But now that you know God---or, I should say, now that God knows you---how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?

You pay special attention to certain days, months, seasons, and years.

So let no one make rules about what you eat or drink or about holy days or the New Moon Festival or the Sabbath.

All such things are only a shadow of things in the future; the reality is Christ.

My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.

But if they have doubts about what they eat, God condemns them when they eat it, because their action is not based on faith. And anything that is not based on faith is sin.

But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food.

And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your "knowledge"!

This, then, is how we will know that we belong to the truth; this is how we will be confident in God's presence.

And so, my dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have courage in God's presence.