Colossians 2:16-22

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 2:20

Verse 20 20.If ye are dead. He had previously said, that the ordinances were fastened to the cross of Christ. (Colossians 2:14.) He now employs another figure of speech — that we are dead to them, as he teaches us elsewhere, that we are dead to the law, and the law, on the other hand, to us. (Galatians 2:19.) The term death means abrogation, (416) but it is more expressive and more emphatic, ( καὶ ἐμφατικώτερον.) He says, therefore, that the Colossians, have nothing to do with ordinances. Why?... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 2:21

Verse 21 21.Eat not, taste not. Hitherto this has been rendered — Handle not, but as another word immediately follows, which signifies the same thing, every one sees how cold and absurd were such a repetition. Farther, the verb ἅπτεσθαι is employed by the Greeks, among its other significations, in the sense of eating, (417) in accordance with the rendering that I have given. Plutarch makes use of it in the life of Caesar, when he relates that his soldiers, in destitution of all things, ate... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Colossians 2:22

Verse 22 22.All which things tend to corruption. He sets aside, by a twofold argument, the enactments of which he has made mention — because they make religion consist in things outward and frail, which have no connection with the spiritual kingdom of God; and secondly, because they are from men, not from God. He combats the first argument, also, in Romans 14:17, when he says, The kingdom of God is not in meat and drink; likewise in 1 Corinthians 6:13, Meat for the belly, and the belly for... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16

Do not let any one, therefore, be judging you in eating or in drinking . The new teachers dictated to the Colossians in these matters from the philosophical, ascetic point of view (see notes on "philosophy,'' "circumcision," verses 8, 11), condemning their previous liberty. (For the adverse sense of "judge," comp. Romans 14:4 , Romans 14:10 , Romans 14:13 .) The scruples of the "weak brethren" at Rome ( Romans 14:1-23 ) were partly of an ascetic character, but are not ascribed to any... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16

The rights of liberty. At first sight the advice of St. Paul to the Colossians, not to let any one interfere with their private judgment in regard to meats, days, etc., may seem to conflict with the principle of generosity laid down in the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "If meat maketh my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh forvermore, that I make not my brother to stumble." But a closer examination of the two cases will show that they differ essentially. I. CONSIDERATION FOR... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-17

Condemnation of ritualistic observances and ascetic severities. The apostle draws a practical inference from the view he had just given of the work of Christ. "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or of a new moon, or of a sabbath day: which things are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ's." I. THE PROHIBITION . It is twofold, respecting first the distinction of meats and drinks, and then the observance of times. 1... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-19

Christian independence. Remembering the evils in the Church at Colossal, namely, the ceremonialism, the asceticism, the appeal to angelic mediators, and at the same time recalling the theme of the paragraph preceding the verses now before us, the complete sufficiency of Christ as man's Mediator, nature's Lord and Consecrator, and the soul's Deliverer from bondage to ceremonies, we are prepared to notice the result of Christ's work for man and over man, as here suggested, and to consider... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-19

Two dangers to be avoided. We find here two notes of warning—"Let no man judge you;" "Let no man rob you." Two dangers need to be guarded against. I. THE INFLUENCE OF UNJUST JUDGMENTS . The apostle has here in view the practical error of Judaizing ritualists. They had received from Moses regulations respecting meats and drinks and feasts, which they endeavoured to enforce on Gentile converts as necessary to salvation ( Acts 15:1 ). If they did not always proceed to this... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

SECTION VI . THE CLAIMS OF THE FALSE TEACHER . read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Colossians 2:16-23

Legalism exposed. The apostle, having shown in the last section how much Christ is to the believer, proceeds in the verses now before us to expose the false use of ceremonies, or, in modem phraseology, ritualism. The false teachers were anxious to entangle the Gentile converts in a tedious round of ceremonies—to make them, in fact, Old Testament ritualists. They could even adduce what seemed to them philosophic reasons for such practice. But Paul scatters their false philosophy to the... read more

Group of Brands