What it Means to be Complete in Christ (Part 1)

All believers have the need to be reminded every day and of course every week, of the rich sufficiency of Christ’s work. We are to sit back with eager delight and anticipation as we drink afresh the cup of the gospel blessings. We look for it to expose areas of self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, and even self-atonement. In this sermon we’ll examine three specifics as to how believers have been made complete in Christ. We have complete salvation (2.11-12), emancipation (2.13-14) and victory (2.15).

No doubt we are all somewhat thankful that the election season is over. One of the more irritating elements of the election season for me personally is the constant promises of the respective candidates to give everybody everything. Political promises sound more and more like pledges for an American Utopia.

 

So we should be a bit skeptical when someone promises that you can have everything you need.

 

The Apostle Paul engages in some extreme language in the book of Colossians. We looked at one particular phrase last time in Colossians.

 

Look again at verse 9 & 10:

            Colossians 2:9-10  ⁹ For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

 

Notice the little phrase here in verse 10: ‘in Him’. This is of tremendous theological importance.

 

Now the Apostle labors to unpack some of the specifics of what he means by stating that ‘in him you have been made complete’.

 

Why do you suppose it is important for Paul to go into such explicit detail here?

 

He goes into great depth to explain the specifics of what Christ has accomplished for believers and at the same time he points out the uselessness and may I say, foolishness, of going anywhere but Christ, or of trying to add to Christ.

 

What is at the root of the false teaching that is plaguing the Colossian church? It is the assault upon the sufficiency of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

 

There is a dreadful attempt to demote Christ from his unrivaled position of supremacy and relegate him to a position that equal to or less than other mediators. In other words, Jesus is not the supremely sufficient one who exclusively brings people to God.

 

To this false thinking Paul has continued to back up the Christological semi-truck and unload it at the Colossians’ doorstep. At every turn Jesus is seen to be unrivaled in his supremacy. There is a marriage between Jesus supreme person and the result of his sufficient work. 

 

This was obviously an issue for the First Century church in Colossae and the surrounding area, but what about you today, and us as a local body of believers?

 

Well, on the one hand the reminders of the specifics of what Christ has done should always be a welcome spiritual exercise, and one that we engage in regularly. 

 

But at the same time the review and reassertion of what Christ has accomplished serves to expose blind spots in our own lives where we may be allowing some spiritual parasites to suck off the glory that is due to our Christ for what he has accomplished. 

 

In other words, each and every one of us has the need to be reminded every day and of course every week, of the rich sufficiency of Christ’s work. 

 

We are to sit back with eager delight and anticipation as we drink afresh the cup of the gospel blessings. 

 

We look for it to expose areas of self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, and even self-atonement.

 

This fresh swig of the gospel this morning should bring humility, amazement, satisfaction, and contentment.

 

Believers are to live contently in humble amazement as a result of our union with Christ.

 

Because believers are complete in Christ, we are to live contently with humble amazement.

 

3 Specifics as to how believers have been made complete in Christ

 

1. Complete salvation in Christ (11-12) (covered this week)

2. Complete emancipation in Christ (13-14) (covered next week)

3. Complete victory in Christ (15) (covered next week)

 

 

Believers stand complete as a result of the powerful working of God through His Son and by His Spirit whereby we have been united to Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, and receiving the true circumcision of our flesh.

 

Some Background on Circumcision

 

Throughout the Scriptures God has used circumcision as a symbol to communicate spiritual truth. As early as Genesis 17 we see circumcision being used as a sign of the covenant between God and his people. Of course Abraham was circumcised, along with his children, all the way down through the time of Moses and even unto the NT time.

 

However, even early on in the OT we see circumcision existing as a metaphor for something more.

 

Deuteronomy 10:16   ¹⁶ "So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.

 

Deuteronomy 30:6   ⁶ "Moreover the LORD your 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, so that you may live.

 

Jeremiah 4:4   ⁴ "Circumcise yourselves to the LORD And remove the foreskins of your heart, Men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Or else My wrath will go forth like fire And burn with none to quench it, Because of the evil of your deeds."

 

As the Jews were circumcising their children they were to be mindful of the true spiritual intention of the custom that is the spiritual cutting away of the sinful heart. To the Jew this ultimate reality was tied to the future reality of the New Covenant which God will bring about for his people.

 

The Apostle Paul picks up on this same prophetic theme as tied to the New Covenant when he says in Romans 2:

 

Romans 2:28-29   ²⁸ For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. ²⁹ But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.

 

1.      The Believer’s Circumcision

Now we come to Colossians 2 and read the following:

2.11: 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;

 

Remember that Paul is unpacking a present spiritual reality for the Colossians as a result of something that has happened to them. As believers we stand complete in Christ because of what God has done for us and to us in Christ.

 

a.       The Sphere of the Circumcision

Look again at verse 11: and in Him you were also circumcised

 

So it is quite clear then that believers were circumcised. We will unpack this a bit in due time. But for now, suffice it to say, believers have been circumcised.

 

Notice the sphere of the circumcision; it is ‘in Him’. This ‘him’ is none other than the one who is the head of all rule and authority, who is the one in whom believers are complete, and in whom is the one in whom all of the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. 

 

The ‘him’ is Christ, reverting back to verse 8.

 

b.      The Time of the Circumcision

 

When did this circumcision happen? and in Him you were also circumcised

 

The Apostle is looking back from the point in time of when he is writing this. 

 

c.       The Non-Physical Nature of the Circumcision

 

Continuing on here in verse 11 we get some important information here: and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands

 

The biblical frame of reference is predominately for a circumcision performed by men on physical flesh, however here in our verse we see that this is not the case. The text explicitly says it is a non-physical circumcision. It is a circumcision made without hands.

 

So we must be clear that we are not talking about the circumcision that would occur on the 8^th day after birth. Instead this is something non-physical.

 

Let’s recap a bit of what we know about this circumcision, it occurred within our union to Christ, it was done in the past, and it is a non-physical circumcision.

 

Now we get into having to make interpretive decisions here, look again at verse 11:  and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh  

 

d.      The Effect and Means of the Circumcision

What does this mean that “the body of flesh” was removed? I think we get more detail as we continue to read the verse and see the connection to Christ. 

 

Look again at verse 11: a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ;

 

There are two main interpretations here on this verse specifically with regard to what the circumcision of Christ is and how it affects those who are united with him.

 

The first view holds that the circumcision of Christ is a gruesome metaphor for the death of Christ. This removal of the body of flesh is, in this view, a graphic description of the agonies of the death of Jesus. While I am always up for descriptive metaphors for the death of Christ I personally can’t get behind this one fully. This is due to a couple of primary reasons:

 

1)      Remember that one of the main issues in Colossae is a misunderstanding of the material and spiritual and their relationship together. For this circumcision to mean that the flesh was stripped away at Christ’s death would seem to inadvertently help some of those who had a dualistic view of the world. 

 

In this view the body could be seen as something that is negative and in need of discarding before true spiritual experience is gained. Not to mention the way this might hamper our view of our resurrection bodies that we will most certainly receive.

 

2)      Secondly, you’ll notice that there is not a pronoun in the verse to show us that Paul is talking about “His” body of flesh. It would seem on the surface reading it that he is talking about the believer’s “body of flesh”.  

 

I therefore am more comfortable with the second view that sees this circumcision as a metaphor of the conquering power of God over the power of our sin when we are converted.

 

We would then see this “body of the flesh” as a reference to our sinful flesh. This is similar to Romans 6 talking about our body of sin. It is not just a piece of flesh but rather the sinful flesh that is put off, or more literally stripped off when someone comes to Christ. 

 

This is much like what Moses and the prophets looked forward to as a blessing of the New Covenant. By virtue of the believer’s union to Christ the body of sin or the body of the flesh is stripped off. God has circumcised the believer’s heart in Christ through the regeneration in the new birth. This then is Christ’s circumcision.

 

This will be of utmost importance as we continue in weeks to come. You may recall that the false teachers were advocating myriads of options for the Colossians to undergo in effort to subdue the flesh. Paul will later tell us that they are of no value in verse 23. But here he would say, as a result of the circumcision of Christ, such things are not only of no value but they are not necessary. 

 

Deuteronomy 30:6   ⁶ "Moreover the LORD your 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, so that you may live.

 

You believer, have had your flesh dealt with by the circumcision of Christ.

 

2.      The Believer’s Baptism :: United with Jesus

The passage goes on to talk about baptism a bit here. And we have already spent a considerable time dealing with some questions here and they do not stop for us at least in this section.

 

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.

 

a.       Buried with Him

The first thing I want you to see here is that this phrase here is connected to what we have previously discussed in verse 11. So it is right to see here that the believer’s circumcision in Christ occurs when we were buried with him in baptism.

 

Many people take this baptism to refer to the physical immersion of the new believer into the waters of baptism. Personally I see this to refer to a spiritual baptism similar to Romans 6 which I believe to picture the baptism into the body of Christ, or the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit where God places the believer into the body (cf 1 Cor. 12.13).  Everything in this verse appears to be non-physical. God has circumcised the believers heart in conversion and this conversion occurred when God placed the believer (or baptized) in the body through the Holy Spirit.

 

Further the text goes on to say that we were “raised up with him through faith.” Now you see this glorious union with Christ so clearly. We were united with Christ in his death, in his burial and in his resurrection. Therefore, as Romans 6 maintains, “so that we too might walk in newness of life”. 

 

This union with Christ in his death and resurrection brings about the certainty of life change, validating the work of God in Christ and our union with Christ.

 

God deals with humanity on the basis of two men: Adam and Christ. 

 

All of us are naturally united to Adam, that is there is a connection with all men to Adam, he is our representative.

 

But by the grace of God, he has taken some from that line of Adam and united them to his Son, Jesus. And it is these that Christ has come to obediently live and die for. All of Christ’s have been united to him in his death, burial, and resurrection.

 

The puritan Thomas Goodwin once said that both Adam and Christ have a belt and all men are attached to one or the other. 

 

If you are in Christ you know it. You have been buried with him in baptism and raised to walk in the newness of life. Your life has changed and you now love your Savior.

 

If not, there is still time for you. If you bow before Christ and ask him to forgive you, vowing to follow him, you will evidence that God has in fact united you to Christ by faith in his powerful working.

 

I feel that I have to, pastorally, make a note here about baptism. There are two dominant practices of baptism in the church today, credo baptism (from the Latin credo “I believe”) and paedo baptism (from the Greek word for infant). We would of course be credo Baptist, affirming that you must believe and then be baptized rather than the opposite.

 

I bring this up because this is one of the chief verses that paedo Baptists use to make their point that infants or children are to be baptized.   Their basic point is that circumcision for the Jew was done for the children of the covenant and now baptism is the sign of the covenant for New Covenant believers, so we need to baptize children and infants.

 

Aside from the fact that baptism and circumcision occur within a few words of each other here there is little to this argument. It simply is not in the text. You would not read Colossians 2.11-12 and conclude that you are to baptize infants, it is just simply not there.

 

The New Testament pattern is that believers are baptized. Even here in this passage if you were to take this as water baptism you will note that it is through “faith” in the work of God. An infant does not have faith. Believers, however, do.

 

Furthermore, it is helpful to note that Colossians 2 does not make the point that baptism is the replacement of the historic practice of physical circumcision. What does the passage teach the replacement is? It is the circumcision of Christ! The circumcision that is performed by God through Christ to the believer replaces the former physical form. The relationship between baptism and circumcision in this verse is clear: baptism is the place where this circumcision of Christ takes place. So when God baptizes his children into his body, by his Spirit, he has circumcised them through his Son.

 

The application of the fact that God has, in Christ, circumcised those who are united to Christ by faith will become clear in weeks ahead as we flesh these things out.

 

Let me transition with a question to see how well you paid attention:

 

True or False: “You are saved through circumcision.”

 

It is true. You probably should have asked me what I mean…

 

Believers stand complete as a result of the powerful working of God through His Son and by His Spirit whereby we have been united to Christ in his death, burial and resurrection, and receiving the true circumcision of our flesh.

 

 

Of the 3 Specifics as to how believers have been made complete in Christ, only the first was covered in this sermon. The next two will be covered next week.

 

1. Complete salvation in Christ (11-12) (covered this week)

2. Complete emancipation in Christ (13-14) (covered next week)

3. Complete victory in Christ (15) (covered next week)