We’ve all stood around a casket at the closing of a funeral service as it ends at the cemetery. Nowadays, the family is ushered off before the casket is lowered into the ground where it will rest. The family has already seen their loved one for the last time before the official and final closing of the casket. Now imagine, because a loved one didn’t see the casket go into the ground, when they go to bring flowers to the grave weeks later then dig up the casket to peak inside to make sure their loved one is really dead. Then, they shovel the dirt back over top of the casket holding their loved one’s dead body until it is covered. Weeks later, still not satisfied, they return to the grave and repeat this process. In their mourning, they just can’t believe that their loved one is really dead and gone. The burial was real, but it doesn’t feel real as they are surrounded with pictures of their loved ones and memories reel through their minds each day. So, they keep going back, not to the place of death, but to the gravesite to just make sure it’s really true. This seems silly; however, the truth is that many Christians do this exact thing. In Christ, we have been crucified, buried, and risen with Him, in Him, and through Him. When we sin or the accuser of the brethren brings up our past, we seem to go back to a cemetery to really make sure that there is a dead body. We spend so much time trying to make sure that we really were forgiven by Christ that we fail to remember that we really are. We are completely forgiven in Christ and every time we forget that we are “complete in Him” (Col. 2:10), we run back to make sure it really is real.
How much salvation do you have? How much forgiveness do you have? In Christ, you have the whole thing. In our union with Christ, we have all of salvation in belonging to Him and we posses all benefits that come with it including complete forgiveness. Because Christ is supreme and sufficient in His person and work, we can rest in complete assurance that we have complete salvation and forgiveness of sin. Many Christians struggle to live the Christian life because they keep trying to earn what has already been given. I believe that if we understood our position and possessions in Christ through our union with Him (complete salvation) then and only then could we begin to practically live by faith in our everyday life. The Christian experience is the experiential union with and in Christ. It is Christ that completes us because He has completely saved, redeemed, reconciled, and forgiven us. There is nothing else to add to His work. As Paul writes to the church at Colosse, they are facing the “philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ” (Col. 2:8) that is adding to the supreme and sufficient work of Christ. The broader passage is continuing to build on the truth that Christ is supreme and sufficient to give protection against the threat of false teachers and movements that sought to add mysticism, Gnosticism, and legalism to Biblical Christianity. Our passage today is Col. 2:11-13 which says, “11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: 12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” In these three verses, Paul will use well known Jewish rites and rituals which are also seen throughout the New Testament of circumcision and baptism to show that those in Christ have intimate union with Him that has provided complete salvation without the need of a substitute or supplement. We will see that our complete salvation that he speaks of will be illustrated through separation, operation, and then application. All of this is focused on the supremacy and sufficiency of Christ.
First, we must see the separation of our complete salvation. Our union with Christ is a separation from our old nature in Adam and then is a total unification with and in Christ as He gives us a new nature when He saves us. Col. 2:11 shows us this separation through the illustration of circumcision saying, “In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:” Notice again the usage of union language “in whom.” Paul has emphasized this throughout the letter to show that what it means to be saved is to be in union with Christ and that all of Christian living is built on and flows from this union. In the Old Testament, God had given circumcision to Abraham as a mandate in Gen. 17 to separate all the males under the promises of the Abrahamic covenant that God had made. It was to be an outer expression through the physical cutting of the male’s foreskin to show that they have been cut out of the world through separation to be consecrated to God. However, this outward act was not a replacement for faith. One needed to be circumcised in heart to know the Lord and have forgiveness. Dt. 10:12-16 says, “12 And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 To keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? 14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. 15 Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.” Other examples of this can be seen in Dt. 30:6; Jer. 4:4; Gal. 6:11-16 and then in Rom. 2:28-29 which says, “28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” The church at Colosse as well as at Galatia dealt with the legalism of the Judaizers who believed one must confess Christ, but they also believed that one must keep the Law. The issue is that Christ has set us free from that and He is the only one to actually obey God’s law with a perfect heart. These false teachers focused on outward formality without inward faith and formation. Now, in Col. 2:11, Paul tells the Colossians that they have been “circumcised with the circumcision made without hand, in the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” The word “circumcised” directly means the cutting off and away. Here is our separation, but from what? We have been circumcised, not physically, but spiritually and supernaturally through the blood of Christ at the new birth. This has been done with the putting off of the old nature (body of flesh) which is the idea of stripping off an old filthy garment. The “body of flesh” is our old nature that we had in Adam. Now that we are in union with Christ, and the very moment of salvation we are given a new heart, a new nature, and all things are indeed new (2 Cor. 5:17). The difference between the Old Testament circumcision and New Testament circumcision is vast. The old is external, the new is internal and eternal. The old is male only involving only one body part, but the new is for all believers and deals with the whole man. The old is performed by human hand, the new is without hands because it is the gracious work of God. Paul tells this truth using the illustration of circumcision to remind the believers that they have a complete salvation that is demonstrated through their separation of their old nature that Christ has dealt with through our union with Him. We are no longer in union with our old nature that once ruled and dominated us. Now, from the moment of conversion we have been circumcised in our hearts to be consecrated to Christ. We are His and He is ours. The old has been separated by Christ at the cross and we need not continue to be ruled by anything else but the grace of Jesus Christ. For further study and assurance on this, read Romans 6-8 to see more assuring details. Yes, we still must fight sin, but our old nature has been separated, cut away and we are now completely saved and united to Christ without fear of being cut away or off from Him.
Second, we must see the operation of our complete salvation. Col. 2:12 says, “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Once more, the Apostle Paul refers to the believer’s identification or union with Christ through an illustration. He had just used the act of circumcision and now uses that of baptism. Our complete identification at salvation gives us a separation from our old nature through the operation of God in our baptism into Christ. Both circumcision and baptism were outward actions that expressed an identification with God. Here, we must understand the word “buried” is the word “sunthapto” which means an intimate union of being buried together. This signifies that we are participants in the death and burial of Christ for it says we are “buried with him.” As Paul expresses in Gal. 2:20; 6:14, we have been crucified with Christ and to the world. It is as if Paul is saying that when Jesus’ dead body was laid in a tomb, we were laid there with Him. The word “baptism” is the word “baptisma” which means to dip or submerge and was used in reference to dipping clothes in dye. Paul is NOT arguing that we are saved by water baptism, but this is in reference to the Spirit baptism at conversion where we are placed into Christ through the new birth, given union with Christ, and having a total change of identity. This is the inward experience of salvation through faith, but water baptism is the outward expression of faith in Christ. Only the Spirit baptism is salvation, but the fruit of saving faith will be seen in water baptism as an outward identifier with Christ and His Church (Mt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:37-39, 8:26-39, 16:30-34; 1 Cor. 10:1-2, 12:12-13). The act of water baptism is a picture of the Spirit baptism where we are dead, buried, and risen with Christ. This, of course, is a picture of the grace, message, and power of the gospel that saved us and brought us union with Christ. Notice that we aren’t just buried, but then we are “risen” which is the word “sungeiro” which shows an intimate spiritual union of raising together. Once more, Paul is showing that just as sure as Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, so too are all believers in Him. Faith is the instrument of experiencing and expressing this wonderful union that Christ has given us through our complete salvation at the very moment of salvation. It was not incremental or some form of a down payment or payment system of any kind. Jesus gave us a complete salvation through the “operation” (“energia”) of God which shows that it is an active achieving supernatural work to save a lost sinner who believes on Christ. The power that raised Christ from the dead is now at work in our life from conversion to the day of consummation when our bodies will be resurrected and glorified. We were dead as a breathless lifeless corpse, but God has raised us up in Christ giving us new and eternal life in Him (See Eph. 2:1-6). Another wonderful passage to study that helps bring the operation of God at conversion and bringing us into union with Christ is Rom. 6 which helps to put the pieces together of Col. 2:11-12. The point of both illustrations is to show our complete salvation in Christ and our complete union with Him. We are completely saved by and through Christ alone!
Third, we must see the application of our complete salvation. Col. 2:13 says, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.” Here in this verse, Paul gives the application of what it means to be circumcised and baptized into Christ. As I said at the beginning, if we don’t know our position and possessions in Christ then we are going to have a hard time having a practical life of faith. The application shows us our previous condition. We were dead in our sins and were a part of the uncircumcision, which is a common expression for Gentile outsiders (See Eph. 2:11-22). When we understand what we used to be in Adam, our old nature that has been dealt with by Christ at the cross, then we can better understand what it means to be in Christ and live according to the new nature that is in union with Jesus. We also see our present condition as we see the work of Christ has made us alive together with Him and has forgiven us of all sins and trespasses. This means, our present condition is saved, saved, saved! We are completely saved, redeemed, and reconciled to God in Christ. We have a complete unending unbreakable union with the Lord Jesus Christ who has made us joint heirs with Himself. All of our sins, every single filthy, stinking, death bringing sin has been dealt with through the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can’t be anymore united to Him than you are. You can’t be more forgiven than you are. We must know who we were, who we are, whose we are, and what we have in Him. Paul wants the Colossian believers to apply the truth of these verses so that when others come along and say, “But wait, there’s more,” they can confidently say that Christ alone is supreme and sufficient. Nothing more. Nothing better. Nothing else needed. Jesus has forgiven completely all who believe on Him and all who believe on Him are completely saved.
As we bring this to a close today, have you believed on Him? Are you still dead in your sins through unbelief? Don’t try to clean up your act, get religious, or turn over a new leaf. Believe on Christ. Don’t wait. Don’t hesitate. Don’t delay. He offers pardon from sin, full forgiveness, and complete salvation. Have your uncircumcised heart be made new in Him. Don’t look to rites or rituals, but through repentance and faith on Him be saved today. If you are in Christ, then stop digging up what is already dead and buried. He has forgiven you. Don’t use that as a license to sin but let it be the motivation of growing in a loving faithful obedience to Him. Rest in Him. Be assured that you belong to Him, all your sins are gone, and He will not and cannot let you go!
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