Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2:8-14

This article is an excerpt from a longer article on the connection between Circumcision and Baptism. The full article can be found here.

Colossians, Circumcision, and Baptism

Now we need to look at the passage used by those who promote infant baptism to connect circumcision and baptism – Colossians 2:8-14

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Colossians 2:8-14 (ESV)

This verse, it is argued, shows that Paul is indicating that baptism has replaced circumcision as the sign of the Abrahamic covenant. But is Paul making an equation between circumcision and baptism in Colossians? He is not. Let’s consider this verse in detail.

Imagery, Not Equation

Paul does not equate circumcision with baptism in Colossians. He is using the imagery of circumcision to make a point, but he is not arguing that OT circumcision = NT baptism. The focus of Colossians 2:8-14 is on Jesus and the work he performs at the time of a person’s baptism. In baptism, a person is buried with Jesus, is raised through faith, and in so doing the sinful body of flesh is removed, which is described as “the circumcision of Christ”. Consider that imagery: the circumcision of Christ which removes the body of flesh. In the OT, circumcision was the process whereby the foreskin was removed from a male’s penis. The removal of the foreskin was a covenant sign, but was also intended to symbolize a heart open and tender to God’s will (Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 4:4). And what happened to the foreskin after it was removed? It was now a dead piece of flesh and was disposed of, never to be attached again.

A Spiritual Circumcision Performed at Baptism

Now consider again Colossians 2:8-14. Nowhere in that passage does Paul mention Abraham or covenants – because that’s not the point he is making with the metaphorical imagery! Paul is making use of the imagery of circumcision, not drawing a strict equation between circumcision and baptism. The spiritual (“made without hands”) circumcision that Christ performs on a person (man or woman) occurs at baptism and is the removal of that person’s old, sinful self. The dead body of sin is removed and the person is made alive through the forgiveness of sins and receiving of the Holy Spirit. Compare Colossians 2:8-14 with Romans 6:1-4

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Romans 6:1-4 (ESV)

Paul is making the same point in both Colossians and Romans. In Romans he focuses more on the imagery of death, burial, resurrection while in Colossians he includes the imagery of circumcision, but the point is the same in both: when a person is baptized in faith, God removes that person’s sins and makes them alive in Christ. Circumcision is imagery, not equation.

Raised With Him Through Faith

One final point regarding Colossians 2:8-14 is that baptism requires a person’s faith in God. In baptism, a person is raised “through faith in the powerful working of God”. Circumcision in the OT did not require a person’s faith, and so infants were circumcised. Circumcision was given as a covenant sign for the Israelite nation and included all Israelites, whether or not that person had faith or not. This is possible because the OT covenants were a means of bringing forth the Messiah. They were covenants of service, not salvation. The NT covenant is one of salvation and is of a very different nature than the OT covenants (see Jeremiah 31:31-34). More could be said on this subject, but that will need a separate, dedicated discussion. Suffice it to say that baptism requires faith, and so is very unlike circumcision in that regard.