The Epistle of Paul to The Colossians

In Christ the fullness of Deity resides in bodily form.  Yours is a
share of this fullness, in him who is the head of every principality
and power.  You were also circumcised in him, not with the circumcision
administered by hand but with Christ’s circumcision which strips off the
carnal body completely.  In baptism you were not only buried with him
but also raised to life with him because you believed in the power of God
who raised him from the dead.  Even when you were dead in sin and your
flesh was uncircumcised, God gave you new life in company with Christ.  He
pardoned all our sins.  He canceled the bond that stood against us with
all its claims, snatching it up and nailing it to the cross.

 

Footnote:

The Colossians are admonished to adhere to the gospel as it was first
preached to them, steeping themselves in it with grateful hearts.  They
must reject religious teachings originating in any source except the
gospel because in Christ alone will they have access to the divinity.  So
fully has he enlightened them that they need no other source of religious
knowledge or virtue.  They do not require circumcision, for in baptism
their whole being has been affected by Christ through forgiveness of sin
and restoration to a new life.

THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
Catholic Bible Publishers
Wichita, Kansas
Copyright 1970, 1978-1979 Edition

NIHIL OBSTAT
Stephen J. Hartdegen, O.F.M., S.S.L.
Christian P. Ceroke, O.Carm, S.T.D.

IMPRIMATUR
Patrick Cardinal O’Boyle, D.D.
Archbishop of Washington