Colossians 2:9-12 - Signs That Point To What Only God Does

Imagine parents in the hospital shortly after the birth of their child. Picture the mom lying in bed holding the little baby, and dad is by her side. Then a nurse walks in and hands them a piece of paper. The parents look at it, confused, and dad says, “What is this?” And the nurse says, “That’s your baby’s diploma, for completing birth.” It would be absurd, wouldn’t it?

I want you to think about two kinds of certificates: a diploma and a birth certificate. One represents what you’ve done, the other records something that happens to you. One you earn, the other you simply receive.

Many people think of baptism like a diploma – as a pronouncement of what the baptized person has done. That’s not surprising, because we naturally rely on our own actions and efforts rather than seeing that God alone must save us.

But baptism isn’t a sign of what the believer does. It’s a sign of what God does. It’s more like a birth certificate, signifying God’s work of salvation and a person’s reception into the covenant community. Salvation is God-centered, God-initiated, and God-accomplished. And we see this across the whole Bible.

In both the Old and New Testaments, God commands that an outward sign be given to mark the members of His covenant community and to teach us about His saving work. Under the old covenant, that sign was circumcision. Under the new covenant, Jesus gave baptism.

Now, from the old covenant to the new, some things carried over, other things changed. But there’s a fundamental continuation that you must recognize: the old and new covenants are not two different ways of salvation but two stages of same Covenant of Grace. In the covenant of grace, salvation is received, not earned.

And in this covenant, God has always given signs that point to the salvation accomplished by Christ. Christ didn’t come to start something completely new. Through His life, death, and resurrection, He inaugurated the new covenant as the final and complete form of God’s covenant of grace to fulfill what God had promised long before.

That’s what Paul shows us here in Colossians 2. The signs point not to what we do, but to what God does for sinners in Christ: He unites sinners to Christ through faith in Christ alone, He cleanses sinners of their sin through faith in Christ alone, and He raises sinners to new life through faith in Christ alone,

Now, for a little background on Colossians, Paul wrote this letter to the church in Colossae, a city in what is now SW Turkey. The believers there were being told they needed special experiences and strict discipline to truly know God. Basically, their faith in Jesus Christ was not enough.

This kind of false teaching is still around today in various forms. Some say you need a powerful spiritual experience to really know God, or that you must work hard to stay close to God. Some believe that certain Christians have “something more” than others, or that Jesus gets you started in the faith, but you have to keep yourself saved. Often, Christianity is presented as self-improvement rather than Christ-dependence.

In each case, the focus moves from what God has done in and through Christ to what people must do or not do. Paul tells the Colossians not to be taken captive by these lies because, see verse 9, “in him (meaning Christ) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Have you been to a restaurant that puts your food in a white foam carryout tray, and when you open the tray, there’s a mountain of food? They completely filled it up!

All who trust in Christ “have been filled.” Paul is saying that if you are in Christ, you lack nothing of God. Christ is not partially divine. He was and is fully God. And He remained fully God even as He came to earth and took on a fully human nature. So, the whole fullness of God was present in bodily form in Christ, and if you have Christ, you have all of God.

This filling is also described as being united with Christ, as we read earlier in Romans 6. To be in union with Christ is to fully belong to Him and be known by Him. To be in union with Christ is to share fully in His life. That can’t occur while a person is still spiritually dead in their sins. Paul says believers were dead in sins but made alive with Christ.

Christ died in the body, but was made alive again by the Holy Spirit, and elsewhere Paul explains what this means for himself and all who trust in Jesus. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the [body] I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

When you are spiritually united with Him, you don’t become Jesus, but all that is His – the righteousness and all the blessings of God – becomes yours. Paul isn’t saying that Christ has fullness and you receive just a portion of it. He is saying that believers are joined to Christ Himself, and because we are joined to Him, what is His becomes ours.

And notice again, Christ is “the head of all rule and authority.” Scripture presents Jesus Christ as not only the ruler of His church, but as the supreme Ruler of all. But how could sinners like us ever be united to the holy Ruler of all creation? It happens by the power of the one true God. The covenant signs point to that power.

In Genesis 17 in the OT, God said he would establish an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his descendants, and that circumcision would be the sign of that covenant. But that outward sign was not what caused a person to truly know God. Time revealed that not all who received that outward sign truly believed.

In Galatians 3, Paul explains why. He says it is those of faith who are the descendants of Abraham. Yet, God commanded that every male among Abraham’s offspring receive the sign of the covenant. It was the outward mark of inclusion in the covenant community of God – whether they displayed true faith or not. What this showed was that those born into the community had the privilege of learning about God, but they must still exercise their own personal faith at some point.

And in light of that, the order of Jesus’ words in Matthew 28 in the NT makes sense. He tells His apostles, “Go..and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Jesus established His church – the new covenant community, consisting of people from every nation – and every member was to receive the outward sign and then be taught the truth.

Like OC circumcision, NC baptism marks a person outwardly as belonging among God’s people, but it does not save. It points to what God does. For spiritual union with Christ to exist, there must be true faith, which is the gift of God.

If you have Christ, you can never get more of Him. You will grow in your faith over time, and He will change your heart more and more. But you have God in full. You don’t have to earn His love or fear that you’ve lost His favor. God unites sinners to Christ through faith in Christ alone.

God is with you and He is for you, working all things together for your good. If you don’t have Christ, you can have Him today. Whoever you are, whatever you’ve done, you can have all the fullness of God. Trust in Christ.

Now look at verse 11. Paul continues, “In him (meaning Christ) also you were circumcised, with a circumcision made without hands.” The situation in Colossae was evidently much like that in other early churches. Many of the Christians were formally adherents to old covenant Judaism, and among the Jewish people, the old covenant sign had become a source of pride.

They felt that it showed that they had God. So when God opened up the covenant community to all nations, even though Christ had commanded the new covenant sign of baptism, many former Jews who now believed in Jesus felt that these newcomers must receive the old sign to truly have God.

This revealed a widespread misbelief much like a misbelief still held today. They believed they were righteous in God’s eyes not because of faith but because of the outward ritual. Yet rituals performed on the outside don’t change what’s on the inside. And so Paul says these believers don’t need to receive the old outward sign, because in fact they have the inward saving reality to which the old sign pointed.

How did that happen? Look at the rest of verse 11, “by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ.”

Imagine that you’ve been working in the yard, or maybe on the car – and your hands are covered with dirt or grease. You go to the sink to scrub your hands, and it takes some effort and a special cleaner, but when you’re done, your hands are clean. Now imagine you’re told that you have a disease in your bloodstream. No amount of washing on the outside can fix what’s wrong within.

Across the whole Bible – OT and NT – the problem with people was always within. The problem is a sinful nature that rebels against God and resists in holy will. Sin is a cancer within that no outer ritual can cut away. Sin is a toxicity within that no outer washing can purify.

Paul tells these believers they don’t need the outward sign of the old covenant. Through faith they have received the work of God to which that sign pointed. God performed a “circumcision made without hands.” God cut away the evil, sinful nature in a way that would be progressively made clearer as Christ changed their hearts and lives over time.

This is “putting off the body of the flesh.” “Flesh” here means “sinful nature.” The cutting away was inward, and they had been baptized with water outwardly. But the baptism described here – the washing that assures believers of union with Christ and of our spiritual bond with Him and of our complete cleansing from our sin and guilt – that baptism is something that must happen inwardly. And God does it.

It’s not merely the outward baptism Iike I’ll do here shortly – though that is in view. Simply put, Paul says that when you trust in Christ by faith, this great inward work of God is done. So there’s no need for anything else. There’s no need for the old covenant sign. Through faith in Christ alone, you effectively died with Him. You died to sin.

Think about it this way: if a criminal dies, what happens to the case against him? It’s dropped. The prosecution can’t continue because the person is no longer alive to stand trial, or defend themselves, or be punished.

If you died with Christ, your charges have dropped: past, present, and future. God cleanses sinners of their sin through faith in Christ alone. Do you think you must pay for your sins somehow?

Even if you would say you’re born again – do you live as if charges still stand, charges that make you an enemy of the one true God? God cleanses sinners all the way – for good. That is our standing before God in Christ. It’s hard to believe, but that is the good news of Jesus Christ. That is His gospel.

Now look finally at the second part of verse 12. Paul adds, “in which you were also raised with him.” Just as we died with Jesus, we rose from the dead along with Him.
Again, earlier we read from Romans where Paul writes that we were raised with Christ to “walk in newness of life.” We are made new inwardly – and Christ began a work that will become increasingly evident over time.And one day, we will receive the completion of that newness when Christ returns.

But notice Paul’s additional words here. It’s not the ritual of water baptism that makes this possible. It’s “through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” It’s through union with Jesus Christ. How does Christ change our hearts? Not by us simply trying harder, but as we live out of this new identity given by God. The same power that raised Christ from the dead has worked and is working in those united with Christ to produce new desires, new direction, and new obedience.

Here shortly, we’ll have some baptisms. And there is some misunderstanding around baptism. It’s sometimes thought that it should physically reenact burial. Matthew 3 is often cited as evidence, which says, “When Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water.” But in Acts 8, when Philip baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch, Scripture says, “they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away.” The Bible never explicitly says that either person was fully immersed in water.

Now, full immersion in water is valid. So is sprinkling or pouring of water. Because Scripture teaches that it signifies our union with Christ in his death and burial. Christ was not buried in the ground. He was laid inside a tomb. The point and the power of the sign is not in mimicking some action, and your confidence should not be in how baptism is administered. The sign points to full identification with Christ – being filled in Him who is fully God.

God raises sinners to new life through faith in Christ alone. It’s like walking into a store where there is not one thing you can afford. You can look around, but you can’t buy anything. Between your cash and your credit, you don’t have enough. In fact, you’re already in debt at this store. Then a sales associate walks up, hands you a bag, and says, “Your debt has been settled. This gift is yours. It’s been paid for in full.”

Christ not only settles the debt of our sins against God, He raises us from death to life, and credits us with His own perfect righteousness before God the Father. And like that bag handed to you, you don’t earn it. You simply receive it by faith alone.

The sign points to what only God does, but calls each person to respond in faith. For those being baptized today, this sign will mark you as part of the covenant community of Christ. He calls you to trust Him, follow Him, and walk in the new life He has given to you. For those who are believers, remember what God has done for you in Christ through faith alone, not something you have achieved, but something you have received.

And if you haven’t trusted in Christ, may you see and feel your own need for Christ today. Outward rituals don’t save you, but God saves – through Christ. Place your faith in Him alone, and receive what only He can give.

Let’s bow together in prayer.