Sermon: Is Baptism The Fulfillment of Circumcision - Colossians 2

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Well, it's always good to begin with a word of confession. I Changed my topic since the time

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I turned everything in for the bulletin so but only slightly We of course have been working on the subject of baptism for quite some time now actually both of the ordinances of the church

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We did only I think five weeks as I recall on the

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Lord's Supper But I've already lost track of how many We've had on baptism so far.

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I think we're around seven eight nine somewhere in there I don't think we're to ten but or somewhere in that realm and last week, of course was

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Reformation Sunday, and so we focused upon that particular subject and so in looking at My travel schedule the day after Thanksgiving.

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I head back out again It'll be about almost three full weeks. I'll be be driving and dodging my my dearly beloved truck drivers out there that Some of whom don't feel that They want any competition from little vehicles like mine.

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They're only 44 feet long and so going back to Missouri and doing some speaking in Texas as well and So as I thought about that,

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I'm like, all right. Well a Lot of folks have been a little bit Impatient That we get to some of the key arguments

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That exists on the subject of the subject of baptism and in particular.

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Let's just be straightforward and honest we obviously would have interaction with and talk with our

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Conservative Anglican friends and you might have some Lutheran friends but look the people that we talk with on the subject of baptism are pretty much our dear

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Presbyterian brothers and sisters and so there are particular arguments which you can find any day of the week on Facebook and Substack or wherever else you are you will find people

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Going back over arguments that have been gone over Many many many many times before and we haven't gotten to those

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Arguments yet. We've been laying a foundation. Of course part of our argument is that Part of the the the reason that we go round and round and round is because we haven't laid the proper foundation and From our perspective that foundation must be found first and foremost in Scripture and what scripture says about what baptism is what it represents how it's done who is baptized when they're baptized and Only having looked at everything that the

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New Testament gives us the Bible as a whole gives us on that subject Only then can we then begin to engage in the various arguments that have been presented over the past specifically

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Approximately four to five hundred years Really not quite 500 because we're primarily today dealing with The understanding of baptism as presented by John Calvin as the

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Presbyterian understanding And then we would view our understanding as coming out of that same movement

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But we would argue being more consistent in light of what happened in church history

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If you want to if you want to jump ahead Just listen to my opening statement and the debate we did in Florida.

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I forget how many years ago it was now With dr. Greg Strawbridge on this subject.

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I presented at that point a fairly historically Oriented presentation in my debate with him on this subject.

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So with that all said The next section of our study as we laid it out at the beginning

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It's not like we've been doing something different but as we laid out the beginning is looking at all the New Testament references to baptism and There aren't all that many

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They can be done in a fairly decent amount of time and you can break them up fairly easily and I was

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I was going to just look at Paul's references and then as I looked more and more closely at that.

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I realized there is one I didn't just realize to go Oh, hey, no, but I I realized there is there is one particular

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Pauline reference. We already looked at Romans 6 there's one particular Pauline reference that is absolutely central to this debate and There's no way

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I could just simply fold it into a bunch of others many of which are not central at all

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They can help us illustrate some truths about baptism. They're important for background information

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But I thought well since I'm gonna be gone for a while and it's gonna be a little while before we can do another

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One in the series of baptism. Let's at least give something To everybody who wants to get into some of the more meatier arguments let's give them something by going ahead and looking at what

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I would say is the text from the Apostle Paul That is the most central

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To the claims of pato -baptists reformed pato -baptists in regards to the nature of baptism specifically being the

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New Covenant fulfillment of the Old Covenant sign of circumcision

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So in other words if you're not familiar with the arguments many of you are I understand that for many of you

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We are going over stuff that you've maybe gone over absolutely ad nauseum in your own experience

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But if but not everybody has and so I need to make sure we're all on the same page

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It is well known and I have a bunch of quotes that I'll get to a little bit later on, but it is well known that central to the

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Concept as Initially developed by John Calvin and it is my view

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That no one in church history Held the same view of baptism as John Calvin did before him

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His was a theological novum. It was a new understanding that had not been held before and That's important.

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That is something we should keep in mind. That's something that needs to be explained if that is true and I have

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Tremendous respect for John Calvin. I love I don't know if any of you know those of you who watched the dividing line

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You may notice that when we when we dive into the Institutes, I love doing that I mean it is just so deep and so rich But on this subject,

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I believe that he was wrong and There is one particular concept that he enunciates and that is the equation of the

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Old Covenant right of circumcision With baptism in the

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New Testament now, obviously They're not completely identical Because only males were circumcised and both males and females are baptized but the idea was it was a a covenant sign given to young people apart from their expression of any kind of faith or anything else because they're infants when it takes place and That therefore this is expected to continue into the

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New Covenant So this is the argument and you probably know what text we're gonna be looking at turn with me, please to Colossians chapter 2

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Colossians chapter 2 so what we're gonna do here's the game plan. I want to work through Colossians chapter 2 you will need

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To make a commitment right now to get a deep seat in the saddle and to extend some

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Heavy duty concentration. This is not an easy text It uses terminology in a in a way that's somewhat unusual but we are going to work through the text and Then having established

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The best reading that we can arrive at of the text are going to hear how the text is used

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Historically in regards to the subject of baptism and then make some application from that point now first and foremost

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Here is If you don't catch anything else, maybe this will be of assistance to you

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More than anything else will be Most of us know What this text is about what this section is about and it's interesting that when we hear

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Colossians chapter 2 verses 10 11 cited in regards to baptism and circumcision

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Very often they're not cited Within the overall context of Colossians chapter 2 and I find that unusual only for the fact

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That it is that that we have learned We you know pastor

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Jeff talks about how much he has benefited from reading our Presbyterian brothers and eschatology and things like that We have learned so much about how to walk through a text and how to see a context until it comes to this subject and What is the context of Colossians chapter 2?

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Well, it's not a discussion of ordinances and ecclesiology or Covenant memberships or any of that It is about our being made full and complete in only one way in Christ and My argument will be that if we walk through this section together, we will see that focus never changes

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From beginning to end. This is about the supremacy of Christ. What else is

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Colossians? How what else can Colossians be about when it starts with chapter 1? Remember that incredible passage that talks about being transferred into the kingdom of his beloved

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Son by whom are created all things in the heavens and the earth in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and Here in chapter 2 we're gonna get in verse 9 for in him

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All the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. I mean you can't get much more

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Christocentric centered upon Christ and who he is then you have here and That doesn't change.

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That's my argument My argument is the focus is always going to be upon what

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Christ does or what the father is doing in Christ to sum up all things in him

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Remember Ephesians is a parallel text to Colossians are both written at the same time There's a lot of parallels between them.

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You see a lot of the same themes being enunciated So that's summing up of all things in Christ is really in the

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Apostles mind here as well So let's take a look at what it says And then we'll walk through it together

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Beginning of verse 8 see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception According to the tradition of men according to the elementary principles the world rather than according to Christ for in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form and in him you have been made complete and he is the head over all rule and authority and in him

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Starting to hear something repetitively here and in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands in The removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ Having been buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead and When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh

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He made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions Having canceled out the debt of certificate consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us and he has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross

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When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities he made a public display of them

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Having triumphed over them through him Now as you were reading

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Could you see how the focus doesn't get lost it doesn't get diminished

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When you think about it from beginning to end the focus is upon Christ and That will be

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Determinative as to what we're dealing with in this particular section now

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Let's start off. I can't just skip over verse 8 Because it is a warning

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That we need to hear every generation needs to hear and we need to hear it, especially these days

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See to it. No one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception

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There is such a thing as Christian philosophy But the Christian philosopher bows first and foremost at the cross

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With a Bible in his hand before he ever looks to a book of philosophy and When people invert that order the result is always devastating

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See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception or deceit

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According to the tradition of men according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ There's a lot of discussion of what the elementary principles the world might refer to in regards to Spiritual beings and teachings and so on and so forth

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But notice the point is do not be taken captive through any of these things

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According to tradition of men according to number in principle world rather than the one to whom you must be captive And that is

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Christ nothing in this world All the philosophies of men all the traditions of men they are secondary they are subordinate as A Christian you are to be under captivity to Christ and If you've read what came before, you know why it's because he made you

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He defines you he is the one in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

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This is radical This Is a kind of Christianity the world looks at it and goes this is this is scary the people park vans outside your churches when you believe stuff like this

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With signs on them because you scare them Because the world doesn't understand such being such a complete radical sellout to an authority outside of itself

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But that's what Christians do Because we recognize verse 9, how can you say

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Christ is the standard? According to Christ For in him is dwelling all the fullness of deity in bodily form

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That's why He's the God -man If Jesus was

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Who we say he was? Then he has to be the standard of all things

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There cannot be any co -equals. They cannot be our religion and all other religions just Holding hands and singing kumbaya together he's the

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God -man if God has entered into his own creation Then his word must be the final word and that's exactly what is said here now there is a

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Translational thing here you need to need to recognize some of you have a King James version it uses the term

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Godhead Which also uses in Romans chapter 1 the problem is there are two different Greek words underlie that no matter which text you're translating from and Here in Colossians 2 when the term is translated as deity

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It means that which makes God God In Romans 1 it's a it's a different term that refers to divine attributes and divine essences and and things like it's it's it's not as Specific as the term that is used here

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Even though the King James uses the same word to translate both both texts is more accurate to use the term deity that which makes

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God God in him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form now

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I could go off into a discussion of Gnosticism at this point that would take us about 40 minutes So we'd never get back so I can't but it is an important subject

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Jeff would but I'm not going to do that right now and Then he'd get to the end realize he had gone too long and say oh, that's for next week.

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That's how Yep, see it's gone. Yep. Yep fact. That sounds good.

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Why we do that. Nope. Nope can't do that all the fullness of deity dwells in him in bodily form and in him

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You have been made complete now, please realize in the background of all this is there is an apologetic concern there is a rising in the church in Colossae teachers and They're joining various Jewish mythology with what seems

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To be an early form of what does develop into Gnosticism Angelic worship and Paul uses all the words that the

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Gnostics would eventually enshrine in their theology and so the point is they had a lower view of who

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Jesus was and Then you had to learn these things and accomplish these things to gain knowledge so as to obtain full salvation and Notice what

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Paul says in him you have been made complete There is nothing you need to be gaining from religious ceremonies and and Cult rituals and everything else.

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There's not a kind of knowledge. You have to bring in in Christ you are made complete.

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That's why he's the object grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ We never have to look outside of him

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Because of who he is In him you have been made complete and if you if that was if the if verse 9 wasn't enough for you and He is the head over all rule and authority

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Now I'm gonna tell you something There is no way That pastor

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Jeff could preach on this text without running off in just something about post -millennialism at this point

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There isn't just no way. I know that and This is where you'd want to jump off to do that because that is an incredible statement

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He is the head over all rule and authority Yeah, you can say man that's alright there any post -millennialists out there, okay say it

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He is the head over not just all spiritual rule and authority all

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Rule and authority because he is the God man All the fullness of deity dwells in him in bodily form and he made all things whether in heaven and earth

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You can't get any more powerful than that So where is the focus so far?

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Is it on anything other than Christ? No, it is on him

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And so on what basis would we look at verse 11 and go? Yeah, that was all great

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And he's gonna jump right back to that later on But at this point there's a huge change big shift in in topic and in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands and the removal of the body the flesh by the circumcision of Christ now there is

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A tough sentence That's a tough sentence It's not that it's necessarily

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Super tough in in Greek there are a few very there, you know, you certainly have a

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Guiding verb and then you have some participles and yeah, there's some phraseology there But does it really change the focus because notice in him?

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You were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands and remove the by the flesh

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By the circumcision of Christ, so the first thing to notice is this is something

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Christ does now some people might go well, so I've jumped to the end of the verse because I'm looking at by the

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Circumcision of Christ and there's different ways of the people have understood that But it seems obvious to me

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That this is something that Christ Accomplishes for those who are in him

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Now what is the circumcision of Christ? Well, what was the description of above you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands

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Immediately we see This is not talking About the

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Old Covenant sign because I there is one thing that is absolutely certain

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Every single circumcision under the Old Covenant was done by hands

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It was a fleshly act It was something that the

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Rabbi did at a certain time in a certain way it had become very very ritualized

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Obviously by the time of the days of Jesus and So the first thing you have to see is

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This is a circumcision made without hands so it's not fleshly and he's addressing all the

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Saints in Colossae the mixed crowd of men and women and So in him so who is in him?

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Well Ephesians Colossians, these are the elect of God in him in Christ You experienced something?

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It was a circumcision made without hands and then it's described and what's called and it was called apposition.

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This is how you Describe something by restating it and redefining it Well, what is it?

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It's the removal of the body of flesh Removal of the body of flesh

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Now what in the world is Paul referring to well when he talks about this when he talks about how we have died and Risen with Christ when he talks about what we have died, too

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He's talking about that old man that old nature that old flesh

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He's gonna continue this on and in chapter 3 and he's talked about that that renewal that we all experience male female

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Jew Greek Scythian barbarian slave free all of us are experiencing this renewal by the

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Spirit of God and So what is it to have the removal of the body of flesh?

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This is Paul's describing for us and this is just one way he describes it the beautiful reality of regeneration being made

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Spiritually alive no longer that heart of stone but giving the heart of flesh the one that's really beating and really alive

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That whole old nature that body of flesh in which dwells the the old ways

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Is no longer in control. What does he say? What was it in Romans you? You're no longer under bondage to that you have been freed from that and So what he's saying is

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In Christ who is the head of all power and authority? he has worked in you powerfully a circumcision made without hands

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He didn't have to depend upon Religious ceremonies he didn't have to have you go through these religious things.

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It's a circumcision without hands He raised you to spiritual life and freed you from that bondage that dead body of sin that had you enslaved and That is called the circumcision of Christ The circumcision

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Affected by Christ he'll say later specifically through his spirit But his focus right now is in what you've been made complete in whom in him

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Therefore he must be able to do what really save you He must actually have the capacity to do that and isn't that something we believe we believe

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That when the father entrusts his people to the son sons, he says the son do not lose any one of them

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Christ will do the will of the Father and Here he has the power and the capacity

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To remove us from slavery to those fleshly desires in that fleshly life

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I Don't know about you Why don't look around these days? And I started grew up a little bit sheltered and Social media doesn't allow you to be sheltered at all and I see people

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Who are absolutely enslaved To this fleshly life.

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In fact, we're seeing it a lot right now. That's where all the panic comes from You see people who are so Consumed with fear because this fleshly life is all they have

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They have no confidence of anything after this life And even if they think about what might come after this life they're in dread and fear and that's why they

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Just get so angry if you do not do what they think you need to do to protect them

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Because that's all they've got is this life And all the desires that come from it so here is regeneration and It's accomplished through Christ It is for those who are in him in Christ Please keep that in mind not those who we hope someday might demonstrate.

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They're in Christ This is specifically about those who are actually in Christ who experience

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This spiritual action of Christ Having been so you're continuing with the same

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Materials here. You're continuing with the same assertion Having been buried with him in baptism.

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There's the one reference to baptism Having been buried with him in baptism

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In which you were also raised up with him Through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead now

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We will see When we look at a number of the other texts where baptism or related terminology is used

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One of the questions we have to deal with is what does it mean? How do we differentiate between Baptism as in what takes place back there and Say baptism with the

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Spirit Because there are references there too What does it mean

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Paul for example can talk about being baptized into Moses? What does that mean?

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So obviously every single use of the term baptized in baptism Hebrews for example uses baptism and most of us don't even know it because It's normally translated washings because it's in the context of that type of Jewish washings and and ritual purity situations and So are we talking here?

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specifically about the physical act of baptism or is

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The reality that everyone in the congregation having undergone baptism knows what the

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Image and picture of it is and Therefore Paul is using that as a means of illustrating something far greater

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Than just the physical reality. What do I mean by that? Well notice Having been buried

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With him in baptism in which you're also raised up with him through faith and working of God who raised him from the dead now what kind of Baptismal ceremony pictures that Let's think about it for a second

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Baby drips of water believer into the water

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Buried in the water now when you're under the water when

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I do baptisms I Mentioned to those who could be baptized

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So my my granddaughters are right down here. They're wide awake right now, but you didn't have to wave

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Clementine. I know where you are. I Always keep an eye on you kid But what did

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I what did I tell them before their baptisms I said when I start to Lean you back the key to not all of a sudden having your feet up in the air in front of everybody is you bend your knees and You know what you have to do when you do that you have to trust the person who's putting you under the water

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You have to have faith that that person isn't going to just leave you down there at a bubble

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They're gonna have to raise you back up So what shows

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Burial and resurrection Everyone would see it because they had all experienced it and as far as I can tell

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There is not a shred of historical evidence anywhere

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That during this period of church history any form of baptism was practiced by Christians other than baptism by immersion.

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I Anyone who has ever argued for anything the earliest earliest reference is it in a work called the

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Didache and the Didache allowed another form of baptism if you didn't have enough water to actually baptize and Then you'd have well, what if you have someone who's so sick?

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They can't get into the water and you so you started having some of those discussions. But the point is

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These words are addressed to a congregation and Everybody in that congregation has gone down into the water and has come back up out of the water

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Now was that The circumcision of Christ No But what it does picture is our union with Christ So just as in him because what's what's what's the what's the phraseology in him in our union with Christ if We were in him in his death

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Then we are with him in his burial. We are with him in his resurrection

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You This is why I believe so firmly in What we call particular redemption

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When you don't have particular redemption when you turn the atonement into some sort of peanut butter Whoever wants to get in on it deal you lose the specific in him in Christ union that is so important in Understanding the perfection of the work of Christ in behalf of his people

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His we even we even sing it In fact, didn't we sing it didn't we sing it just just now we did

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My name's graven on his hands How could that be if there is no divine election

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How could he be thinking of me when he died? If the elect is just simply some nameless faceless group that we sort of get ourselves into By the way, we want by any time we want to There Is a specific connection

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That is Absolutely important to the personal nature of what

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Christ did so in him In union with him

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Your baptism to show what are you saying to the world? I am dying with him and to my old life and I am raised up with him to walk in newness of life

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But it's all in him that's not something you add to Jesus That's what's so terrible about so there's so many of these groups out there

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We had we had somebody show up last Sunday that there are certain groups out there There's there's pretty much one verse in the

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Bible for them. It's called acts 238 and It's all about you

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You have to be baptized. That's when you're regenerated That's what you need to do. And really when you think about it

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Christ is just sort of over there someplace It's that he doesn't he's made available, but he doesn't actually accomplish anything.

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He's he's just made available. You need to now fulfill these things But when you think about what he's saying, this is an argument to the

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Colossians That you don't need all that stuff that people are saying you need to go do all the stuff

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You're supposed to go through and in all the rituals and the ceremonies and and it sounds really good

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It makes it sound like you're gonna get to be a little bit more spiritual than everybody else, you know You get to the inside knowledge you see but no

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You see there's no place for our boasting in any of this Even when you're baptized all you're doing is passively demonstrating

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That it's because God The father joined me to his son and his son dies in my place and is raised from the dead

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And that's the only reason I have any life at all That's how we're complete in him

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And so while baptism is in the background the physical water

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Baptism is in the background because it's providing the picture that all the believers and Colossians would understand

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This is really referring to our union with Christ Our being buried with him are being raised up with him through faith in the working of God Who raised him from the dead?

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There is that there is faith being Demonstrated when you say I'm dying to the old and I'm rising to the new

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But it's faith in the fact that God the Father raised him from the dead and He's going to raise you from the dead as well

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You are accepting his Promises, but all of this is an argument that you have all this in Christ There is nothing else to look for He is powerfully accomplishing all of this and then it seems like in verse 13

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He reiterates this it's almost a chiastic structure if you look at the the verses but and when you were dead

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In your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh so again very parallel to Ephesians But he's talking about You were spiritually dead

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You were in your transgressions. You were in the Uncircumcision of your flesh and what do you obviously what we just hear it's only

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Christ Who can remove that body of death from you?

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He made you alive together with him Isn't that regeneration

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See all reformed believers. I think I I don't know of any reformed believer that would not look at that and go

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Okay, that's definitely Regeneration then why wasn't it just two verses earlier?

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It is regeneration That is what he was talking about before that circumcision. May I have that is regeneration and Here it's laid out for you as clearly as possible

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He made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions

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Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us

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Just think about that the record of every single thought

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You have ever had That was displeasing in God's sight Every lie every careless word every bit of anger every lust every theft every act of arrogance

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Recorded written out and what happens to it?

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It's canceled out It was a it was a certificate of debt

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That you could never pay You could never get close to making the first payment on it

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Decrees against us it was hostile to us. This is why you can never

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Skip over the bad news to get to the good news This is why the

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Apostle Paul wrote Romans 1 and Romans 2 and the first half of Romans 3 before he ever got to the point of talking about the gospel because when you tell people

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That they can have peace with God without dealing with their sin first That is the greatest way to create a religious hypocrite

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I could ever imagine We need to realize that there was a certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us

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Which was hostile to us It was our enemy But it has been canceled out

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How How was it canceled out he has taken it out of the way

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Having nailed it to the cross Nailed it to the cross over the years

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When I've met with people who were saying I have a hard time

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Believing God really loves me. I've gone through so much difficulty and so much trial and I see other people have it so much easier

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I don't know how to become convinced that God really loves me It's a simple answer

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But it's the only answer I've been able to come up with and the longer I live the more it's the only answer anyone really needs

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You want to know if God loves you You look to the cross You look to the one who is nailed there and you know that the father and the son knew everything about you and Yet did that for you

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Took all those decrees that certificate of debt that had your name on it you could never pay

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Nailed to the cross and Jesus then said to tell us die paid finished done

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That's why there is no condemnation not because of who you are but because of what has been done in your behalf

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So now when you read Romans 5 1 therefore haven't been justified by faith. We have what we have peace

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When we come to partake of the supper We are to be reminded of the great cost by which you have peace with God The certificate of debt taken out of the way nailed it to the cross and He did that Powerfully purposefully and without your assistance

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The Focus hasn't changed. This is still what Christ has accomplished When he had disarmed the rulers and authorities he made a public display of them having triumphed over them through him

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He rose from the dead and all those powers of hell that thought that they had defeated him

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Realized they were the ones who had been defeated He rose in triumph

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The focus has never changed as we've walked through this text

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And the one thing we never saw any reason to believe Is that what Paul's intention to communicate here?

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Was that circumcision in the Old Covenant is? fulfilled by baptism in the new

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That would be such an incredible Distraction From what has been said

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I Mentioned I had a number of quotes. I wanted to share with you and I think they are very important and hopefully they'll be helpful to you

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Let's go let's go let's actually what

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I want to do here is I want to look at The Westminster standards and I think it's important to to consider

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That one first I was gonna go with Calvin first, but he's well as Calvin often is a little bit long -winded

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That's okay, I know some other people are long -winded too Had a similar beard actually, that's not quite quite that large

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Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 28 on baptism. I'm gonna read two sections sections one and four

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Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament ordained by Jesus Christ keep that in mind we agree

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We agree we would just simply say that means we need

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New Testament evidence for all of baptism being ordained by Jesus Christ Not just the idea and then extending that later on to something that Jesus never commanded us to do

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Not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible church and Then the reference given there is 1st

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Corinthians 12 13 but also to be unto him now listen to what baptism is a sign and seal of the covenant of grace of his engrafting into Christ of Regeneration of remission of sins and of his giving up unto

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God through Jesus Christ to walk in newness of life Now we agree with all that But think about what that means

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For example when it says and a sign and a seal of the covenant of grace You know what one of the two references that they give for that is

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Colossians 2 11 through 12 Colossians 2 11 through 12 Which sacrament is by Christ's own appointment to be continued in his church until the end of the world.

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That's true Matthew 28 19 through 20 paragraph 4

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Not only those that do actually profess faith in and obedience unto

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Christ But also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized now there is a

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Bevy of verses given here and before we finish this series, we will look at every single one of them but The important thing right now is that one of those verses is

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Colossians 2 11 through 12 now so so the assertion here is

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But also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized Colossians 2 11 through 12 now the only way you can use

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Colossians 2 this way and this is this is if you're familiar with some of the

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Disputes that have Existed amongst our Presbyterian brothers over the past 20 years

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This is where a lot of it comes from There is a way to read

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Colossians chapter 2 to where you will connect the old rite of circumcision

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The New Testament rite of baptism, but the only way to do that is to make baptism the means of regeneration

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Let me repeat that If we walk back through Colossians chapter 2 and if we want to make that equation

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Between Circumcision as a right and Baptism as a right then the removal of the flesh becomes accomplished by baptism itself.

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It becomes a sacerdotal understanding a sacramental understanding Not a sovereign grace

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God's election focused upon the accomplishment in Christ understanding

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I Think it would completely disrupt the text But that's the only only way you can do it and that's the problem and That's where the dispute has been taking place even amongst our

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Presbyterian brothers in regards to the role of baptism and How we're to understand when regeneration takes place

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Because as you know among some Baptism becomes the very mechanism by which regeneration takes place and So there are some who would actually not necessarily

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Presbyterians, but there are Pato Baptists who would believe that you are regenerated by baptism and Then you can lose that Regeneration through sin and so they would go to various warning passages in Hebrews for example and you can be in the

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New Covenant and out of the New Covenant and so you end up having a Basically the and this is why one of our sermons will be on Hebrews chapter 8

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The beauty of the argument of Hebrews is that the New Covenant? Everyone in it knows

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Christ That's the beauty of it You end up with some of our brothers whom we love

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Saying that the beautiful promises of fulfillment of the New Covenant in Hebrews chapter 8 are not for yet That's not for now.

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That's still yet future. I Think it completely destroys the argument the apologetic argument in the book of Hebrews.

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So this has huge ramifications huge ramifications Now let's listen to Calvin I'm oh,

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I'm doing okay. I'm nowhere near That's why that's why he left he's

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Clearly if circumcision was a literal sign quoting from Calvin Clearly a circumcision was a literal sign.

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We must estimate baptism to be the same For the Apostle in the second chapter of Colossians makes neither more spiritual than the other

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For he says that we were circumcised in Christ not by a circumcision made with hands When we laid aside the body of sin which dwelt in our flesh this he calls the circumcision of Christ Colossians 2 11

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Afterward to explain the statement he adds that in baptism. We were buried with Christ What do these words mean except that the fulfillment and truth of baptism are

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Also the truth and fulfillment of circumcision since they signify one and the same thing

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For he is striving to demonstrate that baptism is for the Christians what circumcision previously was for the

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Jews I just simply have to stop and say Brother Calvin missed it and he missed it badly

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But let me mention why he might have missed it badly Notice what he says later

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Continue on I'm going to point out something since we have already clearly explained the promises of both signs and mysteries

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They represent agree. I would disagree There is a land aspect under the Old Covenant that there isn't new

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We shall not for the present Terry longer over this I shall only admonish believers that Though I do not speak

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They should ponder among themselves where they ought to think a sign merely earthly and literal when it represents nothing

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But what is spiritual and heavenly? But that they may not sell their smoke to the simple -minded

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We shall refute one objection which with which they cover this utterly shameless lie

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Now I stopped there and you go. Well, who's he who's the they what how did how do you all of a sudden start?

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Start sound like he's a little bit mean You got to remember something about church history here

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Calvin is a second -generation Reformer at the very beginning of his public ministry

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Something happened in Europe if you haven't listened

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To the two episodes that I did with summer and joy back in January of 20 no

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February of 2019 on theologians I'd highly recommend that you do so because what happened in Europe was called the siege of Munster and a group of Anabaptists now look historically

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Jan of Leiden and Everybody else that did the insane

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Crazy things they did and if you haven't heard that story I can tell you right now It is the wildest story in all of church history.

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I've taught church history. I guarantee you there is no story wilder

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Than the siege of Munster. Would you agree summer? Is that? Oh, yeah. She's going. Yeah She was sitting there looking me like nah, you're making that up.

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No, come on. Yeah. No, it's true It scared everybody else to death and So as soon as you even opened your mouth to say the word baptism in the sense of baptism of believers

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Immediately you were painted as a wild -eyed radical and so Calvin is

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Not in any mood or in any context to listen fairly

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To what even the sane Anabaptists were saying and so he and all those who follow after him for a long time as soon as the subject comes up just switches directly into Get him out or burn him one of the two

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Because of what the Anabaptists had done in Munster So But that they may not sell their smoke to the simple -minded we shall refute one objection with which they cover this utterly shameless lie

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It is quite certain that the primary promises Which contained that covenant ratified with the Israelites by God under the

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Old Testament were spiritual and referred to eternal life Then conversely that they were received by the fathers

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Spiritually as was fitting in order they might gain therefrom assurance of the life to come to which they aspired their whole heart

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But meanwhile, we do not deny that he attested his goodwill to them by earthly and physical benefits By which we say at the hope of the promises of spiritual things was also confirmed

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It's from the Institute's book for chapter 16 section 11 if you want to read the rest of it. His point is saying yes, there were

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Physical promises, but there are also spiritual promises, which we agree with But where I think he is missing the idea is that there were specifically

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Physical promises and that there was the constant call the part of the

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Of the prophets to the people of Israel to circumcise their hearts There was a spiritual aspect that was recognized under the

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Old Covenant That needs to be taken into mind Now, let me read you another quote.

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This is from Hendrickson who a commentator that many of you have probably benefited from greatly evidently

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Paul in this entire paragraph Colossians 2 magnifies Christian baptism as much as he by clear implication

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Disapproves of the continuation of the right of circumcision if viewed as having anything to do with salvation The definite implication therefore is that baptism has taken the place of circumcision stop just a second

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What took the place of circumcision? Christian circumcision which is regeneration

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That's the issue. That's why the New Covenant is totally different The sign is regeneration

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The definite implication therefore is that baptism is taking the place of circumcision in Romans 4 11 as being a sign the seal holds also for baptism in the

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Colossian context baptism is specifically a sign and seal of having been buried with Christ and having been raised with him well baptism is

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But baptism there is pointing in Colossians 2 back to what regeneration our union with Christ All of what our interpretation kept the focus on Christ Can you see how a sacramental interpretation fractures all of that?

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It takes it apart and Finally in the form for the baptism of infants in the

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Psalter hymnal the Christian Reformed Church. We read since then baptism has come in the place of Circumcision Colossians 2 11 through 13 the children should be baptized as heirs to the kingdom of God and of his covenant.

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I cannot emphasize how central this understanding of Colossians chapter 2 is to the

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Reformed Pato Baptist position and So here's what I'm saying

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If we apply Sound hermeneutics Consistent hermeneutics to Colossians chapter 2 we see that Regeneration is what is being accomplished by Christ and that baptism is a picture of our union with Christ and That it is he that has effectuated

01:00:08

The entirety of our being made perfect in him There's nothing there

01:00:14

About saying oh and by the way, that means Baptism is now fulfilling what circumcision fulfilled in the

01:00:22

Old Covenant Because there were so many under the Old Covenant that received circumcision that did not receive a new heart

01:00:31

That's going to be if you're taking notes That's gonna be why one of the final considerations in our study is

01:00:41

We're gonna go to Hebrews and we're gonna look at Hebrews chapter 8 We're gonna walk through some sections of Hebrews and we're gonna see

01:00:49

That the argument there of the right of the Hebrews is this if you're in the

01:00:54

New Covenant Everyone in it knows

01:01:00

God That was not the case in Israel There were many who bore the

01:01:09

Old Covenant sign that uncircumcised hearts and did not know the Lord but notice in The promise in Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31 not only will they all know me

01:01:22

I will also forgive them all their sins. What does Paul say in Colossians 2? exact same thing

01:01:30

Their sins have been forgiven He's taking it out of the way That's the glory of the

01:01:35

New Covenant. It is greater than the old better promises better mediator better application

01:01:46

So the point here is That this text Because as as I think through and as we will look at that all the verses that are used

01:01:58

There are cited by the Westminster Confession of Faith in chapter 28 paragraph 4 to substantiate the one half sentence

01:02:10

But also the infants of one or both believing parents are to be baptized Genesis 17 7 through 8

01:02:19

Galatians 3 9 and 14 Colossians 2 11 through 12 acts 238 through 39

01:02:26

We've already covered that one right were there any was was what would it acts 238 39 say?

01:02:32

Or any infants there were there any infants being baptized not a scintilla of evidence of that Romans 4 11 through 12

01:02:40

First Corinthians 7 14. That's one. I'd say that's the next big one There Paul is addressing marriage and The legitimacy of marriage when one of two people becomes a believer

01:02:57

You're if you're not familiar with these arguments you might be going How is that relevant?

01:03:03

We'll explain it. It's a stretch. It is a stretch Matthew 28 19

01:03:10

Mark 10 13 through 16 stuff for the little children to come to me and Luke 18 15 same same thing.

01:03:18

That's all the verses are given so if Colossians 2 Does not make the equation

01:03:28

That is necessary of circumcision and baptism in the

01:03:34

New Covenant and if first Corinthians 7 Likewise is actually talking about something else.

01:03:40

I suggest you there is Absolutely nothing left outside of saying

01:03:47

We will not even look to the New Testament for any of this this is all based upon an external concept that we've developed of covenants and That somehow no

01:04:02

New Testament writer ever sowed any knowledge of That's where we end up But we haven't gotten there yet We sort of jumped ahead a little bit

01:04:13

Because this one as I pointed out is key and central But hopefully what you've seen first and foremost is that this is a text about the supremacy of Christ This is a text about the supremacy of Christ and so I want to Before we partake of the supper together.

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I want to focus in on this You have been made complete in him

01:04:43

The certificate of debt consisting of decrees against you nailed the cross

01:04:53

We as reformed people talk much About the sovereignty of God and the perfection of God's work

01:05:06

But you and I right now here Do you?

01:05:14

contemplate and live in light of What it means

01:05:23

That Christ's work on your behalf is Perfect lacking nothing because you see we may want to argue that in a

01:05:38

Debate and in a syllogism online or something But what does that mean for you individually

01:05:46

It should mean two things. Well, it should mean many things but two things right now First of all, it should absolutely

01:05:58

Be revolting to you to think that there is anything you can add To what

01:06:04

Christ has done in your place That there would be something missing

01:06:12

That you can then supplement That should be revolting to you and so when

01:06:19

I when I meet with people who claim they were once reformed and they've now gone off into some religion where they're

01:06:24

Going through all these penances and and pilgrimages and all the rest of this stuff. I just look at them and I go

01:06:29

How could you trade the perfect righteousness of Christ for this treadmill of works you're now doing?

01:06:39

You must not have ever understood The true grounds of your peace with God So we should be we should find revolting

01:06:53

Any such idea But some of you are sitting there thinking

01:06:59

Yeah, but if that's the case then then what's the ground for my

01:07:06

Doing anything can't you see?

01:07:13

That if he Who created and sustains the entire universe?

01:07:23

Was nailed to a cross in your place That that should be all the ground and reason that anyone should ever have for every act of Kindness and obedience and holiness and seeking to glorify him

01:07:46

Shouldn't the love that flows out of our hearts be enough. Do we really need to have the carrot and the stick?

01:07:56

You see real Christianity Those good works that we want to do and that God has before ordained that we should walk in them

01:08:03

They flow from that changed heart that he created in us

01:08:09

It should be love for the recognition that we can't add anything to what he has done

01:08:15

That is the greatest and never -ending motivation for our faithfulness to Christ when we mix that stuff up and We start trying to add to what

01:08:31

Christ has done or prove our worthiness you aren't worthy and neither am I His love was not attracted to us because we were better than anyone else that's what grace alone means

01:08:46

Some of you will understand we are not choice meats We were the rancidus of meats until Christ Removed that body of death

01:09:06

Made us alive We have reason To every day no matter where we are no matter what we're experiencing

01:09:18

When we think of the eternity he has prepared for us and what he has done for us We have reason to rejoice we have reason to be thankful Let's pray and then express our thanks in the summer

01:09:41

Our gracious Heavenly Father when we think of The grandeur of the person of Christ the eternal

01:09:53

Son Glorious in eternity who did not consider that equality had with the father something to be held on to but he

01:10:07

Became nothing No reputation by taking on a human nature

01:10:14

That he might be the perfect sacrifice for sins and that he did that for us knowing us

01:10:23

Knowing us perfectly Knowing our failures knowing how often even with light shining upon us

01:10:34

We choose the wrong path father.

01:10:40

I would pray even in this moment by your spirit You would convict each and every one of us and Help us to hate our sin to detest it

01:10:57

To not want to add anything to what Christ suffered in our behalf But may that detestation of our sin flow from a love of the

01:11:10

Savior Or does we partake of the supper? We would ask that once again

01:11:21

We would recognize the beauty That it presents to us of the sacrificial love of our

01:11:33

Savior Thank you for this time. Thank you for your word for preserving it for us