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Colossians 2:11-15 shows that the believer’s standing before God is not built on external religious performance, but on the finished work of Christ. Paul speaks of a circumcision made without hands, the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. This is not mere outward ritual. It is the inward work of God by which the old life is dealt with in Christ.
The message connects this to baptism, burial, resurrection, and being made alive together with Christ. We were dead in trespasses, yet God has forgiven all trespasses. Paul then gives one of the most powerful pictures of the cross: the handwriting of requirements that was against us has been wiped out, taken out of the way, and nailed to the cross.
Christ not only forgives His people; He triumphs. He disarmed principalities and powers and made a public spectacle of them through the cross. This study calls us away from any form of Jesus-plus religion. We do not add legalistic requirements to make the gospel complete. Christ has dealt with the debt, forgiven the sinner, and triumphed over every power that stood against us.