"Let Not . . . "

In Paul’s writings we often see statements that begin with the phrase “Let not...” Consider the way that we normally understand Paul’s “Let not” statements.

Romans 6:12, “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” How do we follow this instruction? By letting righteousness reign in our body, and by obeying the will of God instead of the lust of the flesh, as Paul explains in the remainder of this chapter.

1 Corinthians 7:10f, “Let not the wife depart from her husband... and let not the husband put away his wife.” How do a wife and husband follow these instructions? By staying with their spouse.

Galatians 5:26, “Let us not be desirous of vain glory.” How do we follow this instruction? By seeking God’s glory instead of our own.

Galatians 6:9, “And let us not be weary in well doing.” How do we follow this instruction? By not overworking and overextending ourselves to the point of exhaustion.

Ephesians 4:26, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” How do we do this? By being reconciled with an offended brother or sister before sunset.

1 Thessalonians 5:6, “Therefore let us not sleep as do others.” How? By staying spiritually awake, as the rest of the verse tells us, “but let us watch and be sober.”

2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means.” How do we do this? By testing everything with the Scriptures to determine whether it is true or false.

1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no man despise thy youth.” How? By not behaving in an immature way, but rather by being a good example, as the rest of the verse explains.

These are just a few examples of Paul’s “Let not” statements. The way we understand and interpret these “Let not” statements could be summarized in this way:

We “let not” a certain negative thing happen by doing something positive to prevent that negative thing from happening.

We let not sin reign in us by letting righteousness reign in us; we let not divorce happen by sticking together; we let not ourselves be weary by getting enough rest; we let not the sun go down on our anger by reconciling; we let not ourselves fall asleep spiritually by watching and staying alert; we let no man deceive us by consulting the Scriptures; we let no man despise our youth by being a good example.

In all these, and in other “Let not” verses, we do something positive to prevent a certain negative thing from happening.

That is the way we correctly understand and interpret Paul’s “Let not” statements. Why then do Christians not understand and interpret Colossians 2:16, another one of Paul’s “Let not” statements, in this same way?

Colossians 2:16, “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”

If we understand and interpret this “Let not” statement in the same way that we understand and interpret Paul’s other “Let not” statements (i.e., by saying that we do something positive to prevent something negative from happening), then how do we follow this instruction in Colossians 2:16? By obeying God’s dietary laws and by keeping the Sabbath and holy days in the proper way, so that no man will have a legitimate reason to criticize us for the way we do these things.

If we obey God’s laws that govern these things, then no man will have a legitimate reason to judge us for our observance of the dietary laws, Sabbath, and holy days.

As with all the other “Let not” examples that we looked at, so with Colossians 2:16 we do something positive (we obey God’s written instructions that tell us how to do these things) to prevent the occurrence of a certain negative thing (being condemned by men as law breakers).

Sadly, this is not the way that most Christians understand Colossians 2:16. Most Christians think that Paul is saying in this verse that the Sabbath, holy days, and dietary laws are not important anymore, and can now be ignored. They think that Paul is saying “Don’t let anyone judge you for ignoring the God-given laws that tell us how to do these things. Just go ahead and ignore these God-given commandments, and don’t worry if people judge you for your disobedience.”

But by using that same logic, Paul’s instruction to “Let no man despise thy youth” would then mean “Don’t let anyone despise you for your immature behavior. Just go ahead and be as immature and reckless as you like, and don’t worry if people judge you for your improper behavior.”

But Paul is not giving Timothy permission to behave in an immature, improper way in 1 Timothy 4:12. And in Colossians 2:16, Paul is not giving Christians permission to eat pork and to profane the Sabbath. He is telling you to obey the dietary laws and Sabbath in the manner that God prescribes in His written law, and to not let yourself be judged by people who insist that you follow extra-Biblical traditions of men. (See verse 8, which provides important context.)

Traditions of men are man-made rules. Commandments of God are not traditions of men. You do not need to disobey commandments of God in order to “Let no man judge you.” If you disobey commandments of God, then you are actually giving men a legitimate reason to judge you.

Many Christians who do not keep the seventh-day Sabbath think of Paul as the great liberator who set them free from the “bondage” of Sabbath keeping. But do you realize, Christian friend, that in all of Paul’s writings, the word sabbath appears only one time? Look in your Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and you will see that the only time Paul wrote the word sabbath was in Colossians 2:16.

Rather than misusing Colossians 2:16 as an excuse for disobeying one of God’s Ten Commandments, let’s be consistent. Let’s understand this “Let not” instruction in Colossians 2:16 in the very same way that we understand all of Paul’s other “Let not” instructions.

| DB