Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 2:17

"which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ`s." — Colossians 2:17 (ASV)

All such OT legal stipulations were but “a shadow [i.e., an anticipation] of the things that were to come.” Therefore to cling to the prophetic shadow is to obscure the spiritual reality of which those things were a prefigurement. “The reality” or the substance belongs to Christ. In him, the things to come have appeared (on this issue, see also Heb 8:5; 10:1). These two verses are an earnest appeal for “Christian liberty.” But we should also note that the “liberty” Paul means is the opposite of license and has nothing akin to the miserable individualism whose highest ambition is to do just what it likes. Paul’s whole aim is for the fullest, deepest, and most watchful holiness. He wants his Colossian converts above all things to be holy and to live a life in submission to their Redeemer.