The expression, “Let no one judge you in food or in drink” is found in Colossians 2:16-17.  Many people understand these verses to mean that Christians don’t have to keep the Sabbath and Holy Days.  Why do people think this?  Let’s look at these verses from a few different translations to see why.

First, the KJV:

Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The NLT says this:

Col 2:16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.
Col 2:17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.

Did you catch that?  The NLT adds “not”, changing the meaning completely.  The NLT says, “Don’t let anyone condemn you for not celebrating holy days or Sabbaths”.

The NIV says this:

Col 2:16 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.
Col 2:17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

We can perhaps summarise what the NLT and NIV say as follows: “Don’t worry about what food you eat or keeping Holy Days and Sabbaths.  They are just shadows.  The real thing is Christ.”  As we shall see, the NIV and NLT do a terrible job in conveying the actual meaning of these two verses.

Let’s look at Colossians 2:16-17 and see what it really means.

It should be clear that Colossians 2:16-17 cannot be understood to mean that God’s Feast days are no longer necessary.  When Christ was alive, He kept the Passover and He said he would do so again in the Kingdom of God.  The Days of Unleavened Bread are mentioned in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians.  “The Fast”, which is a reference to The Day of Atonement, is also mentioned in the book of Acts.  The Feast of Tabernacles is mentioned in the gospel of John, and it says that Jesus went up to keep it in Jerusalem.  Clearly the New Testament church kept the Feast Days of God.

To understand what Colossians 2:16-17 means we need to consider the context:  The apostle Paul was confronting a heresy. False teachers had infiltrated the Colossian congregation.  These deceivers and heretics had influenced the Colossian Christians by introducing their own religious philosophy. We see this was the problem Paul addressed in verse 4.

Col 2:4  Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

Their ideas were founded on human “tradition” and “principles of the world,” not on the Word of God, verse 8.

Col 2:8  Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

Some of these “traditions” and “principles of the world,” were the “worship of angels” verse 18, and ascetic (avoiding any physical pleasures) rules and regulations, such as “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle”, verse 21, against the enjoyment of physical things, which Paul said were the doctrines of men, verses 22.

Col 2:18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
Col 2:20  Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations—
Col 2:21  “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,”
Col 2:22  which all concern things which perish with the using—according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

The Colossian deceivers and heretics rejected the physical.  Their philosophy taught neglect of the physical needs of the body to attain spirituality.  This philosophy appeared wise and humble, but it was false. 

Col 2:23  These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

However, their philosophy did nothing to combat human nature; it was “of no value against the indulgence of the flesh”.

Paul was confronting a heresy.  The context of Colossians 2 is not Paul explaining which laws to keep; the context is Paul dealing with deceivers and heretics who were introducing pagan philosophies.

Now we get to verse 16.

Col 2:16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

The Colossian brethren were keeping the Holy Days.  The heretics objected to the way the brethren were keeping them.  The heretics objected to the eating and drinking on the Sabbath and the Holy Days.  It was contrary to their ascetic approach of self-denial.  They judged the brethren in how they kept the Holy Days.  Paul told the Colossians, “don’t let these heretics judge and criticise you in your enjoyment of eating and drinking when you keep God’s festivals”.

The heretics had no authority to judge how the Colossian brethren observed God’s festivals. That is why Paul said, “Let no one (man) judge you”.   

So, we have covered verse 16, but what about verse 17?

Col 2:17  which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance [is] of Christ.

The NKJV has “but the substance is of Christ”.  The KJV has “but the body is of Christ”.  The NLT has “And Christ himself is that reality”.  The NIV has “the reality, however, is found in Christ”.  The Greek word translated body, substance, or reality is soma, which means body.  And the verb “is” has been added by the translators, it is not present in the Greek. 

This phrase “body of Christ”, or in the Greek “soma Christos” appears in other places. Here are four other places.

Rom 7:4  Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ [soma Christos], that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.

1Co 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ [soma Christos]?

1Co 12:27  Now you are the body of Christ [soma Christos], and members individually.

Eph 4:12  for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ [soma Christos],

In each of these other places “soma Christos” is translated as “body of Christ”.  Only in Col 2:17 do translators mess with the meaning by translating it as “the substance is of Christ”, or “the reality is Christ” or something like it.

Clearly, a better translation of “soma Christos” is “body of Christ”.

The apostle Paul instructed the Colossian brethren as follows: Let no one judge you in eating or drinking, regarding holy days, new moons or Sabbaths, but the body of Christ.

What is the “body of Christ”?  The body of Christ is the church or the brethren.  Here are two Scriptures which tell us this. 

Col 1:18  And He is the head of the body [soma], the church, …

1Co 12:27  Now you are the body of Christ [soma Christos], and members individually.

The body of Christ, that is the church or the brethren, is to teach how to observe the Holy Days, not some human philosophy.

In other words, the apostle Paul told the Colossians, “Don’t let these heretics judge you in your enjoyment of the eating and drinking when you keep God’s festivals, rather let the church, the brethren”.