Not Legalism but Christ
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (Col 2:11-15 NKJV).
In our last lesson, we learned that receiving Christ in the way His apostles taught is critical to our growth and development to become mature. We must come into the Lord’s Kingdom in His prescribed way and not our way of reasoning if we are to receive all that our Lord has for us. It is sort of like trying to assemble something without reading and following the instructions supplied by the manufacture. By not reading the instructions, it takes a lot longer, and sometimes we never get it quite right.
Today we pick up at verse 11, “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.” Circumcision was at the heart of the Abrahamic covenant as the Lord promised Abraham to give Him a child or in Old Testament language, “a seed” that would be the beginning of a new race and a new nation. Eventually, the “Seed” promised to Abraham would not only redeem Israel, but the Gentiles as well and create “One New Man” in the earth.
By the act of circumcision, which was the removal of the “for skin” of the male reproductive organ by cutting it off with a knife. Circumcision represented a covenantal action between God and Abraham of cleanness and separation to God. Circumcision was passed down to Abraham’s seed, separating his seed from that of the rest of humankind. The male organ pointed to the promise of “the Seed” in the singular, speaks of Christ (see Galatians 3:16). When Christ came, He came by way of the lineage in Mary traced back to Abraham, but supernaturally created in Mary’s womb, which we know as “the virgin birth.”
Paul makes the contrast to circumcision in verse 12 when he writes: “buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Part of the conflict which Paul continually was addressing with the Jews was the issue of “Circumcision.” Some of the “believing Jews” believed that a “Gentile” must first have been circumcised as a qualifier for eternal life in Christ. Paul’s position was Christ and Christ alone.
Next, Paul addresses the “body of sin.” No one deals with this better than Paul in Romans 6:1-14.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. NKJV
In our last lesson, I reminded us of Peter’s message on the Day of Pentecost when he framed the message in three critical necessities, REPENTANCE, BAPTISM, AND RECEIVING THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. I want to be clear; repentance for the Jew was turning from their agreement to kill the Messiah through Roman Law. Repentance includes all of our sinful ways that come out of our sinful nature or practice. Repentance is made evident in receiving the “New Covenant,” in the blood of Jesus Christ, His death, and faith in the power of His resurrection. Our belief is confirmed as we identify with Christ in the waters of baptism as we are buried with Christ and raised in newness of life. It is our part of our covenant with God. His role is that He raises us through faith as He raised Christ. It is not the act of baptism that saves us, but trust in Christ. Baptism gives us a “good conscious toward God,” according to Peter in 1 Peter 3:21.
Next, Paul reminds these Gentiles, as well as us, of our condition without Christ. The Jews depended on the Law, but the Gentiles had neither the Law nor Christ.
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
What Paul is saying in verse 13 is very personal, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh.” See, we Gentiles were lost. Lost because of sin and lost because the Law which had not been given to us as a means of righteousness. We had no part in the covenant made with Abraham. We were uncircumcised in our flesh, separated from the “covenants of promise” (see Ephesians 2:12). But now in Christ, we have been brought near by the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ speaks to His death, His burial, and His resurrection joined with all those who have trusted Christ and are alive with Him.
Our sins or trespasses have been forgiven and removed. Not only that, but God has also wiped away the “handwriting” of the “Law,” including Circumcision that was against us. We were “separated” from God and His requirements of the Law, being “contrary” to us because of our flesh. In other words, what we could not do because of our sinful nature, causing alienation from God and His righteousness. God has removed all that blocked the way to a relationship with Him as Abraham had through the “faith of righteousness” because Abraham believed God and the promise of the “Seed.” (see John 8 and Romans 4, and Galatians 4).
The Law of God was nailed to the cross of Christ. In His death, Christ fulfilled the righteousness of the Law for every human being. In His death and resurrection, nothing stands in the way of receiving all that Christ has accomplished. As one repents and joins with Christ in His death and resurrection expressed in believer’s baptism, God gives His Holy Spirit to that one. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are a son and daughter of God. We receive the circumcision of Christ, “the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”
In our next lesson, we will see how that not only was our sin condition dealt with but how Christ “disarmed” principalities and powers in His triumph over them.
I hope you are receiving from the Holy Spirit how what Christ has done is a present reality and not merely some future event. Christ has done everything required by His Father to complete our salvation and to give us new life in the now with the promise of eternity. The Kingdom of God is now, receive it, apply it, and enjoy His peace even in the present state of the world, for this current condition will also change as our Lord fulfills His Word of a great harvest of the nations before His return.
In our next study, we will consider how Christ “disarmed” principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it, (the cross).