Appendix H

Reason:

Colossians 2:20 and 21 say that people are no longer to be subject to ordinances like "touch not; taste not; handle not." "Do not commit adultery" is just another "not" that was done away with when we got born again.

Answer:

Colossians 2:20 and 21 are only part of the context of this section of scripture. When more of the context is quoted, these verses are clear.

Colossians 2:20-22

Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,

(Touch not; taste not; handle not;

Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

Notice that "Touch not; taste not; handle not;" is part of an epitrechon. An epitrechon is a figure of speech. It is a parenthetical addition "rapidly thrown in as an explanatory remark."* What is the epitrechon explaining? It is explaining the word "ordinances" which are "after the commandments and doctrines of men." There are many ordinances, rules, regulations, and laws that are "after the commandments and doctrines of men," i.e., man made. However, there are rules that are "God made."

Colossians is not saying that believers are not subject to the ordinances of God. What Colossians is saying is that the believer is not to be subject to man's ordinances, man's commandments, and man's doctrines. That we should not commit adultery is a doctrine of God. It is clearly stated in the Word of God that adultery is a sin. To say that Colossians 2:20-22 applies to adultery would mean that it applies to every other doctrine given by God. In that case, God should not have bothered to tell us in His Word what to do and what not to do, since we would not be subject to those ordinances anyway.