Which “Sabbath” is Paul Referencing?

Does Paul say no one should judge us regarding the Sabbath? 

One of the recurring questions we receive concerns Colossians 2:16–17 where Paul says not to let anyone judge a believer regarding food or drink or festivals or new moons or a Sabbath. Adventists frequently argue that Paul was not referring to the seventh-day Sabbath in this passage, yet the plain reading of the words clearly includes the Sabbath. Here is what Paul says:

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Colossians 2:16–17).

Recently we received a letter asking about this passage, and this week we are sharing the letter and our answer to it.

Sabbatarian rebuttal

I found your website and I’m learning about the Sabbath. I had a question with regard to Colossians 2:16. I’ve been having some trouble understanding the Sabbath command after a friend of mine unfortunately fell into some false teaching, and I have been trying to learn more about it.

I read a rebuttal from a sabbatarian website which said Colossians 2:14-16 is commonly used to say Christians are not bound to keep Saturday sabbath or to obey various Old Testament commands given to Israel; however, they say this passage is not actually referring to the Sabbath because earlier Paul says, “let no one take you captive according to philosophy and empty deceit according to ‘human tradition’ and ‘elemental spirits of the world’” (Col. 2:8).

The argument they gave is that the old covenant law was not based on “human tradition” or “elemental spirits of the world” but was given by God, so how can this passage be referring to the weekly Sabbath command as mentioned in the Ten Commandments?

Instead, what I’ve read is that this passage is referring to gnostic Judaism that was trying to disqualify Christians because during those appointed times (festivals, new moons, sabbaths) the Colossians were not practicing certain forms of asceticism, the worship of angels, or the pursuit of visions, as verse 18 articulates. The argument given was that Paul was not saying the Colossians shouldn’t keep those holy days; rather, he was supposedly telling them that they should not let anyone judge them for not observing those gnostic teachings. 

This explanation seems to make sense, so I’m having a pretty tough time with this. I would really appreciate any help you could give. Was Paul specifically talking about the observance of Sabbath, or was he writing about not being judged for not practicing those additional gnostic practices?

Thank you for writing!

Adventists typically use the argument you presented to explain away Colossians 2:16. In context, however, they are completely wrong. 

Paul uses a formula that is used throughout the Old Testament when the prophets wrote about the Jewish feast days. In the OT, those days were typically mentioned either in ascending order (weekly, monthly, yearly) or descending order (yearly, monthly, weekly). Paul uses the descending order—festival, new moon, or a Sabbath day. This way of referring to the Jewish holy days was centuries old and well-known. 

Even the late Adventist Sabbath apologist Samuele Bacchiochi wrote that Colossians 2:16 DOES have the weekly sabbath in view. He nevertheless argued FOR its continued sacredness and attempted to assign a ceremonial explanation for the passage, but even he acknowledged that Paul did have the weekly Sabbath in view.

Here’s the reality. Adventists do not use a normal hermeneutic for reading Scripture. They do not believe it is inerrant; they believe it has errors (just as Ellen White has errors) that must be explained and corrected. They use proof-texting which takes passages out of context and uses them to prove their pre-existing doctrinal biases. 

In context, Colossians 2:16 means exactly what it says. Furthermore, the book of Galatians is clear that to return to the law is to return to the elemental things of this world (Gal. 4:1–11). Paul says in Galatians the same thing he is saying in Colossians: to return to the law of Moses on this side of the cross is to be enslaved by a spiritual power exactly the same as paganism! Paul is writing to Gentile converts; they hadn’t been under the law before becoming Christian; they had been pagans worshiping false gods “which by nature are no gods” (Gal. 4:8). To add the law and its requirements to their faith in Christ was exactly the same as returning to paganism! The law, having been fulfilled in the Lord Jesus by His life, death, and resurrection according to Scripture, was a “weak and worthless elemental” thing which would enslave them exactly as paganism enslaved them.

Your Adventist friend is arguing from a non-biblical supposition. To say that the law was not an elemental thing because God gave it is to deny what Scripture actually says. Paul says clearly in Colossians 2 and in Galatians 4 that the law, having been fulfilled in Christ, is just as weak and worthless as the pagan beliefs. To return to the law after hearing the gospel and trusting Jesus is to fall from grace and to be severed from Christ (Gal. 5:1–6). 

As for the argument that the festivals, new moons, and sabbaths are not the things being mentioned but the judgment and being disqualified because of these gnostic teachings is just man-made speculation and confusion. The words of the biblical passages mean what the words say. Paul said in Colossians 2:16-17 that the festivals, new moons, and sabbaths are merely shadows of the substance that is Christ. Those words mean exactly what they say, and in context, there is no other way they can be understood. In fact, Paul says that very same thing in Galatians 4:10-11 when he says, “You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.”

Notice that in Galatians Paul also uses that ascending formula: days (weekly sabbaths) months (new moons) seasons (seasonal feasts like the Feats of Booths and Pentecost) and years (the yearly feasts like Passover and the Day of Atonement). He is clear that He is referring to all the Jewish ceremonies given in the law to Israel. Yet those are no longer relevant because Jesus has fulfilled those shadows. He is the reality we are to honor!

Hebrews 10:1 also says that the law was a shadow of the good things to come. Adventists will try to say that the law refers only to the rituals of sacrifices and the Old Testament yearly feasts, but that idea is never stated in Scripture. The law is a unit, and it cannot be broken into sections and separated from itself.

I am linking to an article that explains the unity of the law—and just know that the words of Scripture mean what they say. In context the words have a distinct meaning. We have to ask ourselves first of all, what would these words have meant to the original audience? Then one can ask how that same meaning can be applied to our circumstances today. But we cannot explain away the plain meaning of the words by supposition, speculation, and an attempt to defend false doctrine! †

The Unity Of the Law: What Was Nailed To The Cross?

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Colleen Tinker

Colleen Tinker, the editor of Proclamation! magazine, and her husband Richard left Adventism in 1998 with their two sons, Roy and Nathanael, who were in grades six and ten. They have co-led the Former Adventist Fellowship since 1999. Colleen, a graduate of Walla Walla University, is a former high school English teacher and also the former managing editor of Adventist Today magazine. Colleen became the stepmother of Roy and Nathanael in 1989, and in 2008 she adopted them. Romans 8:15-17 has assumed new depth and significance for her and Richard since she and her sons chose to claim each other legally and permanently. She and Richard share an office and a commitment to sharing the gospel of the true Jesus with all of those seeking a way out of the bondage of the false gospel of Adventism.

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