SUMMARY: ย The Colossian deception, which was similar to the pagan mystery religions, claimed that Christians are incomplete and that they need something outside of Christ to be made complete.ย To oppose this error Paul emphasized two main principles in the letter to the Colossians. The first point is made by Col 2:9, namely that nothing exists outside Christ. The second point is made in Col 2:10, namely that, in a trust-relationship with Christ, Christians are already complete.
Col 2:11-14 elaborate on the second principle, explaining that Christians are already complete because their guilt has been removed. ย Col 2:11 uses circumcision as a symbol to say that their guiltโtheir โbody of the fleshโโhas been cut off.ย Col 2:12 uses baptism as a symbol to say that their guilt has been washed away.ย Col 2:13 describes their previous condition of guilt as โdead in your transgressionsโ and the removal of their guilt as โmade โฆ alive โฆ having forgiven us all our transgressionsโ.ย Col 2:14 describes the guilt of their previous existence as a โcertificate of debtโ which has been cancelled by God the Father by nailing it to the cross.ย Col 2:10-14, therefore, forms a unit with a single message and must be read together.
Christians are free from guilt, but not free from sin.ย However, since they are free from guilt, they strive to become worthy citizens of the โkingdom of His beloved Sonโ (Col 1:13), which is also free from sin.
Col 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;Col 2:12 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.Col 2:13 When you were dead in your transgressions
and the uncircumcision of your flesh,
He (the Father) made you alive together with Him,
having forgiven us all our transgressions,2:14 having canceled out the certificate of debt
consisting of decrees against us,
which was hostile to us;
and He has taken it out of the way,
having nailed it to the cross.
Col 2:11-13 should be read as a unit.
All three verses describe what happened to the Colossians when they became Christians:
Their conversion is described by verse 11 using circumcision as a symbol. The Colossians, being Gentiles (Col 1:27), have never been physically circumcised. This verse, therefore, says that they have been circumcised โwithout handsโ, which is โcircumcision โฆ which is of the heartโ, resulting in a new heart and a new relationship with God through Christ (Rom 2:28-29; Phil 3:3). (See Circumcision without hands for more detail.)
Verse 12 describes their conversion by saying that they were symbolically buried with Christ through baptism, and symbolically raised up (made alive) with Christ.
Verse 13 then describes their conversion by combining the terminology of the previous two verses. It combines the circumcision symbolism from verse 11 and the โmade โฆ aliveโ symbolism from verse 12, but then also gives a literal explanation, namely โhaving forgiven us all our transgressionsโ.
Verses 11 to 13 are therefore a unit, describing what happened to the Colossians at their conversion.
Realm transfer in chapter 1
Col 2:11-14 are discussed as together because they convey a single message, namely that Christians have been transferred from the realm of guilt to freedom from guilt.ย Chapter 1 already referred to this realm transfer:
ย โthe Father โฆ rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sinsโ (Col 1:12-14).
This verse contrasts their previous and current conditions.ย Since Christians โhave โฆ the forgiveness of sinsโ, the โdomain of darknessโ is the Realm of Guilt.
This following verse also contrasts their previous and current conditions, and again the point is that they have been freed from guilt:
โAlthough you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproachโ (Col 1:21-22)
Their former condition, of being โalienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deedsโ, is the realm of guilt.ย They were โtransferredโ (Col 1:13) out of โthe domain of darknessโ (1:13) by being โreconciledโ (Col 1:22) to become โholy and blameless and beyond reproachโ. This is what 1:13 calls the โkingdom of His beloved Sonโ.ย They have โthe forgiveness of sinsโ (Col 1:14); their guilt has been removed.
Verse 22 mentions something which is absent in 1:13-14, namely the Means of transfer, which is โin His fleshly body through deathโ.
Realm transfer in Col 2:11-13
Using different symbols and terminology, 2:11-13 also describe the transfer:
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- From the โdomain of darknessโ and guilt (Col 1:13)
- To the โkingdom of His beloved Sonโ (Col 1:13), where they have โforgiveness of sinsโ (Col 1:14).
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The realm of guilt is described by verse 11 as the โbody of the fleshโ.ย Verse 13, using the circumcision terminology from verse 11, describes it as โthe uncircumcision of your fleshโ and explains it as to be โdead in your transgressionsโ.
They have been transferred out of the realm of guilt by โin Himโ (Col 2:11). This is explained by verse 12, switching the symbolism from circumcision to baptism, as being โraised up with Himโ.ย This verse, therefore, indicates a strong link between Christโs death and the transfer to the guilt-free realm.ย Verse 13, which continues the circumcision metaphor from verse 11, describes their transfer out of the realm of guilt as being โmade โฆ alive together with Himโ (2:13).ย This means that the Means of transfer was Christโs death and resurrection.
The โkingdom of His beloved Sonโ (1:13), where they have โforgiveness of sinsโ (1:14), is described as โforgiven us all our transgressionsโ (2:13).
Theologians sometimes make things more complex than they are.ย Sometimes they focus so much on detail that they lose focus of the overall message.ย Verses 11 to 13 use circumcision and baptism simply as symbols of the transfer to the realm where Christians are free of guilt.ย These verses do not define circumcision or baptism and should never be analyzed in isolation.ย Circumcision was the initiation into the Old Covenant and baptism the initiation into the New Covenant.ย For that reason, Paul here uses these as symbols for the initiation into the realm where Christians are free of guilt.
Realm transfer in Col 2:14
Verse 14 uses different symbolism, but the message is the same as in 2:11-13. This verse describes the realm of guilt as a โcertificate of debt consisting of decreesโ.ย Many interpret this as a reference to the Law of Moses, but onย Certificate of debt consisting of decrees it is shown that the โcertificate of debt consisting of decreesโ, which has been โnailed it to the crossโ, refers to the record of our sins and the penalty due to us, according to Godโs Law.
Chapter and verse divisions sometimes distort the meaning of the text.ย In the original text, there are no chapter and verse divisions.ย If we add the last part of verse 13 to the first part of verse 14 we have:
โhaving forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decreesโ (Col 2:13-14)
The immediate context therefore also implies that the โcertificate of debt consisting of decreesโ refers to โall our transgressionsโ (2:13).ย Verse 14 therefore also describes the transfer from the realm of guilt to freedom from guilt.
The Means of transfer in verse 14 is clear, for it says that the โcertificate of debt consisting of decreesโ has been โnailed โฆ to the crossโ.
Col 2:11-14 explains Col 2:10
2:11-14 expands on the concept in 2:10 that Christians โhave been made completeโ โin Himโ.ย The entire letter to the Colossians can perhaps be summarized by two concepts.ย The first is stated by 2:9, but is also mentioned throughout the letter, namely that everything is in Christ; nothing exists outside Christ:
โAll the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily formโ in Christ (Col 2:9).ย In Christ โare hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledgeโ (Col 2:3). โAll things have been created through Him and for Himโ (Col 1:16). โHe is before all things, and in Him all things hold togetherโ (Col 1:17).ย He has first place in everything (Col 1:18). โIt was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Himโ (Col 1:19). Through Him, God reconciles all things to Himself (Col 1:20).
Notice the word โallโ in these examples, which excludes the possibility of anything existing outside of Christ.
The second main thought is stated by Col 2:10, namely that Christians are already complete in Christ; they do not need something else to make them complete. It is this point on which Paul elaborates in the current verses by saying that they have been โcircumcised โฆ without handsโ (Col 2:11), โburied with Himโ, โraised up with Himโ (Col 2:12), โmade โฆ aliveโ (Col 2:13) and โforgivenโ (2:13).ย This is also the point of their โcertificate of their debtโ that has been nailed to the cross.
These two main concepts can be described as:
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- Christ all-inclusiveness
- The Christianโs completeness
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The second concept is dependent on the first: Since nothing exists outside Christ, Christians are complete if they are โin Himโ. This dependence is indicated by phrases such as โin Himโ and โwith Himโ:
โโฆ present every man complete in Christโ (Col 1:28) โin Him you have been made complete โฆ โฆ in Him you were also circumcised โฆ having been buried with Him in baptism โฆ raised up with Him โฆ made you alive together with Him โฆ โ (Col 2:10-13).
โIn Himโ means to be in a trust relationship with Him.
Since 2:11-13 explains 2:10, and since the Christianโs completeness in 2:10 is dependent on Christโs all-inclusiveness in 2:9, the entire 2:9-14 should be read together.
Colossian deception
But the question remains, why does Paul emphasize the transfer from the โdomain of darknessโ to freedom from guilt?ย It is proposed that Paul put so much emphasis on the completion of Christians because the Colossian deception claimed that Christians are incomplete.ย It is further proposed that Paul put so much emphasis on the all-inclusiveness of Christ because the Colossian deception claimed that Christians need something outside of Christ to make them complete.
As proposed before, the frequent mention of the word โmysteryโ in Colossians (Col 1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3), and the description of Christ as the mystery of God (Col 2:2) indicates that the Colossians deception was related to the pagan mystery religions.ย In these ancient mystery religions secret knowledge was imparted to the initiates via an initiation rite.ย For that reason, Paul uses the Biblical initiation rites, namely circumcision under the old covenant and baptism under the new, as part of his description of how Christians were made โcompleteโ in Christ.
God the Father
It is perhaps appropriate to point out that verse 13 reads โHe made you alive together with Himโ.ย The Means of transfer is Christโs death, but it is โGod the Fatherโ (Col 3:17; 1:2, 3) that โcircumcisedโ Christians โwith a circumcision made without handsโ (2:11), that โburiedโ them โwith Him in baptismโ, and also raised them up with Him (2:12), that made them โalive together with Himโ (2:13), that forgave โus all our transgressionsโ (2:13) and that โcanceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decreesโ (2:14) by nailing โit to the crossโ (2:14).
Freedom from guilt
To conclude, note that Christians are free from guilt, but not free from sin.ย Christians have been transferred to a realm where they have been โforgivenโ their โtransgressionsโ.ย The Lord said, referring to the new covenant:
“Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Heb 10:17)
Since we are free from guiltโโholy and blameless and beyond reproachโ (Col 1:22)โwe need to strive that our deeds must also become consistent with the โkingdom of His beloved Sonโ (1:13), which is also free from sin.
Colossiansย Table of Contents
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