Colossians 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:”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Therefore no one should pass judgment on them regarding food, drink, festivals, new moons, or sabbath days.
What Does Colossians 2:16 Mean?
From the cross's victory Paul draws a practical freedom. Let no man therefore judge you -- because Christ has accomplished everything, no one has the right to condemn the Colossians over matters of religious observance.
The specifics he lists -- meat, drink, holyday, new moon, sabbath days -- were markers some teachers wanted to impose as tests of true spirituality. Paul refuses to let such things become a measure of standing before God. Believers complete in Christ are not to be intimidated by those who would bind their consciences with food laws and sacred-day requirements. The freedom here is not license but liberty from man-made conditions added to the gospel. Paul guards the Colossians from a religion of external rules. Their acceptance rests on Christ, and so no critic's verdict over diet or calendar can touch the security they have in him.