Colossians 2:11-12

Colossians 2:11-12

In whom you all were being circumcised by a circumcision not made by hands – in the stripping off of the body of the flesh – in the circumcision of Christ after being buried with Him in baptism, in whom you were also being raised in the working faith of the God who raised Him out of death.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In the Greek, Paul gives us a really unique word: acheiropoietos (ἀχειροποίητος).  It is made up of two words and a prefix.  The noun cheiros means “hands.”  The verb poieo means “to make.”  The prefix a- is the prefix used for negation.  Literally, this word means “to not make by the hands.”  What is neat about this word is that it is a very specific word created for a very specific context.  This is a word used by Paul to explicitly make a point about his Jewish tradition.  In Judaism, circumcision is made by human hands.  Paul is using this word to highlight his point a few verses ago that human traditions are nothing compared to God’s tradition.  It doesn’t matter whether a human being performs some rite over me or you.  What matters is that God the Father performs a spiritual rite over you.  What a human being does over you fades into nothing.  But what God does in you will last forever.

What has God done in you?  What part of your life has God circumcised away?  Why is this more important than anything a human being could have done in your life under their own power?

Second Thought:

Paul now speaks of baptism.  Notice what Paul tells us, though.  We are buried with Christ in baptism.  But look at the thrust of the context of this passage.  The baptism that matters is not the baptism of a human being.  The baptism that matters is God’s act.  If I go through a baptism and God is not a part of it, what meaning does it have?  No, what matters is that God is a part of baptism.  What matters is God the Father’s work in baptism.

When you think about baptism, what do you think of?  How is God a part of what you think?  Is God the center of what you think?

Third Thought:

Paul reminds us why it is that we can trust God’s promise.  He raised Christ.  If we are with Christ, then He can raise us to.

Are you confident in your salvation?  Are you confident that just as God raised Christ out of the dead that He can raise you as well?

Passage for Tomorrow: Colossians 2:13-15