“Risen with Him through Faith"

Colossians 2:8-15

8) Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9) For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10) And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:

11) In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

12) Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

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;

15) And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Introduction

O

ne can try to do things through human effort, but it will get him no where. Our power and victory comes from our faith to believe what Christ said that He has already done.

If we do, indeed, believe Him for His works, that belief should color everything that we do. How can one complain if He believes God? Yes, it is every man’s decision as to how he will live his life, but it is also every man’s responsibility to accept the consequences for what he believes. Therefore, if one insists upon planting “ seeds of complaint,” then he will get more things about which to complain.

Why do things work this way? Well, in the book of Genesis, we are told that everything reproduces “after its kind,” meaning that whatever seed is “planted,” is what will grow.

Main Thought

In order to be “raised” with Jesus Christ, we had to be put to death with Him. Pastors often miss the part about the necessity of death, believing instead that once one is baptized in Jesus’ name, he is saved, no matter the lack of change in his life.

This, despite the fact that we know from scripture that “that which is flesh, is flesh, and that which is spirit, is spirit.” Therefore, if flesh is not put to death, then it will always control one. Logically, it follows then, that if we are controlled by flesh, we cannot, also be controlled by the Spirit.

Allowing ourselves to “reckon (ourselves) dead” means that we are free to be raised in the newness of life and will find it unnecessary to return to our old “ways.” Identifying oneself with Another in death means that the One with whom we are identified is then the “owner” of our life. As such, He, then, has the right to do with it as He pleases.

When we operate as human beings, we find nothing but problems with this concept, for fleshly man believes that no one has the “right” to “dictate” another’s life. Well, you see, the Lord knows that He is well within His “rights” because were it not for Him, we would have no “life.” Having created us and “knowing” us as well as He does, He does not ask us if we would like to go through a particular trial or test. Why not? Because He knows that we would just complain about the “inconvenience” and “unfairness” of the requirement.

Man’s salvation starts the moment he is baptized in Jesus’ name and is raised to new life. Too many people are brought to church (yes, even the apostolic church) by their “friends” with the hope that they will be made “better.” Not “spiritual,” but just a “better” human being. If this were possible, of what spiritual benefit would it be?

We already know that as human beings, our goal and aim in life is to have things “make sense.” Anything that does not, largely, we ignore. But what “makes sense” requires neither a spiritual commitment nor faith, and with neither of these, there is no salvation.

Though we are all somewhat familiar with what the Lord required of Israel, we do not, sometimes, understand its application to us. Take, for instance, the “circumcision” required of male Israelites. We know, of course, that is denoted the separation between the “people of God” and those who “knew Him not.” However, if circumcision were to be confined to males, how, then, is a woman to be “set apart?” We know also from scripture the admonishment that one’s “heart” is to be circumcised. So, what of one’s “mind” is to be “cut away?”

It is telling that Jesus, Himself, never performed an actual circumcision, yet provided us the “tools” that would allow each of us who come to Him to experience our own bris (circumcision). He allows us to take part in His death, burial, and resurrection, and in doing so, He affords us separation from our flesh, which is the only thing that will gain us access to our new life.

It is impossible to be “new” and “old” at the same time. For those of us who come to the Lord, we must think, act, and witness as new beings. This destroys our tendency to complain about the life we had before salvation. You see, too many of us talk more of our heartache and sorrow before salvation than speak of our joy, happiness, and contentment, now.

We cannot afford to forget that anything that one does for one’s flesh is “habit-forming.” We should also ask the Lord to remind us frequently that life lived after the flesh was hard. Nothing about it should be glamorized, for it was for the spiritual life that Jesus gave His life and God, the greatest sacrifice.

If we would “rise with Him…” we are going to have to operate in faith. Jesus could have left us as we were, believing that we were “alright,” but He did not, even though He knew that His message largely would be ignored. Jesus never told anyone that it would be “easy” to serve Him; that trials and tests would be withheld from us, but He does promise that our weeping will stop, joy will follow and that those who seek Him will “find” Him.