Raised with Christ

Paul continued to describe the great blessings found in Christ, now focusing on circumcision and baptism. It is often speculated that the false teachers in Colossae were commending circumcision, as had those in Galatia, and that is why Paul brought up this matter here. While this may have been true, the fact that Paul did not directly argue against circumcision here, as he had done in Galatians, suggests otherwise. As the initiatory rite of the old covenant, circumcision had signified the cutting away of sin, a change of heart, and inclusion in the household of faith. Paul indicated that in their baptism into Christ, these Gentiles had themselves been circumcised.