With Him. Colossians 2:12. Spiritually, we have died in Christ, been buried, and been raised again through faith in Him. Our sinful nature, not physical flesh, has made us spiritually complete in our Lord Jesus Christ. Circumcision symbolized salvation from Egypt's bondage by God's mighty power and Israel's commitment to obey His will. The baptism of believers testifies to our death to sin and our being raised to a new life in Christ by His power. We are not saved by dead works but by God’s grace through faith in Christ. We have now risen to walk and live a new life that pleases Him and is directly connected to our Lord Jesus Christ.
The position of being "in Him" doesn't happen just because we want it to. Whether in our walk as believers, our growth, or our completeness in Christ, we owe all of these to what happened through God’s grace. In our identification, we have been buried "with Him," raised "with Him," and "with Him have regeneration." The burial occurred after our sins were fully paid for on the cross through Christ's death. When He died, I died; that death was more than simply losing one's breath. As far as God's righteous judgment is concerned, my sin separated me from Him. On the cross, as my substitute, the Lord Jesus shed His blood and paid the price for my sin.
Similarly, when He was buried, I was buried as evidence that, when it comes to divine justice, I, in the Savior, have died. The waters covered my body, just as carved stones all around the body of Christ did when His body was in the tomb. The old man and the nature within me—death—were hidden forever in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. When the waters parted again and I rose, it testified that Christ rose from the dead to justify me. The Holy Spirit within was adorning the glory of new life in resurrection, a life of imparted holiness and faith so that throughout my entire life from now on, it will make me a trophy of grace.
Now, daily life is meant to reflect the Lord's. My actions should mirror His actions; my words should echo His. My attitude and response to God's will should declare, "Thy will be done!" By God's grace alone, a fragrance of Christ should remain after I am gone. Christian circumcision of the heart is a reality, not just a sign or symbol. Spiritual transformation changes the nature of anyone who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. We must die in Christ to truly live in Him. We have been crucified to the world, and the world has been crucified to us. When we consider what sin does and would do to us, we are strongly motivated to resist sin and intentionally dedicate ourselves to living for the Lord.
Our faith is centered on the One who is the exact image of the invisible God. We are united to Him and have become part of His body, with Him as the Head. He is the supreme authority and Ruler over all powers and orders, whether good or bad. The practice of circumcision was challenged because the entire body of the believer is to put off sin, not just a piece of skin cut away. Outward circumcision has nothing to do with being accepted by God or receiving His salvation. In a person's heart, one abandons "the body of flesh" and the sins linked to it. The corruption of our natural and sinful passions is cut off so we can live according to the Spirit. That is the "circumcision of Christ,"
What think ye of Christ" is the key to any teaching. When we are alive in Him, we are set free from the law because we are in Him who fulfilled the law's demands. He has made us victorious over the principalities and powers seeking our allegiance. We testify to that inward truth of what took place in the heart by the outward act of baptism. Grace has done its work inwardly, and we testify to that publicly. Faith in Christ goes beyond forms or religious acts to the "operation (working) of God" in our lives. We testify to our faith through this experience. Christ's death for us testified to God's love for us. Christ was raised from the dead by the "operation of God" for Him. He died so that we might live. We live for Him and through Him and die to ourselves. We died to sin so that we can live in Christ, and we live in Christ so we can die to the world.