What is the meaning of Colossians 2:11? In Him “In Him you were also circumcised …” (Colossians 2:11) • Everything starts with union with Christ. Just as John 15:4 invites believers to “remain in Me,” this phrase reminds us that every spiritual blessing flows from being placed into Jesus (Ephesians 1:3). • Union means identity: if anyone is “in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We do not seek transformation apart from Him; we receive it inside the sphere of His life. you were also circumcised • Paul points back to God’s covenant sign with Abraham, yet shifts the focus to an inward reality. Deuteronomy 30:6 promised, “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts,” and Romans 2:29 clarifies that “circumcision is a matter of the heart.” • Philippians 3:3 confirms, “For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God … and put no confidence in the flesh.” In Christ, believers already possess this deeper, spiritual circumcision. in the putting off of your sinful nature • The phrase pictures stripping away an old garment. Romans 6:6 states our “old self was crucified with Him,” so sin’s tyranny no longer enslaves us. • Colossians 3:9-10 repeats the idea: “You have taken off the old self … and have put on the new.” • Practically, this means – We reject the lie that we are powerless over sin. – We daily reckon ourselves “dead to sin but alive to God” (Romans 6:11). – We choose to walk by the Spirit, not by the flesh (Galatians 5:16-24). with the circumcision performed by Christ • The Agent is Christ Himself; He personally accomplishes the heart-surgery. Titus 3:5 calls it “the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” • Hebrews 9:11-14 points to Jesus as the superior High Priest who purifies our conscience, accomplishing internally what external rituals never could. • Because He performs it, the work is perfect, complete, and irreversible. and not by human hands • No ceremony, tradition, or human effort can remove sin’s root. Acts 7:48 notes that “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands,” and in the same way, the new birth is not manufactured by human skill. • Hebrews 9:24 contrasts earthly copies “made by human hands” with the heavenly reality; salvation belongs in that heavenly category. • Ephesians 2:11 speaks of physical circumcision “in the flesh, done by hands,” but Paul here insists on something far greater—God’s own craftsmanship within the believer’s heart. summary Colossians 2:11 declares that every believer, by virtue of union with Christ, has undergone a divine heart-circumcision. Jesus Himself has cut away the dominion of the sinful nature, accomplishing what no human rite could achieve. Because this work is His and not ours, we can live confidently in the freedom and new identity He has already secured. |
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