Colossians 2:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Having forgiven us," he says, "all trespasses," that is, all sins. Which sins? Those that produced death.

And what then? Did He allow them to remain? No. He wiped them out. He not only forgave them, but completely erased them, so that they should never appear.

That is, you had fleshly thoughts in great number and excess, and they were putting you to death. For as He arose in body, so you arose in spirit.

Yet without doubt we too shall rise in body. But the great John gives us to understand that mortification may also be understood otherwise.

For, he says, because of the fall we were under condemnation to death. "Having forgiven us all trespasses." "Having forgiven us all sins."

But see what He counted us worthy of, and in what manner He set us free.

Thus the Lord endured subjection to death so that guilt might be destroyed. But lest nature should come to an end in death, resurrection from the dead was granted to it.

Thus through death guilt vanished, and through resurrection nature entered into eternity. Therefore this death is the passage of all things.

You must constantly pass over. This passage is from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality, and from disturbances to rest.

Therefore do not be struck by the name of death, but rejoice in the benefits of the good passage. What is death but the burial of vices and the resurrection of virtues?

Therefore Balaam also says, "Let my soul die among the souls of the righteous" (Num 23:10). That is, let it be buried with them, so that it may put away its vices.

Let it acquire the grace of the righteous, who bear the dying of Christ in their body and soul.

For they have already risen from the death of sin. Therefore the Apostle added, "in Him you were raised together," and not, "you will be raised together."

For how will those who have risen from the death of sin live, if they are again dying?

All who believed in Christ and were baptized Christ made alive, just as the Father made Him alive by raising Him from the dead.

Together with new life in Christ, the cleansing of all sins is also granted. In the same way, together with raising from the depth of the watery immersion, salvation from death and cleansing from the defilement of the body are given.

Thus the first gifts of Christ are deliverance from sin and eternal death. Holiness and eternal life in Christ are inseparably joined to them. This is why at baptism it is sung: "As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."

Almost all the most important interpreters, when explaining the deep meaning of the Apostle's words that define the meaning and power of baptism, dwell with special attention on the comparison of baptism with circumcision.

From this comparison the conclusion naturally follows that the Colossian Christians were being deceived by Judaizers, who praised circumcision, feasts, and their fasts (vv. 16-18).

Thus, according to Chrysostom, the Apostle speaks as though saying: "Now circumcision is not from the knife, but from Christ Himself. Not a hand, as there, performs this circumcision, but the Spirit. Not a part is circumcised, but the whole man.

"This is a body, and that is a body. But that is circumcised fleshly, while this is circumcised spiritually. It is not as with the Jews, for you put off not flesh, but sins."

"Bodily circumcision brings no benefit to those circumcised, but the removal of sinfulness through baptism grants true salvation," says blessed Theodoret.

"It must be supposed," says Bishop Theophan, "that all such expressions, such as burial together and rising together, were needed as a counterweight to the speculations of the seducing philosophers. This applies to all of them, not only to 'circumcision not made with hands.'"

"Christian circumcision is the circumcision of the heart by the Spirit, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in which a man casts off from himself the tyranny of sin."

"When you were baptized, you then cast off the body of sin. Then you were circumcised. The Blood of the Lord, pouring over you through the baptismal water, washed all impurity from you and opened entrance into your nature for the grace of the Holy Spirit.

"When He came, He cut away that by which sin held you in its power, and the body of sin fell away from you. They are buried together with the Lord in baptism by receiving the redeeming power of Christ's Blood and death, and at the same time by dying to sin."

"Freedom from sin is one side of baptism, so to speak, the preparatory side. Its positive side consists in rising together with Christ."

"To rise together with Christ is the same as to put on the new man (Col 3:10; Eph 4:24; Rom 6:4). The necessary condition on man's side is faith in the power, or might, of God."

"Faith in God's almighty power, manifested with extraordinary force in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, mediates in the soul of the Christian faith in his own resurrection. That is, faith in rebirth to new life" (I. Mukhin; cf. Rom 10:9), "the life of the age to come" (Theodoret).

As you descended into the font, you descended into the death of Christ and died with Him to sin. As you came up from the font, you put on the risen Lord and rose with Him for life according to God. God made you alive together with Him.

This death and enlivening are not ascribed to you only in name. They are present in you in very deed. You feel them and show them in action.

Now I ask you: in order that you might be counted worthy of such grace, was circumcision of the flesh proposed to you as a necessary condition? Did God, through those who baptized you, declare that unless you were circumcised, you would not receive grace that gives life to the spirit?

Did He declare that without circumcision you would not even be admitted to baptism? Nothing of the kind happened. God made you alive together with Christ the Lord even in your uncircumcision.

Your uncircumcision did not prevent the life-giving grace of the Holy Spirit from descending into you in holy baptism and enlivening you, who were dead in sins.

The words "and in the uncircumcision of your flesh" must be joined with "He made alive together." The sense is this: even in your uncircumcision, and despite your uncircumcision, He made you alive together.

The word "in trespasses" must be referred to "being dead," in the usual sense in which all people are dead through sins, both ancestral and their own. For the wages of sin is death.

After these expressions a punctuation mark should be placed. Between "in the uncircumcision of the flesh" and "He made alive together" no punctuation mark should be placed, so that it is visibly clear which expression belongs where.

Those who refer the words "in the uncircumcision of the flesh" to "being dead" are forced to give them a figurative meaning, because uncircumcision does not make one dead, but sin does.

They understand by it uncircumcision of the heart, or sinful desire, the source of all sins. In that case, no other interpretation can be allowed.

Our interpreters speak of this passage in such a way that their words may suggest either relation of these words. Blessed Theodoret understands by uncircumcision of the flesh sinfulness in general.

Yet he expresses the Apostle's thought thus: "The Apostle teaches that bodily uncircumcision does not harm those who have it, but spiritual uncircumcision harms both body and soul.

"By this he proves that bodily circumcision brings no benefit to those circumcised, while the removal of sinfulness brings true salvation."

Oecumenius paraphrases the Apostle's thought thus: "You, who were dead in sins because of inactivity or immobility toward good, and were uncircumcised, God circumcised in spirit and made alive, making you alive together with Christ."

"Having forgiven us all trespasses." This does not define the manner of enlivening, but the path to it. The enlivening grace of the Spirit has no access to those upon whom the guilt of sin lies.

When the guilt is removed and sins are forgiven, then grace, having gained access, enters the soul and gives it life. This is what the Apostle indicates here.

"Having forgiven trespasses" means "having granted us forgiveness of sins" (blessed Theodoret). Earlier the Apostle said "you." Now he says "us." Perhaps this had no special meaning for the Apostle.

Perhaps he wished only to say: us together with you, that is, all people in general. The path to spiritual enlivening lies through forgiveness of sins not only for you, but for all.

Forgiveness of sins is obtained through repentance with faith in the Lord, who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

Repentance precedes baptism, and because of repentance, with faith, sins are washed away in the font. There also enlivening is given by grace. One act accomplishes two things: it removes sins and gives new life.