In verse 11 Paul speaks of “the putting off of the body of the flesh.” This means to strip off something, as one would strip off clothes. The circumcision that took place by the death of Christ and is applied by the powerful Spirit accomplishes the putting off of the body of the flesh. Our body of flesh was crucified on the cross with Christ and has been put off. Regarding this, we must again exercise our faith and not consider our self and our apparent situation. Let us exercise faith and say, “Amen! The body of the flesh has been put off on the cross and by the powerful Spirit.”
The spiritual circumcision in verse 11 must be in the circumcision of Christ, not with a circumcision made with hands. The circumcision of Christ is by His crucifixion. Our flesh has been crossed out by His death on the cross.
Furthermore, the circumcision in Christ takes place through baptism. In verse 12 Paul says, “Buried together with Him in baptism, in which also you were raised together with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who raised Him from the dead.” We have been buried together with Christ in baptism. To be buried in baptism is to put off, to strip off, the body of the flesh. Moreover, in Christ we have been raised together through the faith of the operation of God. In baptism there is the burial aspect, which is the termination of our flesh, and the raising aspect, which is the germination of our spirit. In the raising aspect we are made alive in Christ with the divine life.
In this verse Paul points out that this is through the faith of the operation of God. Faith is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8). The more we turn to God and contact Him, the more faith we have. The Lord is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2). The more we abide in Him, the more we are infused with Him as our faith. It is through this living faith in the operation of the living God that we experience the resurrection life, signified by the raising aspect of baptism. Genuine baptism involves an operation in which we are buried and terminated. This operation involves the exercise of faith. The One who carries out the operation is the Spirit. Whenever we baptize someone, there is the need for the exercise of faith to realize that an operation is taking place to terminate the old being of the one who is to be baptized. We must have faith in the operation of God, the Triune God, who raised Christ from the dead.
Whenever we baptize a new believer, we must realize that this one is being placed into a divine operation that will terminate him and bury him. We must exercise faith in the operation of the Triune God. By faith we have the reality of the termination and burial of the old man, the self, the flesh, and the natural life. The operating Triune God will honor this faith by making these things real. This burial and termination of the old man through baptism is the real circumcision.
In Colossians 2:20 Paul points out that we have died with Christ from the elements of the world. These elements include Jewish observances, heathen ordinances, and philosophy. They also include mysticism and asceticism. The elements of the world are the elementary principles of worldly society, the rudimentary principles invented by mankind and practiced in society. With Christ we have died to these elements of the world. When Christ was crucified, we were crucified also. In His crucifixion we were released from the elementary principles of the world.
Since we have died with Christ from the elements of the world, Paul in verse 20 asks the believers in Colossae why, as living in the world, they continued to subject themselves to ordinances, that is, to the elementary principles from which they had died in Christ. The world in this verse refers not to the physical earth but to human society, to mankind. Therefore, Paul is asking the believers why they still subjected themselves to ordinances as if they were still living in human society.
In verse 21 Paul lists some of these ordinances: “Do not handle, nor taste, nor touch.” These are rules and regulations in material things. These rules refer respectively to things that move, to things that are edible, and to things that are tangible. Handling, tasting, and touching include virtually every kind of action. Because these regulations are related to the practice of asceticism, to submit to ordinances concerning handling, tasting, and touching is to practice asceticism.
Since we have received the circumcision in Christ, there is no need for us to practice asceticism. Being circumcised in the circumcision of Christ is versus asceticism (vv. 20-22). Those who have been buried and terminated and who are now resting in the tomb, have no need of asceticism. There is no reason for them to treat their bodies severely. To do so is against the spiritual principle. According to the spiritual principle, we have been terminated and have put off the body of the flesh, the thing that asceticism attempts to deal with. Every form of asceticism attempts to deal with the lusts of the flesh. According to the teaching and practice of asceticism, treating the body severely eliminates lusts and restricts indulgence. This is the basic principle of asceticism. This severe treatment of the body is “not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh” (v. 23). The various practices of asceticism are not effective in restricting the indulgence of the flesh. Paul’s concept in Colossians 2 was that since the believers in Christ have been circumcised in the circumcision of Christ, which was accomplished by Christ’s death and is applied by the Spirit, and since this is the circumcision in which they have been buried and terminated, there is absolutely no need for the practice of asceticism. To mistreat the body in an attempt to restrict the indulgence of the flesh is foolish and of no avail. Truly, the circumcision in Christ is versus asceticism.
The experience of Christ’s death is versus asceticism. Day by day we should pass through the cross. This means that no matter what we have done or no matter what has happened to us, the cross takes care of everything. If we are made unhappy in some way by others, we need to apply the cross to our feeling of unhappiness; then the feeling of unhappiness will disappear. This indicates that our way is the cross, not asceticism or any severe treatment of the self. Realizing that we have already died in Christ, we should have a consciousness of the cross. If we realize that we have died in Christ, we will be in resurrection as a new person. We not only have Christ, the unique person, who is versus all things; we also have the cross, the unique way, which is versus all other ways.
As we drive, we come to many intersections; every intersection is a cross. Only by passing through many crosses can we get to our destination. Speaking of spiritual experience, we also must pass through many crosses before we can reach the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2). Just as we cannot travel very far geographically without crossing an intersection, so we cannot progress spiritually without passing through the cross. Only when we arrive at the New Jerusalem will we cease to pass through the cross, for by that time all the negative things will have been eliminated (cf. v. 8). Until we come to the New Jerusalem, we need to pass through the cross day by day in our walk with the Lord.
It is a healthy spiritual practice to pass through the cross every night when we go to bed. By applying the cross at the end of each day, we may rest very well during the night. At bedtime we need to apply the cross to every problem and to every negative, natural, or sinful thing. We may pray, “Lord, I want all these things to pass through the cross. I do not want to go to sleep with any natural, sinful, negative, or worldly element that has not been dealt with. When I go to bed, Lord, I want to be a person who has been crossed out.” Because we have Christ as the unique person and the cross as the unique way, we do not need asceticism. Furthermore, we do not even need to make up our minds with respect to certain things. Such a practice does not work. What we need to do is simply lie down through the cross at night, have a restful sleep, and then rise up in the morning in resurrection. We need to be those who pass through one cross after another. We need to daily pass through the intersection of the cross.
Apart from the cross as God’s one way, we should have no ordinances and no particular ways or practices. The way which God has ordained, uplifted, and honored is the cross of Christ. The cross is our only way. Only the cross can enable us to be one and in perfect harmony. We all need to pass through the cross. If we do not experience the cross, we cannot have the proper church life. All the saints must learn to daily pass through the cross. By passing through all manner of crosses, large and small, we will have oneness and harmony in the church life.
In the church life it is possible to have oneness without harmony. In order to have a sweet, harmonious oneness, we all must daily pass through the cross. We should not argue that we are right and that others are wrong. The more we dispute in this way, the less we pass through the cross. To repeat, the way to our destination is through the intersection of the cross. We should not avoid any cross. On the contrary, we should pass through all the crosses that we encounter in the Christian life, in the family life, and in the church life. In married life and in the church life in particular, we need to pass through the cross daily, even hourly. In Ephesians 4:26 Paul exhorts us not to allow the sun to go down on our indignation. This means that we should let go of our anger by passing through the cross. If we have a daily life of passing through the cross, there will be harmony both in the family life and in the church life. God has given us one person—the all-inclusive Christ—and one way—the cross.