DEVOTIONAL
We live in a day and age where man longs to be the center of his own existence. He believes that by his own logical reasons, and the decisions that he has made, he is who he is. He builds his own kingdom and looking at all of his accomplishments like Nebuchadnezzar of old, he says, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” He walks out of his house, closes the door and looks up, seeing the beauty of the sun rising in all of its glory and looking back over his shoulders at all of his possessions saying, “Ah, the Lord has blessed me today, let me go and make much of myself and satisfy all my passions.” This may not be the verbal prayer that comes from his mouth, but it is definitely woven in the very fabric of his soul where his deepest affections lie.
Unfortunately, in present day Christianity much of the same thought is being taught about the saving work of Jesus Christ. Many evangelicals say, “Repeat this prayer after me and then you will be saved. You do not have to go to hell, no one deserves to go to hell. You see, Christ has done all the work on the cross for you to be saved. He is reaching his hand out to you now, but you must grab it for yourself. It is all up to you and Christ cannot help you if you do not come.” That person, driven by sheer emotions, repeats the prayer and then goes on about his life with no inward conviction concerning sin, or even acknowledging the natural order of creation where God is declaring His glory.
This is not the gospel that is preached in the holy Scriptures. You see the apostle Paul had never visited the city of Colossae. It was founded by a man named Epaphras who sat under the teaching of Paul in Ephesus. But Paul loved the church like it was his own. So he wrote a letter to them concerning the threat of Jewish legalism. In this letter Paul declares to them the supremacy of Christ. He explains to them that Christ is the One holding all of creation together by the breath of His word, and that all things were created through Him and for Him. But Paul moves even deeper and declares that Christ is even sovereign in salvation. He tells them, “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 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.”
Paul wants them to understand that it is not the circumcision of the flesh that saves them, nor is it a mere emotional confession of faith apart from the work of God in the heart of a man that saves him. You see, until God, through the Holy Spirit, circumcises the heart, in the cutting out of the root of wickedness, that is removing the desire for unrighteousness that has been there by birth, man will not, nor he can not, come to the saving knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. He will not only not come to the Savior, but he will not acknowledge he is fully deserving of God’s just punishment. So as believers in Christ today, let us not seek to rob God of His glory through a man centered salvation, but rest in His sovereign decree that He established from the foundation of the world. For as it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
“ 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;”
Colossians 2:11 NASBS