2:11 circumcision. It is often thought that Paul mentions circumcision at this point because the false teachers in Colossae were commending it, much as those in Galatia were. However, in this letter there is no direct argument made against circumcision, as there is in Galatians. It is better to think of Paul as introducing the topic to show that something of what the Colossians are promised by the false teachers—power over the flesh (v. 23)—is already theirs in their relationship with Christ.

As the initiating rite of the old covenant, circumcision had signified cutting away sin, undergoing a change of heart, and being included in the household of faith (Deut. 10:16; 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 9:25, 26; Ezek. 44:7, 9). Dramatically, Paul says that in their baptism into Christ and into His body, these Gentiles have already been circumcised. Baptism is “the circumcision of Christ,” and it signifies the washing away of sin, personal renewal by the Spirit of God, and membership in the body of Christ (cf. v. 13; Acts 2:38; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 12:13; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 3:21). The passage makes an important point about the unity of the covenant of grace in both the Old and New Testament era: Gentile believers are not expected to follow the old covenant mode of identification with God and His people (Acts 15). But their faith in Christ has nevertheless made them as much children of Abraham as if they were ethnic Jewish believers (Rom. 2:28, 29; Gal. 3:26–29; Phil. 3:3). Baptism is not identical to circumcision, but it corresponds to it in essence (Rom. 4:11) and has replaced it as the sign of the covenant.