Here’s something that might make you uncomfortable: following all the rules won’t save you. In fact, adding rules to your faith might be the very thing that keeps you from experiencing the freedom Christ died to give you. Colossians chapter two has some hard words for anyone who’s tempted to measure spirituality by how many laws you keep — and it’s exactly what we need to hear today.
Why God Gave the Law
Before we look at what Paul says in Colossians, we need to understand why God gave the law in the first place. It wasn’t to be a ladder we climb toward heaven. The law was given to show us we can’t keep it — and to point us to the only One who could.
“We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.”
— Galatians 2:15-16
Paul puts it plainly: no one is made right with God by following the rules. The law was never meant to save us. It was meant to show us our need for a Savior. Jesus didn’t come to tweak the system — He came to end the system so that we could be welcomed into God’s family through faith alone.
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
— John 5:39-40
Even the religious leaders in Jesus’ day missed this. They knew the Bible inside and out, but they missed the whole point — the rules were pointing to Christ all along.
The Four Rules Paul Addresses
In Colossians 2:16, Paul names four specific areas where the Colossian believers were being judged: food and drink, festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths. These weren’t random rules — they were the major categories of Old Testament law.
“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. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.”
— Colossians 2:16-17
Think about it. God gave the Jews a detailed diet in Leviticus 11 — clean and unclean animals, rules about what they could and couldn’t eat. He gave them seven annual festivals that required travel to Jerusalem. He established monthly sacrifices at each new moon. And He commanded weekly Sabbaths when no work could be done.
These weren’t suggestions. They were requirements that set Israel apart as God’s covenant people. But Paul says they were shadows — and shadows only make sense when the real thing shows up. Christ is the substance. Christ is the fulfillment. When He came, the shadows were fulfilled.
That’s why Peter had that remarkable vision in Acts 10 when God showed him that clean and unclean categories no longer apply. The food rules pointed to something — and that something is Jesus.
Modern-Day Add-Ons
Now here’s where it gets personal. Paul lists four rules from the Old Testament, but don’t we do the same thing today? We may not be judging people for eating pork, but we’re quick to add our own list of requirements.
Think about tithing. Under the Old Testament, Israelites were required to give a tenth of their income. But Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8 that we get to decide how much we give. God loves a cheerful giver — someone who gives because their heart is in it, not because they were coerced by a percentage.
Or consider alcohol. The Bible warns clearly against drunkenness — that’s sin. But the Bible doesn’t prohibit all drinking. When churches tell people they can’t touch alcohol, they’re adding to what Scripture actually says. That’s a modern-day shadow-being-treated-as-substance moment.
And water baptism. Here’s where it gets tricky. When someone puts their faith in Christ, they’re baptized by the Holy Spirit and placed into the body of Christ. That’s the reality. But some churches add requirements: you must be baptized in water, in a specific way, in their building, before you can become a member or take communion. That’s adding a shadow back onto the substance.
The pattern is always the same. Something with wisdom and good motives gets twisted. Satan takes what God gave to point us to Christ and turns it into an idol we boast about instead.
Don’t Let Anyone Judge You
Paul’s answer to all of this is stunningly simple: don’t let anyone judge you. Not on food, not on drink, not on holidays, not on how you practice your faith in areas where Scripture doesn’t give us a clear command.
“As for the one who’s weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”
— Romans 14:1-3
Notice what Paul isn’t saying. He’s not saying nothing matters. He’s not saying there’s no such thing as sin. He’s saying: on disputable matters — things where Scripture doesn’t give us a clear thou shalt or thou shalt not — we need to extend grace to each other. We get to make our own decisions before the Lord.
“Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.”
— Romans 14:4
That’s freeing and terrifying at the same time. I get to answer to God for my choices — and so do you. That means I shouldn’t judge you, and you shouldn’t judge me. We answer to the same Lord.
So What?
Here’s where the sermon lands. Christ fulfilled the law. You’re complete in Him. You don’t need to add anything to your faith to be right with God — you’ve already been made right through Jesus.
Walk in that freedom. If you want to abstain from certain foods or observe certain days as special to the Lord, that’s between you and Him — don’t let anyone push that onto you as a requirement for salvation. And if someone else makes different choices in disputable matters, welcome them. Don’t boss them around. Don’t look down on them.
The law was never the point. Christ is the point. And He’s enough.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
— Romans 15:13
Scripture References
- Colossians 2:16-23 — The main passage on freedom from legalism
- Galatians 2:15-16 — Justified by faith, not works of the law
- John 5:39-40 — Jesus confronts religious leaders about missing the point of Scripture
- Romans 14:1-4 — Disputable matters and welcoming one another
- Romans 15:13 — Benediction: God filling us with hope
- Leviticus 11 — Clean and unclean animals
- Numbers 28 — New moon offerings
- Acts 10:9-16 — Peter’s vision of clean and unclean
- 2 Corinthians 8 — Cheerful giving under grace