Colossians 2:13-23

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹³ Even when you were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ by forgiving us all our trespasses. ¹⁴ God erased the record of our debt brought against us by his legal demands. This record stood against us, but he took it away by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ After disarming the rulers and authorities, he made a public display of them by triumphing over them in Christ.

Paul Addresses the False Teaching

¹⁶ Therefore, do not let anyone judge you in regard to food or drink, or in regard to a festival or a New Moon or a Sabbath day. ¹⁷ These are a shadow of the things that were coming, but the body belongs to Christ. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone who enjoys false humility and the worship of angels tell you that you are disqualified from the prize. This person goes into detail about what he has seen.^[a] He is puffed up for no reason by the attitude of his sinful flesh. ¹⁹ He does not hold on to the head, from whom the whole body grows with the growth that comes from God as it is supported and held together by its sinews and ligaments.

Human Traditions Do Not Restrain the Flesh

²⁰ If you died with Christ to the basic principles of the world, why do you submit to its rules, as if you were still living in the world? ²¹ “Do not touch!” “Do not taste!” “Do not handle!” ²² All of these rules end in destruction when they are used, because they are in accord with human commands and teachings. ²³ While such rules have the appearance of wisdom with self-chosen religion, which consists of humiliation and severe treatment of the body, they have no value at all in checking the self-indulgence of the sinful flesh.