God’s Increase in Us

Colossians 2:16-19    
16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 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, 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.

Because the sign of the old covenant of the Law as means to deliverance was pointing to our need for an inward change to be like God, we are free from judgement when we do not rely on the outward circumcision.  We now rely on God’s inward cleansing of our heart as the work, and point our lives to follow instead of relying on keeping ritual feasts and celebrations.  These only indicated God’s work in spiritual places through Christ, and have no reward in their rote masks of humility.  Some even worshipped angels and imagined other means to attempt to draw closer to God.  But only Christ can draw us to Himself and make us acceptable on His merit alone.  Therefore we should humbly realize our acceptance, not in keeping outward signs, but in being transformed day by day through God’s working in us.  We rely on our head who is Christ, allowing His Spirit minister His word in us to grow in holiness to be pleasing to God, more into that original image from our sin-marred one.  Keep in mind that we also grow together as a church in Christ as well as individually.