Date: August 10, 2025
Lord’s Day: 32
Series: Colossians the Mystery of Christ
Title: Established
Text: Colossians 2:8-15
Many years ago I was on an out of state move, driving and thinking. I began to consider the long stretches of time I am away from home. I thought, ya know, I could have a complete other family or marriage or relationship and the family and Tina would not know. I am sure eventually it would come out, that is why we have Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer.
As I thought about it more I considered all the time that I spend going to estimates. I have gone all over central ohio and as far away as Kentucky to do an estimate for a job. Again, gaps of time where I am unaccounted.
One of the members of our family that you have yet to meet, and most likely won’t, is Loretta. That name will get Tina’s attention pretty quickly. She is not a fan of Loretta and you will know why as I explain her.
So I thought I would be cute. When Tina would ask me where I was going I would say, “I am going to see Loretta.”. She would scowl. On the way out the door if she did not ask, I would say, “Hey, Loretta and I are going to meet up.”
This became so catchy that even my son-in-law Matt began meeting with Loretta’s sister.
Now in reality, there is not Loretta. I hope you know that. But as time passed I began to consider what I was doing. Sure, I was trying to be funny. I was making efforts to be cute and keep Tina on her toes. She would argue with me and I would just say, “You keep treating me like this, I will go live with Loretta.”
One morning a couple of years ago I was sitting in my office and I was thinking about Loretta. In reality, I was making a joke out of something very serious. In fact, it was so serious that in addressing it God made a commandment.
So I decided that maybe it was good for Loretta to disappear. We have a family text that includes a bunch of people and all of them knew Loretta. So the best way for Loretta to disappear is to announce it on there and this is what was written:
Loretta Smithereens, 29 of Timbuktu, Ohio Died peacefully in her sleep September 18. At her side were a variety of stray cats that she attracted through the years. Her passing was caused by a broken heart encountered when the love of her life reasoned that maybe joking around about breaking a commandment is not as funny as originally thought. She leaves behind one child who will inherit all her prized collections including a full set of professional bowler Art Bigotti collected plates and various knock off Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Burberry handbags. The loss of Loretta comes as a sudden end.
Now, occasionally, remnants of Loretta laughter pops up and you may ponder why I open our time with her today. It is because I wanted to focus on one particular part of my marriage to Tina (which isn’t joking about adultery).
Tina and I both met at Graces Garden at Schiller Park in the German Village area of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Pastor Doyal Jackson officiated the ceremony and did a wonderful job. As a part of that ceremony we repeated some vows of covenant commitment and then exchanged rings.
I can’t recall exactly what Doyal said but it is not uncommon for the wedding officiant to say something about the ring being a sign of marriage. Sometimes they will say, the ring is round and never ending which is what our love should be for the other person. But that is the gist of the ring.
When you look on Tina’s finger and my finger you will see a ring. These rings are a sign that we are married. When you look on the hand of a woman or a man and you see a band on the appropriate finger, it means they were married (or widow(wer) were at one time married).
No person with their mental faculties would look at the ring and say, that ring IS the marriage. The ring is a ring. The ring can’t do anything. It is just a ring.
However, the ring represents something. It represents that this person is married. They have taken vows of commitment to each other.
We come to an interesting passage today that builds on where we were last week. We are looking at Colossians 2:8-15 and the center (where we will spend most of our time) is 2:11-12.
It is here that Paul mentions two things, circumcision and baptism. Why would he speak on this? How are they related? They are both signs.
Just as my ring is the sign of my marriage to Tina, these two ceremonies are a sign of something. This will be our focus today.
(bless the message)
Review:
Last week we spent our time in 2:6-7, “As you received Christ, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”.
How did we receive Christ? Grace. We are surrounded by fields full of plants. When the farmers around us, all the way back in April and May, took to their fields, they planted seed. We are seeing the result of that planting now. Corn plants have grown all over.
The Corn is ROOTED. It is rooted because it the seed was planted. No brainer right?
That points to us. As you received Christ, so walk in him. God planted the seed. If God had not planted to the seed we would not grow. It is an act of His divine grace and mercy.
So the point last week was, as you received, so walk. Receive by grace, grow by grace.
2:8
Then Paul continues: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according the human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ.
There were influences in that church that were pushing the “Christ AND” theology. It was happening then, it is happening today and it has happened through out time in between then and now.
I grew up in a denomination that taught Christ AND baptism. We are going to address baptism today. Let me be clear, baptism is a sign of saving faith not the source/case of saving faith. Just like our wedding ring. It is the sign. We are not baptized TO GAIN salvation. We are baptized because we have received salvation.
This is the warning from Paul to the Colossian church. Be careful of what teaching you hear.
Deceitful and harmful leading can come through enticing and deceitful words. He was teaching them, be careful.
The word here for Captive (NIV, ESV, NASB, CSB) is actually to take off as plunder, like in the spoils of war. That is the word picture that Paul is painting. Don’t be captured.
Do you defend your faith like this? I ask this not as an indictment but often is the case in my life I have not. I would like to say that I take it a lot more seriously now.
Do you defend against the way the world reasons? How does the world reason?
A coupe of weeks ago I went to the ATM and withdrew $500. I was going to take care of an obligation and big bills were perfect. I chose, fewest bills and then the money dispensed and I drove home. It was not until later that I realized that the ATM had given me $600. It was $100 more than what I had punched in.
I opened the banking APP and made sure I did not miss key and sure enough it said, $500. So I was like, well, Now I have an extra $100.
THIS IS HOW THE WORLD REASONS IN THIS situation. What is the worldly philosophy for this extra $100.
A few thoughts went through my head but the chief thought was, If the ATM had shorted me $20 you know for a fact I would be at that bank the next day pleading my case. If they had my $20, they are certainly going to want their $100. I decided to take it back.
The next day came and I had on my chores, go take care of that obligation and then take the $100 back to Huntington Bank. But much to my surprise when I was paying my bill, I gave them a stack and they checked to make sure I had not just printed these puppies up on the HP. One of them showed counterfeit.
It was that extra $100. Not certain what happened in the dispensing at the ATM but in some way, a fake $100 was undetected. Fortunately, I was able to pay my bill and get on with the day. But I called the bank and let them know the whole story.
Many of you may be aware of this fact already, but when they train agents to spot counterfeit money they do not deal with a lot of fake bills. They have them study a real $20, $50 or $100 bill. Agents spend 12 to 14 weeks in their training and then add to it on the job training. They know what a real bill is and can spot a fake right away.
As believers, we are to defend against the counterfeit. The best way is to spend time in this word. Not being led away as spoil of war. We can detect when the enemy is infiltrating. Spending time with Godly teachers and writers.
If this time, on Sunday is the only time you are being fed, be prepared to be deceived. I say this not to shame you. I say it to alarm you. I say it to encourage you to take time every day. (plug the 31 day Proverbs study here if they need help)
Here is the deal on our opening verse 8. There is nothing wrong with philosophy. The word is Philo (love, you know it as Philadelphia the city of brotherly love), and the other word Sophia (knowledge). Love of knowledge.
Paul is warning against empty knowledge. Deceitful knowledge. There were those trying to lead the people astray with empty and deceitful knowledge. Namely, that if they do certain things along with faith, they would be saved. This is counterfeit. This is wrong. This is deceit.
I absolutely love theology and studying theology. This is no credit to me. I grew up hating reading. I could not stand books. I avoided books as if they had a disease that would kill me.
When God saved me there was a progressive fire that began to burn inside of me. I began to see the beauty of Christ in theology. It drew me into the language – I hated to language. I hated studying English. I got by with Spanish. Just enough to do the bare minimum.
The door opened to people like R.J. Rushdooney, Abraham Kuyper, John Owen, Herman Bavinck, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Greg Bahnsen and Gary Demar and the list goes on and on. This is the work of God. I will tell you without Him, I am lazy when it comes to study.
But you don’t have to love these things to be a believer. Paul’s words to these people were not that they had to know all the weeds. I like the weeds because it gives me a great appreciation, awe and respect for God. When I see how it all fits together. It is a thing of beauty.
Here is the summary of the Gospel: Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. This is the Gospel. This is it.
You don’t have to know philosophy, theology or psychology. That is the gospel message and the basic kindergarten knowledge. You know this, you can spot a counterfeit.
They were being fed a counterfeit. They were being told here is what saves you, Jesus AND. . . They were too young, they were too inexperienced to notice the counterfeit and if it was not for Epaphras who went to Paul and brought him into the loop, they would have remained unwise to this.
There were most likely Jews who were telling them that they needed to be circumcised to receive the Grace of God. You need Jesus and circumcision.
This type of teaching says that the gift of faith in Christ’s atonement is not enough. You have to add to it. Which in reality means that if you are adding to it, then God owes you. It makes God in debt. God will never be in debt to no one. But when you say, if you do _________ then you are saved. Whatever goes in that blank is a act for which you have earned salvation.
Paul does not stop there. He deals with this circumcision thing. Which in our day we can’t understand why this is a repeated topic in the New Testament. It is a private thing we should not talk about in church. Why are they constantly bringing up this private issue.
So what was the beginning of circumcision?
God calls Abraham in Genesis 12 out of Ur. Tells him I will make you a great nation, I will give you a land and all the families of the earth will be blessed because of you. Abraham and his wife Sarah did pack up and go but they had no children. After some time passed they still had no children which is a point of issue Abraham brought up before God. God reassures Abraham, you are going to have a child.
After a little more time passed a third time Abraham is told by God that he will have a child. This time a sign is given to Abraham that he and future generations were to partake. That sign was circumcision.
All boys from infancy were to have this sign. They were marked with the sign of being in the covenant community. But why there?
Scripture does not say directly but does make implications which can’t be ignored:
This is how all the nations of the world were blessed through Father Abraham. Yet there were those who put more faith in the act of circumcision than in what it represented.
We have a new covenant now and a new covenant sign. Every believer receives this circumcision of the heart. This was the heart of the message last week.
Paul says, go back to the beginning. As you received Christ, so walk in Him.
Each of us who are believers have this mark on our hearts. It is an act done by God. As Peter preached to the masses on the Day of Pentecost, they had this mark placed upon their heart. How do I know? They asked, what shall we do? They understood the depth of their sin. They felt this. The Spirit had worked in them.
This is on of the Spirit’s works. Hearts are convicted and turn to the Lord. It is the circumcision made without hands.
As I look at this passage I pondered, is Paul referring to something metaphorical or literal? My first take was, this was not literal baptism nor was it literal circumcision. Like 1 Peter 3:21, it speaks of a figurative baptism. (All the works in this passage are done by someone else and not the person to whom they are done.
2:11 the circumcision is done without hands (Spirit)
2:12 The faith and the raising is the powerful work of God
2:13 We were dead (not half dead like Princess Bride but fully dead) God made alive
All of these activities were done outside of the believer.
Looking at some other theologians I found that John Murray, A. Hodge, Douglas Moo and F.F. Bruce agree that this is not literal baptism. However, John Calvin and Louis Berkhof and Herman Bavinck affirm that it is speaking of literal baptism.
I believe in this case, it can be both. It is speaking about the literal reality of covenant signs and presents them in their metaphorical sense. In this case it is possible to be both.
But most importantly is what does this represent. I have a ring. I look on my finger and there is a sign that I promised to love and be faithful to a woman. Those in the world can look at that ring and see.
You and I have two signs in our covenant with God. You have been baptized and your heart has received the circumcision of Christ, made without hands.
This is the Ezekiel 36 heart change. You are not sinless but your life is forever changed in Christ. There is no outward sign that will MAKE you a believer. It is only a heart that God has so worked in that it begins to love Jesus and be so changed that obedience is first and foremost important.
It points to Christ who has taken our record of debt and cancelled it(2:14). The picture provided here is this record of debt being nailed to the cross.
Two pictures here: Those who were crucified typically had their charges nailed to a sign above them. Jesus stated He was the king of the Jews. That is what they put up there.
On your cross, the cross you and I deserved, our charges. Jesus died for those charges. He took the punishment we deserved.
Additionally, there is evidence that this was literally done in the time of Paul’s writing. That when a debt was paid, the person to whom the debt was owed would drive a nail in the contract. Sometimes they would cut it up but it was a public activity that it is known, the debt is paid.
Jesus paid our debt. He was nailed. He was the means by which we had our debt paid.
