Sunday School lecture 11/16/03 part I
Colossians 2:8-23
Our lesson ended last week with the forthright statement of Paul’s appeal to the Colossians found in 2:6-7: as you received, do. In the conclusion of chapter 2, we will see Paul enforcing this appeal firmly. It is in this Passage that we glean many of the characteristics of the unnamed Colossian heresy. We will see that much like the legalism faced in Galatia, the danger ranged from the threat of ritualistic Judaism to the libertinism of paganism. Paul will reinforce his appeal in three ways: recalling his readers to the fullness of their past experience as they received Christ; recalling them from speculation to the realities of religious life; recalling them to a life consistent with their profession.
2:8-15 Recall to experience
The experience of their conversion and the word received from Epaphras as the Colossian Christians began to grow stood in stark contrast to the philosopher’s errors. The term “any one” or as the KJV phrases it “any man” may be pointing to a single individual who was the leader of the errorists. “Takes you captive” or the KJV’s “spoils” literally means “takes you into slavery.” The real and present danger was that the freedom found in Christ could be lost to this heresy.
Paul tells his audience that the beguiling philosophy is make-believe as it is (1) man-made, (2) demon inspired as it is “according to the elemental spirits of the world,” and (3) not according to Christ.
Some translators view the “elemental spirits (KJV-rudiments)” as the ceremonies of false religions. Others interpret this phrase, along with Galatians 4:1-8 as a reference to spirit beings. Either way, Christ is above both of these principles. He is the Head of all heavenly beings and He is the purpose of all rule and authority. That the fullness of all deity dwells in him bodily is a no nonsense statement that affirms that Christ is Divine now in His glorified state as well as when He was on earth in His physical state. He was all man, but yet all God.
Paul now lists six distinctives of the Christian experience.
1. The circumcision made without hands – It is not clear for what reason the errorists had raised circumcision. The Jews were not alone in this practice nor were they the first. The symbolism of the physical act was that a man put off part of his flesh in which sin dwelt. Paul contends that in the circumcision of Christ, the WHOLE body of flesh is put off. Though the phrase “circumcision without hands” is unique to this Passage and is somewhat uncharacteristic of the “circumcision is nothing” contention of Galatians 6:15, it is not unique to Pauline thought (Romans 2:29; Philippians 3:3) and was acknowledged by Old Testament theology as well (Deuteronomy 10:16; Jeremiah 4:4)
2. The symbolic act of baptism by immersion – We learn here that baptism symbolizes our death and burial in our repentance as we submerge, and our resurrection in faith as we are brought out of the water. Burial is the disposal of the body in the spiritual circumcision as reflected in Mark 8:34 and a sense of sharing in Christ’s death to sin. The rising is our trust in the Divine Power that raised Christ and also will raise us.
It should be noted that some faiths have interpreted the close proximity of circumcision and baptism in this Passage to show that baptism is the substitute for circumcision under the New Covenant. This is not at all what Paul is saying. This position is easily refuted as it makes the use of both acts by the Jews, including Christ inexplicable. It also counters why Peter would refuse to eat with uncircumcised, yet baptized, Christians. It also defies reason that Paul would not have used this argument in his various arguments against Christian circumcision.
Paul is not comparing the two acts. To the contrary, he is contrasting them. This is another strong support against paedobaptism. All that circumcision signified – the putting away of flesh – is accomplished through the convert’s faith. Baptism signifies the obedience displayed by the believer’s heart.
3. The convert, having experienced the circumcision made without hands and symbolically showing his death and burial in Christ and resurrection in faith is now made alive with Christ. In the situation in which the Colossians found themselves, this was a double quickening. They not only receive Grace as sinners, but also as aliens, those who were not members of the Jews, the original covenant family.
4. The believer experiences forgiveness of both debt and sin but the main point of the forgiveness is that includes all our trespasses.
5. The Christian also experiences emancipation from the law. The “record of debt (KJV - handwriting of ordinances)" that was against us is nailed to the cross. Whether this is in reference to the charge hung above Christ on the literal cross or a debt nailed to a public display as was the practice of the time is irrelevant in this case. Christ has paid the debt we owed and vindicated us of charges of the Law by taking them upon the cross.
6. The believer experiences victory over the rulers and authorities through Christ. This verse requires a bit more examination, as it is a bit ambiguous. The pronoun “He” may refer to God or Christ. Disarmed may mean discarded or divested. The rulers and authorities may refer to good angels or evil forces. There are two principle interpretations held for Paul’s intent here.
a. The verse may be seen as saying that Christ divested Himself of the angels who attended Him during His ministry as He was able to do without them. It may mean that God the Father through Christ divested Himself of the mediating angels who administered the Law in the Old Testament. The “public display” (KJV - made a shew of them openly) is a display in which they are displayed pleasurably. This interpretation elaborates the Christians freedom from the Law as discussed in verse 14.
b. The second line of thought is that the rulers and authorities are the evil forces in the world which Christ discarded by His work on the cross. It can also be read as saying that Christ discarded the evil forces of the world by triumphing over them in the flesh. In this interpretation, the “public display” (ESV – put them to open shame) is a victory procession.
continued
