Colossians 2:16–23

^16*So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath. ¹⁷All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ. ¹⁸Do not allow yourselves to be condemned by anyone who claims to be superior because of special visions and who insists on false humility and the worship of angels. For no reason at all, such people are all puffed up by their human way of thinking ^19*and have stopped holding on to Christ, who is the head of the body. Under Christ’s control the whole body is nourished and held together by its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God wants it to grow.

Dying and Living with Christ

²⁰You have died with Christ and are set free from the ruling spirits of the universe. Why, then, do you live as though you belonged to this world? Why do you obey such rules as ²¹“Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch the other”? ²²All these refer to things which become useless once they are used; they are only human rules and teachings. ²³Of course such rules appear to be based on wisdom in their forced worship of angels, and false humility, and severe treatment of the body; but they have no real value in controlling physical passions.