Buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (13) And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, (14)having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way , having nailed it to the cross.

The letter to the Colossians was written by the apostle Paul challenging corrupting doctrine of the gospel which was gaining momentum in Colosse, with biblical truth which is: Christ is the source of salvation – Jesus Christ alone is sufficient. We are born spiritually dead in sin, separated from God and void of spiritual life. In faith, in Christ, we are born a new creature delivered from condemnation and alive in the Lord. Paul is not supporting regeneration in baptism but faith – baptism is an outward testimony of an inward change. Paul is saying we must be saved before we can be changed. We owed a debt we could not pay. Sin had to be atoned for and we could not do it – we were declared guilty. Christ bore our sin on the cross and the holiness of God was satisfied and atonement made. When we come to Christ by faith His righteousness is imputed to us. We are righteous through the Son of God; our sin and condemnation is nailed to the cross.

Union with Christ is key here. We are either of Adam or Christ. All fell by Adam and all in Christ are saved. Paul warns the Colossians – and us – don’t run after false teaching when we have everything necessary in the Lord Christ Jesus. In Christ we are forgiven all our sins; not just last and present, not just big and little, not repeated, hidden and public. Our sin is paid for us in Christ’s life and death.

In the c.s. Lewis essay ‘The World’s Last Night’ he addresses the end of life in this world either by death or the promised Second Coming of Christ. “What is important is not that we should always fear (or hope) about the End but that we should always remember, always take into account…….Now what death is to each man, the Second Coming is to the whole human race. We all believe, I suppose, that a man should “sit loose” to his own individual life, should remember how short, precarious, temporary, and provisional a thing it is; should never give all his heart to anything which will end when his life ends. What modern Christians find it harder to remember is that the whole life of humanity in this world is also precarious, temporary, provisional……All achievements and triumphs, in so far as they are merely this-worldly achievements and triumphs will come to nothing in the end.” BUT, in faith in the divinity of Christ and the truth of biblical revelation we are assured of eternal salvation. Lewis also wrote; “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.”