The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 145

(Vers. 9, 10.) 1. The fulness of the Godhead dwelt in the eternal Word from tl,e beginning, '!'bis is ono of the s11perh11man truths revealed by God's Spirit and which eta.nds or falls with Christianity (John i. 1; 1 John i. 2). 2. That fulness now dwells in" the Man Ghrist Jesus," "the Word made flesh," "bodily." 'l'he Incarnation is the grandest supernatural fact in the world. It is a" present tmth," for Jesus Christ still Ii ves, and the "fulness of the Godhead d welleth in him" ~till. No ,vonder that mysteries and miracles should gather around our incarnate God. '!'he transfiguration and the resurrection are natural to him. Ilis dying rather than his rising is miraculou~. 3. His sufficiency as Mediator renders us independent of all other mediation. His one sacrifice as an atonement takes the place of all the elementary lessons of Jewish symbolism, and makes the sacrifices of a so-called Christian priesthood a practical denial of his work on the cross (Heb. ix. and x.). Since he is" the Head of all principality and power," we need neither saints nor angels as intercessors (1 Tim. ii. 5; Heh. vii. 25), nor can we degrade ourselves to receive God's absolution from an intrnsive priest. 4. The fulness of blessing that flows direct from Christ can satisfy all the necessities of the human heart. Let us not make light of churches, ministries, sacraments, or other means of grace. But let us hold fast to the truth that Christ himself can immediately supply all our needs, so that we may be "in him made full." We are thus reminded of man's emptiness and need (John xv. 5; Rev. iii.17); of his capacity for receiving blessings inde.6.uitely great (" filled with all the fulness of God"); of" the exceeding abundant grace of our Lord" (John i. 16; 1 Cor. i. 30; Epb. iii. 17-21; Phil. iv. 13); and of the need of union with Christ by faith (" in him") as the necessary condition of spiritual life.-E. S. P. Vers. 11-15.-Purity, pardon, and victory tlirough Christ. Errors in religion, when taught sincerely, are intended to secure spiritual blessings (e.g. purity by austerities; JJeacc of conscience and assurance of pardon by confession and priestly absolution). But the truth of our completeness in Christ strikes at the root of all such errors, for it assures us that all the blessings we can need may be gained direct from him. In ver. 10 we learn that the headship of Christ i~ our guarat1tce that we are not dependent upon any intermediato superhuman power. In vers. 11-15 we are remindeJ. that the personal blessings which external rites were designed. to secure are ours if we arc Christ's. I. PURITY, Judaizing teachers taught the necessity of circumcision even by Gentile converts as a means of purification and salvation. St. Paul teaches the Colossians that they have no need of this, because, by union with Christ, they receive that inward purity of which circumcision was a. type (vcr. 11; Rom. ii. 28, 29). Moses and the prophets had seen through the type (Deut. x. 16; xxx. 6; Jcr. iv. 4). 'l'he believer's circum- cision is distinguished from that which was typical of it in these particulars: 1. Jn its chardctcr; spiritual, not external, wrought not by hands but by the S1,irit himself. 2. In ils extent; it puts off, not a mere morsel of the flesh, but" the body of the fl,,sh," the whole body of carnal affections. 3. Its Author; it is the circumcision, not of :Moses (Jolrn vii. 22) for a nation, but of Cl,rist for all believers (Phil. iii. 3). And as Paul speaks hero of spiritual circumcision, so docs he al,o of spiritual baptis,n. His argument is not," You need not bo circumcised because you have been baptized." Here he speaks Ligl,ly of some baptism" wherein ye wero also raiseu," etc. Elsewhere be clear!} denies the doctrine of regeneration by baptism (cf. 1 Cor. i. 13-17 with 1 Cor. iv. 15). It would be strango if here he spoke disparagingly of" hand-wrought" circ11mcision, and then passed on immediately to speak of tho spiritual efficacy of "hand-wrought" baptism. 'l'his would be to introduce the very clement of ceremonialism and ritualis:n 'which he is here denouncing. Many, never baptized with water, are now "in Christ," in glory. It is the spiritual baptism alone in which we are buried and raised with Christ (Rom. vi. 3-5). 'l'he one great. baptism of the Kew Testament is that of tbo Holy Spirit (Mark i. 8; Acts i. 5). Of that, baptism by water is a beautiful emblem. But in Paul's Epistles he generally speaks of that "one baptism" rather than of baptism with water. Here he speaks of a spiritual circumcision, a spiritual rlc,tth and lmrial and resurrection, and a spiritual h1pti,nn. The baptism by the lloly Spirit is that pnrification of the soul from the lo·,c and dominion of sin by which we are set upart, consccmtcd to a course like Christ's, to a sriiritual history of which our Lord's  140 THE EPISTLE 'l'O TUE COLOSSlANS. [ CH, II, 1-23,