Seeds for 2/22/2023 - Colossians 2:11a
Scripture: “In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through your faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
Observation: The next few days provide an opportunity to look at Paul’s teaching on the meaning of Christian baptism and how baptism gives us a robust picture of the meaning of salvation.
Paul begins by comparing baptism to circumcision. The comparison is clear and explicit in the following sentence, but even here we see what Paul is doing. Let’s look closely at what’s being said.
First, circumcision was the physical indication that an Israelite male belonged to the covenant, which meant he belonged to God’s people. Circumcision spoke to identity. Who am I? I am a member of God’s people and I belong to Him. That’s what circumcision said. In comparing baptism to circumcision, Paul is saying that baptism does the same thing—it tells someone who they are. It provides the central answer to the identity question, “who am I?”
Second, circumcision was a physical procedure, conducted by human hands on the male infant. But the “circumcision” experienced by the Colossian Christians is “in Him” and not performed by human hands. Of course, Paul knows very well that someone puts the person under the water or puts the water on the person. So when he says, “not performed by human hands,” he’s making the point that baptism is something God does, not us, to make us part of His covenant people (It means a lot of things, and we’ll get to more in the coming days). Since God is the One “doing” baptism, where does that leave us? We are receiving what God is doing. Like salvation, which baptism points to, this not about what we do. Baptism is about God doing something (saving us into His covenant people) and saying something (that we belong to Him) in Jesus Christ. Baptism, like our salvation, is a gift from start to finish.
Application: How does baptism being a gift of God that we receive help us stay clear about salvation as a gift and not something that is earned? How does baptism help us anchor our identity in Christ?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for baptism. Use it as a signpost to help me understand and live out my identity in Christ. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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