Our Fullness In Christ

Colossians 2:11-15

The most subtle dangers to Christianity are not the direct attacks on it. The most subtle dangers to Christianity lie in a slight distortion of its basic truths. When someone attacks Christianity directly, we generally see this for what it is. But when someone presents a slightly altered version of Christianity, often it is hard to detect. This is because it is mostly true. But something mostly true can end up being completely false.

This poses one of the most dangerous threats to Christianity in our contemporary culture. And we see it everywhere. On the one hand, there are the many cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons. They purport to be versions of Christianity, and there are probably genuine Christians in their midst. But if you look at what they teach, you will find that they have slightly altered the basic truths of Christianity. This is also true of the plethora of New Age teaching being promoted everywhere, especially on PBS. And there is a host of other "spiritual sounding teaching" that adds a little here and subtracts a little there.

Then we are also faced with the push toward pluralism. This has been given a great deal of attention lately, in light of the tragic events of 9-11-2001. In an effort to head off possible retaliation against any one of a Muslim persuasion, the idea of pluralism has been getting a lot of publicity. And, if by pluralism you mean that we live in a society that is tolerant and respectful of all religions and ethnic backgrounds, then it should be emphasized. But there is the sense among some that we should acknowledge that all religious points of view are of equal truth, and that if we do not, we are bigoted and hateful. This is a subtle attack, not only on Christianity, but also on any religious tradition that believes it has found the truth and wishes to evangelize others. We should make it clear that we affirm the right of anyone to believe as he or she wishes. We affirm the right of religious freedom and the responsibility of tolerance toward all religions. But we also affirm the right to contend for our point of view as long as it is done in a loving and respectful way. And that right not only belongs to us, but others as well. We affirm their right to tell us that we all are wrong and contend for their position being the true way.

The Christians to whom Paul was writing in Colosse were faced with those who would distort Christianity by adding to it. In order to be a true Christian, in their view, one must not only believe in Christ but also be circumcised. They taught Christ plus circumcision, a Jewish ritual. Their tactic is still being employed today. People are still adding to essential Christianity. Faith in Christ is not enough for some. They want to add some sort of good works or religious rituals. The methodology is the same.

As Christians, we must be clear about the basics. We contend that salvation is BY GRACE ALONE THROUGH FAITH ALONE IN CHRIST ALONE. And other words, we believe that everything has been provided for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through Christ we have been given all that we need for life and godly living. And this is the message of our text today. It is the message of what we have been given in Christ. It is the explanation of what Paul referred to in verse 10, where he said, you have been given fullness in Christ. So let’s take a look at what we have been given in Christ. Firstly, we have been...

The first important benefit Paul recounts here is that of being delivered from the old sinful nature. He links the putting off of the sinful nature with circumcision, but he does it in a very unique way and with an unexpected emphasis.

Circumcision, for the Jew, was an outward sign of the covenant that God made with Israel. It was the covenant that identified them as his chosen people. And the outward rite of circumcision was the sign of this covenant. But the covenant was not about circumcision, rather it was about a new way of life. It was about a new relationship with God. It was about having a heart for God. God was interested in the attitude of their heart.

Without a proper heart attitude towards God, circumcision lost its meaning. It became an empty ritual that indicated nothing. That is precisely what God said through Jeremiah.

"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh—Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." (Jeremiah 9:25-26 NIV)

Israel thought that they would escape the judgment of God because they had been circumcised, but God indicates that circumcision in the flesh does not count for anything if they are uncircumcised in heart. In other words, without faith and a heart toward God circumcision meant nothing.

Paul says we have been given a circumcision, not of the flesh by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ. By this spiritual circumcision, the old sinful nature (flesh) has been cut away or put off. We have been delivered from the old sinful nature. In other words, Christ has set us free from the bondage to sin. The power of sin has been broken and we are no longer slaves to it.

This is utterly fantastic. What a tremendous blessing! You see, the Bible teaches that before we received Christ as our Savior we were slaves to sin. Now we have been set free in Christ.

Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you. Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness. (Romans 6:17-18 NLT)

While we were slaves to sin, we were under its power. We literally could not say no. Now we have been delivered and we can say no to sin. We can choose to obey God. That’s the good news. In Christ we have been delivered from the old sinful nature. You have been made a new creation in Christ. While you still have a memory of the old nature and still must put to death the old habit patterns of the past, you have the power to do it through Christ. The old you has been replaced by the new you. But there’s more. In Christ, we have also been...

Not only has Christ dealt a deathblow to our old sinful nature, he has replaced it with a new life. We have been made alive through faith by forgiveness.

For the Christian, the symbol of this new life is baptism. The symbol of the Old Covenant was circumcision and the symbol of the New Covenant is baptism.

The significance of Christian baptism lies in its symbolic value. It symbolizes, by an outward act, an inward reality. Baptism itself, like circumcision, means nothing apart from faith. Indeed, it is because of faith that we are baptized. Baptism is a testimony to the faith that we already have. And it is a symbol of our entering into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is the reason that we baptized by immersion, or putting people totally underwater. We believe that immersion is the scriptural mode of baptism. It symbolizes being put to death. As our text says, we are buried with him in baptism. When a person is buried, they don’t simply sprinkle a little dirt on him. To be buried is to be put in the ground. So when we dunk people underwater, we are portraying their death to the old life. When we lift them out of the water, we are portraying their spiritual resurrection to a new way of life. We are buried with him in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life.

And we have this new life because of the forgiveness made possible by Christ’s death on the Cross. Our text says that he forgave us all our sins. We have complete and total forgiveness through the finished work of Christ. All our sins have been forgiven. We have been completely cleansed from the stain of sin. We have been made alive through faith by forgiveness.

Notice that all of this centers in Jesus Christ and his work. It is in him, or by him, or through him that all this occurs. This is crystal clear from a careful reading of the text. The focus is Christ. The fullness that we receive is from Christ. In him we have been delivered from the old sinful nature and made alive through faith by forgiveness. Additionally, we have been...

Part of the Old Covenant was the giving of the Law. The Law was given is a standard of righteousness. It revealed what was right and what was wrong. As a part of God’s covenant with Israel, they were to keep God’s Law and live lives of obedience.

Now, there was nothing wrong with the Law. But what the Law did was to show us our sin. By telling us what was right and wrong, it revealed to us that we were doing wrong. It also showed us that we were unable to perfectly keep the Law. Thus, before the Law we stood condemned.

In Christ, under the New Covenant, we have been set free from the condemnation of the Law. Our text says that he took it away, nailing it to the cross. In other words, by his death on the cross, Jesus replaced the Old Covenant with the New Covenant. And under this New Covenant, perfect obedience to the Law has been replaced with a living relationship to Christ.

This does not mean that the Law of God is nullified. No, the Law of God is eternal. It is still just as wrong to steal as it has ever been. The difference now is that the Law is fulfilled in us through our relationship with Jesus Christ, the one who perfectly kept the Law. He leads us in paths of righteousness by the power of his life living in us and through us.

Jesus has replaced the requirement for us to keep the Law with a new and living way–– the New Covenant. We no longer live by a focus on the Law; we live by faith with a focus on Christ.

In Christ we have been delivered from the old sinful nature, made alive through faith by forgiveness, been set free from the condemnation of the Law, and have been...

As Christians, we have the privilege of entering into Christ’s victory. Through his death on the cross, he defeated the power of the enemy. He disarmed them. He came forth victorious.

Our text says that he made a public spectacle of them. The picture Paul is painting here is one of Roman conquest. Those to whom he was writing would be familiar with this image. When the Roman army would return from a victorious campaign, they would enter the city in a triumphal procession. Into the city they would parade, displaying the treasures of their conquered foe. Those who had been captured in battle and who would become slaves would march in chains before the cheering crowd. The dignitaries that had been captured and would become part of the new government would be put on display. The Roman army itself would parade down the street. And the triumphant Roman general would ride in on his chariot to the adulation of the crowd. The defeated foe would be put on display. They would be made a public spectacle. This is the image Paul uses here for Christ’s victory over the powers of darkness.

And we have been given victory by his conquest of the enemy. Even Satan has no authority over us. His power has been broken. According to the Scripture, he must flee when we resist him. While he still tries to convince us that he has power over us, it is all a fiction. He may roar like a lion, and it may sound frightening. It may sound ferocious. But he is toothless and clawless. It is just a roar. He may roar, but he can’t bite. His teeth have been shattered and his claws pulled out.

So we must stand in the victory of Christ. We must not let the devil intimidate us. We must refuse to be frightened by his demonstrations of power. He is a defeated foe. And we are more than conquerors.

What we see in our text today is the fundamental truth of Christianity. What we see are the basics of the New Covenant. We see that what we need, we already have. We have received full salvation in Christ. Everything we need for living this life as a Christian, we have in Christ, who lives in us.

Our challenge, as Christians, is to walk in what we already have. Our challenge is to learn to draw on the resources resident within us in the person of Christ. He has already made a rich deposit to our account. We need to start writing the checks.

We must be on our guard against people who would add to or subtract from the basic message of Christianity. As Christians, we affirm that Christ is what we need and all we need. There is no other way to heaven. There is no other way of salvation. He has done it all, and there is nothing we can add to that. In Christ, we have all we need. Our challenge is to walk in it!

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