CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF COLOSSIANS, CHAP. ii. 12. By the Rev. PETER MEARNS, Coldstream. Συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι· ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν.—Col. ii. 12. THE epistle to the Colossians was written by the Apostle Paul, in consequence of information received by him from Epaphras, a distinguished Christian preacher, regarding certain false teachers who had crept into the church at Colossa. We have no certain information respecting the precise opinions which were industriously propagated by these teachers, the Apostle's allusions being to us somewhat indefinite, though sufficiently distinct to the parties addressed. There seems to have been a systematic effort made to combine with Christianity the doctrines of the philosophical asceticism of the East; a by which combination it was asserted a deeper insight was obtained into the spiritual world than Christianity alone could give, the doctrines of the gospel being too benevolent and simple for these inactive and visionary speculatists. The worship of angels, the consecration of holy days, and the observance of carnal ordinances, were other errors reprobated by the Apostle. Paul endeavoured to check the tendency to asceticism, and to correct opinions which were not less plausible than pernicious, by reminding the Colossians of the excellence and glory of Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, by whom all things were created, and in whom all fulness dwells. In opposition to the supposed necessity of something supplementary to the Christian system the Apostle remarks, Ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power: in whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ: buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.' Such is the connection in which the verse stands which we have Neander's Hist., Torrey's transl., vol. i. p. 375. Edin. 1847. quoted quoted at the head of this article, and the points presented by this verse for examination are these: 1. The analogy between the burial of Jesus Christ and the spiritual burial of Christians; 2. The analogy between the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the spiritual resurrection of Christians; and, 3. The connection of the ordinance of baptism with the spiritual burial and resurrection of Christians. The Apostle here asserts that believers are buried with Christ in or by baptism-συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι-Χριστός being understood from verse 8th, as is indicated by avròs, its representative here. Συνταφέντες (second aorist participle passive of Ouv9άTT) literally signifies having been buried with, and here refers, we apprehend, to the just and instructive analogy between the burial of Christ and the spiritual burial of Christians, and not to the mode of Christian baptism, as we shall presently endeavour to show. The expression v T Baптisμarı, by baptism, is here employed to signify the means; that is, the Apostle asserts that by the ordinance of baptism the Colossian believers had given expression to the fact that they were united to Christ by faith, and consequently they might be said to be buried and risen with him. Such a use of the dative is of frequent occurrence. We have it in Matt. iii. 11, 'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire —ἐν Πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πυρί. The expression év , rendered wherein in the authorized version, may signify either in which or in whom, according as we refer it to Banτioμa or Xpiorós as its antecedent. Heinrichs, Macknight, βάπτισμα Χριστός and others, with the translators of the English Bible, make BaπTo the antecedent, but Erasmus, Vatablus, Grotius, Bengel, Rosenmüller, Stuart, and others, more correctly make it Xpores. We reject, then, the version of the English translators, and render with whom. Zuvnyéponte is literally ye have been raised with, but the prefix ouv has little, if any, force here, and taking ev xal with the verb, we render the whole clause, in connection with whom also ye have been raised. This is in accordance with the rule, that a preposition of similar import with the one before the verb, is put before the noun.' We have an instance of this in the phrase avaλé↓as Eis Tov oυzavov (Matt. xiv. 19, and Mark vi. 41), where the prefix ava is unnecessary, as the verb is followed by sis. The resurrection of believers of which the Apostle here speaks is a spiritual resurrection. Hence he says that it is dia Ts TioTews, through the instrumentality of faith. b Stuart's Syntax of the N. T. Dialect, § 61, 9, Note 1 (b). This faith the Apostle characterizes as τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, of the powerful working of God—that is, this faith receives its efficacy from the operation of God. Bengel's note here is good,- Fides est (opus) operationis divinæ et operatio divina est in fidelibus.' Ενέργεια is a stronger word than ἐργασία, and denotes energy, active and efficient working. It is rendered effectual working' in Eph. iii. 7, and iv. 16. It is further stated in the verse before us, that he by whose agency faith is produced in the minds of believers is the same God who raised Christ from the dead-τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν Vεnpav. This clause simply asserts that the physical resurrection of Christ was the effect of divine power. Such is a brief analysis of the words of this text as they stand in the original, and we shall now sum up the meaning in a short paraphrase. It is as if the Apostle had said, 'I address you as being in reality what you have professed in submitting to the ordinance of baptism. Being united to Christ by faith, you are regarded as having been dead, buried, and risen with him; the same divine power by which Christ was raised from the grave has been exerted in effecting your union to Christ; and it has originated the principle by which your views, feelings, and actions are regulated. As It is easy to see how the Apostle's statement, as thus understood, bears on his object in writing the epistle to the Colossians. a person who is dead and buried has broken off all connection with the external world, so those who are dead and buried with Christ, it is here asserted, have thereby broken off all connection with ceremonial observances, to which observances, as we have already remarked, the Colossians had shown an attachment. Circumcision was no longer to be observed among them, the law of Christ was to be henceforth their only rule, and Christ was to be the sole master to whose service their lives were consecrated. Such seems to us the true view of the passage under discussion, and this view is not without the support of able and learned commentators. It will be observed that we exclude all reference in this passage to the mode of baptism. It will also be seen that we make out an excellent sense without any such reference, and a sense, too, in harmony with the general bearing of the writer's argument and illustration. The position we have assumed, however, is opposed to views very confidently entertained and expressed by anti-pædobaptist writers, and concurred in by many commentators, whose views regarding the mode of baptism were unfavourable to the interpretation they give of this passage. It were wrong for us then quietly to assume this position without stating our reasons for it. In doing so we shall avoid the baptist contro versy, versy, and shall not even provoke discussion by stating what we conceive to be the meaning of the word BaπTiw. Our sole object is to state and vindicate what appears to us the proper interpretation of a text, which, when properly understood, cannot serve the combatants on either side of this controversy. 1st. We remark that the view we adopt has other passages of Scripture to support and illustrate it, but no such passages can be produced in favour of the interpretation to which we object. Of his union with the Redeemer the Apostle Paul thus speaks: I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me' (Gal. ii. 20). Again, the same Apostle says, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ; (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Eph. ii. 4-6). These passages are but a specimen, and there are many others of similar import which might be cited if necessary. Indeed, this is with the Apostle a favourite mode of representing the union of Christ with believers. They are crucified, dead, buried, risen, and, in affection, ascended to heaven with Christ. Why, then, suppose a reference to the mode of baptism in this text, when the usus loquendi suggests to us so excellent an interpretation without any reference to the supposed mode in which this ordinance should be administered? Now, keeping out of view Romans vi. 3, which is exactly parallel with that under discussion, and to be interpreted precisely in the same way, no passage can be produced from the New Testament in which baptism is represented as a burial and resurrection.. But it may be asked, why does the Apostle in this text refer to baptism at all? We reply, that he addresses the Colossians as believers, and therefore in a state of union with Christ; and he refers to baptism for the purpose of intimating that they had themselves expressed that fact by receiving this ordinance; but the mode of administering the divinely appointed rite is not adverted to, and the language of this passage is equally applicable to the ordinance, whether we suppose it to have been administered by immersion or sprinkling. 2nd. Again, there is no just analogy between burial and baptism. The grave is the scene of destruction, loathsomeness, and putrefaction; but the water of baptism is emblematical of the life-giving and purifying influences of the Holy Spirit. It has been supposed that baptism is called a burial in order to intimate that the only proper mode of administering this Christian rite is by by immersion. Against this supposition much use has been made of the fact that, by the Jewish mode of burial, the body was deposited on a shelf, in a cave or excavation made in a solid rock, and not lowered into a pit to be covered with earth as with us. Between such a burial and the submersion of the body in water the analogy seems very much forced. Now we know from Matt. xxvii. 60 that the burial of Christ, of which baptism is supposed to be an emblem, was of this sort. The most prominent idea, however, suggested by a figure drawn from the grave is that of corruption; and it would require very strong evidence to make us believe that an inspired Apostle would employ such a figure to describe the mode of administering an ordinance which is emblematical of purification. The incongruity is obvious when the supposed intention of the figure is present to the mind, and it is fitted to suggest almost any thought rather than the one intended. This is one reason why we are strongly of opinion that the Apostle employs no such figure. .3 3rd. Our interpretation preserves the uniformity of the passage, and carries us through the Apostle's argument; but the one against which we contend is defective in this respect. In close connection with our text, as well as in verse 20 of this chapter, the writer asserts that believers are dead, and dead with Christ. Now immersion is not drowning, and there is no necessary connection between immersion and death; but there is such a connection between death and burial. The rite of immersion, when judiciously administered, does not endanger the life, or even the health, of the individual; but the rites of burial are performed only when the person is dead. His burial in the grave implies his death. There is another expression in the context, however, which receives no illustration from the mode of interpretation against which we are contending. It is this: If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.' The union between Christ and believers admirably illustrates this injunction. In a passage already quoted the Apostle says that God hath raised us up together with Christ, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.' That is, believers are crucified, dead, buried, and risen with Christ, and consequently their affections now have a natural tendency upwards to the place where he sits at the right hand of God. Their union with him is by faith, and he has ascended to heaven as their forerunner and advocate, to secure their presence hereafter in a mansion near his throne. No anti-pædobaptist writer whom we have consulted has ventured to extend the supposed figure of baptism to this point. Indeed there is obviously no resemblance |