Colossians part 10…April 26th 2015
Chapter 2: 10-15
On the cross Jesus’ last words were…it is finished.
Finished means completed.
When something is complete it means it means nothing needs to be added to it.
The word complete means to make something whole or perfect.
When you look through the N.T. you will read about the many healings Jesus performed.
All of those healings all involved different people, with different afflictions.
The Bible says they were made well meaning they were made whole.
This means when Jesus healed someone it was a complete healing.
Jesus always made them entirely healthy, sound, all infirmities were gone.
There was progression involved in His healings.
Jesus never did a half way healing job on anyone.
When they left Him they were completely healed.
This same thing applies to when Jesus heals spiritually.
When Jesus heals a soul He heals that soul completely.
When someone accepts Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord their soul is made whole.
This is exactly what Paul is saying in Col. 2:10 when he says…
And you are complete in Him.
We can actually change it to say we are made complete or made whole in Him.
Paul shows us three things that is completed for the believer.
Number one: We are complete when it comes to salvation.
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When Jesus saves a person it is an entire and complete salvation.
Jesus doesn’t save part of us or progressively save us.
He does a complete work.
Ex. 11:19 God said I will give them one heart, I will put a new spirit within you.
A new clean inside, a new soul.
John the Baptist said in John 1:16...
Of His fullness we have all received.
This means when a person gives their life to Christ they instantly receive the fullness / wholeness
of Christ.
The wholeness of Christ becomes our wholeness.
This means whoever comes to Christ is spiritually whole or complete.
Keep in mind Paul is combating the false teachings that were trying to invade the lives of
the people at the church in Col.
They believed things had to be added to what Jesus did for a person to be saved.
Paul is saying to them in these verses when you receive Christ you receive all you need in Him
and through Him.
He is telling them they don’t need to add legalism, tradition, mysticism or human philosophy
to be made complete.
All fullness is in Christ.
Fullness means the sum total of all that God is all of His attributes and His being.
Col. 2:10 continues and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power.
God is over all beings, all created authorities, all created rulers, and He rules all.
Paul is saying to them you don’t have to go through a bunch of intermediaries to reach God or
to get full salvation.
Only Christ can give fullness and completeness.
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Jesus Christ is the completer and He makes anything He touches whole.
We are complete when it comes to salvation.
Verse 11 we more about this completeness…In Him you were also circumcised with the
circumcision not made with hands by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ.
The false teachers were saying that for a believer to become more spiritual they needed to be
circumcised.
Every Hebrew boy was circumcised the 8th day after he was born that circumcision was the sign
if his belonging to the nation of Israel.
They saw circumcision as a way to put you into a covenant with God.
So if you were circumcised or had the external operation you were in good shape with God.
The trouble was the Jewish people depended on the physical and not the spiritual.
A physical operation could never convey spiritual grace.
Paul is making it clear that the Christian is not subject in any way to the O.T. legal system.
Nor can the O.T. legal system do us any good spiritually.
Paul is not talking about physical surgery here…
He says you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.
In other words a special kind of circumcision.
It is cutting away of the sins of the flesh.
When we became a believer our heart was circumcised or sin removed.
Our old nature underwent surgery.
God gave us a new nature.
The old nature didn’t desire God or the things of God and didn’t respond to God.
The new nature desires to obey God and responds to God.
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The question may come…If we have a new nature then why do we still sin?
The reason is because we a new nature and an old body.
So the new nature lives in a mess sometimes.
We have a new inside but an old outside.
When we get to heaven we get a new outside to go with the new inside.
The promise of God is that we will have or get a new heart by accepting Him.
Paul is saying you don’t need any outward sign that says you are saved…
Verse 12 Paul goes deeper…
Verse 12…Buried with Him in baptism in which you were also raised with Him through faith in
the working of God who raised Him from the dead.
When Paul speaks of baptism he is not speaking about water baptism.
Water baptism cannot save a sinner..
Here the word baptism means to be placed into.
When a person becomes a believer it is as we are buried and rise again to new life.
Just as God raised Jesus from the dead He also raised us from the spiritual dead.
Our old life died and was buried and we rise to new life.
And all this is done by the spiritual operation of God.
But there is another aspect of this and that is found also in verse 12…
Through faith.
Romans 10:9,10 says if we confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that
God has raised Jesus from the dead we shall be saved.
When we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth our old life dies is buried and we rise
in the newness of life.
We experience the same power with which God raised Jesus from the dead.
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It is a miracle of God.
It doesn’t mean we won’t mess up it just means when we do we need to confess the sin.
So what Paul is saying is this we have no need of any additional things to make our salvation
complete.
Our whole life sinful life has been cut away.
When Jesus was buried my old self was buried with Him…
When He was resurrected we were resurrected as new creatures.
All by the power of God when we believed.
Salvation is complete.
Second Paul says we have complete forgiveness.
Verse 13…
And you being dead in your trespasses and the un-circumcision of your flesh He has made you
alive together with Him having forgiven all your trespasses.
Psalm 31:1 says Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven.
Isaiah 55:7 says Let the wicked forsake their way and unrighteous man his thoughts Let him
return to the Lord and He will have mercy on him and to our God He will abundantly pardon.
Acts 13:38 says…Therefore let it be known to you brethren that through this Man or Jesus is
preached to you the forgiveness of sins.
Acts 13:39 says…and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Don’t miss the words…Justified from all things.
That means total forgiveness, instant forgiveness, and complete forgiveness.
Acts 10:43…
To Him all the prophets witness that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive
remission / forgiveness of sins.
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There is a big difference between confessing and believing.
Confessing does not relate to forgiveness confessing is acknowledging our sin and repenting of
it.
We receive forgiveness by believing.
Forgiveness is a settled matter.
Heb. 8:12 says…For I will be merciful to their unrighteous and their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.
God will remember no more.
It is a shame that many believers continue to remember what God has forgotten.
Verse 14…
Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us which was contrary to us
and He has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross.
Notice the words… blotting out the handwritten ordinances against us which was contrary to us.
This refers to a handwritten note of a debtor acknowledging his indebtedness.
Our sin piled a debt to God.
We owed God for our sin and it was against us.
Our sin would have destroyed us and condemned us.
It was written against us.
What Paul says refers to us saying to God it is true I did those things.
These are my debts.
The second we agree to or confess our sin or own up to our sins…
God then blots it out.
He wipes it away.
The second we confess and believe in His forgiveness is the second He erases it.
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And Paul says God takes it out of the way…
The way of what?
Out of the way to God…
Out of the way to restoration…
Out of the way to joy…
Out of the way to abundant life.
But God not only erases it, and takes it out of the way but nails it to the cross.
Not a trace of sin is left.
All this means God’s forgiveness is complete.
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God’s forgiveness is a gift of grace…
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God forgiveness is plentiful God wants to forgive Ps. 86:5 says God is ready to forgive
and he eager to forgive.
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God’s forgiveness is for certain as it is based on God’s promise.
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God’s forgiveness is complete.
Complete salvation and complete forgiveness.
And last of all complete victory.
Verse 15…
Having disarmed principalities and powers He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over
them in it.
Jesus had three great victories on the cross.
First He disarmed the powers and authorities.
This means Jesus stripped satan and his army of whatever weapons they held.
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At the cross Jesus bruised the head of satan…
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At the cross Jesus broke satan’s power…
Second victory…Jesus made a public spectacle out of the enemy.
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Jesus exposed satan’s deceit and vileness.
Third victory on the cross is found in the word triumph.
Whenever a Roman general won a great victory on foreign soil and took captives and loot and
gained new territory for Rome he was honored by an official parade known as the Roman
triumph.
Jesus won a complete victory and set the captives free, invaded satan’s kingdom and advanced
his own kingdom.
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The death of Jesus was for our transformation
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The death of Jesus was for our pardon
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The death of Jesus was for our triumph.
Because of His death…
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We have complete salvation…
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We have complete forgiveness…
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We have complete victory in Jesus Christ.
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