In Colossians 2:11-12 we read about the circumcision in Christ and being buried with Christ in baptism and risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God. But what does buried with Christ in baptism and risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God mean according to the Bible?
The circumcision in Christ
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 (Κολοσσαείς 2:11-12)
The new creation is circumcised in the circumcision of Jesus Christ. This circumcision is not made with hands, a natural circumcision of the foreskin of a male. But this circumcision is a work of the Spirit and takes place by putting off the body of the sinful flesh of males and females. The circumcision in Christ; the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, takes place by baptism, when the old man (σάρκα) is buried with Christ and becomes a partaker of His death and the new man (πνεύμα) has risen from the dead through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.
The old man is buried with Christ in baptism
Τι να πούμε τότε? Θα συνεχίσουμε στην αμαρτία, ότι η χάρη μπορεί να περισσεύει? Ο Θεός να το κάνει. Πώς θα, που είναι νεκροί στην αμαρτία, ζείτε άλλο εκεί? Δεν ξέρεις, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: ότι όπως ο Χριστός αναστήθηκε από τους νεκρούς με τη δόξα του Πατέρα, ακόμα κι έτσι πρέπει να περπατάμε στη νέα ζωή.
For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Γνωρίζοντας αυτό, that our old man is crucified with Him, για να καταστραφεί το σώμα της αμαρτίας, ότι στο εξής δεν πρέπει να υπηρετούμε την αμαρτία. Γιατί αυτός που είναι νεκρός ελευθερώνεται από την αμαρτία (Ρωμαίους 6:1-7)
When you were baptized, you were circumcised in the circumcision of Christ and you have buried your old former life.
The old man, who is carnal and sense-ruled and is dominated by the sinful nature, no longer exists.
The old man, ο σαρκικός άνθρωπος, has died in Christ and the new man, the spiritual man, has been risen in Christ from the dead.
Old things have passed away, all things have become new!
You believed in Jesus Christ and decided to ακολουθήστε τον Ιησού and entered a covenant with Him and as a sign of the covenant is the circumcision in Christ.
Just like in the Old Covenant the natural circumcision of the foreskin was a sign of the covenant between God, Abraham, και his Seed, in the New Covenant, the circumcision by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh through baptism, is a sign of the New Covenant in Christ.
The new man is risen with Christ from the dead
Τώρα αν είμαστε νεκροί με τον Χριστό, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Γνωρίζοντας ότι ο Χριστός που αναστήθηκε από τους νεκρούς δεν πεθαίνει πια; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Ομοίως, θεωρήστε και εσείς τους εαυτούς σας νεκρούς για την αμαρτία, αλλά ζωντανός για τον Θεό μέσω Ιησού Χριστού του Κυρίου μας.
Ας μην βασιλεύει λοιπόν η αμαρτία στο θνητό σώμα σας, ότι πρέπει να το υπακούτε στις επιθυμίες του. Ούτε παραδώστε τα μέλη σας ως όργανα αδικίας στην αμαρτία: αλλά παραχωρήστε τον εαυτό σας στον Θεό, όπως αυτοί που είναι ζωντανοί από τους νεκρούς, και τα μέλη σας ως όργανα δικαιοσύνης στον Θεό. Διότι η αμαρτία δεν θα κυριαρχήσει επάνω σας: γιατί δεν είστε κάτω από το νόμο, αλλά υπό τη χάρη.
Τι τότε? θα αμαρτήσουμε, γιατί δεν είμαστε υπό το νόμο, αλλά υπό τη χάρη? Ο Θεός να το κάνει. Δεν ξέρεις, σε όποιον δίνετε τον εαυτό σας υπηρέτες για να υπακούσετε, δούλοι του είστε στους οποίους υπακούτε; είτε της αμαρτίας μέχρι θανάτου, ή της υπακοής στη δικαιοσύνη? (Ρωμαίους 6:8-16)
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Ρωμαίους 8:10)
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Ρωμαίους 8:13-14)
Jesus Christ has conquered the death! If you have become a new creation in Him, you have been redeemed from the power of sin and death by the putting of the body of the sins of the flesh and you have been given power in Christ to reign over sin and death.
You shall no longer listen to the flesh and be led by the sinful nature of the flesh and fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh, since the flesh with its sinful nature has died in Christ.
The proof that the flesh has died in Christ
If the flesh with the sinful nature has died in Christ, the flesh shall no longer produce the unrighteous works of the flesh, which are a.o. μοιχεία, πορνεία, διαζύγιο, (σεξουαλικός) uncleanness, effeminacy, inordinate affection (λαγνεία), evil concupiscence, covetousness, θυμός, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, lying, lasciviousness, ειδωλολατρεία, μαγεία, hatred, variance, emulations, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, stealing, δολοφονίες, drunkenness, revellings (1 Κορινθίους 6:9- 6, Γαλάτες 5:19-21, Κολοσσαείς 3:5-10).
If you still do the works of the flesh, you are not circumcised in Christ, because the body of the sins of the flesh has not been put off and is not buried in Christ but is still alive.
The old creation, who belongs to the world and lives in the kingdom of darkness, does these unrighteous works. But if you are born again and you are circumcised in the circumcision of Christ by the putting off the body of sins of the flesh, you shall not do those works anymore, but you shall do righteous works according to the will of God.
You shall listen to the Father and submit yourself to His Word and obey the words of God and apply them into your life, since the Word of God is the truth. You shall walk after the Spirit in the will of God and the Spirit shall reign in your life. Σαν άποτέλεσμα, you shall live a holy life unto God and bear the καρπός του Πνεύματος.
«Γίνε το αλάτι της γης’
