider the verses that helped support my erroneous thinking earlier.

So off we go.

Our next set of verses will be found in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 2:20

…why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations

Paul is addressing a church that is having some struggles with false teachers, teachers that are trying to “delude them with plausible arguments (v4).  He is seeking to get these believers to keep their eye on Christ.  Christ is the source and end of all of life.  Paul states that “in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” Paul elevates Christ in order to reveal the error of those “plausible arguments”.

Rant #1

As an aside, when someone tries to convince you of an alternate type of Christianity, one of the best vaccines against error is considering the elevated Christ as the One supplying that teaching.  Does it sound like something the Master taught in the gospels?

For example, if someone tries to get you to honor God by celebrating a “holy” day, consider the Master, when He healed on the Sabbath (John 5:18).  Why did He do that?  Because He is greater than the type, and some people would recognize it.  Other people would kill Him over it!

The Sabbath had a much greater anti-type (P.S. it is the Lord Himself, as with all OT types!).  To “obey’ the Sabbath, in the form of honoring one day a week, is hearkening back to a type. No one should fall back to earthly shadows, when we have reality. This was Paul’s point.

Strive to enter that rest, (in the Sabbath), in the Lord Jesus and you will have found the reason for the type!

Consider this.

Back to Colossians.

Paul is addressing the intended effect of the cross on the life of the believer.  No longer do we need to fall under the influence of shadow teachers, but to simply hold onto the Head.

Paul’s reference to regulations, as he defines it, refers to worldly items, items that perish, that have no lasting influence over us unless we desire it.

This passage has high Christology that I am not familiar with enough.  I simply need to know Him better, and to avoid the pitfalls of the shadow teachers.  Allowing myself to be influenced by men who are puffed up in their sensuous mind is judgement on my spiritual maturity.

May God have mercy on our souls as we seek to know Jesus and Him only.

---

Follow Considering the Bible on WordPress.com

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.