Colossians 2.13-Despite Being Spiritually Dead, the Father Made the Colossians Alive with Christ While Forgiving Them All Their Sins
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday December 20, 2015
Colossians: Colossians 2:13-Despite Being Spiritually Dead, the Father Made the Colossians Alive Together with Christ While Forgiving Them All Their Sins
Lesson # 53
Colossians 2:8 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 of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority 11 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, 12 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. 13 When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions. (NASB95)
Not translated is the conjunction kai (καί), which is epexegetical meaning it is introducing a statement which explains from another perspective Paul’s previous statements in Colossians 2:11-12.
“When you were dead” is referring to these faithful Colossian believers as a corporate unit and is describing them as being spiritually dead prior to their conversion.
It teaches that it is true that the Father made these faithful Christians in Colossae alive together with His Son Jesus Christ at their conversion despite the fact that they all existed in the state of being spiritually dead.
“In your transgressions” is composed of the following: (1) preposition en (ἐν), “in” (2) noun paraptōma (παράπτωμα), “your transgressions.”
The noun paraptōma refers to deliberate violations of God’s laws by the Colossian believers prior to their conversion.
It is the object of the preposition en which means “because of” since it is functioning as a marker of cause indicating that each and every one of the Colossians existed in the state of being spiritually dead ones “because of” their transgressions.
“And the uncircumcision of your flesh” is specifying the reason why the Colossians existed in the state of being spiritually dead ones prior to their conversion.
“The uncircumcision of your flesh” is composed of the following: (1) noun akrobustia (ἀκροβυστία), “the uncircumcision” (2) noun sarx (σάρξ), “flesh” (3) personal pronoun su (σύ) (see), “your.”
The noun akrobustia pertains to the state of being uncircumcised which speaks of the state of not having the foreskin of the penis cut off.
Here it is obviously used in a figurative sense and not in a literal sense because Paul is speaking of the spiritually dead condition of the Colossians prior to their conversion.
Furthermore, all his other references to circumcision in Colossians 2:11 were used in a figurative or metaphorical sense for the Colossians’ identification with Christ in His crucifixion, death and burial.
The noun sarx means “flesh” and pertains to the human body with emphasis upon its substance or what it is composed of and denotes the genetic structure of the human body is the location of the sin nature.
So it denotes that this state of being uncircumcised resided in the human body and indicates that the sin nature is located in the genetic structure of the human body.
The word is in the genitive case and specifically it functions as a genitive of apposition or as an epexegetical genitive which identifies specifically what Paul means by this spiritual uncircumcision.
He is defining it as being the flesh or in other word their human bodies which are contaminated by the sin nature as a result of receiving the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden of Eden.
Here the word akrobustia is also the object of the preposition en which means “because of” since it is functioning as a marker of cause indicating that each and every one of the Colossians existed in the state of being spiritually dead ones “because of” the uncircumcision of their flesh.
“He made you alive together with Him” speaks of the Colossians being identified with Jesus Christ in His resurrection at their conversion through the baptism of the Spirit.
“Having forgiven us all our transgressions” speaks of the Father “graciously forgiving” each and every of the transgressions committed by the Colossians prior to their conversion.
Colossians 2:13 In other words, even though each and every one of you existed in the state of being spiritually dead ones because of your transgressions, specifically because of the uncircumcision which is your flesh, He caused each and every one of you to be made alive together with Him. Simultaneously for His own glory, He graciously forgave each and every one of our transgressions for the benefit of each and every one of us. (Author’s translation)
This epexegetical statement in Colossians 2:13 contains a concessive and a temporal clause.
The former emphasizes that despite the fact that each and every one of them existed in the state of being spiritually dead because of their transgressions, specifically because of the uncircumcision which is their flesh, the Father caused the Colossians to be made alive together with His Son Jesus Christ.
The temporal clause emphasizes that while the Father was making them alive together with His Son, He also simultaneously forgave them each and every one of their transgressions.
The reference to the Colossians being spiritually dead prior to their conversion meant that they were totally separated from God and had absolutely no merit with God and absolutely no desire to have a relationship with God.
Each and every member of the human race-past, present and future is spiritually dead because of the imputation of Adam’s original sin in the Garden (cf. Romans 5:12-19).
In Colossians 2:13, the apostle Paul teaches the Colossians that prior to their conversion they were spiritually dead because of their transgressions and then he specifies what he means by this by asserting that they were spiritually dead because of the uncircumcision which is their flesh.
This means that they were spiritually dead because of their transgressions and specifically they were spiritually dead because they possessed a sin nature which resided in the genetic structure of their human bodies.
The uncircumcision which is their flesh pertains to the fact that they all possessed a sin nature which was located in the genetic structure of their human bodies.
This sin nature is the direct result of God pronouncing a curse upon the bodies of Adam and his progeny because of his disobedience to His command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:17 records the Lord informing Adam that he and his wife and his children would go back to the dust of the ground which is a reference to the death of their physical bodies.
Their bodies would die because of the indwelling sin nature.
Paul uses this word “uncircumcision” because the Colossians who were Gentiles were given this name by the Jews.
Just as circumcision was to be the sign or identifying mark that a person was a believer in the God of Israel so uncircumcision marked a person as not being a part of the covenant people of God.
Circumcision was a sign of being regenerated whereas uncircumcision was a sign of being unregenerate and thus, Paul uses the term.
Paul’s statement in Colossians 2:13 echoes his statement in Colossians 1:21-22.
His statement in Colossians 1:21-22 and 2:13 echo his statements in Ephesians 2:1-10 as well as Romans 5:1-10.
Paul asserts in Colossians 2:13 that the Father caused each and every of the Colossians to be made alive together with His Son Jesus Christ and this echoes Paul’s statement in Ephesians 2:5.
The verb suzōopoieō is used in both passages.
The Father through the Spirit caused the Colossians to be identified with Jesus Christ in His resurrection.
“Current” positional truth is the church age believer’s identification with Christ in His resurrection, ascension and session (See Ephesians 2:4-6; Colossians 3:1-4).
In other words, when Christ was raised and seated at the right hand of the Father, the Father considers the believer to have been raised and seated with Christ as well.
The temporal clause in Colossians 2:13 asserts that while identifying the Colossians with Christ in His resurrection, the Father simultaneously forgave each and every one of “our” transgressions for the benefit of each and every one of us.
Notice the change to “our” and “us.”
The Colossian Christian community was Gentile while Paul was of course Jewish.
The reference to “uncircumcision” here in Colossians 2:13 is a reference to this fact that the Colossians were Gentiles.
This all indicates that Paul is referring to Jewish Christians with the words “our” and “us.”
This interpretation is further substantiated by the fact that Paul asserts in Colossians 2:14 that the Father cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees which were against the Jew and were hostile to the Jews.
The Mosaic Law was given to the Jews and not the Gentiles (cf. Romans 9:1-5).
Paul states that the Father did this for His own benefit or for His own glory.
Paul’s statement in Colossians 2:13 echoes his statement in Colossians 1:14.