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Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 
2. I'll just read verses 6 to 15. As you therefore have received 
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in 
Him, and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding 
in it with thanksgiving. Beware lest anyone cheat you 
through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition 
of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and 
not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the 
head of all principality and power. In Him you are also circumcised 
with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. 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. In you being dead in your trespasses 
and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He is made alive together 
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 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, Having disarmed principalities and powers, He 
made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we come 
now to a wonderful portion of Holy Scripture, and we just pray 
for clarity of mind as we consider specifically verses 11 and 12. 
And God, just give us wisdom and cause us to benefit from 
this study, cause us to be encouraged at what we possess in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And it's in His name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, several years ago, I preached 
from Colossians 2, verses 11 and 12, and tried to explain 
the whole circumcision baptism thing. And that tape, or the 
cassette tape from that sermon, found its way into the hands 
of a Presbyterian pastor. And his comment on the sermon 
was, he sure doesn't understand covenant theology. And that may 
very well be the case, but I thought Having reflected on this, and 
because I'm sure you all know Colossians 2, 11 and 12 is a 
very disputed text or a very debated text with reference to 
the issue of covenant theology. I thought before we actually 
exegete it, we would make some preliminary observations on Colossians 
2, 11 and 12. Things that have to deal with, 
specifically, covenant theology. There's three preliminary observations. First, covenant theology. What 
is it? Secondly, circumcision and baptism. And then thirdly, the point of 
the passage. It's absolutely crucial when 
interpreting the Bible, you ask, what is the point? What is the 
context? What's going on there? Is Paul, 
in Colossians 2, 11 and 12, justifying the practice of infant baptism? If that's not what he's doing, 
then we should not be guided by that in our interpretation 
of this particular passage. So just broadly, just looking 
at what is covenant theology, first of all, it's biblical basis. A covenant is simply an agreement 
in its most basic term, and it's agreement between two or more 
persons. As it's used in the Bible, covenant 
refers to God's promise to save His people by Jesus Christ the 
Lord. Generally speaking, there's two 
big covenants, and then there are some smaller ones, which 
we'll get into in just a moment. The two big ones are the covenant 
of redemption, and the covenant of redemption is that pact or 
agreement between the persons of the Trinity that the Father 
has elected or predestined to save a people from their sins. 
The Son, as the surety of this covenant, agrees to go into the 
world to live on their behalf, to die on their behalf, and to 
rise again. And the Spirit's role is to effect 
that finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Covenant of Redemption. John Flable, in the works of 
Flable, has some wonderful things to say about that covenant of 
redemption. The one, however, we're probably 
more familiar with is the covenant of grace. the covenant of grace. That's the agreement between 
God and sinners, whereby He will save them through the Lord Jesus 
Christ. I'll just read from the Westminster 
Confession from chapter 7. It's very similar to our Baptist 
Confession, but for various reasons the Baptists did not include 
a statement concerning the covenant of words. that I think is very 
helpful. So I'll read chapter 7, paragraphs 
2 and 3 from the Westminster. It says, The first covenant made 
with man was a covenant of works wherein life was promised to 
Adam and in him to his posterity upon condition of perfect and 
personal obedience. That's the covenant of works 
made with Adam. This covenant, by the way, is 
under attack today. There are a lot of people in 
Reformed circles denying the existence of a covenant of works 
in the Garden of Eden. That is wrong. We must maintain 
that very covenant because the whole argument of Romans 5 hinges 
on that whole aspect. But that's another story in and 
of itself. The next paragraph defines more 
fully this covenant of grace. It says, Man, by his fall, having 
made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the covenant 
of works, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called 
the covenant of grace, wherein he freely offers unto sinners 
life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in him, 
that they may be saved. and promising to give unto all 
those that are ordained unto eternal life His Holy Spirit 
to make them willing and able to believe. So that's the arrangement. That's the covenant of grace. 
And then the confession goes on to say how that covenant was 
variously administered. You go back to Ephesians 2 for 
just a moment. Ephesians chapter 2. I realize 
this is more of a didactic or a teachy sermon, but it's a very 
important one because covenant theology is what the Bible teaches 
us. Notice in Ephesians chapter 2 
at verse 11. He says, therefore, just the 
context, he's dealing with the finished work of Jesus Christ. 
He starts off chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, to highlight our sin, 
our rebellion, our enmity against the Lord God. He comes into chapter 
2, verse 4, with that, but God, God who is rich in mercy, God 
who is full of grace, He has made you alive. So God overcomes 
our personal sin. Later on, here, he's talking 
about God overcoming the enmity that existed between Jew and 
Gentile. He says that in Christ, the two 
have now become one man. And so he's highlighting to the 
Ephesians their former state in Ephesians 2, 11, and 12, with 
the idea, with the demonstration that Christ overcame this and 
brought them into the place of salvation. He says, therefore, 
remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called 
uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the 
flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ, 
being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers, notice, 
from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God 
in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you 
who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of 
Christ. So he mentions this covenants 
of promise, covenants plural of promise singular. The promise 
singular is God's statement that he will save his people from 
their sins by Jesus Christ. The covenants plural refer to 
those various historical covenants that the Bible records for us. 
The first is the covenants of works. made with Adam in the 
garden. The second is the covenant made 
with Noah, also referred to as the Noahic covenant. and what 
that does is provide the context for the outflow of God's special 
grace. God, to Noah, promises that he 
will never again flood the earth. It is a covenant of preservation. 
It is a covenant designed for the benefit of mankind so that 
there would be a theater wherein the gospel can be preached for 
the saving of sinners. The next historical covenant 
was made with a man by the name of Abraham. with a covenant of 
promise to save, to grant land, to make him a blessing in the 
earth. The next covenant was made with 
Moses, the Mosaic covenant. We often might refer to it as 
the Old Covenant. It is that covenant arrangement 
that the book of Hebrews brings into the spotlight to show us 
the better nature of the New Covenant versus the Old. So you've 
got the covenant with Adam, the covenant with Abraham, the covenant 
with Moses, and then the covenant with David. I'm sorry, with Noah, 
and then Abraham, and then Moses, and then David. The covenant 
made with David in 2 Samuel chapter 7 refers to the kingdom, refers 
to the kingship. It is a promise made to David 
that from his lineage, from his line, would come a king that 
would reign forever and ever and ever. And then the next historical 
covenant is the New Covenant. And of course that was ratified 
through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks of that 
in Matthew 26. He says, this is my blood which 
is shed for the remission of sins for many. It is the blood 
of the New Covenant. So those are the historical covenants 
with Adam, with Noah, with Abraham, with Moses, with David, and with 
He is the covenant head of the new covenant. So that's a brief 
overview of covenant theology. Why is that important? Well, 
secondly, circumcision and baptism, referred to here in verses 11 
and 12. Some of our dear brothers in 
Christ practice infant baptism. and they lay a lot of weight 
and stress upon this text. They say that baptism has replaced 
circumcision, and therefore we should sprinkle our little children. Abraham circumcised his infants, 
therefore in the New Covenant we ought to baptize our infants. And this is a text that they 
go to to try and prove that. There are, in fact, similarities 
between circumcision and baptism. No one denies that. But as you 
look at verse 11, what is not in view is physical circumcision. It is a spiritual circumcision. Notice, he makes that very clear. In him, you are also circumcised 
with the circumcision made without hands. Big difference. The Old 
Testament? Abraham, Moses, all of the men 
who practiced circumcision could not do it without the use of 
hands. He goes on to describe that it 
was not simply the cutting away the foreskin of the male organ. He says that it's the putting 
off the body of the sins of the flesh, and then he highlights 
the agent involved. It isn't some Jewish man that 
you take your son to. It's not a mohel, I think is 
the actual term, for the man that performs that ritual. Here 
it is Jesus Christ. And I will argue, brethren, that 
physical circumcision and physical baptism, the similarity is simply 
this. They both point to spiritual 
circumcision. What spiritual circumcision? 
Regeneration. Putting off the body of the sins 
of the flesh. This was not a concept foreign 
in the Old Testament. Go back to Deuteronomy for a 
moment. Specifically, Deuteronomy 10. 
Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse 16. Deuteronomy 10 verse 15, 
The Lord delighted only in your fathers to love them, and He 
chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, 
as it is this day. Therefore, circumcise the foreskin 
of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your 
God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty 
and awesome, who shows no partiality, nor takes a bride. We read from 
Deuteronomy 30 at the outset of worship and in verse 6 it 
says, And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the 
heart of your descendants to love the Lord your God with all 
your heart, with all your soul, that you may live. So out of 
the mass of physically circumcised Israel, there was a group within 
that mass whom the Lord regenerated, whom the Lord performed spiritual 
circumcision on, or whom he saved. That's the reality that Paul 
is pointing to in his reference there in Colossians 2, Colossians 
2.11, which is pictured by, or demonstrated by, the ordinance 
of baptism. They both point to the same reality, 
which is God's grace in regenerating sinners. Jeremiah 4 refers to 
this whole aspect as well. Jeremiah 4, verse 4. Circumcise 
yourselves to the Lord and take away the foreskins of your hearts, 
you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, lest my fury come 
forth like fire and burn so that no one can quench it because 
of the evil of your doings." So when we look at these two 
verses, Colossians 2, 11 and 12, there must be other data 
that informs our understanding about whether or not infants 
are necessarily included in the New Covenant. It does not bear 
the weight that people put on it to say, well, baptism has 
just replaced circumcision, therefore we baptize our infants. I would 
argue this text truly argues against infant baptism, because 
it tells us what's in view through the putting off the sins of the 
body of the flesh. Is that true of the infant? We 
don't know. It says the instrumentality in view is through faith. Is 
that true of that infant? It's not bearing the weight that 
men put upon it to teach infant sprinkling. Jeremiah 31 is a 
passage we ought to look at to see what the New Covenant looks 
like, to see what membership in the New Covenant is all about. John Eady, who is an infant sprinkler—not 
anymore, he's in heaven now, he lived in the 1800s— but he 
was a Presbyterian, he believed in infant sprinkling, but he 
was an excellent exegete of God's Word. Here's what he said on 
this passage. He says, first, it is plain that 
the spiritual circumcision is not different from regeneration. Verse 11 is not about physical 
circumcision. It's about a spiritual transaction. It's about God cutting away the 
foreskin of our heart. It is made with our hands. It 
is performed by Jesus Christ Himself. He says, for the putting 
off the old man and putting on the new man. And then he says, 
the apostle looks on circumcision and baptism as being closely 
connected. I agree. However, he goes on 
to say, the spiritual blessing symbolized by both being of a 
similar nature. Absolutely. Now he says, though 
probably, it would be straining the connection to allege it as 
a proof that baptism has been in all points ordained for the 
church instead of circumcision. It's not direct carry-over. Though there's similarities, 
it doesn't mean it's replaced it in every particular. Again, Jeremiah 31 will not allow 
that. It defines new covenant membership. Those in the covenant know the 
Lord. Those in the covenant are forgiven 
of their sins. Those in the covenant have passed 
from death unto life. And we cannot say that of a little 
baby, because we don't know. He hasn't exercised faith in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. A Baptist, a Reformed Baptist, 
said this. Fred Malone says, therefore circumcision 
was a prospective sign of the need of heart circumcision, while 
baptism is a retrospective sign of that heart circumcision already 
received and confessed. This is the biblical connection 
between the two signs. Physical circumcision caused 
men to look forward to, or look toward, the need for spiritual 
circumcision. baptism looks back on that act. Baptism, when somebody goes into 
that water, they go down and they come up, what we are saying 
is not that at that point God has regenerated them. We are 
saying God has regenerated them. They have gone through that spiritual 
circumcision. Christ has already performed 
heart surgery on them, and baptism simply pictures that. It is an 
external sign of what God has already accomplished inwardly. So that when a little Jewish 
boy in the Old Covenant, while at that age he wouldn't have, 
but his parents hopefully would have told him later on, that 
points to your need to be spiritually circumcised. It was looking forward, 
a prospective sign, whereas baptism is a retrospective sign. So there's similarities between 
the two, but there's not identity. We could say an apple is like 
an orange. They're both round, they're both 
about the same weight, they're both about the same size. But 
I don't think any of us would say an apple is an orange. Something similar doesn't mean 
that it's similar in everything. And there are obviously some 
differences between the two ordinances. In the Old Testament, John Eady 
says, the mark in the foreskin was the token of being a Jew. In the New Covenant, he says, 
the off-thrown body of the flesh was the index of one's being 
a Christian. Not just because you were born 
to a Christian family, not because of a certain attachment externally 
to covenant ritual, but by grace alone, through faith alone, in 
Jesus Christ alone. That's identifying one in the 
New Covenant. Those are the ones that should 
receive baptism. So covenant theology, the connection 
between circumcision and baptism, and then thirdly, the point of 
the passage. Remember the issue. What is Paul 
doing here? He's fighting heretics. And he's 
not fighting heretics, but by showing what Christ is 
all about. Remember I quoted from MacArthur, 
the best defense whose combat, false teaching, is a thoroughly 
biblical Christology. Go back to chapter 2, verse 8. 
Beware, lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty 
deceit. According to the tradition of men, according to the basic 
principles of the world, and not according to Christ. He says, 
for in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you 
are complete in him who is the head of all principality and 
power. So he has stated that Jesus is 
God, And that in Jesus, we are complete. We have everything 
we need. Spiritual wholeness. Remember, the use of the word 
wholeness here in the book of Colossians probably meant that 
the heretics were coming along and saying, look, you need this 
and you need that and you need this in order to be full. It's 
not enough that you have Christ, you need Christ plus. It's not 
enough that you have Christ, you believed in him. There's 
these spiritual intermediaries that you need to spend time with. 
You need to quit eating pork. You need to quit going here. 
You need to quit doing that. That's what goes on in chapter 
2, verses 16 to 23. Asceticism. Mystical legalism. Those are the heresies. Those 
are the things plaguing them. Paul says, no, in Christ you're 
complete. You have everything that a believer 
could ever want. There's no more benefit for you 
than being in Christ. verses 11 to 15 simply explain 
or simply set forth the means by which believers are complete 
in Christ. So it's not a text to teach us 
about infant sprinkling. Colossians 2, 11 and 12 teaches 
that there are some similarities between circumcision and baptism. However, the primary point of 
the passage is to tell the Colossian Christians what wholeness in 
Christ looks like. It means having gone through 
this spiritual circumcision. It means having been baptized, 
which pictures this spiritual circumcision. It means having 
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. It means having been made alive 
together with Him. It means having been forgiven 
of all your trespasses. It means having had the handwriting 
of requirements that was against us wiped out. It means having 
that all nailed to the cross. And it means that God has disarmed 
principalities and powers. That's what your fullness, that's 
what your completeness, that's what your position in Christ 
is all about. The implication is clear. You 
don't need what the heretics are selling. You don't need anything 
other than Jesus Christ. is an overview or some preliminary 
observations. Let's look specifically at the 
text. Notice, "...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." It is spiritual, as we've already highlighted. Go 
back to Romans 2 for just a moment. Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2 verses 28 and 
29. Because Christians have been 
spiritually circumcised, Paul calls us Jews. Notice in Romans 
2.28, For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision 
that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is 
one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the 
heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not 
from men, but from God. So much has regeneration been 
depicted here in this passage that Paul is able to call us, 
as Christians, Jews, because we're spiritually circumcised. 
You ever realize that? Ethnic Gentiles can be spiritual 
Jews, and ethnic Jews can be spiritual Gentiles. We'll figure 
that one out later. We are ethnic Gentiles, non-Jews, 
but we are spiritual Jews. apostate modern Judaism who has 
rejected Jesus Christ, while they may be ethnically Jewish, 
are spiritually and covenantally Gentile. That's God's sovereignty. That's what the prophet Isaiah 
was speaking about when he said, they will come and bow before 
your feet, which is taken up in the book of Revelation chapters 
2 and 3. Circumcision, spiritual circumcision. Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 
chapter 3, reading in verse 1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice 
in the Lord. For me to write the same things 
to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs. Interesting use of language. 
Paul's not anti-canine. Paul is talking about Judaizers. He's talking about those who 
want Gentile Christians to get circumcised in order to be saved. That's why he says, beware of 
dogs. That was typical language that 
Jews used of Gentiles. They were dogs. Jews would pray 
and thank God that they were born not a woman, not a slave, 
and not a Gentile. They were dogs. So, Paul here, 
in the spiritual realm, is telling Philippian Gentile Christians 
to beware of gods. Jewish people that would come 
and say, you need to be circumcised in order to be saved. He says, 
beware of gods, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. Powerful language. That's what 
they're accomplishing. It's not a religious rite. It's 
not a religious ordinance. It is not a cultural practice. 
Paul had Timothy circumcised. He wasn't anti-circumcision if 
it would accommodate the culture. He was anti-circumcision when 
it compromised the gospel. And so these guys were mutilating. It wasn't circumcision. Now notice 
what he says in verse 3. For we are the circumcision. The New American Standard has, 
we are the true circumcision. And then it goes on to define 
that. Worship God in the spirit. Rejoice or boasting in Christ 
Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh. Colossians 2.11 
has to do with regeneration, with spiritual circumcision, 
with not just the foreskin of the organ being removed, but 
Paul highlights very clearly what is removed in this transaction. In him you were also circumcised 
with the circumcision made without hands by putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh. That's what Christ does. The 
moyal may put you under the knife and take that little portion 
away. Christ takes your sin and he casts it into the depths of 
the sea. Christ inspired a man, not in 
a weird revelatory manner, but a man to write the hymn, My sin, 
O the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part, 
but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I dare it no more. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord. That is the transaction that 
is in view here. What does it mean to be complete 
in Christ? It means that your sin has been 
dealt with. Jesus has circumcised you with 
a circumcision made without hands. He has taken your sin. He has 
cast it off. He has mortified it. He has regenerated 
you. He has given you all things necessary 
for life. and for faith. Christ is the 
one who is the blessed agent of this particular act by the 
circumcision of Christ. That brings Paul to consider 
baptism in verse 12. Baptism pictures this, as we've 
said. It doesn't picture physical circumcision. It pictures spiritual circumcision. When a man or a woman goes down 
into that water, it is an external testimony that Jesus has done 
heart surgery on them. Paul uses baptism often to cause 
believers to reflect upon the glorious truth that they are 
in Christ. And this is another real practical 
reason why infant baptism is found wanting. How could you 
ever appeal to someone who was baptized as an infant with the 
language that Paul does in Romans 6, 1-4, or what he does here 
in Ephesians 2-12? They had no consciousness, they 
had no reality, they had no understanding. Whereas, for the rest of us, 
when we think back to that blessed pool and what it signifies, it 
hopefully stirs up our conscience to reflect on the glories of 
God and Christ in the forgiving us of our sins. We can think 
back with fondness to that pool. We can think back with fondness 
to that water. Paul says in Romans 6, 1, he 
says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who 
died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as 
many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into 
His death? 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." He is using the image of water baptism 
to highlight the spiritual truth it represents. He is calling 
them to consider their fullness or completion in Christ Think 
back to the pool, think back to the tank, think back to that 
day when you publicly identified with the triune God, and through 
that watery grave symbolized death, burial, and resurrection 
anew in Christ. It is supposed to function as 
a vivid sign in our consciences to spur us on. holiness and righteousness. That's the whole argument in 
Romans chapter 6. Same as how these things are 
true, represented in your baptism, even so, you likewise consider 
yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 
You can't do that if you're sprinkled as an infant. You can't recall 
those things. You can't recall those facts. 
The best you realize is that somebody can say, yeah, I saw 
them sprinkle water on you. loses the punch, it loses the 
power, it loses the emphasis. When Paul appeals here to Colossians, 
in Colossians 2, 12, and he says, bury with him in baptism, they 
understand what he's talking about. They realize what's going 
on. They realize the significance 
of this. And it's not as if the baptistry has magic power. It's not as if the water has 
been blessed and it's holy water. That is normal tap water. The 
spigot is in the back in the boiler room. All you do is turn 
it on, it fills up, and then if we're diligent, we put the 
heater in so it's not frigid when somebody gets baptized. 
There's no blessing of the water. There's no hocus pocus of the 
water. Paul is not a sacramentalist. Sacramentalists tie efficacy 
to the sacraments. Think Roman Catholicism. They 
tie efficacy to the sacraments. That's not Paul. It's not as 
if the water has some magical right, some magical power. Notice 
verse 12, buried with him in baptism, in which you also were 
raised with him through faith. Through faith. The water that 
doesn't convey this on you. You believe. You believe the 
propositions of the gospel. You believe the truth that Jesus 
came into this world, sinners to save. You believe that he 
was crucified at Calvary. You believe that he rose again, 
that he reigns at the right hand of God most high. You believe 
those truths and because of that, not because or through that faith 
rather, God has justified you. God has saved you, God has blessed 
you, and that baptism simply pictures that, or demonstrates 
that, or evidences that, or gives a sign as to the accomplishment 
of what Jesus Christ has done. So we are circumcised with the 
circumcision made without hands, we are secondly buried with him 
in baptism, and thirdly, we are raised or resurrected. And we often think about resurrection 
as being in the future. And the Bible tells us that. 
We are to look forward to that blessed day when God will reunite 
our bodies and souls after we have died, and there will be 
a general resurrection of all men everywhere. God will judge 
the living and the dead. But there is a sense where we 
have already participated in resurrection. Through our regeneration, 
through this circumcision, through the salvation that God has wrought, 
we have been raised up with Christ and have been made to sit in 
the heavenly places. That's what Ephesians 2 verse 
6 says. So there is an already aspect 
of this resurrection. It's not yet enjoyed as it will 
be in the future, but we are already possessors of this. And that's what he says here. 
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. Interesting. that he refers to 
the power of God displayed at the resurrection of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. He does the very same thing in 
Ephesians 1, beginning in verse 19. Paul, in prayer, wants the 
believers there to know what is the exceeding greatness of 
His power toward us who believe, Ephesians 1.19. According to 
the working of His mighty power, and now notice how he explains 
that mighty power. which he worked in Christ, when 
he raised him from the dead, and suited him at his right hand 
in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and 
might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only 
in this age, but also in that which is to come." We have been 
raised, and we have been blessed, and it's through faith in the 
working of God who raised Jesus from the dead. I love Edy's comment 
here, when he speaks specifically of faith in the power of God. Edy says, Love may pity, but 
power restores. Love may pity, but power restores. A power which the apostle calls 
exceeding great and mighty. And then O'Brien, a commentator, 
explains the whole connection here. The false suggestion was 
that the believers were not complete in Christ. They need to follow 
a strict discipline of ritual and ascetic observance, and to 
take sufficient account of the spiritual powers if they were 
to proceed along the path to perfection, to fullness of life." 
He says, "...against this, the Apostle asserts that the Colossian 
Christians had already been raised with Christ." In other words, 
it doesn't get any better. You can't get more complete. You can't get more full. You have been circumcised. You 
have been buried with Christ. You have been raised with Christ. 
So when these peddlers come along and say, you need Jesus plus 
spiritual powers. You need Jesus plus ritual. You need Jesus plus asceticism. You just tell them to go on their 
way. Better yet, tell them to repent 
and believe the gospel so that they may be saved. That's the 
context. That's what the apostle is dealing 
with. He is highlighting the means by which believers have 
received the sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I just 
want to close with these two reminders. First, we need to 
beware of those peddling fullness. See, in Colossians here, it was 
the field of spiritual powers. It was asceticism and ritual. 
You know what it is today? Appeal to spiritual powers, asceticism, 
and ritual. The ritual may take a bit of 
a different form. Some speculate that Colossians 2.11, in reference 
to circumcision there, was because the peddlers, the heretics, were 
preaching circumcision. Others argue, no, that's probably 
not the case. Circumcision already functioned 
as shorthand for regeneration, or a picture of the spiritual 
activity of God. The point of the passage is simply 
this, brethren. We need to realize what we have 
in Jesus Christ. So that when somebody comes along 
and says, wow, you're just operating at that level of a Christian? 
Don't you want more? We should always want more Jesus. 
I mean, that's kind of a lame question. You want more Jesus? 
Well, yeah. I want to commune more. I want to love him more. 
I want to increase more. I want to have more faith. But 
the more can be like this. You need faith plus. Now, I realize, 
probably, we don't always read outside of our books and Spurgeon 
and that sort of thing, and that's good. There's safety there. But 
do you realize that in Presbyterianism, at least for one, there's a big 
debate about this whole issue of faith plus works. You wouldn't 
think it would happen in denomination, but it's supposed to be committed 
to Westminster standards. What's going on? Faith plus works. Relation heresy all over. It's not just the Roman Catholic 
Church that teaches faith plus words. It's out there. When anybody tries to add to 
the finished work of Christ for your salvation, you stomp your 
ears and you tell them to get away. Paul takes this seriously. Do you realize there's one letter 
in the entirety of the New Testament that Paul doesn't give a prolonged 
greeting to? I don't know if he's mean or 
angry or mad, but one letter is Galatians. Great greeting, 
and what does he say? I'm amazed. I am amazed that 
you are turning from the gospel of the grace of God to another 
gospel, which is his. He pronounces an anathema, a 
condemnation, damnation. Paul certainly wouldn't be popular 
in some places today. That's just not very kind to 
pronounce damnation on somebody that would mess with the gospel. 
Galatians 1 says, I marvel that you are turning away so soon 
from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different 
gospel, which is not another. But there are some who trouble 
you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we are 
an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than 
what we have preached to you, let him be a curse. This word was used often in the 
Greek translation of the Old Testament. The word is anathema. It is often used in those things, 
or the phrase that the New King James uses to translate, is devoted 
to destruction, or something under the ban. This was Athan's 
problem. He took stuff that was under 
the ban. I mean, he had a lot of problems, 
but that was one of them. He took stock. God said, don't. It's devoted to destruction. 
It's under the ban. Stay away from it. It is only 
fit for burning. That's what Paul says to somebody 
who preaches faith plus words. That's Paul's message to Roman 
Catholicism. That's Paul's message to these 
men today in Presbyterian circles and unfortunately some Baptists 
that are adding to the work of Christ. This is not to say, brethren, 
that as saved, justified believers, we shouldn't do good works. Paul 
says as much in Ephesians 2, 8-10. But to say that our position 
or our justification is somehow connected to our obedience, we 
have missed it by a mile. Paul will not have that. That's why he comes out of the 
chute in relation. That's why this is his response. Because Jews were coming to the 
church and saying, it's good that you believe on Jesus, you 
need to be circumcised in order to be saved. Not be circumcised 
because it's a cultural thing and it's safe and it's healthy 
and all whatever. That's not the issue. Because 
Paul had Timothy circumcised. But when we make it a condition 
for salvation, we are ripping the gracious element right away 
from the gospel. And it's not by us, it's by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. You've got to be 
clear on this. You've got to realize, and that's 
why this morning, stressing all those duties and ordinances and 
things that we have as husbands and fathers and children, we're 
not saved by that. If you think for a moment you 
are saved by your participation in good works, you've missed 
the gospel. The gospel is not about our performance, 
it's about Jesus' performance. It's about Jesus doing and dying 
in resurrection. It's about imputed righteousness. Actually, there's a couple of 
imputations that take place. God takes our sin and imputes 
it to the Savior, punishes the Savior, takes His righteousness, 
and imputes it to us. That's how we stand before God. It is an infused righteousness. This is one of the big issues 
of the Protestant Reformation. Catholics thought, or Roman Catholicism 
thought, that it's an infused righteousness. God is making 
us better. The Reformers said, no. It is a legal declaration. It 
is forensic. You've heard that word, forensic. 
It deals with the law court. Don't get rid of that word. We 
need that word. We need legal declarations. It is an alien righteousness, 
as Luther said, that is given to us by God. This stuff is exceedingly 
important. If we don't have this down, there 
is problem with our soul. We can differ on a whole bunch 
of other things, but we cannot differ on the gospel of Jesus 
Christ. Paul says again in Galatians 
1.9, As we have said before, so now I say again, If anyone 
preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, 
let him be accursed. This is a big issue for the Apostle 
Paul, and it must be a big issue for the Church of Jesus Christ 
today. There must still be a huge breach with Roman Catholicism. 
Not because we hate them, because they're different, they stand 
up and they kneel down and they do things differently. Because 
they deny the gospel. And having denied the gospel, 
they have invited the anathema of God. We ought to pity them, 
we ought to pray for them, we ought to preach them. We ought 
not to join them. And as Protestants, we are seeing 
this by steps, man. People, eh, it's not that big 
of a deal. It's not that big of a deal. 
It's not that big of a deal. Keep Galatians 2.21 fresh in 
your mind. If Christ, or if righteousness 
comes to the law, then Christ shall invade. That's what you're 
saying. If you can add to, if you can 
help, if you can finish, if you can complete, if you contribute, 
what does Calvary Calvary was the place where God made him 
who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the 
righteousness of God in him. Do not miss this. Beware of those 
peddling the higher life, or the fulfilled life. The mindful 
seed spurs you in justification. He explains it well. You realize 
that in justification, we're all the same. Sanctification, 
some are at a higher level. not higher life-ish, but some 
people have been saved longer, they've been killing sin longer, 
they've been praying and reading more, they might know more. Sanctification 
differs from person to person, not justification. The moment 
we believe in Jesus Christ, we are declared not guilty. We don't 
grow in justification, we don't get more justification, we're 
not more justified when we get to heaven than we are right now. 
It is a legal declaration. It is the most blessed of legal 
declarations. It is the judge taking his hammer, 
pounding it on the bench, and saying, not guilty. Not guilty. Not because of any righteousness 
in us, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ the Lord. Be 
more familiar with that, with J.C. Wright. Be more familiar 
with the old perspective on Paul than the new perspective on Paul. 
Be more familiar with Calvin and Luther and with some of the 
gurus of today who are sounding dangerously hopish when it comes 
to this issue of the gospel. Paul, why don't we close here 
and just thank God that he has made us partakers of these spiritual 
blessings. Father in heaven, we give you 
praise and glory for the gospel by which we stand. You know, 
Father, it is not by works of righteousness, it's not by our 
contribution, it's not by our helping the finished work of 
Christ. It is solely by grace, through faith in the Redeemer. 
And we thank you that you have spiritually circumcised us, that 
you have cut away the deadness, the sinfulness, the body of the 
flesh that we possess, God, that you have taken care of our sin. 
And we thank you that we have been baptized, that we have been 
buried and raised anew with the Lord Jesus Christ. We just ask 
that you would cause us to love you, cause us to worship you 
in light of these truths, and cause us to hold fast with reference 
to the biblical doctrine of justification, the biblical doctrine of how 
you save sinners. And I pray through Christ our 
Lord. Amen.