PT-1 "Complete Salvation" (Col. 2:11-12)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/16/2017 9:56 PM

Bible Reading & Meditation                                       Focus:  PT-1 “Complete Salvation”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  Colossians 2:11-12

            Message of the verses:  “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; 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.”

            I have highlighted two words in these two verses and both of them have given trouble to people throughout the history of both Judaism and the Church age, and we will talk about them as we go through this section from Colossians chapter two. 

            Once again I remind you of why Paul wrote this letter, as there were things going on in the Colossian church that were not right and so Paul in refuting them actually does it in a way that shows them what the truth really is and in this section we will look at the complete salvation that Jesus has provided for those who belong to Him.

            Incidentally the heresy that Paul was dealing with was a mix of pagan philosophy with Jewish legalism, and Jewish legalism came from those called Judaizers.  “Judaizers are a term for Christians who insist that their co-religionists should follow the Law of Moses.”  This short quote comes from Wikipedia.  One of the things that these Judaizers taught was that circumcision was needed to complete salvation, and Paul refutes that in verse eleven.  What exactly was circumcision?  Jewish boys were circumcised when they were eight days old, the cutting of the foreskin from around their male organ, and with that they belonged to the covenant nation as seen in Genesis 17:10-14.  Some thought that this was enough for salvation, because they went into the covenant nation of Israel.  Some disagreed with that.  Paul writes to the Romans in Romans 9:6b “For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel.”  Paul wrote the following in Romans 2:25 & 28 “For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision…For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.”

            I mentioned that some disagree with circumcision “being enough for salvation and that there was another view which recognized that circumcision was only the outward demonstration that man was born sinful and needed cleansing.  The cutting away of the male foreskin on the reproductive organ was a graphic to demonstrate that man needed cleansing at the deepest level of his being.  No other part of the human anatomy so demonstrates that depth of sin, inasmuch as that is the part of man that produces life—and all that he produces is sinful.  That is the biblical view.  From the beginning, circumcision was used symbolically to illustrate the desperate need man had for cleansing of the heart.  In Deuteronomy 10:16 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying ‘Circumcise then you heart, and stiffen your neck no more.’  Deuteronomy 10:6 adds, ‘Moreover the Lord you God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.’  The Lord commanded the Israelites of Jeremiah’s time to circumcise themselves to the Lord and remove the foreskins of their hearts (Jer. 4:4; cf. 9:26).  God was always concerned with the heart, not with the physical rite (John MacArthur).”

3/16/2017 10:27PM