Albert Barnes Commentary Colossians 2:11

"in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ;" — Colossians 2:11 (ASV)

In whom. In connection with whom, or in virtue of whose religion.

Ye are circumcised. You have received that which was designed to be represented by circumcision—the putting away of sin. (See Barnes on Philippians 3:3).

With the circumcision made without hands. This refers to the circumcision made in the heart by the renunciation of all sin. The Jewish teachers insisted on the necessity of literal circumcision for salvation (compare See Barnes on Ephesians 2:11); for this reason, the subject is often introduced into Paul's writings, and he takes great pains to show that by believing in Christ, all that was required for salvation was obtained.

Circumcision was an ordinance signifying that all sin was to be cut off or renounced, and that the one who was circumcised was to be devoted to God and to a holy life. All this, the apostle says, was obtained by the gospel. Consequently, believers had all that was signified by the ancient rite of circumcision.

Moreover, what Christians had obtained related to the heart; it was not a mere ordinance pertaining to the flesh.

In putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. That is, in renouncing the deeds of the flesh, or becoming holy. The word body, here, seems to be used with reference to circumcision. In that ordinance, the body of the FLESH was subjected to the rite; with Christians, it is the body of sin that is cut off.

By the circumcision of Christ. Not that Christ was circumcised, but that we have the kind of circumcision Christ established—namely, the renouncing of sin. The apostle's idea here seems to be this: since Christ has thus enabled us to renounce sin and devote ourselves to God, we should not be persuaded by any plausible arguments to return to an ordinance pertaining to the flesh, as if that were necessary for salvation.