“In him you were also circumcised, in putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:11-12)

My sister worked in a bank for many years. During that time she came in contact with a lot of counterfeit money. Interestingly, the training surrounding being able to identify a counterfeit bill was not studying it, instead it was knowing the elements that made up the real thing. She knew what the paper looked and felt like, how the ink and imprint should look, she recognized the interwoven strip inside the bill. And when all else failed, she had a pen that would turn black on everything except real money. Passing a counterfeit bill on to her would never work, she was an expert on the real thing.

As believers this should be our approach. Paul said, all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ (vs. 3). Then warns twice not to be deceived by fine sounding arguments (vs. 4, 8). Then he gives two powerful illustrations to help us identify the real thing when the enemy tries to pass off a counterfeit.

#1 - Sin Nature is Gone

“For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority” (Colossians 2:9-10)

The best plan for keeping on track is focusing on Christ and His will for you. This is easier said than done; in the previous verse, we are warned not to be deceived or taken captive by philosophy (vs. 8). These things depend on human tradition instead of heavenly wisdom. However, we are given powerful incentives to stay the course by knowing a few things about Christ.