“In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead."

Colossians 2:11-12

Why does Paul draw their attention to baptism? The Colossians are being tempted with deceitful inconsistencies (Col. 2:4, 8, 20-23). Remembering their baptism helps them remain faithful when wild ideas are flying hither and yon.

Baptism has an objective meaning. Baptism is participation in the “circumcision of Christ” (vs. 11). What does this refer to? Jesus was circumcised at eight days old (Lk. 2:21). The meaning of circumcision is that it is the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. Circumcision is an act that literally puts “off the body of the flesh” (vs. 11). Jesus Christ is the redemption of God’s people because he fulfilled the oath God swore to Abraham to deliver them from their enemies (Lk. 1:68-79).

How does God save his people? Salvation is accomplished by Jesus putting off the body of the flesh in his crucifixion. Christ’s circumcision at eight days old anticipates his crucifixion, which means that to participate in the circumcision of Christ through baptism is to share in Christ’s death. This is “a circumcision made without hands” (vs. 11). What once happened with a cut is completed with a sprinkle. In the Old Testament, circumcision was not merely a mark of national identity. The symbolic meaning of circumcision was present in Abraham. At eight days old the child was circumcised. But God desired the circumcision of the heart (Dt. 10:16, 30:6; Jer. 4:4), which is the real circumcision that produces fiercely happy saints marching eternally across dark lands until the whole mountain of music and lights descends upon the Canaanites. But, if you’ve read the story, the dark lands marched on the mountain and dragged it off to exile while every serpent and sea beast turned and twisted in glee.

Thus the New Covenant, where baptism replaces circumcision as the new visible sign.** That doesn’t mean that Old Covenant circumcision and New Covenant baptism are precisely equivalent. This is the strange greatness of covenantal architecture. The work of Christ has fulfilled the ceremonial law and superseded the significance of circumcision. In Christ, there is no need for a circumcision with hands. The hope of circumcision was inner change. The redemption of Christ now affects the inward purification which is promised in the New Covenant and applied by the Holy Spirit (Jer. 31:31-33). The baptismal experience is more than the removal of a piece of flesh. It is more than death. It is resurrection. It is the making of a new man. The former self is dead and buried. The new self is alive with Christ, no longer a slave to sin. The old life is done and the new life is begun. “You were also raised with him through faith” (vs. 12), which means that faith is the active ingredient for resurrection. Baptism is the gift that faith receives.

By remembering their baptism, the Colossians are remembering the objective reality of the inimitable grandeur of all that Christ has accomplished in his death and resurrection. Christ’s work gives the fullest meaning to the numberless acts of faithfulness, even when the world is drunk on plausible arguments, philosophy, human tradition, and self-made religion.

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**Spiritual circumcision (“without hands”) corresponds to spiritual baptism (“buried” and “raised with him”)