Let's read now from Holy Scripture. We're going to read Colossians chapter two. Colossians chapter two. Ask that you pay special attention to verses 11 through 13, that's the text. I had in the bulletin just verse 11, that was a mistake of mine. It's 11 through 13 where we're going to focus. Colossians two. For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in our text, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands. in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and on circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven. you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come. But the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward. in a voluntary humility and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding the head from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, touch not, taste not, handle not, which all are to perish with the using after the commandments and doctrines of men, which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh. We read that far in God's holy word. As I said, we will consider verses 11 through 13, concentrating especially on verse 11, in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, the spiritual significance of this particular passage is very much related to the purpose in which it was given. The apostle here, has written these things by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in order to refute a doctrinal error. In fact, probably several doctrinal errors that had either synthesized into one or were coming from various factions and men. And those doctrinal errors or that doctrinal error threatened the very gospel of salvation at the Church of Colossa. That doctrinal error had several components which you can consider or understand simply from what you read, from what the apostle condemns or refutes here. This error, many consider to be the error called Gnosticism. I myself am not convinced of that as such. This was a multi-headed error. And it, however, could be summarized, as the Apostle summarizes it, as essentially a denial of salvation by Christ alone, and especially the completeness, the absolute completeness and perfection of the work of Christ. that the apostle warns against, in one way or another, wanted to add something to the work of Christ. One component of it was, well, you can believe in Christ, but there has to be added to that some sort of existential knowledge or wisdom. Something that you have to know over and above that. And so the apostle addresses that. The apostle makes clear that this error was an amalgamation of philosophy, of what he calls vain deceit, an untoward view of man and his abilities that came out of the traditions of men, some of them simply Greek society, others of these traditions from the Jewish religion. He talks about the rudiments of the world, that is, certain laws and practices, either as they came through the Scriptures and thus and then were wrongly applied to the church or out of the world itself. Especially the apostle rails against the notion that one's salvation consisted of or was completed by especially avoiding or abstaining from things of this world. So it had with it the notion that since salvation is essentially a spiritual thing, and since this world is essentially corrupt, therefore one's salvation requires one touch not, and taste not, and handle not certain things, all which things the apostle not only condemns, But he teaches, in opposition to that, the truth. At the heart of the issue is what the apostle writes in our text. And I must say, at this point, with regard to that, the text that we consider is a very powerful and loaded text, full of wonderful doctrine, and truth, which we will not be able to enter into all of it and apply it, not as I would like. One could spend quite a bit of time on this chapter and even those verses. We're going to focus on it, especially as it applies to baptism. Nevertheless, the truth, even with regard to that, even if we limit it to its application to baptism, is filled with the wonderful gospel. The apostle shows here that over and against what was being taught, which truth or which falsehood basically denied the person of Christ and denied the work of Christ in the sacrament of baptism and its Old Testament complement circumcision is found the Holy Gospel, the truth. And so we consider that this morning, focusing especially on what the Apostle calls it, the circumcision made without hands, applied to us. We consider it under the theme circumcised without hands. We're going to notice first the spiritual work of Christ. Then secondly, it's relationship or application or connection to baptism. And finally, the present significance of a text like this. So, first, the spiritual work of Christ should be obvious. I think even to the small children here, that when the Apostle says, in whom also ye are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, that the Apostle is not referring to the Old Testament ceremony of circumcision. When we read our Bibles, even as small children, we run across that term a lot. Circumcision. And sometimes we want to know what it is, and we read about it, and we know that it was a practice in the Old Testament, and now the Apostle in the New Testament brings up that term. But it ought to be obvious that the circumcision that he's talking about here is not the same physical Old Testament ceremony that was being done in the Old Testament. That should be obvious because the Old Testament ceremony of circumcision was made with hands. And the Apostle speaks about one without hands. That Old Testament ceremony was made with hands. It was an outward physical act performed by real flesh and blood hands of fathers and then later priests upon real flesh and blood individuals, particularly the male descendants of Abraham as a sign of the covenant that God had made with him and his children. That act was first commanded by God to Abraham when he promised to establish his covenant with him, and you can find that in Genesis chapter 17. Approximately 12 years after his first son Ishmael was born, then God appeared to Abraham. And God promised to establish his covenant with Abraham and his children. And at that time, God said that he would establish that covenant in especially two ways. It would take two forms, we might say. First, God would be the God of Abraham and his children forever. God would dwell with him and his children, and they would dwell with God. Secondly, God promised Abraham in that covenant that he would give him and his children a land to dwell in forever with God. God would not only dwell with Abraham and Abraham with God, but there would be a place of dwelling, a land and a home of dwelling. Now in that covenant, God made clear that He did not establish that covenant with every single physical child, grandchild, great-grandchild, great-great-great-grandchild, and et cetera, that would be born physically of Abraham, but that God would establish that covenant only with some. That becomes very clear with regard to Ishmael and his descendants. God promises that Ishmael will receive many gifts from God so that he becomes a great nation and his descendants. But scripture makes clear the covenant is established in the line of Isaac, whom Sarah would have in her old age. At that time, God then also commanded Abraham to keep or remember that covenant by the sign of circumcision. In obedience to God, Abraham circumcised his children, not only Isaac when he was born, but also his older son Ishmael and even his adult male servants. Act of circumcision was made with hands. It was an act in which Abraham, with his own two hands, took a sharp knife and cut off the foreskin of the penis of those male members in his household. It was therefore a painful act that shed blood. And it was an act that also resulted in the discarding of that foreskin so that it died. And it was an act also that required the healing of that injury in the flesh of that male individual. Later on, in Leviticus 12, verse 3, that becomes the law in the nation of Israel. And it would be a law carried out not now by fathers specifically, but by the priests, by the hands of the priests. That law required that believing parents present their male children to the priest on the eighth day to be circumcised. And it also required, you can read elsewhere in the law, that any stranger, that is, anyone who was not born physically of the seed of Abraham, but who wanted to partake of the faith, especially, showing that by partaking of the Passover feast also had to be circumcised, even as an adult. So converts, male converts also had to be circumcised, and it was an important sign of the covenant. We might even say the sign of the covenant. God makes that clear in a number of ways. If you know Old Testament history, one recalls, for example, the history of Moses. God calls Moses to be a great leader of the people and to lead them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, prior to them even receiving that law. But before Moses can do that and become true leader of the people, he must first circumcise his children, which he had neglected to do. And God rushed at him on the way to Egypt and demanded that that be done. One thinks also of the children of Israel themselves, who while they were wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years because of their unbelief, never bothered to circumcise their children as the law required. And so God requires that they all be circumcised before they cross over the Jordan River to enter into the land of Canaan. That sign was a sign of what God must do to establish His covenant with man and what God does in that covenant with man. The establishment of that covenant requires the shedding of blood by sacrifice to atone for their sin in the flesh. And God also made clear by that sacrament and that ceremony that that shedding of blood needed to be substitutionary, that on the one hand, there would be a shedding of blood, that it required even the shedding of their own blood, but would be necessary to take place in such a way that God did not actually take their own life. For how could they live with God if they are dead? for the payment of their sins. It was also a sign of the effect of that covenant of God with them. Even with the strange thing that it seems to us that only males were circumcised, the Old Testament Israel understood that the benefit of the covenant Signified by that sign was for both male and female because it affected the very member, the organ used in the procreation of all the children. They understood too that that was the essential sign that distinguished them from the children of unbelievers. Everyone knew that there were the children of Israel who were circumcised and then all the rest who were uncircumcised, like those uncircumcised. Philistines, and they understood that there had to be a radical change in their own flesh, that there had to be a discarding or a death of that flesh, and that in that way, they were separated unto God. They were made holy unto God and to dwell with God and in communion with God. Now I say, The circumcision that the apostle speaks about is not a circumcision, for he speaks of a circumcision made without hands. That's an act that's performed on someone without the use of any physical earthly hands, not the hands of any father, not the hands of any priest, not the hands of any pastor or elder, but it is performed by Christ. The idea is not even with the hands of Christ as such, but in another way, by His Spirit. This is the work of Christ the Apostle makes clear when he calls it later on the circumcision of Christ. Now by that he means not circumcision of Christ because it's a circumcision performed on Christ, but he calls it the circumcision of Christ because it's a circumcision performed by Christ. It's done by Him. Done by, now not His hands, but by His Spirit. That's the agent. That's the way it's done. And it's performed not on the physical descendants of Abraham, but upon the members of the body of Christ. In a real sense, it is performed on Christ. One can think of it that way. Even when he calls it the circumcision of Christ, one wonders if that isn't part of the idea that it's a circumcision made in the body of Christ, therefore of Christ Himself. Now he's speaking to a particular church, that body. Talking about the church at Colossae, that's also why when he goes on he uses the plural. He's referring to the church as a plurality of persons, but by implication also then, he refers to the individual, to the person, every member of that body of Christ is circumcised with this circumcision. So by implication, he's telling the New Testament church and every member of that church and the apostles declaring that whether they are a physical Jew, who was circumcised with hands, or a Gentile who was never circumcised with hands, they have all been circumcised by Christ and circumcised with a circumcision that had no hands involved whatsoever. That's why elsewhere in the Scriptures the apostle calls the church Jews. We read of that in Romans 2, verses 28 and 29. He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, by circumcision of the flesh, we might say, by circumcision made with hands, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, whose circumcision is of the heart and of the spirit. It's that circumcision that the apostle is talking about here. Now the effect of this spiritual circumcision of Christ is basically one thing. He gives that in verse 11, namely, the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh. But the apostle goes on to make plain that this deliverance of sin, this putting off of the body of the flesh, comes in two ways, has two parts, two aspects to it, we might say. He goes on in verse 13 to talk about the fact that in this, Christ forgives our trespasses or our sins. That's verse 13. To go on to verse 14, he further explains that. He calls it the blotting out of the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. The apostle elsewhere explains what he means there also in Ephesians 2 verse 15, where he talks about the abolishing in the flesh of the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. where he's referring to there is the law within the law, the curse of the law, that the man who does not fulfill the law perfectly and do everything that it requires is accursed, must die and die eternally. This circumcision, without hands then, is something whereby God delivers us from that. so that Christ forgives our sins, takes away the guilt of sin and the shame of sin, and declares us righteous before Him. It's really referring to that aspect of salvation we call justification. Justification, whereby God on the basis of what Christ has done, the shedding of His blood and His blood alone, declares us who are members of Him to be righteous. and without sin, and as those who have perfectly fulfilled all his law. Thus, the curse of the law has no effect on us whatsoever. In the second place, he speaks about Christ putting off or destroying the body of sin, that is, the flesh from which sin originates, and then goes on to talk about enlivening that which was formerly dead. This part also has two parts. He puts it in terms of being buried with Christ and then being raised or quickened with Him. Really that aspect of salvation we call conversion or sanctification that you all know consists of, from the Heidelberg Catechism, the mortifying of the flesh and the enlivening of us. A killing and an enlivening. So we may say this circumcision made without hands is the act of Christ whereby the body of sin becomes more and more ugly, more and more dead to us, so that we sorrow over and hate and flee sin more and more, and then an enlivening. The Catechism goes on to say a joy of heart in God so that with love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works. It is that the body of the flesh isn't simply killed or put off, but there is a making alive. There is a resurrection of the dead. That's what he means when he talks about being buried with Christ and then being raised with Him. All in that circumcision made without hands. And notice that that rat receives the emphasis too. Without hands, what does that mean? It means it's the work of Christ and not the work of man at all. It means it's a work in us and upon us without any human agency. It's solely the work of Christ, through Christ, by His Holy Spirit. And yes, the effect of that work of Christ is that a man believes. A man does good works. His hands become active. But the work itself is the work of Christ. It is without hands. Now what's the relationship of this to baptism? Well, the basic connection is this, that there is no essential difference between circumcision and baptism. They're essentially the same thing. That's what the apostle is pointing out. It's evident from the passage. where the words that he uses, he uses interchangeably and in the same context. The main subject is obviously circumcision. Even the small children can see that. But in the middle of this passage, without any explanation, without any apparent context or reason, he simply refers to baptism and then returns to circumcision akin. Now, the profound teaching of the Holy Spirit by that is they're essentially the same thing. The words can be used interchangeably. Why? And the answer is because they refer to the same work of Christ that is performed without hands both in the Old and in the New Testament. They both refer to the work or operation of God through Christ by the Holy Spirit whereby our fleshly heart is killed or mortified and then we are quickened or made alive. That indicates that there's essentially no difference then between the sign of circumcision or baptism either. Remember, the text is referring not to the sign, but to the reality. He's saying that the reality of circumcision and the reality of baptism are essentially the same thing. Both without hands. And now if that's true, if the reality is essentially the same thing, then there's no difference really between the signs either. Now, both signs are obviously different in a very real sense. One, obviously, was performed on the physical descendants of Abraham, that is, Jews. The other is performed on both Jew and Gentile. In the Old Testament, even when one was a Gentile, he essentially became a Jew through that sign. In the New Testament, that is distinctly not the case. It's administered to a Jew so that he remains a Jew and a Gentile so that he remains a Gentile. He's physically. The other difference is one is a bloody surgery upon the flesh. The other is the application of water upon the flesh. So there's an obvious difference. We don't deny that. But yet they're essentially the same because they mean the same thing. Let me illustrate. When you're driving, there's two signs that you usually run into, well, not run into physically, but you see. Two different kinds of signs. There's a stoplight, and then there's a stop sign. And they're very different. One's just a chunk of metal in a shape and stuck on a pole. And the other is usually three lights. The stoplight is the red one, and they hang from the middle of the intersection. Says red, you stop. Now, those signs are obviously very different. Very, very different. But they're essentially the same because they mean the same thing. They mean stop. Circumcision and baptism are the same thing. Very, very different in their appearance and what goes on, but they mean the exact same thing. That's the point of the apostle. Now what's the implication of that as it relates to baptism? Well, number one, the Spirit is teaching that there's no essential difference between Old Testament Israel and the New Testament Church. They both consist of those who are saved by Christ through the circumcision made without hands or with the baptism made without hands. Doesn't matter. That's evident when he's telling a mainly Greek church that they're circumcised, even though they didn't really receive the sign at all. We tend to overlook that. You have to imagine how surprised they probably were when they are mainly Gentiles who are not circumcised and the Apostle comes along and says, no, but you're circumcised. It's the circumcision made without hands, but you're circumcised. And that's why also from time to time the Apostle would remind a primarily Jewish church A church consisting of Jewish converts that they were baptized, because they would have associated their spiritual change with circumcision. So he would tell them they're baptized. But the point is, there's no essential difference between these people and between these institutions. And that was one of the basic errors of the false prophets in Colossae. That's how the text refutes them. One reason they insisted the New Testament church must follow certain Old Testament laws and be circumcised and observe the laws with regard to certain foods and fastings and special holy days and all these things, in other words, become a Jew, is because they didn't understand there was no essential difference between a church consisting of Gentiles, uncircumcised, and a church of Jews who were circumcised. There was no difference between them. That's another basic error still made today. One reason individuals in the church or churches refuse to baptize infants, or they place a great deal of emphasis on becoming a Jew, or how the Jews are a special people who will be saved in the land of Palestine, is that they make this grave error of viewing the church and the Jews as different people, different institutions, and they're saved a different way. And that's nonsense. Those baptized and those circumcised are the same people, the people of God, members of Christ and of his body by faith. Both have the same act of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit performed on them. They receive the same deliverance of sin. Secondly, the text. as it relates to baptism, implies that there's no essential difference between one who receives the sign of this act of Christ without hands, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let me make clear. If there's no essential difference between one in whom Christ performs the reality, if there's no essential difference between the spiritual Jew in the New Testament and the spiritual Jew in the Old Testament, there's no essential difference between the Old Testament true church and the New Testament true church, then there may be no real difference between who receives the sign either. What am I getting at? Well, what I'm pointing out is this is the explanation why there's no explicit command in the New Testament to baptize infants. The Baptists like to go to that question or bring it up, show us in the New Testament, where infants are commanded to be baptized. And the reply is, why should there be? Why in the world would there be a command in the New Testament to baptize infants? It's assumed. It's assumed because there is no essential difference in the sign or who receives the sign. Infants were circumcised. In the Old Testament, infants would be baptized in the new. The reason is because the work of Christ is a work of Christ that unites us to himself without hands. And as I said, that receives special emphasis. We are circumcised as members of the body of Christ. that even as he was circumcised, so are we, because we are made his body. We belong to him. We are united to him. That's why he can go on to say, therefore you were baptized into his death. It's amazing phrases. Every time I read those, I just, do you ever think of that? When the apostle actually brings up the subject of baptism, he brings it up in connection with his death. The Apostle does the same thing in the book of Romans, by the way, same thing. We don't often think of baptism that way. Often we think of baptism in terms of life, new life, and that's good, that's right. But the Apostle associates it with death, much like you might with circumcision, too. Circumcision involved the cutting off of flesh, but then died. So we don't normally do that, but the Apostle says, don't you understand you were baptized into His death? In other words, by baptism, the reality, you are joined to Christ, and that meant when Christ died and went into the grave, you went into it with Him. And then consequently, when Christ came out of the grave, you came out of the grave with Him. That's the church. That's what's done to us. And that brings up a third implication of all this as it relates to baptism. An important thing about the sacrament and the sign and the sign and the reality. And that is, it's a sign of what Christ has done. Or will do. what we will do or have done. Notice that. In the Old Testament, as the apostle applies it, he doesn't say circumcision now is a sign of what God will, or what you have done, or what Abraham now you must do, but it's a sign, and it always was, of what Christ does, and what God had done. Same thing with baptism. Another essential mistake that's always made. We practice believer's baptism, they say. They talk about it that way because for them, baptism is a sign of what you did or what you will do as a believer, they say. The apostle here shows, no, no, not at all. It's a sign of what God does, what God does without hands, what God has performed or will perform on you or your child. The apostle even emphasizes that in the text too. Notice, you are circumcised. You are risen with Christ. Notice that. What he's pointing out is the essential destruction of all those errors, and that is the work of Christ is a completed work. If the work of Christ is completed and done and finished by Christ and done by Christ without hands, then everything taught by those prophets is false. and wrong. What's the present significance? What does this have to do with us? Well, you're called to believe on Christ, called to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, who circumcises us without hands, and to believe now on the reality, Christ himself and his work, not simply the sign, I want to be careful here because there is what we call the sacramental significance. There is a close connection between the sign and the reality, so close that the Bible interchanges them all the time. You probably did it this morning. You said this morning before you headed to church, I'm going to see a baptism. Okay, we know what you mean. You came to see a Pastor Langerak and a couple come up here and a baby and we read through the form and you saw the pastor anoint the baby with water in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Spirit, but what you witnessed was a sign, and only a sign. And I use that word only very cautiously. I don't mean to minimize it. over against the minimizing of the sign. The Bible talks about the present salvation of us by baptism. But we must remember that all I perform is the sign. It's done with hands. My hands were involved. Their hands were involved. Go read the Belgian Confession on Baptism and it reminds us of that. The reality is what God does inwardly, invisibly to us. Without our hands, without our agency, And so our calling is to believe in Christ and the work of Christ represented by the sign and signified there. Fine distinction, but remember that. We're saved by Christ, not the sign of baptism as such. Especially, let me emphasize this, and this is the point of the apostle. believe in the saving efficacy of that work of Christ, in the power of that work of Christ. That too is emphasized in the text, that it's an operation of God without our agency. Oh yes, it's a work of Christ that enlivens us. so that we will live and breathe spiritually. We will walk and we will talk and we will use our hands spiritually, make no mistake. We will even do that in our body, in this flesh. That's actually quite amazing that this is the work of Christ in us now. Doesn't wait until we have our perfected bodies in the new heavens and earth. It's an amazing thing. that this body with which I was born, which is dead in trespasses and sins, that is as dead as that foreskin that was cut off in circumcision and discarded and thrown in the trash heap, because that's all it's good for, is made alive, but make no mistake, that's only the effect. That's the effect of what was done in us and to us by Christ And the circumcision made without hands and the baptism made with hands. That's the present significance. And let's remind ourselves, too, of this, the occasion of baptism, which is wonderfully signified in baptism. Let's believe, too, it's a salvation of us and our children, not all of our physical children. The Lord has a way of reminding us that even there where he uses the good instruction of parents to rear their children in the fear of his name, that salvation of them is by grace. Sometimes very painfully, he reminds us of that when a child goes astray, forsakes God, forsakes his covenant, but nevertheless, beloved, be reminded of the grace that is shown to us that God takes our children, even in their earliest years in infancy, and even with a sign, perhaps even in connection with a sign, God performs an operation on them, killing the flesh, enlivening them in the spirit, so that we give praise and thanks to him in that circumcision made without hands. Amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our God and Father, We give thanks and praise thee on behalf of ourselves and our children for this great work of Christ in whom dwells all the fullness of the bodily, who has circumcised us, who has baptized us, who has brought us into the grave so that we are buried with him and brought us out of the grave so that we are alive in him. O Lord, our God, direct us to look not unto ourselves then, for this great salvation, for the assurance of it, but to our Lord Jesus Christ, who loves us so. These things we pray.