Colossians 2:11-23: “We Have Received A
Circumcision Made Without Hands / Our Certificate Of Debt Was Cancelled Out /
Let No One Judge You”
By
1. In our last study, we looked at verses 1 through 10 of chapter 2.
1.1.
Paul expressed his
concern for the people of the
1.2. The Gnostics had their secret mystery knowledge, but Paul told us that God’s “mystery” which he preached, is Christ Himself. We looked at what Paul means by the word “mystery” and how that the knowledge of God which we can know through Jesus Christ is available to all, not just a select few who receive the “special” knowledge.
1.3. Paul stated that in Jesus Christ, God’s mystery, are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I encouraged us all to become treasure hunters.
1.4. Paul told the Colossians to beware to not be taken captive through philosophy (referring to the teachings of the Gnostics), and then we looked at the three reasons that Paul gives for why a person should look no further than to Jesus Christ, as revealed in the scriptures, to know God.
2. In our study today, we are going to look at verses 11 – 23 of chapter 2.
2.1. Paul tells the Colossians first of all that though the Gnostics told them that they needed to be physically circumcised if they wanted to be really spiritual, that nonetheless when believers in Christ had first come to Christ the real circumcision that matters (the one that physical circumcision had been a type of) had already been performed in their hearts, for they had died to the old sinful nature when they were united with Christ.
2.2. Paul will speak to the Colossians about how that all believers have a certificate of debt before God, a certificate that contains all of their sins on it. But, God canceled out all of their debts when Christ died upon the Christ, and their canceled certificate of debt was nailed upon Christ’s cross, and publicly declared to be taken completely away from them. When you receive Christ you can partake of that forgiveness which Christ procured for you.
2.3. Paul will tell the Colossians to not let the Gnostics judge them for not adding this or that observance to their faith in Christ. Paul knew that the Gnostics were instilling fear into the hearts and lives of the Colossians, a fear that they needed to add something to faith in Christ if they wanted to be saved, or if they wanted to be “really” be spiritual. The Gnostics were trying to get believers to go through the mediatory of angels to get to God, to worship angels, to receive “special knowledge” through their teachers, to have certain visions, to observe certain festival and worship days, and to avoid certain external things.
2.4. Finally, Paul will tell the Colossians that observing all of these Gnostic rites merely cut them off from the One who is the head of the body of Christ, which is Christ Himself, the One who provides for all they need and brings growth in the body of Christ.
3. VS 2:11 - “11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;” – Paul tells the Colossians that they have already been circumcised with the circumcision that really counts, the one made by God in which their old sinful nature was cut off
3.1. Those in the Colossian Heresy were teaching their followers that they needed to be circumcised if they wanted to get to heaven or be really spiritual. But, this is going beyond what the scripture requires of us. The Jerusalem Council whose meeting was recorded for us in Acts chapter 15 determined what would be required for Gentiles to perform after coming to Christ for salvation or in addition to coming to Christ, and note what they determined should be required: Acts 15:28-29: “28 For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: 29 that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell.” Nothing else was required, period.
3.2. Paul wrote that “all things are lawful, but not all things are profitable” (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23) for us as believers in Christ. We have great freedom in Christ, and though we must use wisdom to determine what types of things we can exercise our freedom, nonetheless are free to do all things.
3.3. Paul seeks to explain to the Colossians that you can perform all kinds of external rites and even good deeds, but that if you have not crucified your flesh and put it to death, then those rites and deeds are just works of the flesh and don’t bring glory to God or please Him. Internal circumcision of the heart is what matters because as Jesus said, it is from the heart that all sin evolves.
3.4. What really matters is walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and having our hearts circumcised of sin, and this is because legalism kills, kills the work of God in the church.
4. VS 2:12-13 - “12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,” – Paul tells the Colossians that they have been buried with Christ in baptism and raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead, and in this God had forgiven them all of their transgressions
4.1. These verses are speaking of baptism, and saying the same things that Paul taught in Romans 6:3-4: “3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
4.2. Water baptism does not bring about these results, doesn’t bring salvation. Rather, it is meant to be an outward sign of an inward act. When a person comes to have faith in Christ, this is symbolized in water baptism of going down into the water. Being lifted up out of the water symbolizes that moment when you came to salvation through Christ and you were raised up form the dead to walk in the newness of resurrection life in Christ.
4.3. Have you ever wondered if Christ has forgiven you ‘all’ of your sins? Did he only forgive your sins that you committed before you knew better? Did he only forgive the sins that you committed before you came to Christ? How could Jesus have died for your sins when you hadn’t even been born when Christ died upon the cross? These verses speak to this.
4.4.
At that moment when each of us who are Christians came to have saving faith
in Christ, notice here that Paul says that God has ‘forgiven us all our
transgressions’. God didn’t forgive
some, and require us to somehow atone or live with the results of the
others. He forgave all of them. God’s forgiveness also included sins that we
would commit in the future, after coming to Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus’ death upon
4.5. I kind of like to think of our forgiveness of all of our sins by Christ as providing us a big heavenly bank account that we can draw upon all throughout our lives, whenever we are in need of forgiveness. Through Christ, we simply go to the account that is paid in full for us, and draw out of it. The Greek word that is translated “propitiation” or “atonement” in the NT, speaks of the fact that our sins have been paid in full on the cross by Christ, and thus now we can draw upon our account as needed. This is what is taught us in 1 John 1:9-2:2: “9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
5. VS 2:14 - “14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” – Paul tells the Colossians that God had canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against them, and He took it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross
5.1. The Greek word that is translated ‘canceled out’ is a word that means “to blot something out.”
5.2. In Paul’s day, they would write with pointed ink styluses on wax paper. If you wanted to blot something out that you had written, you would take the blunt end of the stylus, dip it in ink, and smear it over what had previously been written. Paul imagines that all of our sins were written on our ‘certificate of debt’, just as if each one of them was an IOU to God. Paul says here that the Lord to his ink stylus and blotted out all of our sins in the ‘certificate of debt’ that we owed to God. God smeared over those sins so that no one could ever read what they were again.
5.3. Notice here that Paul also says that all of our sins were ‘hostile to us’. They testified against us and were ‘hostile’ witnesses against as if they were in a court of law.
5.4. But, Paul says of our ‘certificate of debt’ that He ‘has taken it out of the way’. In other words, God destroyed the record of our sins when Christ died on the cross for us. Those sins were completely paid in full for us if we choose to accept Christ’s sacrifice for us, His death in our place, as our substitute.
5.5. Finally, Paul states that the ‘certificate of debt’ with the blotted out sins was actually ‘nailed’ ‘to the cross’ as if to make a public declaration of the fact that the full payment, or propitiation, for our sins had been made by Christ on our behalf.
6. VS 2:15 - “15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.” – On the cross, any legitimate claims that the Devil and his horde of demons had over the earth and mankind were legally overthrown, for God made a public display of them and triumphed over them through Christ
6.1. Satan didn’t understand God’s plan of redemption through Christ, otherwise he would never have stirred the people up against Jesus on that day that Jesus went to the cross. Satan thought that if he could kill the son of God that this would keep himself from being condemned, however that very act caused Satan to be overthrown and his default rule to be denied. In the process, mankind was also redeemed, something Satan never wanted to see happen.
6.2. The Greek word that is translated ‘disarmed’ here has the following entry in Strong’s Enhanced Greek Lexicon:
554 ἀπεκδύομαι [apekduomai /ap·ek·doo·om·ahee/] v. Middle voice from 575 and 1562; TDNT 2:318; GK
588; Two occurrences; AV translates as “spoil” once, and “put off” once. 1 wholly put off from one’s self. 1a denoting separation from what is put off. 2 wholly to strip off for one’s self (for one’s own
advantage). 3 despoil,
disarm.
6.3.
Whatever authority and
power Satan and the demonic rulers and authorities under his control had was ‘disarmed’
by Jesus, and any claim to legitimacy for Satan’s reign was cast down at
6.4. When Adam and Eve fell into sin, after being tempted by the Devil who himself had earlier fallen into sin along with the rest of the rebellious angels, Satan was the default ruler of the earth, and we see this portrayed in many places in the NT, for instance:
6.4.1. Jesus referred to Satan as “the ruler of this world”:
6.4.1.1. John 12:31: “31 Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
6.4.1.2. John 14:30: “30 I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me;”
6.4.1.3. John 16:11: “11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
6.4.2. Satan is referred to as “the god of this world”:
6.4.2.1. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: “3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
6.4.3. Satan is said to deceive the whole world at this time:
6.4.3.1. See 2 Cor. 4:3-4 above.
6.4.3.2. Revelation 12:9: “9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”
6.4.4. The whole world is said to lay in the power of the Evil One (Devil):
6.4.4.1. 1 John 5:19: “19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”
6.4.5. Satan is referred to as “the prince of the power of the air”.
6.4.5.1. Ephesians 2:2: “2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.”
6.4.6. Satan’s kingdom has been allowed him only as a ‘default’ kingdom, for in reality you can see for instance in the Old Testament that the Lord is the One who gives kingdoms to whomsoever He wishes, and Satan has always had to gain permission to harm or interfere with the lives of people on the earth:
6.4.6.1. God sets up kings: Daniel 2:21: “21 It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.”
6.4.6.2. Satan has to get permission: Job 1:9-12: “9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 “But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.”.
6.4.7. Mankind has found themselves under the dominion of Satan because they are in Adam their federal head who fell, and in doing so submitted himself to Satan’s dominion over him:
6.4.7.1. Romans 6:16: “16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?”
6.4.8. During the seven year Tribulation period of the book of Revelation, Satan will be cast down to the earth and not allowed access to the throne of God, and he will lead the nations in rebellion against the Lord, but he will be bound for the 1,000 years that Christ shall reign, and at the end of that time the Devil will be released for a short time and he will lead another rebellion, after which the Devil will be cast into the Lake of Fire that burns for eternity:
6.4.8.1. Revelation 13:7-8: “7 It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”
6.4.8.2. Revelation 20:3: “3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time.”
6.4.8.3. Revelation 20:7: “7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.”
6.4.8.4. Revelation 20:8: “8 and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.”
6.4.8.5. Revelation 20:10: “10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
6.5. Jesus conquered and disarmed Satan upon the cross, but Satan has been allowed for now to remain as the default ruler with some control over the affairs of the earth, but always only by permission of the Lord. Jesus’ kingdom upon the earth is His reign in the hearts of His people. His kingdom is “here but not yet,” as someone once described. One day soon Jesus will return and Satan will be cast into hell where he shall remain for eternity, and Jesus’ kingdom shall be established.
7. VS 2:16-17 - “16 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” – Paul tells the Colossians to not let any of the Gnostics act as their judge because of the observance of silly rituals based upon superstition, such as avoiding certain foods and drink, or observing certain Jewish festivals, new moons, or even the Sabbath day itself
7.1. Have you ever had someone look down at you and judge you for not being spiritual enough because you haven’t kept their legalistic set of rules and requirements? Has anyone ever treated you like you’re a second class citizen because you don’t do this or that, or because you do allow this or that? This was the situation that the Colossians found themselves in with the Gnostics.
7.2. The Gnostic teachers were saying that if you were really spiritual that you would not eat certain food, not drink certain things, go to and observe certain Jewish ‘festivals’, ‘new moon’ celebrations, or even the worship on a certain day of the week, the Jewish ‘Sabbath’. Since the earliest days the church typically set aside Sunday as their day of worship, but because the Law of Moses taught that a person must worship on the Sabbath (Saturday), the Gnostics told the people that if they really wanted to be spiritual that they had to worship with them on the Sabbath. These things mentioned here were all external observances and rites that the Gnostics said that people had to add to their faith in Christ if they wanted to be “really” spiritual.
7.3.
There
were people in the church in
7.4. Paul tells the Colossians to not let anyone judge them. When someone tells you as a believer in Christ that you need to do this or not do that, all things that the scripture itself does not speak of, then you need to just thank them for voicing their opinion and caring for you, however you have your own conviction that you believe is from Christ. Don’t be bullied or fall for the pressure to conform to the opinions of others, follow what the Lord has show you from His word.
7.5. When I was a young believer, I really had no follow up by any church group, and so I really learned what I believed that the Bible taught by talking to whoever would knock on my door and tell me that I ought to convert to their religion. At a certain point I had started attending a Southern Baptist church and I was really enjoying it, but I didn’t know if I could become a member because I wasn’t sure if as a believer in Christ that a person was required to worship on Saturday, as some of the groups I had talked with told me. It was only when a brother shared these verses here in Colossians chapter 2 that the Holy Spirit revealed to me that in order to be spiritual, it doesn’t matter what day a person worships on. Any day to worship Christ was a good day, and such external things as what days to worship on or what festivals to attend were of secondary importance because what is really important is ‘Christ’, and knowing Christ, jus as Paul says here, ‘the substance belongs to Christ’.
7.6. All of the external observances and rites of the Jews were merely ‘shadows’ that were meant to be temporary and which pointed to Christ, the One who is the Savior and Lord, the One who took away our sins on Calvary, and who reigns and rules in our lives who are Christians. Legalism is the elevating of the ‘shadows’ over what is important, ‘the substance’.
8. VS 2:18-19 - “18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.” – Paul tells the Colossians to not let anyone defraud them out of their prize or reward awaiting them in heaven from Christ by their getting you to practice their false ‘self-abasement’ and ‘worship of angels’, all based upon certain visions they have seen and the imaginations of their fleshly mind, for these things simply cut them off from the head of the body who is Christ, the one who supplies what all of the rest of the bond needs and causes the body itself to grow as God grows it
8.1. The Gnostics were frauds and charlatans, and thus they were trying to “defraud” the people, or rip them off, from the relationship with and rewards of Christ. The Gnostics taught things that seemed religious and important at the outset, but closer examination proved that the things that they taught actually kept someone from communion from the Lord, and caused them to be ‘inflated’ with pride by their ‘fleshly mind’.
8.2. Not only were the Gnostics teaching that there were many ways to God besides Jesus Christ, and you could get to God through a mediation of angels, but they actually practiced ‘the worship of angels’.
8.3. The justification that the Gnostics used for their practice of ‘the worship of angels’ was that they had ‘visions’ that they had been given by God that showed them that this was OK, and that certain angels should be worshipped. This special revelation and knowledge that superseded and contradicted scripture is what the practice of “mysticism” is about. This is the belief that you can have a secret or special relationship with God, and not everyone is privy to that. ‘Mysticism’ is a lying deception and from the pit of hell.
8.4. These Gnostics were ‘delighting in self-abasement’ in their denial of their flesh, and they really thought that they were spiritual as a result. However, Paul tells us here that they were simply filled with prided, or “inflated without cause by their fleshly minds.”
8.5. Besides, by practicing these things, the Gnostics had cut themselves off from Jesus Christ, the One who is head over all, and head over the body of Christ. In seeking to establish their own way to God and own spiritualism, they had actually been cut off from relationship with God. God cannot be worshipped or approached in whatever manner that a person sees fit. He can only be found by the means He has given to us to find Him, and that is through His Son, Jesus Christ, the One who declared Himself that He is THE way, THE truth, and THE life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6-7).
9. VS 2:20-23 - “20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.” – Paul asks the Colossians a question, why it is that if they died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, that they were now acting like those in the world who submit themselves to manmade rules and teachings about silly things external to their bodies, such as not handling, tasting, or touching certain things, for these silly things really do put the believer in the place where Christ puts them when they die to the flesh and fleshly indulgence
9.1. Paul asks the Colossians why if they have died with Christ ‘to the elementary principles of the world’ (we have seen that this refers to the Gnostic religion that was based upon superstitions), that they are now ‘living in the world’ and submitting themselves to all of these silly superstitious observances of not handling this, not tasting that, not touching that, all things which came about from ‘the commandments and teachings of men’, not from God.
9.2. Paul says that these observances and rites seem to have ‘the appearance of wisdom’, but the are ‘self-made’, including the ‘self-abasement and severe treatment of the body’ that refers to ascetic practices. But in the end they have ‘no value’ or they are not help ‘against fleshly indulgence’. Paul is saying that this form of Gnostic legalism is just another form of walking in the power and leading of the flesh, and thus it cannot produce a holy and sanctified life.
10. CONCLUSIONS:
10.1.
Do
you recognize that your debt of sins (your IOUs to God) have been completely
cancelled and blotted out, and nailed to the cross of Christ? That there is now no condemnation for you
because you are in Christ (
10.2. Do you realize that ‘the substance belongs to Christ’ and that knowing Him as your Lord and Savior, and following Him is what is really important and allows you to know God and be spiritual before Him?
10.3. Do you not allow others to judge you with their legalistic rules and condemnations about what things will make you “really” spiritual before God?