#4899 – Circumcised by Christ

Good morning people who are dead to the tyranny of self rule.

Colossians 2:11-12 NIV In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

This scripture is so rich – we might need to spend a couple of days stepping deep into it as we mediate on the truth.

Before Jesus, the people of God had to be circumcised in order to be acceptable to God.

Circumcision is the cutting away of the flesh. This was a symbolic picture of what is now fulfilled in Christ for followers of Jesus Christ (and I hear you say PRAISE GOD!)

Paul tells us exactly what this spiritual circumcision is all about, but it is a little different than what some may think.

Spiritual circumcision is more about a shift of rulership than a removing of your flesh. Please read this carefully.

Christians still have flesh. In the Greek, it literally refers to our natural bodies and natural desires. Remember, Jesus had flesh, the early apostles had flesh, and you and I still have flesh.

And it’s our flesh – our natural body and our natural desires – that often wars against being a Spirit-led person who ‘denies themselves, takes up their cross, and follows Jesus.’  

So, circumcision by Christ is literally about coming under Christ’s Lordship, where we no longer allow ourselves to be ruled by our flesh, but rather commit ourselves to being ruled by the Holy Spirit.