[16] “So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. [17] For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. [18] Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, [19] and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.”
The trouble with this philosophy of self-effort is that it doesn’t work. The difference between faith in a false philosophy and faith in the truth is something like the difference between a Christmas tree adorned with plastic fruit and a fruit tree growing real fruit from its nature.
Religion and man-imagined philosophies try to change the nature of the tree by pinning artificial fruit on its branches. Rituals and rules, washing and eating, and fasting and refraining cannot change the heart. The are only external add-ons that compound human guilt because they are the fruit of self-effort and signs that the “tree” itself is dead.
Something far more drastic and fundamental must happen for a dead “tree” to produce real fruit. The dead “tree” must be made alive. Only God can restore life to a dead person, dead in trespasses and sins.
Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 NLT [1] “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins… [4] But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) [6] For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”
Grace stepped in and acted powerfully on our dead spirits, restoring life by reconnecting us to Jesus who conquered death, rose from the dead, and is the source of life. Once again, this happened first in eternity by God’s sovereign choice,
Ephesians 1:4-5 NLT [4]”Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. [5] God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”
… And in time by reuniting us with Jesus through our faith in His Word. We are once again brought into vital union with the source of Life by trusting in Jesus for His work on the cross. John 1:4 NLT [4]”The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.” This new life in Christ has nothing to do with self and self-effort. It’s all about Jesus, from beginning to end. We are called to put our effort into something quite different, not trying to make ourselves acceptable to God but co-operating with Him through trust and obedience, in becoming what we already are in His sight, holy and blameless.
So, Paul says, don’t waste your time and effort on something that doesn’t work. Don’t listen to those who are trying to pin plastic fruit on a dead tree. You have already been joined to Jesus through faith in Him. You are alive with His life. Now let His life in you produce the fruit of that life, the fruit of the Spirit that grows naturally on a living tree.
Galatians 5:22 NLT [22] “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” This ninefold fruit is the real evidence of your new life in Christ. Once again, it is Christ in you, the hope of glory.