Made Right in Christ | Christian Saldana | Colossians 2:11-15 — Christian Saldana

The Bible says this. "In whom," meaning Jesus, "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." Here's the first thing we need to understand tonight. If we're thinking about how are we made right with God, the first thing is, you have to understand if you're a Christian tonight, you have been made new in Christ. You have been made new in Christ. You see, the false teachers placed an improper emphasis on circumcision, and you'll probably notice the topic appears frequently throughout the New Testament. And this is due because the early church was dealing with these two people groups who had never come together, all of a sudden be thrust into the same organization, organism. And so circumcision was the unmistakable dividing line between these two groups. But what was the point of it anyways?

Well, in the Old Testament, this was the sign of God's covenant with Abraham and his people, Israel. It was what identified a man with the people of God. I was talking to Zane this morning, and, he was asking me. He's like, "Is there, is there any overlap with your message?" I was like, "Mm, yeah, kinda." And so you'll hear a lot of the same themes, at least in this first point, which just means this. Hey, we need to get this. We need to understand this truth tonight. So, after the gospel began to be preached around the world and the Gentiles, these non-Jews, began to be saved, the question arose: how do the Gentiles identify with the people of God? Was it through the outward works of the law, namely circumcision, or was it solely through faith in Jesus Christ? Now, these false teachers, again, they claimed it was through outward conformity.

"Here's how we know you're a Christian, by the circumcision, by following the rules and rituals that are in accordance with the Jewish law." In the Colossians case, it seems that the circumcision was promoted less as a necessary facet of salvation and more as a matter of holiness. Meaning, you're You're, yeah, maybe you're saved because you have Jesus, but you're, you don't have premium Christianity because you haven't followed this particular rule, this particular ritual. And so they began to feel this tension, and honestly, that problem, as I began to study it out, of emphasizing the outward over the inward is still a problem today. Because there are Christians and non-Christian groups that say, "Unless you do X, Y, or Z, you can't be right with God."

They place a special emphasis on the outward, how you perform these rituals, how much you give to charity, what you wear, and they say, "If you do these things, God will let you into heaven." Now, don't get me wrong. God cares about your works, but to say that the path to being right with God is achieved by merely conforming the outward to a set of rules is totally against what Jesus said. Because in Matthew 15, as he's rebuking the Pharisees, he says this. He says, "Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man." Jesus makes it clear.

It's what comes out of our heart that separates us from God. You can make the outside look as good as you want, but if your heart's not right with God, you're not right with God. Therefore, we need something more than just an outward ritual to save us. That's why Paul preached that being right with God, being accepted into God's family, comes only one way: by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone Therefore, he encourages the Colossian believers with these words. Again, you read those first, that first phrase in verse 11, "Ye are circumcised," and then later on, "by the circumcision of Christ." That phrase there, "ye are," denotes a definitive historical fact. Paul wanted the Colossian believers to understand that they were placed into the people of God, not by an outward ritualistic sign, but by inward faith in Jesus Christ. Because at the moment of their salvation, they received a new identity in Christ.

Pay attention to that word identity. They received a new identity. Galatians 3:28, which we read this morning, says this, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ." Now, as Zane said this morning, that doesn't mean that there aren't distinctions between those roles, but it means your identity of your being, the center of who you are, is not based in your title. It's not based in what you do. When you become a Christian, it's based in Jesus Christ. Amen. This new identity did far more for them than what physical circumcision could ever do, because it addressed the root of the issue: sin. And that was even the whole reason that this particular sign was instituted. It was a dramatic and even graphic demonstration of man's need for cleansing at the most serious level Because of Jesus, Gentiles can now be identified as part of the people of God.

And what he says next shows us another way that they identify it, because baptism is pictured through this new identity. Look at verse number 12. Paul says this, "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." You might notice that this phrase, "in him" or "with him," appears multiple times throughout this passage that we're covering tonight, and that's important because everything we do as Christians is based in Him, in who Jesus is Through baptism, believers identify with Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection. Now to pause here, because doctrine matters, okay? Some have erroneously interpreted that Paul is making a direct comparison or a direct correlation between baptism in the New Testament and circumcision of the Old Testament.

But this interpretation has led groups into grave doctrinal error, like infant baptism and baptismal regeneration, which means you're saved by baptism. So I want you to know that is not what Paul is saying. He's not saying these are one-to-one because, again, what did circumcision do? Well, it identified you with the people of God. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit after we get saved. It's not like baptism, like, makes you official into the family of God. Now, it does identify you with the church and identifies you with Jesus, but again, it's a picture of what already has happened in your heart. Ephesians 1 and thir- 1:13 says this, "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye have believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promised." You are sealed by the Holy Spirit, not by, again, any outward ritual.

It's important for us to understand that. So we see here that through the powerful working of God, I don't know if I finished that verse there, but it says, "Through the faith of the operation of God," the working of God, that's what that means. The Bible says this, that, "Both Christ and we have been raised from the dead." That you've been given a new life as well. And here's the reality. No amount of good work or outward conformity could ever accomplish this. It was God working in us. And Paul wanted the Colossians to understand that they didn't need to put on a Jewish identity through circumcision. They already had a new identity in Christ. So why does this all matter? Well, the problem of Christian identity, or even human identity, is still going on today. People have their own ideas of what identifies you with God.

Some believe that your good works make you a Christian, that your baptism as a baby saves you, or how much you give or volunteer, that's what makes you right with God or determines how likely you'll be to get into heaven. But we all know, those of us who are Christians, that there's only one way to be right with God, and that's by putting your faith and trust into Jesus Christ. Because Jesus came to live the life that we could not live. He lived and died and was buried, but rose again for us. And if we place our faith, and if you're without Christ tonight, if you place your faith in Jesus Christ, he promises to save you. He promises he'll adopt you into his family. He'll give you a new identity and a new purpose. But maybe you are a Christian today. That doesn't mean you don't struggle with your own identity.

Because we live in a world that force-feeds us this idea that our identity is found in what we do or maybe how we appear to others. They say things like this. Your job title is your identity. Where you rank on, in status at your work determines your worth. Your relationship status determines your identity. You're single, you're married, you're divorced. Your gender determines your identity, male or female, or now we're confused about that Your race determines your identity, where you fall in that category, your social status, your familial role, whether you have kids, whether you don't have kids, whether you're able to have kids. And we're told by the world that this should define us, that this should be what motivates our life, and should produce anger or sadness or happiness or joy. But let me tell you this. As a Christian, you've been given a new identity in Jesus Christ.

See, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says this, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new." You don't have to be defined by the world's definition of who you are. You don't have to be defined by others. You, as a Christian, are defined by your faith in Jesus Christ. You are defined by Jesus. You're not primarily your age, your relationship status, your race, or familial role. You are in Christ. So maybe that means for you that you need to stop letting your friends dictate your appearance. You need to stop letting popularity dictate how you live your life, or your failures tell you who you are, because if you're in Christ, that is your defining identity Your relationship status is not your identity. You are not incomplete because you are unmarried. Your deepest identity is settled in Christ You cannot excuse sinful habits by saying, "That's just the way I am."

If you're married tonight, or not married, I guess. If Christ has made you new, your spouse should increasingly experience that newness. Maybe you're retired, older in age. Don't allow your identity to become tied to what you used to do, the career you used to have, the health you used to have, the role you once had. Your identity is not diminished because your identity is in Jesus Christ. Amen. Remember that your life is found in Christ and nothing else. But if our identity is found in Christ, then that leaves us with another question: What about everything I've done wrong? What about my past? What about all the sins I've committed, whether before I was saved or after I was saved? Well, here's the good news. You've been made alive in Christ. Amen. Been made alive in Christ. Look at verse number 13 down to verse 15.

"And you, being dead in your sins and the circumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trash passers, trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross, to his cross. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Here's the first thing we need to understand about what it took for us to be made alive in Christ. First of all, the problem: We were dead in our sins. We weren't mostly good people who made bad decisions. We weren't misguided. We were dead, unable to save ourselves. And we have to remember that when we're tempted to compare ourselves among ourselves. It's not like we were halfway to Jesus, and then Jesus took us the rest of the way. It doesn't matter if you grew up in church or were born basically almost in church.

The Bible says, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We were helpless without Jesus, and we're still helpless. But the solution is provided there in verse number 13, that Jesus made us alive. He forgave us every sin. That's what that phrase there, "Forgiven you all trespasses." Paul fitly uses the word trespasses to describe sin. in other areas of the Bible, the same word is translated offense. Our sin was offensive to a holy and righteous God. But through Jesus, He forgave every trespass. Every trespass, every offense that we've ever committed, Jesus was able to wipe away.

Number two, He canceled every debt. You read it there, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us." That is legal language in the ancient context. Because in ancient times, the debtor would often hand write a certificate of indebtedness to acknowledge their own debt. Literally, like if you had debt, you would write down, "This is my debt." Which is fascinating because our sin, our own sin, was our own note of indebtedness that we hand wrote ourselves. Nobody sinned in our place. We did it. We sinned against a holy and righteous God. Surely, if we can, if He had an account of every evil thought, every evil deed, there wouldn't be enough ink in the world to write it all down. That's right. Now imagine not just your sin, but the sins of the entire world. It was an impossible debt. It was against us. Look at the next part of the verse. It says there, "Which was contrary, took, to us."

Contrary, or it also says that was against us. This literally means it was, it was, like it was our enemy. It was something that was, attacking us. It was hostile to us. This document would have, if gone unpaid, would have sent us to eternal punishment in hell. But the good news is at the end of that verse, what did Jesus do? He says, "It-- and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Amen. Jesus took away all of those sins. He wiped them away. He removed the certificate of indebtedness. Right. And then we see in verse 15, it wasn't just that kind of victory, but it was a victory with no contest. Christ did what circumcision or the law could never do. He defeated sin and death and made a show of a of our spiritual enemies. That basically means, like, he made a spectacle of them. It's language that's similar to what the Roman monarchs would do when they conquered their rivals.

They would often bring them back to their home country and parade them through the streets. This is what Jesus did with our spiritual enemies when he conquered them on the cross. This was a complete and total victory that Jesus won on the cross, and he didn't need our help, and indeed, he didn't need our works. He didn't need our rituals. Christ did it all and completed the work and now reigns victorious Now, as I'm preaching this, I'm thinking to myself that you guys probably already know all these things That we've been delivered from the guilt of our sin. So then why are there still so many Christians who continue to carry the weight of their past? Why are there so many Christians that although they have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, they continue to live their life as if they have to pay back Yeah … for what they've done? We say wrong things like this. "Maybe if I serve God enough, then He'll be happier with me.

Maybe if I punish myself long enough, I can make up for what I did." This was a discussion early on in Sarah and I dating. We called it penance. if you're a Catholic, it was, you know, you would do penance, you know, to atone for your sins in some ways. And, she had this idea of that, you know, if she missed her Bible reading or did something against God, that she would often isolate from God and kinda like slowly work her way back into it because she felt like she couldn't approach the throne of grace. And I can only believe that there are some of you in here who think that's how God works. And oftentime that is a result of maybe your past. Maybe you had a father that was distant, a leader that was distant in your life, and you felt like you always had to earn their love by what you did. And sometimes we project that on who God is. But let me tell you this.

God loves you and He cannot love you more than He did that day when He died for you on the cross. Amen. He loves you. And that's a simple truth, but we need to hear it because it's the motivation for how we should live our lives because the debt wasn't reduced. It was canceled. Yeah. It was taken out of the way. Amen. Imagine having a credit card, and the credit card, you pay for something every time you sin. Let's say for our purposes it's a dollar every time it's a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin. Live that for your entire life. Now imagine through Jesus Christ, He wipes that debt away. How foolish would it be for you to keep trying to pay the bank for that debt that was already paid? Yeah. But so often we do that with our lives. Now, there seems to be, from what I can tell, two kinds of Christians who struggle with this. I would say there are debt collectors and debt payers. The debt payers are riddled by guilt.

And again, they feel like they have to pay back God for what He's done for them. But then there are others who are the debt collectors, and they are constantly making a note of the sins that are committed against them. "He didn't smile at me. She said this. My husband did this." And they tally and they tally and they tally and they use it as ammunition for when everything blows up. But imagine if God did that to us. He doesn't. So on either side, whichever one you are, the debt has been cleared, therefore we can live without this weight. So maybe you're a teen in here tonight, and you fail morally, or you will fail morally, and you're gonna disappoint someone. Do not decide that God is finished with you. Rather, confess your sins, repent, and live according to how Christ would want you to live.

Maybe you're a single adult, and you have regret over past relationships, past sexual sins, wasted years, or bad decisions that try to convince you that you're damaged beyond usefulness. Remember that Christ did not forgive everything except the things you were most ashamed of. He forgave it all. Maybe you're married You do, you're that debt collector. And your spouse, you collect your spouse's forgiven failures, but use it as ammunition in future arguments. If you constantly resurrect what God has forgiven, you are demanding payment for a debt that was already canceled. Maybe you're an older or retired adult. Don't spend the last chapters of your life haunted by your failures or regrets. Live your life now to honor Christ. Live in light of Jesus' forgiveness. He paid it all. But if Christ has canceled your debt, then here's the reality. No one gets to put you back into bondage.

Here's the third thing we understand from this passage, that you've been made free in Christ. You've been made free in Christ. Look at verse number 16 After explaining to the Colossian believers that they don't have to live under the law, under circumcision, explaining to the believers what Christ has done in their life, he then says this in verse 16, "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Notice there in verse number 16, he says, "Let no man therefore judge you." This is strong language that falls in the category of the thou shalt nots in the Bible.

You see, the word judge is the common word that we would understand in our day, but it also denotes this idea of separation or preference, because it's likely that the false teachers were trying to isolate Gentiles in the church that wouldn't conform to obeying circumcision or the outward acts of the law. That's how they were trying to manipulate things. But Paul says that it is sinful, that it is against, that this is a command here to allow others to bind your conscience by the ceremonial law. And he says it there. He lists out what those things are. He says, "In meat, in drink, in respect of an holyday, of the new moon, of the sabbath days." Because the false teachers were saying things like this, "In order to be a spiritual Christian, you must follow blank." Now, to be clear, Paul is not referencing matters of the moral law. He's not listing out adultery or drunkenness or hatred.

These things are absolutely, in every way, unacceptable before a holy and righteous God. But he's talking about these things that again, had been done away with through Jesus Christ. They were something that they had already passed. And here's the reality. Because you're in Christ, you do not need man-made rules to prove that you belong to him. Now, we need to have a discussion about what those man-made rules are, but we can be clear that the Bible is clear that there are certain things that are allowed within Christian liberty. But here's how it practically lays out. Don't assume you're better than someone because they have a different preference than you. Amen. Ask whether their choices actually honor Christ and make a decision that way. How about this? Don't let the extra-biblical timelines that you or others have set for your life discourage you from finding joy where God has you right now. Because sometimes you can get discouraged.

People ask you questions like this. "When are you graduating?" And when you graduate, they say, "When are you going to college?" And when you go to college, they say, "When are you getting married?" Then when you get married, they say, "When are you having kids?" And oftentimes, again, well-meaning people can discourage those of us who are maybe not where we feel like we should be or we feel like others think we should be. Maybe we don't own a home yet. We don't have, you know, all the American dream that we've been pitched for so long, and we feel like we're falling behind. We feel like we're not on track. And hey, what that can produce is stolen joy, discouragement, dissatisfaction where God has you. Be submitted to God's timeline for your life, where God has you in your life Now, he says in verse number 17, he wraps it all up. He says, "Which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ."

These things that he's listed, these ceremonial laws, what you're gonna eat, whether or not you choose to celebrate a particular holy day. These things, he says, they were shadows, but Christ is the substance. You see, as we learned this morning, the law was meant to point us to Christ. Romans 10:4, "For Christ is the end of the law. For righteousness to everyone that believeth." Christ is the substance. And for so long, I have been around maybe certain Christians who treat Jesus, again, not here, but who treat Jesus like he's the afterthought. Like, "Okay, we have Jesus, now we gotta go onto the real spiritual stuff." They are most content to discuss things that consequentially don't have any weight when compared to the gospel But I'm tired of that. Just give me Jesus. Amen. Now, again, not in like the, you know, feminine way that our world sometimes does it. But I'm saying like truly Jesus Christ.

Like Him crucified, like the truth, like heaven, hell. Like sin, like the blood of Jesus Christ, like the seriousness, the weight of it. That's what we need. That's right. And that's why I love it here. Amen. Because every time we meet together, the name of Jesus Christ is lifted up. Amen. That's true Christianity. So stop relying on external rule keeping to accomplish what can only be done through the Spirit. Again, maybe you're like me and you're doing things backwards. You're saying, "Maybe if I just conform myself, then God will be happy with me." But first and foremost, God wants your heart. He wants you to follow Him because you love Him. To borrow from Zane's sermon this morning again, Galatians 3:2-3, "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

We not, we cannot continue in the flesh what was first begun in the Spirit. Again, so many Christians get things backwards. They think that their outward conformity will make them spiritual. But the Pharisees in the New Testament, those religious leaders were chief outward conformers. Chief leaders, and Jesus called them empty tombs. So we need to learn to follow Jesus, pray like Him, live our lives like Him, be like Him. That must be the chief goal and desire, and then all the good works will be produced from a love from Jesus. Again, I'm not saying give it all up. Live however you want. I'm saying start with Jesus, and He's gonna transform you. He's gonna renew you. He's gonna change your desires. He's gonna renew your mind. He will do the work. And you say, "Well, it's not that simple." Well, I I don't know what else to say.

This is, the Bible is what, that's what it's saying This is what produces long-lasting change and true holiness. So if you're a teen in here tonight Maybe your Christianity disappears when you're at school Maybe you need to stop settling for appearances without the substance, which is Christ. Maybe you're a young adult in here, and you know how to sound very Christian at church, but your convictions collapse when you leave this place. Stop settling for appearances, because the substance is Christ. Maybe you're a professional in the workplace, and you've achieved success at your job, but Christ has little influence over your ambitions, the way you spend your money, your priorities. Stop settling for appearances. The substance is Christ. Maybe you are a ministry leader here tonight. When your public ministry is growing but your private devotions are shrinking, stop settling for appearances, because the substance is Christ.

Maybe you're married, and your marriage looks spiritual publicly, but remains cold privately. Stop settling for religious appearances. Return to Christ, who is the substance. You see, believers have been made right with God through the finished work of Christ. We've been made right with God, so serve Him because of all He's done for you. Do good to others because He's done good to you. Tell the truth because He's given you the truth. Love others. Love Him because He has first loved you. Let Christ be your motivation, and He will do the rest.