Text: Colossians 2: 6-14

Proposition: The circumcision of Christ I claim and celebrate in baptism through faith in the working of God.

I. The Object of My Faith is More Important than Amount or Intent.  

Through the first verses of this chapter Paul commends them for their faith, but particularly he directs to them to the object of their faith, Jesus Christ. In verse 9 he states Christ as the One in whom the fullness of deity dwells, that is Jesus is God dwelling in human form. This is the first step, the object of our faith is more important than the amount of faith exercised. You can be  as devout as you can in terms of how severe you are with your body or which foods you don't eat, but it is Jesus in whom we trust, not my self discipline, not my interpretation of what I should do or should not do.

II. The Object of My Faith, Jesus, Accomplishes My Salvation.

In verse 10 Paul simply says in Him you have been made complete. Jesus is the author and perfecter of my faith. The essence of the statement Paul makes is that we have been made complete. The term complete is the word ?pleroo? (play-ro'-o), which means filled to the full, nothing needs to be or can be added. And it's a statement of fact, since you have received Christ ? you have been made complete in Him.

III. The Object of My Faith, Jesus, Has Authority Over Me.

Paul declares that Jesus is the head over all rule and authority, meaning what He says has higher precedence than human leadership, higher precedence than angelic leadership. So should even an angel come and direct you to do this or that, Christ's word is supreme as His authority is supreme. Even if you have a vision, Christ's word is higher. What He says? Is. What He commands ?Is. He is the head over all rule and authority, and that means me.

IV. The Object of My Faith, Jesus, Marks Me As His Own.

Are you willing to hear what this phrase leads us to see? We are a people that are more fiercely independent than the Huns or the headhunters of Papua New Guinea . We are our own, and the idea that we would be marked as a slave is marked, that we  would belong to someone other than ourselves violates our deepest values of freedom and autonomy and even dignity. Look at verse 11, and ask yourself if this describes some form of  a mark put upon you as that which belongs to Christ.

The practice of circumcision was God's idea, not mans. As early as Genesis 17, God commanded the sign of circumcision upon the people of Israel . It wasn't an option, in fact if they weren't circumcised, they weren't of Israel and they were considered to have broken the covenant between themselves and God. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, all received specific instruction to mark the people as belonging to God, a sign that they were in  covenant with God. Why this mark, why was it so important? Was it that males were considered to be heads of the home and the mark upon them covered those underneath their care? Was circumcision a type of something that was much greater to come?

However you read verse 11, you see that this new circumcision Paul refers to is one done without human hands. The wording suggests that our fleshly nature is cut off  or put to death by the body of Christ on the cross for us. The phrasing? ?by the circumcision of Christ?   refers to Christ's marking of us as those who believe in Him.

V. The Object of My Faith, Jesus, Marks Me With the Sign of Baptism.                       

As you read verse 12 three things become evident:

1.     Baptism is a sign and obligation of my being buried. It means something in me has been put to death and I am obligated to live the truth of it's death. My old sin nature no longer has full control over me, it's dead and I'm to live that truth.

2.     Baptism is a sign and obligation of my being raised up with Him. It means there's new life in me that wasn't there before I had been saved. I am now obligated to live and grow in the expression of that new life in me.

3.     Baptism occurs at a result of faith that God has raised Christ from the dead. It means that God has made me alive together with Christ. I am only made alive through faith as God draws me and then I respond to His working in me.  

As a Christian, your sins are forgiven, your debts to God are cancelled, the decrees which would have been hostile to you have been taken out of the way, being nailed to the cross, through the hands and feet of Jesus. The mark that you belong to Jesus, a mark that He spiritually puts upon you, only occurs at Baptism! By grace you have been saved, but by baptism you are marked as that which belongs to Christ. Believers, be baptized, in obedience to His command,  in profession of your faith and as His mark upon you!

Rev. Spence Laycock pastors at Church of the Open Bible, Ponoka, Alberta, Canada.
www.churchoftheopenbible.ab.ca