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Colossians 2:11
The Circumcision of Christ
Some of the believers in the Lycus valley had taken a stand against the false teaching that was circulating in
their assemblies. Paul has been exhorting these believers in their walk of faith, so that they will be fully
pleasing to their Lord.
Paul warned the believers not to take in a single element of that empty teaching, which could not in any
way be reconciled with the truth that was in Christ Jesus. In explaining this, Paul brought out that believers
have everything they need in Christ - they are complete in Him.
As Paul continues, he will begin to show the believers just what that completeness entails. Im going to
read this starting back with Pauls explanation in verse 9, and continue through verse 12, though well be
concentrating on verse 11 today. I want you to notice the emphasis Paul puts upon Christ as the resource of
the believer; everything he needs is found in Him.
[Read Colossians 2:9-12]
In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily; believers are complete in Him: they were
circumcised in Him; they were buried with Him in baptism; and they were raised with Him.
Who is this all about? Its all about Him; Christ. The One who accomplished the work of salvation on
behalf of the believer, to secure eternal Life for Him, becomes the believers resource, to live that life.
Pauls statement in verses 11-12 is really his way of illustrating what he has already said in verses 9-10;
Christ, who is Spirit Being of Deity, dwells in a body - a glorified body, now. And you are complete in
Him. The two-fold illustration that Paul uses - of circumcision and baptism - reflects this truth.
Notice that Paul begins with the picture of circumcision, and then switches his illustration to baptism. In
fact, he has actually merges the two concepts together, into one thought. And this raises the question, why
did Paul merge them?
And it gets more interesting. In verse 11, the words of the sins are not in the original manuscripts. The
original reads, In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting
off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.
Now, if your body of flesh is put off from your inner being, what is the result? Death. So the putting off
of the flesh body signifies death.
As well see shortly, baptism reflects the same thing in part; death. So we must ask another question: why
would Paul bring in circumcision, when the picture of baptism alone would be sufficient to convey his
point, here?
The answer to this last question is that Paul was intent upon enlightening his listeners concerning
circumcision. But why would Paul want to do that? We have learned previously that the believers in the
Lycus valley were virtually all Gentiles - who are uncircumcised.

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This provides the first evidence in our letter that the false teachers were, in fact, Jews. Remember that
there was a significant and long-established population of Jews, in this region. It was not unusual for some
Hellenist Jews to incorporate elements of the religious persuasions of the Gentiles among whom they lived;
and that appears to be what happened, here.
Elsewhere in the Roman province of Asia, Jews who masqueraded as Christ Ones had permeated the
assemblies in Galatia, and were attempting to put those in the assemblies there under the Law.
They were even trying to get the Gentiles in the assemblies to be circumcised, which had come to be
regarded as an initiation rite into the religion of Judaism, in which the initiate is then put under the yoke of
the Law - a crushing burden.
Although the Jewish teachers in the Lycus valley had moved away from Judaism into a new mixture of
religious thinking, they had clearly retained some elements of their former religion. Religion is mans
thinking, which is always changing, in accordance with mans imagination, concerning God.
Because Paul makes a point concerning circumcision here, and in verse 13, and again in chapter 3 verse 11,
we can be sure that these teachers were of Jewish derivation, and that they were endorsing circumcision of
the flesh for these Gentiles, probably as a rite of induction; the first of many man-made traditions (Col 2:8),
in their false system of religion.
So now we can see why Paul would be introducing the subject of circumcision in this letter. And what is
his point, about it? That the believers in these assemblies have already been circumcised - you were also
circumcised - in the Greek, a one-time action, in the past.
Is Paul referring to physical circumcision, here? Clearly not - he indicates that believers were circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands. To be made without hands means it is not the doing of man,
not a physical circumcision. This circumcision is the doing of God. In fact, Paul calls it here the
circumcision of Christ.
Just what is the circumcision of Christ? To understand this, we need to go back to the time when
circumcision was first given by God - to the man from whom God intended to make a nation for Himself Abram.
Turn to Genesis chapter 17. The God of glory had called Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees. Abram had
followed the LORD based on some promises that the LORD had made to him, which included the promise that
He would make Abram a great nation. That necessitated Abram having a son - something that was very
desirable to him, especially with a barren wife.
Time went on, and still Abram had no son. Then one night, the LORD came to Abram, and directing his
attention to the heavens, shared with Abram the One who would be Abrams most illustrious Seed - the
Christ, whose story is told in the stars - the One who would redeem men to God, so that they could become
sons of God.
And Abram believed in the LORD; He believed what the LORD revealed to him, about Himself; and the LORD
accounted it to Abram for righteousness (Gen 15:6).

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The following day, the LORD cut a blood covenant with Abram for the land He had promised to him; an
assurance to Abram that he would inherit that land, with his seed, in the resurrection of Life. The covenant
pictured Christ Himself, the Covenant Son. The covenant would be ratified in His blood; it would be all
Gods doing.
Ten years had elapsed, since the LORD made His promises to Abram. Abram began to reason along with his
wife, Sarai, as to how the LORD intended to bring forth the son He had promised. That reasoning led to the
birth of Ishmael, from the handmaid of Sarai - Hagars son, but not Abrams heir.
Thirteen more years went by. Abram learned through this time to simply wait on the LORD, trusting the
LORD to bring His purposes to pass. And at the perfect time - when Abram was ninety-nine years old, and
no longer able to bring forth seed from his body - the LORD came to him, and confirmed His covenant.
[Genesis 17:1-14]
v. 1 Here the LORD is revealing Himself to Abram as Almighty God; El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient God;
sufficient to accomplish all of His purposes. He commands Abram to walk before Him, and be blameless,
meaning perfect or complete.
When Abram had believed the LORDs revelation of Himself in the stars, the LORDs righteousness was laid
to his account. Now El Shaddai is exhorting him to walk in that righteousness, yielding himself to God,
yielding the members of his body as instruments of righteousness to God (Rm 6:13). In this way, El
Shaddai can accomplish His purposes, through Abram.
v. 2-3a Make here means a giving of the hand. The LORD is now giving to Abram the covenant, which
He had previously cut with him. What will be Abrams part? To receive it, by faith.
Abram lowers himself into the position of a grateful recipient; submitting himself to the LORD, as the LORD
continues to reveal more details of the covenant to Him.
v. 3b-6 Abrams name means exalted father, a foreseeing of him as the father of the nation, Israel. But
here the LORD prophetically changes his name to Abraham - father of a great multitude - for many nations
would eventually come from Abrahams body, including the Arab nations. Later in the account, the LORD
will expand upon this idea to include the regenerate Gentile nations in the Kingdom age (Gen 22:17).
v. 7-8 Establish has the meaning of to cause to stand. The covenant stands between the LORD, and
Abraham and his seed, here referring specifically to the nation Israel, as seen by the reference to the land in
verse 8. Standing between the LORD, and Abraham and his seed, is a Person - the Covenant Son, Christ.
He is the Eternal Covenant (Is 42:6, 49:8; Heb 13:20).
The LORD gave the nation Israel His covenant; but they must receive it as Abraham did. How did Abraham
receive it? By faith. Israel as a nation has yet to do this. But at the end of the Tribulation, they will receive
the Covenant Son, Jesus, as their Messiah, and they will come into their inheritance of the land, with
Abraham, in the Kingdom age.
Now, look back at what the LORD said, concerning the covenant in this chapter. I will make My covenant
between Me and you; I will make you exceedingly fruitful; I will make nations of you; I will establish My
covenant between Me and you and your seed after you; I give to you and your seed the land.

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Who does all the doing? The LORD. But the LORD is giving this covenant to Abraham; so what is his part
then? To receive it; to believe the LORD, for what He is doing.
And this is what the LORD brings out next.
v. 9-11 The part of Abraham and his seed is to keep the covenant; to watch over it carefully, to preserve it;
that is, to guard the truth of it. How is that done? By believing it, and teaching that truth to others, so that
they can believe it, for themselves. Throughout the generations of Israel, that was to be their part.
In verse 10, the LORD equates keeping the covenant with being circumcised. Circumcision is the removal of
the flesh of the foreskin of the male reproductive organ. Every male child in the nation of Israel was to be
circumcised.
Then in verse 11, the LORD qualifies circumcision to be a sign of the covenant, between the LORD, and
Abraham and his seed. Sign as used here refers to a pictorial representation.
So circumcision was a pictorial representation of the covenant. How so? The covenant is the Eternal
covenant - remember that the covenant is Christ Himself.
Circumcision is a cutting away of the flesh, from that which reproduces seed, for life. The Covenant Son,
who had Eternal Life in Himself, came down from heaven in a body of flesh. That body of flesh had to be
cut away in death, in order to avail Eternal Life to all mankind.
Jesus spoke of Himself in this way, when He came to the earth in His body of flesh. John records that
before going to the cross, Jesus said, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain (Jn 12:24).
Jesus was that grain of wheat - containing the Life of God, Eternal Life - in His flesh body, like a seed coat.
That seed coat had to fall away in death, in order for Jesus to come forth in glory as the Incorruptible Seed;
the Seed Grain, who would reproduce His Life in men who were willing to receive Him, that Gods
purposes for men would come to complete fruition: to have many sons of God, with Eternal Life, in bodies
of glory.
In having Abraham and his seed take the sign of the covenant into their flesh, God was intending them to
demonstrate outwardly what it is that they had already believed in their heart. They had believed into the
Covenant Son - the One who is the source of Eternal Life for a new body, a body of glory. Through faith,
they had been united together with Christ, in His death. This is the circumcision of Christ.
The meaning of circumcision, with its cutting off of the flesh, emphasizes the death of Christ - with the
promise of new Life. This is seen in the additional details that the LORD gives to Abraham - starting with
the newborns.
v. 12-14 Although the initial recipients of circumcision included adults such as Abraham himself, and older
children such as Ishmael, the instructions for the nation were also for all of their eight-day old infants to be
circumcised.
Do you remember what the number eight signifies, in Scripture? A new beginning. The picture is that
through union in the death of Christ, a man has a new beginning, as a new creation - a son of God.

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Now, can an eight-day old infant circumcise himself? Of course not. Who then was most likely to do the
circumcision? A father would naturally circumcise his son, just as Abraham circumcised Ishmael and later
Isaac. This is to show that the cutting off of the flesh, for a new beginning, is the Fathers work; the son
simply receives it, by faith.
Abraham was to circumcise both those born in his house that is, his own sons; as well as those bought
with money from any foreigner those would be his slaves.
In the picture, who would those of Abrahams house represent? That would be the Jews. And foreigners,
who were purchased? That would be the Gentile nations (Mt 13:44). Paul uses the same imagery in his
letter to the Galatians (Gal 4:1-7).
Through this picture, God was making it clear when the covenant was given to Abraham that both Jew and
Gentile were being invited to enter into it, through faith in Christ. Anyone who will unite themselves to
Christ in His death will become one of the people of God; a son of God.
But what about those who will not believe? This is represented in the uncircumcised male child. He is cut
off from the people of God.
Those who will not believe into Christ have broken the LORDs covenant; therefore, it is not in effect for
them; it is null and void. Since they were unwilling to receive Christs death on their behalf to obtain a new
body, they consequently remain in the flesh. They will be cut off from the people of God; cut off, in the
Second Death.
There was more in the LORDs revelation to Abraham, that day, in particular about Isaac, who would be born
to Abraham and Sarah - both advanced in age, well beyond their own ability to reproduce. Here was the
Son God promised, whom He would supernaturally bring forth from them. Isaac is a type of the Coming
Christ, the Son whom God would give.
When the LORD had finished speaking to Abraham, Abraham immediately saw to it that he was circumcised,
along with all the male members of his household. Was it through the act of circumcision that Abraham or
anyone else received the promise of the covenant, for Eternal Life? No. That was through faith alone something Paul brings out in his letter to the Romans.
Turn to Romans chapter 4. Paul has been making his case that a man cannot be justified by works,
including circumcision and the Law, but only through faith in Christ.
Paul uses Abraham as an example of this, citing the OT Scriptures to show that God accounted
righteousness to Abraham when he believed the LORDs revelation concerning Himself, in the constellations
(Rm 4:1-3). As Paul continues, he brings out that this occurred before Abraham was ever circumcised.
[Romans 4:9b-12]
v. 9b We say - Paul is saying that this is based on the record in the Scriptures (from verse 3).
v. 10 Abraham became righteous and received Eternal Life when he first believed the LORD, which was
many years before he was circumcised.
v. 11-12 We have already reviewed circumcision as a sign. Is a seal the same thing? No. A seal indicates
an authentication.

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Circumcision was a demonstration of Abrahams obedience, based on the faith that Abraham had
manifested so many years before. It proved his faith to be authentic; his righteousness, genuine.
This makes Pauls point to the religious Jew, that circumcision is not the basis for righteousness and Eternal
Life; faith in Christ is the basis.
The uncircumcised here refers to the Gentiles; and the circumcision, the Jews. The Jews were
descendants of Abraham, according to the flesh. But Paul indicates that this is not what makes them true
sons of Abraham. Paul says that Abraham is the father of all who believe - whether circumcised Jews, or
uncircumcised Gentiles.
How can Paul make this claim? Paul is speaking of spiritual seed here. Anyone who believes into Christ is
the seed of Christ. And Christ is the seed of Abraham.
As Paul said to the Galatians, you are all sons of God through faith in Christ (Gal 3:26); and if you are
Christs, then you are Abrahams seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal 3:29) - the promise of
Eternal Life. This would be true for both the believing Jew and Gentile.
So it is clear that the act of circumcision had no value apart from the meaning of the act, as we had
explored back in Genesis. It was what circumcision pictured, that had value - for it pictured Christ.
And this picture, which was given to Abraham and the nation of Israel, was really a picture intended by
God for all mankind - for both Jew and Gentile. Israel was to use what the LORD revealed to her as a
teaching tool; holding out the light, to the Gentile nations, to lead them to Christ.
And circumcision would have served as a teaching tool within Israel as well, from generation to generation;
a means of doing just what God said, of watching over carefully to preserve His covenant - the covenant for
Eternal Life, in the Son.
But as a nation, did Israel keep Gods covenant? No. They changed the meaning of circumcision to a mere
ceremonial rite, a religious work, which they believed would guarantee them a place in the kingdom of
God.
And instead of understanding within circumcisions meaning that God was inviting the Gentiles in as His
people, Israel saw physical circumcision as mark of their exclusivity, as Gods favored people; and the
uncircumcision of the Gentiles as the seal of Gods disfavor upon them; even His wrath.
But the reality was that, without the meaning of the sign, circumcision in itself had no value - something
that Paul goes through great pains to show, in his writings.
For an example of this, lets look at Romans chapter 2. Like a prosecuting attorney, Paul has been making
his case against men in the flesh, first the Gentile, and then the Jew, to show that all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God (Rm 3:23). The self-righteous Jew would have required more convincing of this so Paul makes an extensive case against him.
First Paul shows that just because God had favored the Jews as a nation did not mean that God could
overlook their sin; being born a Jew had no intrinsic merit.
Then Paul goes on to show that the fact that God had given the Jews the Law actually aggravates their
offense against God, in not keeping it - their responsibility is greater, because of what they know.

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Finally, Paul speaks about physical circumcision, which the Jews considered to mark them as the people of
God. The Jews actually believed that physical circumcision would protect them from the fire of hell. But
Paul makes it clear this is not the case.
[Romans 2:25-29]
v. 25-27 Paul is taking the stance of a religious Jew, who viewed physical circumcision as an induction into
Judaism, and the keeping of the Law. Its important to understand here that Paul is speaking theoretically,
of men who are attempting to be justified before God by the works of the Law - which in actuality, no man
can accomplish.
But theoretically, Paul is saying that if a circumcised Jew broke the Law, God would view him as
uncircumcised; that is, as not one of His people. And if an uncircumcised Gentile was able to keep the
whole Law (this is theoretical), then God would consider him as if hes circumcised; he would be accepted
as one of Gods people.
Pauls point is that God looks at the heart (1 Sam 16:7), and what He is looking to see there is righteousness
- which only can come to man through faith in Christ.
Now Paul shows that the significance of circumcision is not in the act, but in its meaning.
v. 28-29 Paul is comparing two men here. The first man is the religious - outwardly, a Jew, circumcised in
the flesh, conforming to the letter of the Law, and impressive to other men in the flesh. But Paul says, this
man is no Jew; he is not truly one of the people of God.
Then there is the other man, who is a Jew inwardly - meaning he is genuinely one of Gods people. The
circumcision he has received is of the heart - in the Spirit. This refers to receiving the witness of the Holy
Spirit, concerning Christ.
That witness has cut away the unbelief of the inner man; it has penetrated to the very spirit of his being,
creating understanding - that righteousness is by faith in Christ, alone, works apart (Phil 3:3). It is faith in
Christ that commends this one to God, and through his faith, God receives him as a son.
[Return to Colossians chapter 2]
Paul wrote here of the circumcision made without hands; thats the circumcision of the heart. When a man
receives the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning Christ, and takes it to heart, he is joined to Christ through
his faith, and what happened to Christ happens to him. Through death, the man makes his exodus out of his
body of flesh. This is the circumcision of Christ.
Remember that the act of circumcision focuses on the death of Christ; so to complete his thought, Paul
continues with the illustration of baptism, which also pictures death, but carries it through definitively into
new life; resurrection.
By merging these two images, Paul is effectively showing that the rite of circumcision, which was given to
Israel, has effectively been superceded by the ordinance of baptism, which was given to the church (Mt
28:19).

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Israel, Gods first called-out assembly, was confined under the Law, of which circumcision was considered
a part. But once Christ came, He fulfilled the Law (Mt 5:17) - both in terms of its righteous requirements,
as well as what it prophetically pictured.
Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness, to everyone who believes (Rm 10:4); He accomplished what
God purposed, in the Law. This means that through Christ, the Law itself was no longer needed; which
would include circumcision.
In a sense, Paul is demonstrating this fulfillment of the Law as he shows here circumcision being
superceded by baptism. Baptism has replaced circumcision, for Gods second called-out assembly, the
church, marking them as the new people of God.
But for Israel, Christ crucified was a stumbling block (1 Cor 1:23); even today, they have yet to believe into
the death of Jesus, on their behalf, displayed so prominently to them, in their circumcision. But for those
who are willing to walk in the steps of the faith which Abraham had (Rm 4:12), Christ takes them through
death, into glorious new life.
Next week, we will explore this new life a little further - as we look at the believers baptism. And we will
see that, just as for circumcision, the value is not in the act - but in what it means.

Reading: Romans 6.