Christ is all and in all

Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Christ is all and in all.

Act 10:34  Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Act 10:35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

God is NO respecter of persons.

We however have a whole world of people caught up in the various prejudices they've formed around others for their beliefs, their skin color, their nationality, their religions, their illnesses, their deformities, their weight, their personalities etc.

Our prejudices are many while our tolerances seem few.

Some may say God is prejudice because of His laws, because He expects people to keep His moral commandments, but in truth every single one of those moral commandments is designed out of the purest love that exists. We in our sinful natures don't want to see that though. We'd much rather make our own moral commandments that accommodate nicely our corrupted flesh nature- that way we can sin without feeling any guilt at all.

Satan wanted us to believe that God was unfair, that He was keeping us from truth, from happiness. Satan said this to Eve--

Gen 3:1  ...And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

Yea, hath God said…

And then He said-  Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

He KNEW God did not say that. He knew God said this--

Gen 2:16,17  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Satan knew God told man- 'BUT of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt NOT eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

Satan KNEW this! So what was His purpose in going to Eve and asking her that question? It was to purely deceive her, to get her into QUESTIONING God.

Eve replied to God-

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Gen 3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Did Eve reply truthfully?  Yes, but she embellished didn't she? She added a little bit that said- '..neither shall ye touch it' .

And Satan was right there to instill doubt into Eve's mind- doubt about God, about what God said.

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

Did He lie?

Yes.

Did Eve die?

Yes.

Did she die immediately?

No.

But she did die as God said she would.

Eve believed in SATAN. Eve chose to believe Satan's lies over God's truth. 

Ever since then people have been choosing the exact same thing. They don't want the truth because it doesn't allow them to live to their flesh natures, giving into their flesh desires- just like Eve. All the other fruit of the other trees in the garden were not enough for her, she had to have that fruit and she had to have her eyes opened because she did NOT believe that God was being truthful.

With our eyes wide opened to good and evil- so many choose the evil over the good because like Eve they do NOT believe God.

God is NO respecter of people.

Any who LOVE Him, who keep His LAWS OF LOVE- His MORAL laws, the laws that JESUS kept fully Himself - LOVING God with all His Heart and Mind and loving His neighbor- anyone who does this is a child of God's.  It's when we STOP loving God, when we STOP loving each other that we are lost.

God specifically told Peter and Paul to give the gospel of the Kingdom to the gentiles- NOT to have the gentiles change their own customs but to have them LOVE GOD FIRST- no false gods- and to LOVE their neighbors.  There was a big to-do over the act of circumcision and whether or not all the gentile converts who were not circumcised should be made to get circumcised once they believed in the truth. Ultimately they were told they did NOT need to be circumcised? Why? Because that was a law given under the OLD covenant, not the NEW covenant in Jesus Christ. Then to demand they follow a custom given under the OLD covenant would actually put a stumbling block in their way. 

Jesus did DO AWAY with the old ceremonial law NOT the moral law, He reaffirmed that more than once.  Jesus brought the LOVE of God back to the forefront, not the strictures that had been necessary at the time to bring the chosen of God out of their 400 years of pollution by the pagan Egyptians.

Col 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Christ is ALL and IN ALL.

Christ is not a respecter of persons.

All have the opportunity to choose HIS LOVE as their way of LIFE.

All through HIS amazing GRACE and LOVE.

Amen!

Renewed in knowledge

Col 3:10  And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

The new man we become when we are born again is RENEWED in KNOWLEDGE after the IMAGE of HIM that CREATED HIM.

RENEWED in KNOWLEDGE.

Eph 4:24  And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Created in RIGHTEOUSNESS and TRUE HOLINESS.

Knowledge- it is knowledge that allows us to know well… everything… right? A stupid statement? Yes, it is a stupid statement but a very true one.

When we become a new man we are changed from the old and that old man lacks knowledge of salvation, choosing to remain in the darkness. When we choose NOT to believe in Christ we are choosing to remain in the dark, we are choosing to remain free of the knowledge of Salvation, free of the knowledge of God, free of the knowledge of righteousness and true holiness. All the while we are choosing that darkness, we unfortunately believe we are becoming more enlightened, not less enlightened. We believe we are actually growing more intelligent, not less intelligent. We believe we've become so incredibly smart to choose not to believe in Christ that we often pat ourselves on the back and well, we announce it to the world and sometimes quite loudly. Not believing becomes a badge of honor of sorts that we polish to a full shine every occasion we get. We love feeling that superior sense of wellbeing because we choose not to be what we call…duped.  We're not going to be fooled into believing fables, we're just too darn brilliant for that.

The truth, the truth is deception has been allowed to fill us and we are lost, we are stuck in the old man of flesh, unrenewed, lacking the truth knowledge of our Creator, our Redeemer.

Those of us who do CHOOSE to believe and go on to become a NEW man we are given the chance to receive the knowledge of God, the knowledge of Christ. No un-regenerated person can have this knowledge, it doesn't work that way.  And if YOU do gain this knowledge and then turn your back on it, you will be worse off than you ever were before because you're so much more guilty of unbelieving. I'm not talking stumbling in your fiery trials and tribulations, even if the trial lasts several years or more. I'm talking about the unbelief that cuts off the acknowledgement of guilt and replaces it with self-justification.  I'm talking about the unbelief that strips away hope for eternal life in Christ leaving the one who formerly believed and now chooses not to believe  without any future beyond the here and now. That awful nothingness that they fill with so much temporary nonsense it takes all their effort to do so. Yet, they are deceived into believing they are just fine without believing in Christ and the salvation He offers. They keep on believing that they are in need of nothing, and if they are in need of things it's their own bad luck, and well, that's life right?

The deception is so complete it's incredibly hard for anyone to get passed it and that is why so few ultimately believe in the truth as it is found in our SAVIOR.

We are given many opportunities to believe but we are NEVER forced and if we want deception we are allowed to have it because it is the choice we make.

We are renewed.

Eph 4:23  And be renewed in the spirit of your mind

In the spirit of our mind we are renewed, we receive the knowledge of Christ, the knowledge of God our Father in heaven, knowledge of the Holy Spirit and this knowledge is an ever growing knowledge, not a one time learning, but a learning that continues for as long as we live.

All by the grace of God may we NEVER stop believing in HIM, NEVER! May our minds be renewed in the knowledge of our God, our Savior, always!

In HIS LOVE!

Mortify your members

Col 3:5  Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Col 3:6  For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7  In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8  But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9  Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds

Mortify our member which are upon earth.
We LIVE in a physical flesh world and yet we are called to a higher life in the SPIRIT, living FOR CHRIST.

We are TOLD what to do, and so many people think we are at the mercy of our flesh nature. Are we? To a certain extent we are- we are inclined towards sinning and yet we are given the ability to use reason and that reason tells us we have the ability to CHOOSE our actions.  We face temptations, but yielding to the temptations is OUR CHOICE. Yes, they can be awful! It can be excruciating to fight the flesh desires that are incredibly powerful. Do we always overcome, no, we fall and we feel the guilt of that transgression knowing we must repent, we must truly desire to overcome THROUGH CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR, we must ask for FORGIVENESS.

Here we are being told to MORTIFY our members.

Dictionary- (mortify)
2. To subdue or bring into subjection, as the bodily appetites by abstinence or rigorous severities.

Mortify our members--
Bring our flesh appetites into subjection by ABSTAINING or RIGOROUSLY STRIVING to KEEP FROM GIVING INTO THESE THINGS.

We all have our own flesh appetites that plague us, appetites we find it all too easy to succumb to when we are tempted. Your flesh appetites might be different from mine and yet they are all deadly from the least likely sin to the most blatant.

Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, covetousness, idolatry, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, lying.

We have to MORTIFY our flesh.

People HATE to imagine having to actually, consciously deny themselves their desires.

Mat 16:24  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Heb 12:4  Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

How hard do you resist?
How hard do you try to deny yourself?
Do you WORK to resist?
If you KNOW you have a problem you should work to solve it, right? Yet do we truly try and work to solve our sin problems? No, and you know why? Because we get caught up in the fact that people have thrown around for years and years that you cannot SAVE YOURSELF. And because that is true they take it to mean they shouldn't do anything about their sin problems. They shouldn't strive at all because they just can't help themselves and Jesus will just have to forgive them because HE knows they can't do anything.  This is NOT BIBLICAL!

We just read about STRIVING against sin.
We just read about DENYING OURSELVES.

If we are to strive and deny then where does- not striving and not denying come into play?

Only Jesus has the power to forgive us of our sins. Only Jesus has the righteousness necessary to save us. We do have to rely upon HIS power, HIS righteousness, and not our own.  And while we RELY upon HIM fully, we have to follow HIS commands to us.  Even if we resist a sin, even if we deny ourselves that will not save us. Christ saves us. When we do resist sin and deny ourselves, we have to give the glory to God because it is HIS power that has allowed us to resist and deny.  We do nothing of ourselves, nothing.

We HAVE to pray for recognition of our sins if they are not readily making themselves known. We have to pray for the strength- the spiritual strength to resist and deny. 

We MUST actively STRIVE not INDULGE without any remorse, without any thought of the wrong we are doing in so many ways when we choose not to deny ourselves, or strive against sin.

Please LORD, HELP US! SAVE US! All through YOUR LOVE! YOUR MERCY, YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS! YOUR FORGIVENESS!

All in YOU.

Life hidden with Christ in God

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory

'When CHRIST who is OUR LIFE.'

Is Christ YOUR life?

Do you LIVE for CHRIST?

We are supposed to die. When I say that I'm not talking a physical death, these are things spiritual, things of God. We are supposed to die to living for our self. When we live for ourselves we are not living for Christ. When our focus is self we are not living for Christ. We are given this amazing ritual of baptism to signify the death we are supposed to believe is taking place in our lives.  If we don't truly believe a part of us- a spiritual part of us- dies then how can we live in Christ, for Christ?

For Christ to live in us there has to be room for Him, there has to be a place for Him. He wants to live in us, He wants to be our life making it possible for all of us to live with Him in GLORY. We have to let Him, this is our choice to make.

When the water flows over us and we are submerged we signify the burying of the OLD person we once were, and rising up out of the water we rise up to NEW life, to that 'born again' spiritual life. Our old spirit which was only immersed in ourselves and living for ourselves has to die. Unfortunately way too many people love to resurrect that old life, Satan wants us to resurrect that old life and will give us many opportunities to do so. We have daily choices that reveal what spirit is truly reigning in us.

Some say that part taking of the bread and wine is a form of renewed baptism and we need to do it often, not just on special occasions.

We ARE NOT to partake of the bread and wine symbolically representing our Lord's death and life if we haven't repented of our sins.

1Co 11:24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.
1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Our Lord's death is symbolized in the taking of the bread and cup. When we are baptized we die to self and are raised in Christ. Our Lord died and rose again. We cannot forget this, we cannot take this lightly.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory

Our life is hid with God when we are dead to self and alive to Him. 

Only when we are dead to self, only when we've put of the old man and put on the new in Christ will we appear with Him in glory.  In baptism first and then in the taking of the bread and cup symbolizing the death and life of our risen Savior- we continuously will die to self- it's a lifelong process not a once in a lifetime happenstance.

Living in Christ is a decision we must make all the time, not once in a while.

By the GRACE and MERCY of our LORD may we die to self and hid our life with Christ in God so that when Christ appears we will ALSO appear with HIM in GLORY, HIS GLORY!

All through HIM, always! His LOVE.

Set your affection on things above, not on thing on the earth

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Are you risen with Christ?

You can say yes, if you've been buried with Him.

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Col 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

We must be buried with Christ by baptism.

Christ was baptized.

Mat 3:13  Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
Mat 3:14  But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15  And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
Mat 3:16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

John forbade Him. John didn't want to baptize Jesus, why? Because He knew there was no sin in Jesus, He knew that He had no need of repentance. In fact John knew he needed to be baptized BY Jesus.  But Jesus said.. 'Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.'  

Suffer it to be for now-  do it because it will fulfill something that needs to be fulfilled for all righteousness. 

An example was given to us, and not only that, once He was baptized what happened? Something special happened.

Mat 3:16 … the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased

Jesus was anointed.  Jesus was confirmed. It was a sign and done to be for a sign. This was the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  For 30 years He lived without taking on the full ministry He was born into the world to take on. He'd reached full maturity, He'd reached the age of full manhood, of wisdom. He was declared by God to be His Son and an acceptable son, pleasing God the Father. This declaration was important, without it our Savior could not have received the power of the Holy Spirit in full to do all that His ministry required of Him.

We like to believe that Jesus couldn't have failed.  But if that were true then what did He really accomplish? Putting on a show for the peasant humans? If He didn't feel our pain, if He didn't suffer our temptations, if He didn't live as we live how could He warrant being able to save us? He didn't have to put on a show if He were going to use special God powers of His own to save us. He suffered, truly suffered our humanity. He grew up with normal growing pains of life. He suffered temptations even as He was growing up, from birth to age 30, we ALL know there are a multitude of temptations in life. Jesus kept from sinning, but He wasn't kept from being tempted.  There was NO need for Him to have been born as a human/God child if He were born with magical powers to keep Him from sinning, it makes NO sense at all whatsoever. Why go to all the trouble of being born that way if it really was just for show? Couldn't God have manufactured an adult human body and entered it? Yes. He entered a woman's womb as a seed to grow into an infant.  So, yes, it could have been done differently, but it wasn't because Jesus needed to live the life we live so He could save us as we are. 

We all know and can truly appreciate when we've gone through something very trying- someone being able to tell us they've gone through the same thing. We appreciate the knowledge that what we are going through is something we can survive.  Sure, no people experience something exactly the same, but there are enough similarities to make us truly grateful to know that others understand even in some small way because they've experienced something similar.

Our Savior had to experience HUMANITY in order to save humanity.

If He didn't do things the way He did you can just imagine Satan jumping up and down shouting that Jesus only did it because He had special powers, He had a special edge, He saved humanity not because He loved humanity but because He cheated and only proved He could step in with His overwhelming dictator's power and sacrificed nothing because He couldn't even feel like a REAL human can feel. If He used His special powers, His Creator powers, then what did He really prove other than what He'd already proven at Creation?

Our Savior relied upon God for ALL things, just as we are to rely upon God for ALL things.

When He was baptized there was no dispute over His worthiness up to that point. He was declared acceptable, approved, well pleasing to the Father God.

If Satan were going to denounce His worthiness right then would have been the perfect time, but He remained silent. In fact as soon as the declaration was made Satan determined to test Jesus to the fullest extent when Jesus was suffering from lack of food as He fasted in the wilderness. Right after His baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness and we know He was put to the test by the Evil One who claimed God was unjust. That test was passed by our SAVIOR, who is truly WORTHY.

He was baptized, His old life gone, His new life begun. In His case the new life He was beginning was His ministry, the revelation of the Gospel of the Kingdom to all.

When we are baptized we are killing the old man in us, the flesh man. We are dying to self and rising to live in CHRIST.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

We are RISEN with Christ and we have to SEEK - we have to live- for those things which are above- where our SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST sits on the right hand of God.

We must live for Christ and when we live for Christ we are living for the Gospel of the Kingdom- heavenly things, not earthly things.  We have a new life, a spiritual life.

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Do you?

Do you set your affections on things above? On things that are not on earth?

Think about it, because there are way too many who love to preach prosperity here and now, too many deceivers that teach we are to desire earthly treasures.  Too many deceivers that encourage earthly treasures into their own coffers while teaching others to give up theirs- deceivers whose example speaks so much louder than their words.

When we die to self as we are baptized and raised to a new spiritual life when we come up from that watery grave, we are to live for our Savior who is in heaven, setting our affections truly on heavenly things desiring Him above all, above everything upon earth.

All through His grace and mercy may this be possible in US, all through HIM, through HIS LOVE!

Let NO MAN beguile you

Col 2:18  Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Col 2:19  And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God.

Vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.

So many people are incredibly puffed up by their fleshly minds. They expound on things they have no business expounding on and they  do so in order to lead people FROM the true worship of our SAVIOR the one and only Head of the body that is HIS, His people.  This is where a lot of our ordinances, a lot of our rituals of worship come into play. We make it so difficult by clouding the truth with men's ideas. To be Christ's was never to be caught up in the truth of MEN. Men who claim we are to worship things other than God when no where are we told to worship those things, NO WHERE.  We are to worship God and God alone.  Why is it dangerous to worship anything other than God? Because Satan has his hand in so many other things. We cannot worship another human being no matter how wonderful they've seemed to live their lives. We aren't to worship any of the Apostles, there isn't a scripture in the Bible telling us to worship them, in fact they'd have been the first to tell others NOT to worship them, not living and certainly not dead.

Act 14:11  And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Act 14:12  And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
Act 14:13  Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.
Act 14:14  Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15  And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? WE ALSO ARE MEN OF LIKE PASSIONS WITH YOU, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein

They were just men. God's chosen apostles, yes, but still just men and NOT worthy of worship. They were men who pointed to the RISEN CHRIST, they were men who pointed to the LIVING GOD- the maker of heaven, earth, sea, and all in them.  We are not to worship any others and yet we have many, many religions whose teachings not only advocate the worshipping of those men, but demand such worship.

There is no wondering why we are told NOT to let men beguile us.   We are told this because they WILL BEGUILE US if we let them, if we aren't strong in the truth of God.

We are ONLY nourished in Christ and if we are finding our spiritual sustenance in any other we are deceived, we are beguiled.


Col 2:20  Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,
Col 2:21  (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
Col 2:22  Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Col 2:23  Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

The commandments and doctrines of men are such that will lead us FROM God not closer to HIM, all the while we will be deceived into believing we are truly getting closer to God. Such deception, such powerful deception and all who do not truly desire the truth in Christ WILL be allowed the deception. We decide, and when we decide we have NO one to blame for our decision. If we choose men and their teachings over God and His teachings then we will have to answer for that. We can blame another all we want and yes, the deceivers will get their deserved punishment, but that will NOT make you any less guilty of choosing to believe their deceitful ways rather than the truth of God.

The commandments and doctrines of men- do you know whether or not the doctrines and commandments you are following are of God or of men? Can you truly say you are following Christ when you are following a lot of church doctrines that are not given by Christ at all?

All too often when people are told they are following the commandments of men and not the commandments of God they shake their heads and think the person telling them are crazy. They don't want to study to show themselves approved unto God, a workmen rightly dividing the word of truth.  (2Ti 2:15) They would rather study man's reasoning not God's. They would rather holdfast to traditions handed down from generation to generation than holdfast to God's traditions handed down from the creation of the world. They would rather do this because to do otherwise would upset their whole belief system, it would require a sacrifice of beliefs that were once held very dear and thought to be true. 

God or man? We will be asked to choose between the two and the man will be cleverly disguised as God, but those who sincerely desire truth will be able to tell the difference between the false and the true.

May God help us to be among those desiring ONLY the TRUTH, not among those who would rather be deceived. Please LORD, help us to be truly YOURS and only YOURS.

All through Christ and HIS righteousness, HIS love.

The body is of Christ

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15  And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
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 handwriting of ordinances- nailed to the cross of our Savior.
Principalities and powers- spoiled, triumphed over.
We CANNOT JUDGE- in ANYTHING- especially in anything related to the ordinances.

The ORDINANCES pointed to our SAVIOR.

To hold fast to that which points towards something, once that something has arrived is contrary to it all, isn't it? A woman still acting pregnant after the babe  has arrived would be considered looney, wouldn't she? Waiting for a package that has already arrived in the mail would be ludicrous.  When something you wait for arrives and passes, you do NOT continue to behave as if it hasn't arrived, it's that simple.

The Messiah came as predicted and ALL that pointed to Him within the SANCTUARY service was no longer valid because the entire sanctuary service pointed towards the coming of our Messiah. The ORDINANCES were NAILED to the cross- NOT THE TEN MORAL COMMANDMENTS! This is a huge mistake  many people make. The CEREMONIAL LAW was fulfilled and NAILED to the cross because the ceremonial law pointed to the ultimate SACRIFICE our SAVIOR.

A shadow of the coming SAVIOR.

The moral law was NEVER a shadow, not ever.

Our Savior embodied and embodies the ten MORAL laws.

NEVER will there exist a time when any of the ten moral laws will be okay to break, never. The LOVE they were created out of will exist for all time.  Even in the NEW heavens and earth they will be lived because we will ALL keep them automatically in the pure love of CHRIST JESUS OUR SAVIOR.

Our Savior is our EVERYTHING, not our something, not our part- but our ALL.

The body is of CHRIST.

We find our life in CHRIST.

We LIVE in CHRIST.

We can't live as if He didn't come, as if He didn't live, as if He wasn't our Savior, as if He wasn't the Son of God. They have movies and books all about the good man Jesus was, the prophet He was, but then they deny His Godhood. Then you have those who try to make Jesus into one who could NEVER have ever sinned, ruining the sacrifice He made in taking on our flesh to prove that keeping God's laws, keeping his moral ten commandments in full, was possible.

The truth is in God's Word, the truth is in the Son of God. The body truly is of CHRIST and no other.

In HIS LOVE.