Colossians Chapter 2, Verses 11 through 15

You were dead!

q Spiritually dead now

q Soon to be physically dead

q Destined to be eternally dead

God made you alive!

q Spiritually alive now

q Destined to abundant life with Him

q Blessed into eternal life

1. HE forgave ALL our sins

2. HE cancelled the record of ALL our sin

3. HE took away the record of ALL our sin

4. HE destroyed the record of ALL our sin

5. HE disarmed the evil in our lives

6. HE shamed the enemy publicly and for all time

7. HE saved us from ourselves and our enemy

You trust Him by Faith

q Faith in our Mighty God

q Faith in His Son who He raised from the Dead

You come to know Him

q Know Him by Faith and not by sight.

q Know Him by His Holy Spirit testifying of Him in you

You become

q Spiritually circumcised (your sin is cut away)

q Spiritually Born Again

1. A second chance

2. A vibrant life

3. Life dependant on Him

4. Life Eternal

5. Life Abundant

6. Life with purpose

7. Life with direction

8. Life with protection

9. Life with provision

Colossians 2:11-15

11 When (Paul is talking to Christians here – this is a when you came, but is also shows the grace of God and the benefits of coming to know Jesus as Lord! “If you come”) you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," (to cut around) but not by a physical procedure. (Key issue here – God did this – not you. No matter how hard you try, you or any other person, could NEVER remove the stain of sin from yourself or another! Only God has this right and privilege.) It was a spiritual procedure (without hands) -- the cutting away of your sinful nature (human nature, lower flesh). (This is not simply a symbol – this is what the symbol pointed to! Your sins, every single one, can be cut off of you like a nasty wart and discarded in the waste bin with the rest of the garbage of this world! But only by the GRace of God through Faith in Jesus Christ! What can wash away my sin? NOTHING bu the Blood of Jesus! Yea, I know it is a song, but it is the Gospel Message so many need to hear))

12 For you were buried with Christ (to inter in company with, to assimilate spiritually) when you were baptized. And with him you were raised (to collect ones faculties, to waken) to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. (A man asked Jesus how to have eternal life and was told that he must be “Born Again”. Here is the how of that message – through faith in Christ. We believe in God and His Son, the love they have for us and the path to salvation that THEY prepared for us. We are “Born Again” in the Spirit because we come to accept the Gift of new birth that God has waiting for us. This is a free gift to us, but there was a terrible price paid. Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, was ridiculed, beaten, spit on, drug through town, humiliated, nailed to a piece of wood that He created by the very people He created so that they could live with Him forever.)

13 You were dead (a corpse, rotting, stinking, lifeless meat) because of your sins (side slip, error, transgression) and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. (This is the truth of our life BEFORE we believe! The life of a lost person is walking death. There is no future, no hope and no peace. We must come to a conviction about our life without Christ. We were/are like sheep without a shepherd wandering aimlessly into the lions den.) Then God made you alive (quickened, reanimated) with Christ. He forgave (grant as favor, [charizomai - root is grace], pardon or rescue) all our sins. (This is what God does for us simply because He loves us – He makes us alive through Christ. Nothing else – Only Jesus!)

14 He canceled (smear out, obliterate) the record that contained the charges against (contrary, opposed) us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing (peg to, spike fast) it to Christ's cross (pole or cross as a method of capital punishment). (read this carefully. There are three key things here that God does with our sins by Grace through faith in Christ.

1. He cancelled the record. This means that He wrote “FORGIVEN” across the page with His shed blood and the charges against us could no longer be read! They had been covered by His Blood.
2. He then tore the page out of the book. He took it out so no one could find your name recorded in it.
3. He then destroyed the record of your sin for all time. No one could read it, no one could find you in the book, no on e could even find any trace evidence that you had ever had a ledger entry in the book.

What book is this? This is the book of judgment that will be opened and reviewed at the Great White Throne Judgment found in Revelation 20:11-15. This is all of the books except the Book of Life. When your name is removed from the books of judgement, it is recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life. The Bible says plainly, “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15 (NLT) Which book is your name recorded in today? Is there any mention of you in the book of judgment? Or the Book of Life? God guarantees that your name is recorded in one OR the other, but not both. Our scripture today promises us that by Grace alone through Faith Alone in Christ alone our name is eternally obliterated from the book of judgment.)

15 In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers (chief in order, place, rank, etc) and authorities (magistrate, potentate, authority). He shamed (made a show of them, to exhibit) them publicly (visibly, in the open, for all to see) by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. (Christ is the one and only method Almighty God chose for victory over evil and sin. Christ alone. This is His mission right up through today and on into tomorrow – That we would come to faith in His Son Jesus Christ and receive the forgiveness, restoration and eternal life He has prepared for us. Are you ready to receive? God is waiting to deliver.)

All scripture is the authorized New Living Translation - (NLT)

Colossians 2:11-15

When you came to Christ,

you were "circumcised,"

but not by a physical procedure.

It was a spiritual procedure—

the cutting away of your sinful nature.

For you were buried with Christ

when you were baptized.

And with him

you were raised

to a new life

because

you trusted the mighty power of God,

who raised Christ from the dead.

You were dead

because of your sins

and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away.

Then God made you alive

with Christ.

He forgave all our sins.

He canceled the record

that contained the charges against us.

He took it

and destroyed it

by nailing it to Christ's cross.

In this way,

God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities.

He shamed them publicly

by his victory over them on the cross of Christ.

(NLT)