Our Sunday school lesson today is from Col 2:10-17. In Col 2:10, Paul wrote, “ye are complete in him.” The implications of this truth are covered in the rest of the passage that we’re studying. Complete here has the meaning of perfect, having no deficiency. Because we are in Christ, when we are saved, we “are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.” All that is required for our salvation and eternal life is found in Christ.
We are complete in him through:
Spiritual circumcision – Col 2:11 – we are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands.” In the Old Testament, God made a covenant with Abraham in Gen 17, the token of which was physical circumcision of all the males. In the New Testament, when you are saved, you are spiritually circumcised “in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.” The Holy Spirit circumcises your body away from your soul, “without hands.” This does two things. First, the sin that is in your flesh now has no effect on your soul, because they are no longer connected to each other. Second, your soul is now free and is joined to Jesus Christ, Rom 7:1-4, 1 Cor 6:17. This is one of the greatest truths to help us understand the eternal security of believers.
Spirit baptism – Col 2:12 – we are “Buried with him in baptism.” And we “are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Baptism by the Spirit into the body of Christ, 1 Cor 12:13, is described in Rom 6:3-6. When we are put in Christ’s body, we, by the Spirit, go through his death, burial and resurrection with him. This is the operation of God and we go through it by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary. Having already gone, spiritually, through death, there is nothing death can do to hold us. Our bodies will rise, without a doubt, when Jesus returns, 1 Cor 15:50-55. We are complete in him.
Spiritual life – Col 2:13 – “you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him.” When we are saved, we pass from death unto life in Jesus Christ, Jn 5:24. We are quickened together with him, that is, we are alive in him. We are the current possessors of eternal life, Jn 3:36, 1 Jn 5:12.
Forgiveness – Col 2:13 – “Having forgiven you all trespasses.” As concerns our soul, there is nothing more for which we must be forgiven. In Christ, all transgressions are forgiven. Christ’s death took care of everything. Now, don’t be confused by those who would have you believe that there is no accountability for what you do in your body. Rom 14:10-12 and 2 Cor 5:10 clearly state, that at the judgment seat of Christ, you and I will be judged for what we have done in the body, whether it be good or bad. You can’t be sent to hell for what you do in the body because of spiritual circumcision. But you can suffer the loss of rewards in your inheritance, Col 2:24-25.
The cross – Col 2:14 – “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 his cross.” The handwriting of the Old Testament law, for us in Christ, has been blotted out. According to Eph 2:14-16 and Acts 15:1-11, we are no longer under the law, Rom 6:15. A man who tries to justify himself by the law is “a debtor to do the whole law,” Gal 5:3. He has put himself under a curse, Gal 3:10-13. “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.” We are complete in him.
In Col 2, Paul addressed three things that men might do to trip up a believer. We are warned to let no man spoil you, Col 2:8, let no man judge you, Col 2:16, and let no man beguile you, Col 2:18.
We should let no man judge us because we are complete in Christ. Let no man judge you:
By the charge of a principality – Col 2:15 – “having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Not even the devil can bring a justifiable accusation against you or hold you by his power, Rom 8:33-34 and Heb 2:14-15.
By the enforcement of the law – Col 2:16-17 – “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, drink, a holy day, the new moon, or the sabbath days.” All of these are ordinances of the law and we will not be judged by the law. These things are “a shadow of things to come.” That is, during the Tribulation, saints must “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” Rev 14:12. As you see in Ezek 40-48, Jews will keep the ordinances of the law when Jesus reigns on the earth in his millennium. Paul wrote, “but the body is of Christ.” Once again he showed us that in the body of Christ, we are complete in him.