In Colossians 2:11-12 we read about the circumcision in Christ and being buried with Christ in baptism and risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God. But what does buried with Christ in baptism and risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God mean according to the Bible?
The circumcision in Christ
In Whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead (Kolosa 2:11-12)
The new creation is circumcised in the circumcision of Jesus Christ. This circumcision is not made with hands, a natural circumcision of the foreskin of a male. But this circumcision is a work of the Spirit and takes place by putting off the body of the sinful flesh of males and females. The circumcision in Christ; the putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, takes place by baptism, when the old man (flesh) is buried with Christ and becomes a partaker of His death and the new man (spirit) has risen from the dead through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised Him from the dead.
The old man is buried with Christ in baptism
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Aita outou i ite, e e rave rahi o tatou tei bapetizohia i roto ia Iesu Mesia tei bapetizohia i roto i To'na ra pohe? No reira, ua hunahia tatou i piha'i iho Ia'na na roto i te bapetizoraa i roto i te pohe: e mai te Mesia i ti'afaahou mai te pohe mai e te hanahana o te Metua, ia haapa'o atoa tatou i te haerea e au i te ora apî.
Ua tanu-amui-hia ho'i tatou i roto i te hoho'a o To'na ra pohe, e riro atoa tatou i roto i te hoho'a o To'na ti'a-faahou-raa: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin (Roma 6:1-7)
I to oe bapetizo-raa-hia, you were circumcised in the circumcision of Christ and you have buried your old former life.
Te taata paari, who is carnal and sense-ruled and is dominated by the sinful nature, no longer exists.
Te taata paari, the carnal man, has died in Christ and the new man, the spiritual man, has been risen in Christ from the dead.
Old things have passed away, all things have become new!
You believed in Jesus Christ and decided to follow Jesus and entered a covenant with Him and as a sign of the covenant is the circumcision in Christ.
Just like in the Old Covenant the natural circumcision of the foreskin was a sign of the covenant between God, Abraham, e his Seed, in the New Covenant, the circumcision by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh through baptism, is a sign of the New Covenant in Christ.
The new man is risen with Christ from the dead
Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Eiaha ia hara i roto i to outou tino tahuti nei, ia haapa'o outou i te reira i roto i to'na ra mau hinaaro. Eiaha atoa outou e faariro i to outou mau melo ei mauhaa no te parau-ti'a ore ia rave i te hara: ia tuu râ outou ia outou iho i ta te Atua ra, ei feia faaora i tei ti'a faahou mai te pohe mai, e to outou mau melo ei mauhaa no te parau-ti'a i te Atua ra. No te mea e ore roa te hara e mana i ni'a ia outou: aore ho'i outou i raro a'e i te ture, i raro a'e râ i te aroha.
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, i raro a'e râ i te aroha? God forbid. Aita outou i ite, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Roma 6:8-16)
E mai te mea tei roto te Mesia ia outou na, ua pohe te tino no te hara; area te Varua râ, o te ora ïa no te parau-ti'a (Roma 8:10)
Mai te mea e ora outou i te tino nei, e pohe â ho'i outou: ia rave râ outou na roto i te Varua i te mau ohipa a te tino, e ora oe. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, e mau tamaiti ratou na te Atua (Roma 8:13-14)
Jesus Christ has conquered the death! If you have become a new creation in Him, you have been redeemed from the power of sin and death by the putting of the body of the sins of the flesh and you have been given power in Christ to reign over sin and death.
You shall no longer listen to the flesh and be led by the sinful nature of the flesh and fulfill the lusts and desires of the flesh, since the flesh with its sinful nature has died in Christ.
The proof that the flesh has died in Christ
If the flesh with the sinful nature has died in Christ, the flesh shall no longer produce the unrighteous works of the flesh, which are a.o. adultery, Te mau nota, divorce, (Te viivii ore i te pae no te) Te mau nota, effeminacy, inordinate affection (lust), evil concupiscence, Te mau nota, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, lying, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, stealing, murders, drunkenness, revellings (1 Korinetia 6:9- 6, Galatians 5:19-21, Kolosa 3:5-10).
If you still do the works of the flesh, you are not circumcised in Christ, because the body of the sins of the flesh has not been put off and is not buried in Christ but is still alive.
The old creation, who belongs to the world and lives in the kingdom of darkness, does these unrighteous works. But if you are born again and you are circumcised in the circumcision of Christ by the putting off the body of sins of the flesh, you shall not do those works anymore, but you shall do righteous works according to the will of God.
You shall listen to the Father and submit yourself to His Word and obey the words of God and apply them into your life, since the Word of God is the truth. You shall walk after the Spirit in the will of God and the Spirit shall reign in your life. As a result, you shall live a holy life unto God and bear the te hotu o te Varua.
'Ia riro ei miti no te fenua’
