Now, today I'm going to be preaching
from Colossians chapter 2. I'm going to begin the message
in verse 11, but I want to back up and just read two verses before
that. The title of the message is Union
with Christ, and I want you to pay particular attention to the
language of the Scriptures here, because sometimes it can be a
little confusing, but in reality, if you understand the truth of
it, it's really not. But Union with Christ, that's
the subject. And beginning in Colossians chapter
2, verse 9, we've dealt with this a couple of times, it says,
For in him, in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and ye are complete in him which is the head of all
principality and power. Now that speaks of the completeness
of a sinner's salvation by the grace of God in Christ. And then
the apostle goes back to explain how that union with Christ is
evidenced, the basis of it, how it actually came about. It was
purposed before the foundation of the world in the Lord Jesus
Christ by God before this world ever began. The scripture teaches
that. It is by God's free, sovereign,
electing grace. But in time, God the Father sent
his Son into the world to bring about this union in time by which
a sinner who is saved by the grace of God is complete in Christ. And he uses an analogy here. He goes back to circumcision,
verse 11. He says, in whom, or in Christ,
also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without
hands, therefore it's not a physical circumcision, in putting off
the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ,"
and then he goes on in verse 12 to explain it further, he
says, "...buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are
risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who
hath raised him from the dead." Now that goes back to the obedience
and death of Christ, His redemptive, justifying work on the cross
of Calvary, And he uses this symbol of circumcision. Now,
you remember back during the old covenant times, every Jewish
male, when a baby boy was born, in the eighth day according to
the law of Moses, and this was established back with Abraham,
the rite of physical circumcision, which was a sign of the covenant
made with Abraham. And that was reinstituted and
reestablished under the Law of Moses that every male child in
the eighth day was to be circumcised physically, which was the cutting
away of the foreskin of the flesh. And that was a physical symbol
of their connection with Abraham. Now all of that circumcision
and the connection with Abraham was a type and a picture and
a foreshadowing of a greater relationship, a spiritual relationship
with Christ. And so this circumcision that
he speaks of here is not a physical circumcision. Now, physical circumcision
had nothing to do with salvation. Physical circumcision had to
do with a physical connection within the nation Israel to Abraham
physically. And so it showed in that type
and in that sign that they were descendants of Abraham. But it
had nothing to do with eternal salvation. A man could have been
physically circumcised and yet be lost in his sins. And most
of them were, the scripture tells us. We see in the beginning of
the New Testament Church that this issue of physical circumcision
was raised in opposition to the gospel of God's grace quite often.
Many of the Jews who claimed to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ for salvation tried to retain the Old Testament legal
right of circumcision as making some difference between saved
and lost, and they would say that the Gentiles who were saved
had to be circumcised in order to be saved, in order to be holy,
in order to be made righteous. And the apostles and the early
evangelists stood their ground and said, absolutely not. Paul
wrote in Galatians chapter 5, he said, Stand fast in the liberty
wherewith Christ has made you free, and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. For he said, I say unto you,
if you be circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. Now
you can't get any plainer than that. What he's talking about
is this, the freedom and liberty wherewith sinners are made free
in Christ is by the grace of God. based on the righteousness
and the blood of Christ alone. It is not based on anything that
I am physically. It is not based on any physical
connection or ancestry that I have. Just because a person is born
a Jew, for example, physically, nationally, culturally, ethnically,
does not mean in any way that they are children of God. In
fact, Paul wrote that in Romans chapter 9. He said, they are
not all Israel, which are of Israel. What he meant by that
is just because you're a physical descendant of Abraham does not
make you a spiritual child of God. And so they tried to impose
circumcision into the scheme of salvation, and the gospel
of God's grace will not allow it. Paul said this in Galatians
chapter 6 and verse 14. He said, God forbid that I should
glory or boast or have confidence in anything save the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. That cross there is emblematic
of His death to die for the sins of His people and establish righteousness
for them. And He said, by whom the world,
the world is dead unto me and I unto the world. He said, for
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth anything
but a new creation. So it doesn't matter in salvation
whether you are circumcised or not physically. It has nothing
to do with it. That was a type. and a picture. Now what did it typify and what
did it picture? Well, it typifies and pictures
and symbolizes and foreshadows the believer's union with Christ. Now that's what it means. Some
today say that Old Testament circumcision of male children
was a type or picture of baptism, water baptism, therefore they
baptized infants. But that is not so. You will
find no place in the New Testament, where physical circumcision is
equated with water baptism. Now, some people might go to
this scripture that we're talking about here, but that's not what
it's teaching, and I'm going to show you that. My friend,
we have no scriptural command or mandate to baptize infants.
That was a political tool used by political religious kingdoms
to keep control over people, and that's all it was. To baptize
an infant, you might as well baptize a cat. You're not doing
any more good. Baptism, water baptism, is not
salvation. Water baptism does not cleanse
from sin. Neither does adult baptism. But
baptism, water baptism, was an ordinance of confession given
to the New Testament Church for believers to confess before men
publicly in that water baptism something that had already taken
place, their union with Christ, their salvation. So that's not
what it's talking about. Now, what does this circumcision
mean? That he's talking about it, it
means union with Christ. Look at it again in verse 11,
Colossians chapter 2. Christ is who he's speaking of
here, in whom, that is in Christ, also you are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hand. Now, the circumcision that
he speaks of is one made without hands. That excludes physical
circumcision, and I tell you, that excludes water baptism too,
from what he's talking about here. You can't do water baptism
without hands. This is made without hands. This
is a spiritual matter. This is one that God does, and
God alone. And he says it's made without
hands in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. by
the circumcision of Christ. Now this circumcision he's speaking
of has to do with putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.
Now remember physical circumcision under the old covenant was a
testimony and a type of the cutting away of the filth of the flesh
physically in those babies under the old covenant but it typified
a spiritual cutting away of the filth of the body of the sins
of the flesh, the filth of the flesh. Now how was it accomplished? Well he says it was accomplished
by the circumcision of Christ. Now that's speaking of Christ
himself being circumcised. And I want you to see what he
means here. Look at verse 12. Buried with him in baptism. Now the word baptism has been
bantered about quite a bit Some people talk about, again, baptism
of infants. Some people talk about sprinkling,
some pouring, and then others, immersion. Well, immersion is
the way of believer's baptism. Going down into the water, confessing
that when Christ died, we died. When he was buried, we were buried.
When he arose again the third day, we arose again the third
day. Sprinkling and pouring is not the scriptural ordinance
of baptism. But what does the word baptism
mean? The word baptism means placing
into. Now that's what it means. And
he says buried with him in baptism, speaking of when Christ died. Now think about this. Now, when
was a believer placed in Christ? Well, in God's purpose, it was
before the foundation of the world. Paul spoke of that in
2 Timothy chapter 1 when he spoke of that salvation. which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The Bible speaks
of God sovereignly choosing a people and conditioning all of their
salvation on Christ, giving them to Him. And God the Son, in the
everlasting covenant of grace, the covenant of redemption, He
agreed to be the substitute, the surety, the mediator of those
people. He said, Father, I will take
all the responsibility of their complete salvation upon myself. And so we were placed in Christ
before the world began in the purpose of God. But in time,
God, the Bible says, sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, that is, Christ became responsible for his people
under the law to redeem them who were under the law. And when
Christ walked this earth, he walked the earth as a substitute,
the God-man mediator, the scripture calls him. One mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He's the surety. He's the representative. of his people, so that when he
kept the law perfectly, he did it not for himself, but for his
people, his sheep. And when he went to the cross
of Calvary, when he was made sin, not for sins of his own,
but for the sins of his people, you see, the Bible says he was
bruised for our iniquity. When he died on that cross, he
made atonement, he made redemption. He paid the price, and he redeemed
not himself, but his people. And he satisfied law and justice,
and drank damnation dry. He said, I lay down my life for
the sheep. He loved his own until the end,
until the finishing of the work. For Christ is the end of the
law, the fulfillment and the finishing of the law, precept
and penalty to everyone that believes it. So that it is said
in the scripture, when Christ obeyed the law, he did it for
his people so that they obeyed it, not in themselves, but in
him. They were placed into him. He was their representative and
is their representative, united to him. When Christ went to the
cross and suffered and bled and died, He did it for His people. So that when He did it, they
did it. Not in themselves, but in Him. They were placed into
Him. When He was buried, they were
buried. When He arose again the third
day, they arose again the third day. That's what the Bible means
when it calls Him the firstfruits. That's a picture of that feast
of firstfruits back in the Old Covenant. That first crop that
come forth, you see, that was to be dedicated to God and the
whole crop that followed was to be a good crop. Well, Christ's
resurrection from the dead is the first fruit signifying that
the whole crop of his people, his sheep, all who come to know
him and believe in him, will follow. They'll be resurrected
too. So that's what he's talking about.
When Christ went to the cross, He went there having been made
sin. Now, how was he made sin? The
Bible teaches that in 2 Corinthians 5.21. For God the Father made
him sin. To be sin, the King James Version
says, but it literally means made him sin. What does that
mean? That means that all of the sin
of God's elect, Christ's sheep, were made to meet on Him. They were imputed to Him. They
were legally accounted to Him. Back up in verse 18, it says,
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them. That word impute means to charge
or to account. God didn't charge their sins
and their trespasses to them. He charged them to Christ. And
so Christ died for their sins, and when He died, He satisfied
law and justice, and literally and legally cut away the filth
of the flesh. In other words, Christ bore away
the sins of His people on the cross. The Bible in Daniel chapter
9 says it this way, that He made an end of sin. He finished the
transgression. he brought in everlasting righteousness
that's what he did when he died so that all of the condemnation
all of the sin of his sheep was born away legally in the eyes
of God's law and justice and that's what it means here we
were buried with him in baptism we were united with Christ and
he says wherein also you are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead now
circumcision that is made without hands also refers to the circumcision
of the heart. And that's what the Bible calls
the new birth. That's regeneration and conversion. And that is a spiritual cutting
away of the filth of the flesh, not making me sinlessly perfect
within myself, but making me look to Christ in whom I am sinlessly
perfect. complete in him. Now back over
in the book of Romans chapter 2, the Apostle Paul deals with
this circumcision of the heart, the new birth. You see the new
birth is the operation of God. It's by the sovereign power of
the Holy Spirit when he brings a sinner to life he applies spiritual
eternal life from Christ and he imparts life to that sinner,
spiritual life spiritual knowledge. He gives that sinner faith to
look to Christ and brings him to repentance of his sin, repentance
of dead works. That's the cutting away of the
filth of the flesh in the heart, spiritually, to where that sinner
no longer looks to himself for salvation. He no longer looks
anywhere else for salvation but Christ and Him crucified. That's
spiritual circumcision. And that's union with Christ
in regeneration, in the new birth. Now that new birth is not by
the will of the flesh. It cannot be. The flesh is sinful.
It's not by the will of man. It's not by the will of other
men. But it's of God. Read that in John chapter 1,
verses 11 through 13. But here in Romans chapter 2,
verse 28 and 29, the Apostle Paul speaks of circumcision of
the heart. The power of God in regeneration
and conversion. And listen to what he says here.
He says, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither
is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he
is a Jew which is one inwardly. Now he's talking about a spiritual
Jew here, a spiritual Israelite. And he said, and circumcision
is that of the heart. in the Spirit, and not in the
letter, not according to the Old Covenant law of circumcision,
whose praise is not of men, but of God." You see, this is the
issue of spiritual circumcision. And then over in Philippians
chapter 3 and verse 3, he makes this statement. Now, he makes
this statement in light of Jewish legalists who are trying to get
Gentile believers circumcised in order to be saved, or in order
to be holy. And he says in verse 3 of Philippians
chapter 3, for we are the circumcision. In other words, they claim to
be the circumcision because they're Jews. But he says that's not
the case at all. We are the circumcision. Now
what circumcision is Paul speaking of? Because many of these Gentile
believers had never experienced physical circumcision under the
law. Yet he says we are the circumcision. What's he talking about? Well,
he explains it. He says, which worship God in the Spirit. Those
who have experienced the new birth by the power of the Holy
Spirit in regeneration and conversion, those who have been spiritually
circumcised in the heart, the cutting away of the filth of
the flesh, they worship God in Spirit. That means two things.
That means they worship God from the heart. It's not just outward
ceremony. It's not just dead cold ceremony,
but it's a worshipful heart. It's a heart of love and humility
and gratitude and thanksgiving. They worship God because their
heart is drawn to the God of all grace who saved them through
his son. And then it means they worship
God as He reveals Himself. Whatever God says about Himself
in this Bible, that's what they believe. And that's how they
worship God. If God says He's sovereign, they say, Amen. He's
sovereign. If God says that He's a God of
election, they say, Amen. If He's a God of redemption,
Amen. However, God reveals Himself,
and He reveals Himself in Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. And then He says this. We're
the circumcision. which worship God in the Spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus." Now that word rejoice there,
we look at it as it's translated in the King James Version, and
we say, well, they have joy in Christ, and we do. Those who
have been circumcised in the heart, who have been united to
Christ, baptized into Christ, placed into Him, from eternity
past and on the cross in redemption and in justification and in adoption. And those who have been united
to him in heart by the Spirit, they have joy in Christ. But
that word rejoice there means more. It means they have confidence
in Christ alone. What is my confidence of salvation,
my assurance, my peace? Christ and him crucified. And
then it says this, it says they have no confidence in the flesh,
no confidence in the worst of the flesh or the best of the
flesh, no confidence but in Christ. That's who the circumcision is
here. Now go back to Colossians chapter 2, now that's what he's
talking about. Verse 12, buried with him in
baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God who hath raised him from the dune. When
Christ died, I died. When He was buried, I was buried.
When He arose again the third day, I arose again the third
day. He was my substitute and representative. Now, how do I
know that? Because the Holy Spirit has come into my heart and cut
away the filth of the flesh. I've been born again by the Spirit.
How do I know that? I have confidence in Christ and
no confidence in the flesh. I worship God in the Spirit.
I'm complete in Christ. I have no hope but in Him. Well,
he goes in verse 13, he 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." Now, as
I said, many of these Gentile believers had never experienced
the physical circumcision that was required under the Law of
Moses that the Jews had gone through. And that's what he's
saying here, you being dead in your sins and uncircumcision
of your flesh. In other words, when you were
dead in trespasses and sin, when you didn't know Christ, when
you were spiritually dead in yourself and uncircumcised in
your flesh, he quickened you together with him, having forgiven
all your trespasses. Now, you know what he's talking
about there? That quickening is what Christ accomplished on
the cross. Again, as I said, when he died,
I died. When he was buried, I was buried.
But when he arose again, what happened? I rose with him. I
was quickened, he says it, together with him. When he arose, I arose. Not in myself, but in him. One
day in time, God the Holy Spirit gave me life and literally resurrected
me from the dead as a result. And then sometime in the future,
I don't know when, I'll be resurrected from the dead spiritually and
given a new body, quickened with him. And then he says in verse
14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to the cross. The handwriting of ordinances
here that was against us has to do with the law of God that
condemned sinners for their sins. Now, what happened when Christ
died on that cross? The sins of His sheep, the sins
of all who know Him and believe in Him, were imputed to Him,
and He took it out of the way. He removed the condemnation. He satisfied the law. He nailed
our sins to the cross. He drove them away. He bore them
away. And the condemnation of the law
was nailed to the cross. And all of those handwriting
of ordinances under the Old Covenant were done away with. They were
abolished. And he says in verse 15, and
having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them. And it says in the King
James Version, in it, it means in himself. What he's talking
about here is this. When Christ went to the cross,
he completed and finished everything that redeems and justifies a
sinner before God. He paid the total price of our
sin there. He made His people righteous
in Him. He removed the condemnation of
the law. He finished the transgression,
made an end of sin and established righteousness. And He abolished
all of the ordinances of the old covenant that stood against
people because He fulfilled it. He abolished it by way of fulfillment. It had its place and it had its
time. But its place and time are over
because Christ, who is the substance, has come. And we're united to
Him. Now that's union with Christ.
The title of this message is Union with Christ. And I hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word.