“Be Thankful For Who You Are In Christ Alone” sermon (Colossians 2:11-12)
“Be Thankful For Who You Are In Christ Alone” is a sermon preached from Colossians 2:11-12 by guest preacher Julius Santiago at Covenant Baptist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin – a confessional Reformed Baptist church subscribing to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Be Thankful: You Have Died and Been Buried in Christ Alone
First, let us receive this exhortation: be thankful that you have died and been buried in Christ alone. Look at what Paul writes in verse 11 again:
“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism.”
The Central Truth: In Him
Notice those two words right at the beginning of verse 11: in him. We’ve already been directed this morning to those words in Ephesians chapter 1, and yet here they are again. Those words follow “you were.” Paul wants to stir them up to remember that this is who they are in Christ alone. The emphasis here is on their identification in Christ. They’ve died in Him—they’ve died to the penalty and the power of sin.
Circumcision: A Cutting Off and Setting Apart
You notice the term circumcised or circumcision shows up three times in verse 11. This highlights the first mark of who we are in Christ. The word circumcised itself means a cutting off or a setting apart, and with the next six words, Paul tells us the kind of setting apart, the kind of circumcision he’s referring to.
We know it’s not the sign or rite of circumcision because, notice, he says “a circumcision made without hands.” We can draw from this three observations concerning this circumcision:
- Man Does Not Perform It:
Man does not perform this circumcision. Paul emphasizes the opposite of what the false teachers were emphasizing—man is not the focus of this action. - It Is Figurative, Not Literal:
The circumcision is not literal but figurative. Paul uses this word as a metaphor to describe something. - It Is Performed by God Alone:
This circumcision is made without hands because it is performed by God Himself—the one who saves us.
As Paul says later in verse 12, all of this was the result of the powerful working of God. So, this circumcision is a metaphor Paul is using to describe not what man performs but what God performs. Since this circumcision is the result of the powerful working of God alone, it is accomplished by the work of Christ alone.
The Work of Christ in Our Circumcision
Paul continues: “by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” or “by putting off the body of the flesh.” Here we are given two phrases that point us to the work of Christ.
The language here is best understood in light of Colossians 1. In chapter 1, verse 22, Paul reminds the Colossian believers of the way they were reconciled to God:
“…yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death.”
Notice that “the body of His flesh” refers to the physical body of Christ. Christ reconciled His people through death. Comparing this with chapter 2, verse 11, Paul is saying this circumcision made without hands was accomplished by the reconciling death of our Lord Christ.
Paul’s message to the Colossian believers is this: You have been circumcised with Christ by faith because of the circumcision of Christ by death. Or, in other words, he is saying, You have been cut off with Christ by faith because Christ was cut off in death for you.
In short, the Colossian believers are dead to sin in Christ because of the death of Christ.
Spiritual Circumcision: The Mission of the Son and Spirit
The church in Colossae didn’t need physical circumcision because they were recipients of a spiritual circumcision. This spiritual circumcision is accomplished in a twofold way: by the missions of the Son and the Spirit.
- The Mission of the Son:
Christ, the eternal Son, assumed human flesh, wrapping Himself in the sins of His people. As one wrote, Christ assumed the likeness of sinful flesh. Saints, Christ bore our sins in His body and became a sacrifice for us. The old man was crucified, and the body of sin was destroyed. By faith, we are circumcised in Christ and by Christ’s death. This is the mission of the Son. - The Mission of the Spirit:
Spiritual circumcision is also done by the Spirit through the application of Christ’s blood, righteousness, and sacrifice to the consciences of His people. This is the work by which our iniquities are caused to pass from us, and we are clothed with righteousness. The Holy Spirit accomplishes this. By the Spirit’s power, sin is laid under the restraints of grace. No longer does it have dominion, but by grace, we reign through righteousness. Under the influence of grace, we are made able to put off the old man with his deeds.
This is what you and I need to rehearse day by day. This is why we need to abound with thanksgiving.
Complete in Christ: Freed from Sin’s Penalty and Power
Paul is saying that all who trust in Christ alone, who was circumcised for His people, are by faith complete—complete in Christ. They’re complete in Him because they’ve died with Him. Those who understand that by Christ’s death He paid the penalty for sin are forgiven of their sins. They’re washed of all their sins. They’re freed from sin’s power—all in Christ alone.
Paul reminds the Colossian believers later in chapter 2, verse 13, that at one time they were spiritually dead in their trespasses, in the uncircumcision of their flesh. They were not yet dead to sin—they were dead in their sins.
Baptism: A Spiritual and Visible Reality
Paul goes on: “buried with Him in baptism.” Here, Paul refers to both spiritual and water baptism:
- Spiritual Baptism:
This baptism is the spiritual reality of being buried with Christ by the Spirit. - Water Baptism:
Water baptism, as an ordinance of Christ, symbolizes that believers are united to Christ in His death and resurrection. It is a visible word of the gospel, reminding them of who they are in Christ alone.
A Daily Call to Thanksgiving
What we find in these verses is great encouragement to our souls. While we have not been freed from the presence of sin in this world, we have been freed from its penalty and power. As Paul says in Romans 6:6,
“For the one who has died has been set free from sin.”
Rehearse these truths daily: I have died with Christ and have been buried with Christ. Be thankful that you have died and been buried in Christ alone.
Be Thankful: You Have Been Raised with Christ
But Paul continues: be thankful that you have been raised in Christ alone.
Look at the second half of verse 12: “in which you also were raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Completeness in Christ
You see, Paul continues to describe to the Colossian believers their completeness in Christ. Paul tells them that they were raised with Him—that is, they had been made spiritually alive together with Christ. They possess spiritual life because they had been united with Christ in His resurrection.
A Focus on Christ’s Work
Again, Paul continues to direct the Colossian believers away from themselves to the past event of Christ’s resurrection. As one commentator wrote:
“Paul does not see Christ’s triumph over death as something that Christ affects in complete isolation from believers. His resurrection had His relationship to His people in mind.”
You see, Paul doesn’t want them to become so distracted by the appearance of things. You and I can become so distracted by what we see and what we touch and what we taste and what we feel. Paul wants the saints to be arrested by this reality: that as Christ was raised from the dead, they had been raised to walk in newness of life.
Paul’s Battle for Truth
While the false teachers centered on man and his works, Paul was fighting for the Colossians to remain faithful and be thankful that the center of their salvation and their Christian life is Christ alone. Not only had they died with Christ; they had been buried with Him in baptism.
Already Raised with Christ
They were—that is, past tense—already raised with Christ alone. You see, the false teachers were trying to promote a new spiritual height, a greater spiritual life, but they had already been raised. Paul’s saying: You’ve already been raised. You’ve already been brought from spiritual deadness to spiritual life.
A Present Reality
He’s not telling them that they’ve already arrived. He’s not telling them that they’ve already been perfected, nor is he telling them that they were raised when Christ was raised. But he’s saying: this is the reality—this is now.
You have already been made spiritually alive because the penalty and the power of sin have been canceled, and Satan and his demons have been disarmed. You see, they already possessed the life of God in their souls. They possessed it because they were in Christ alone.
How Were They Raised? Through Faith
Paul says: “In which you were also raised with Him.” But how were they in Christ alone? When they asked, Paul says: through faith. Paul tells them the means for how they had been raised with Christ.
Not By Works, But By Faith
Paul not only tells them that they were raised with Christ, but he tells them how they had been raised to newness of life. And it’s not by way of works but by the empty hand of faith. This faith receives Christ, rests in what He has done as revealed in Holy Scripture, and trusts Him alone for salvation.
Faith as God’s Gift, Not Man’s Effort
It’s important to understand that this faith is not brought about by the freedom of man’s will. We choose according to our nature, and by nature, we are sinners and can do nothing to accomplish our salvation—nothing at all.
As Paul says in Romans 8:7:
“For the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”
Grace Alone Saves
So what do we need, then? We need the gift of God’s grace. Paul says it most explicitly in Ephesians 2:8-9:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourself; it’s not of your own doing. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one can boast.”
Paul is reminding the Colossian believers of this gift that they had been given.
Remember the Gift and the Giver
This gift served as the means for how they had been raised with Christ. You see, if they were wondering whether or not they had really been raised, Paul’s saying: remember this gift.
And this gift should remind them, then, of the Giver. It should stir them up to give Him thanks.
Paul’s Example of Thankfulness
This was Paul’s example in chapter 1:3-4:
“Giving thanks to the Father,” he says, “who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints.”
He says:
“I never cease to give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints.”
He gave thanks to God for their faith.
Give Thanks for the Gift of Faith
We ought to give thanks to God for the faith He has given us, no matter how weak, how small it might be, because we would not have it by our work. We cannot just try to muster faith up.
What does our Baptist catechism say? Faith is a gift of God’s grace. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weak faith or a tested faith; if it’s the empty hand of faith, then it’s more than enough reason to be thankful that you have been raised with Christ.
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