What Was Nailed To The Cross According to COL. 2:14? Not the Law, but the Law's Indictment our -"death warrant"
THE TRUTH ABOUT COL. 2:14
Millions are deceived! There are precious few people on the entire earth that really UNDERSTAND the Scripture in question. Before any study of a difficult verse in the writings of the apostle Paul, we must consider the warning given by Peter in II Pet. 3:16.
"And also in all his (Paul's) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (twist), as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."
In view of this warning, it is essential to get a grounding of plain Scriptures of Jesus Christ and others so we won't misunderstand Paul's writing.
Of all people who has the key of knowledge it is Jesus Christ, and it is He who should be our foundation for further acquisition of knowledge on this subject. In Matt. 5: 17-18 Jesus said
"THINK NOT that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled."
Therefore, at the very outset of our study, we can KNOW the Law of God is NOT going to be 'done away.' Jesus went on to praise those who would teach God's Commandments. (v-19).
When a certain man asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life, Jesus made eternal life CONDITIONAL upon the keeping of the commandments. Matt. 19:17.
"but IF you will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!"
Jesus then went on to enumerate some of the points of the Ten Commandments. James also points out that to break one point of the Ten Commandments brings on a verdict of guilty of breaking all of them. James 2:8-11.
"If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well: "But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Realize James specifically pointed out that to commit sin means one is convicted of transgressing the Law. John also agrees for he nails down what sin IS in I Jn. 3:4.
"Whosoever commits sin TRANSGRESSES also the LAW: for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW!"
Never forget this explicit WORD OF GOD! So far we see that there is no release of obligation to obey the Commandments of God. You have been reading the very WORD OF GOD. Will you hear? If you are of God, you will hear! Jn. 8: 47.
"He that is of God hears God's words
With the background we now have, we can read and understand a clear statement by Paul in Rom. 3:23.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Since sin, by definition, is the breaking of God's law, then the opposite is also true - if there is no law, there can be no sin! Rom. 4:15. "for where no law is, there is no transgression."
Yet, Christians still sin, sin still exists. All, both Jew and Gentile have sinned, BROKEN GOD'S LAW, transgressed the commandments of God!
Death Enters
What is the result of our sins, our transgression of God's law? Answer: Rom. 5:12.
"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and DEATH by sin; and so DEATH passed upon all men, for that ALL have sinned:"
Since all have sinned, broken God's law, wages have been earned by ALL. Rom. 6:23.
"For the wages of sin IS DEATH"
DEATH, ETERNAL DEATH, from which there is NO resurrection is the just recompense, the penalty to be imposed.
Now let's UNDERSTAND! God is the great Judge. We have broken His law. There is now an INDICTMENT against us as offenders, law breakers. The Judge is handed a written indictment by the prosecuting attorney (Satan). The Judge declares the penalty we must pay is death! Death, the cessation of life, for all eternity! In Biblical terms it is called 'the second death.'
Penalty Must Be Paid
God's law, when broken, requires a penalty to be paid. That penalty is eternal death from which there is no resurrection. We CAN pay that penalty by free choice! But there is GOOD NEWS! We do not have to pay that penalty IF we fully understand it is what we really deserve, and IF we accept the death of Jesus Christ IN OUR STEAD.
Indictment Cancelled
How could this be? Since Jesus Christ is Creator of ALL things, His own life is worth more than the sum total of ALL that He created. Jesus stood before the Judge and said -'tear up the record of the indictment of this accused sinner, and I will pay his penalty by being put to death in his stead.' By our acceptance of His death FOR us, the record of the indictment of our law breaking, which required the death penalty to be imposed, is now cancelled. Jesus pays it. We now stand FREE to continue to live. We TRUST His sacrifice as great enough to satisfy the penalty of death the indictment required.
NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY! It was OUR breaking of God's law that brought about the excruciating death of our Savior on the Cross. DO WE DARE to think we are now free to do despite to the grace wherein we stand and again BREAK GOD'S GOOD LAW? Paul asks that same question in Rom. 6:1 "What shall we say then?
"Shall we continue in sin (breaking the law), that grace (undeserved pardon) may abound?"
WHAT IS PAUL'S ANSWER? v-2.
"GOD FORBID!!"
Once standing in the freedom of grace, we must now KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!
The Scriptures you have been reading CANNOT BE BROKEN! (Jn. 10:35) Colossians 2:14 CANNOT contradict the plain TRUTH we have just learned.
COL. 2:14 STATED
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
What does this mean? We KNOW by all of the foregoing TRUTH that it cannot negate our obligation to keep God's Commandments. So what was nailed to the cross? Our SINS in the body of Jesus Christ. He bore our sins (Heb. 9:28). The sins brought on an indictment of guilty requiring the death penalty to be paid. Christ paid it for us, the indictment was taken out of the way.
Again, what was against us and contrary to us? Whatever it was, it was blotted out! What was against us was the INDICTMENT brought on by our breaking of God's Law!
God's Laws are NOT against us, and never have been. The obligation we have to keep the commandments is NOT against us. It was the INDICTMENT resulting from our FORMER way of life of transgressing God's law.
Now notice the following clarifications from other sources.
"What has Christ done? He has redeemed us: by the sacrifice of the Cross he has brought reconciliation, cancelled the Law's INDICTMENT that stood against us"
(Layman's Bible Commentary p. 115, vol. 22)
What was cancelled? The Law's INDICTMENT.
"14. The BOND, the debt we could not pay, is sponged out. It consisted of the ordinances which we all (whether Jews or Gentiles, see Rom. 2:15) failed to keep and which therefore formed OUR INDICTMENT. This bond God annulled by the Cross. Paul thinks of the "title" or label on a cross, in this case the indictment." (Concise Bible Commentary p-883)
Our failure to keep the laws, statutes, ordinances and word of God brought on our INDICTMENT!! The "handwriting of ordinances" was the 'bond', the debt we could not pay, that was cancelled.
"14 handwriting. Or, 'bond'. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, the 'handwriting of ordinances' (or bond of legal obligations) was cancelled." (Irwin's Bible Commentary p-522)
And what was this 'bond or legal obligations'? It was the INDICTMENT spelling out our death warrant. The indictment has been cancelled, no longer against us! How plain this Scripture is now that we see it in the light of the previously stated clear Scriptures.
Millions are deceived! There are precious few people on the entire earth that really UNDERSTAND the Scripture in question. Before any study of a difficult verse in the writings of the apostle Paul, we must consider the warning given by Peter in II Pet. 3:16.
"And also in all his (Paul's) epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest (twist), as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction."
In view of this warning, it is essential to get a grounding of plain Scriptures of Jesus Christ and others so we won't misunderstand Paul's writing.
Of all people who has the key of knowledge it is Jesus Christ, and it is He who should be our foundation for further acquisition of knowledge on this subject. In Matt. 5: 17-18 Jesus said
"THINK NOT that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled."
Therefore, at the very outset of our study, we can KNOW the Law of God is NOT going to be 'done away.' Jesus went on to praise those who would teach God's Commandments. (v-19).
When a certain man asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life, Jesus made eternal life CONDITIONAL upon the keeping of the commandments. Matt. 19:17.
"but IF you will enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!"
Jesus then went on to enumerate some of the points of the Ten Commandments. James also points out that to break one point of the Ten Commandments brings on a verdict of guilty of breaking all of them. James 2:8-11.
"If you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself, you do well: "But if you have respect to persons, you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
"For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."
Realize James specifically pointed out that to commit sin means one is convicted of transgressing the Law. John also agrees for he nails down what sin IS in I Jn. 3:4.
"Whosoever commits sin TRANSGRESSES also the LAW: for SIN IS THE TRANSGRESSION OF THE LAW!"
Never forget this explicit WORD OF GOD! So far we see that there is no release of obligation to obey the Commandments of God. You have been reading the very WORD OF GOD. Will you hear? If you are of God, you will hear! Jn. 8: 47.
"He that is of God hears God's words
With the background we now have, we can read and understand a clear statement by Paul in Rom. 3:23.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Since sin, by definition, is the breaking of God's law, then the opposite is also true - if there is no law, there can be no sin! Rom. 4:15. "for where no law is, there is no transgression."
Yet, Christians still sin, sin still exists. All, both Jew and Gentile have sinned, BROKEN GOD'S LAW, transgressed the commandments of God!
Death Enters
What is the result of our sins, our transgression of God's law? Answer: Rom. 5:12.
"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and DEATH by sin; and so DEATH passed upon all men, for that ALL have sinned:"
Since all have sinned, broken God's law, wages have been earned by ALL. Rom. 6:23.
"For the wages of sin IS DEATH"
DEATH, ETERNAL DEATH, from which there is NO resurrection is the just recompense, the penalty to be imposed.
Now let's UNDERSTAND! God is the great Judge. We have broken His law. There is now an INDICTMENT against us as offenders, law breakers. The Judge is handed a written indictment by the prosecuting attorney (Satan). The Judge declares the penalty we must pay is death! Death, the cessation of life, for all eternity! In Biblical terms it is called 'the second death.'
Penalty Must Be Paid
God's law, when broken, requires a penalty to be paid. That penalty is eternal death from which there is no resurrection. We CAN pay that penalty by free choice! But there is GOOD NEWS! We do not have to pay that penalty IF we fully understand it is what we really deserve, and IF we accept the death of Jesus Christ IN OUR STEAD.
Indictment Cancelled
How could this be? Since Jesus Christ is Creator of ALL things, His own life is worth more than the sum total of ALL that He created. Jesus stood before the Judge and said -'tear up the record of the indictment of this accused sinner, and I will pay his penalty by being put to death in his stead.' By our acceptance of His death FOR us, the record of the indictment of our law breaking, which required the death penalty to be imposed, is now cancelled. Jesus pays it. We now stand FREE to continue to live. We TRUST His sacrifice as great enough to satisfy the penalty of death the indictment required.
NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY! It was OUR breaking of God's law that brought about the excruciating death of our Savior on the Cross. DO WE DARE to think we are now free to do despite to the grace wherein we stand and again BREAK GOD'S GOOD LAW? Paul asks that same question in Rom. 6:1 "What shall we say then?
"Shall we continue in sin (breaking the law), that grace (undeserved pardon) may abound?"
WHAT IS PAUL'S ANSWER? v-2.
"GOD FORBID!!"
Once standing in the freedom of grace, we must now KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS!
The Scriptures you have been reading CANNOT BE BROKEN! (Jn. 10:35) Colossians 2:14 CANNOT contradict the plain TRUTH we have just learned.
COL. 2:14 STATED
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross."
What does this mean? We KNOW by all of the foregoing TRUTH that it cannot negate our obligation to keep God's Commandments. So what was nailed to the cross? Our SINS in the body of Jesus Christ. He bore our sins (Heb. 9:28). The sins brought on an indictment of guilty requiring the death penalty to be paid. Christ paid it for us, the indictment was taken out of the way.
Again, what was against us and contrary to us? Whatever it was, it was blotted out! What was against us was the INDICTMENT brought on by our breaking of God's Law!
God's Laws are NOT against us, and never have been. The obligation we have to keep the commandments is NOT against us. It was the INDICTMENT resulting from our FORMER way of life of transgressing God's law.
Now notice the following clarifications from other sources.
"What has Christ done? He has redeemed us: by the sacrifice of the Cross he has brought reconciliation, cancelled the Law's INDICTMENT that stood against us"
(Layman's Bible Commentary p. 115, vol. 22)
What was cancelled? The Law's INDICTMENT.
"14. The BOND, the debt we could not pay, is sponged out. It consisted of the ordinances which we all (whether Jews or Gentiles, see Rom. 2:15) failed to keep and which therefore formed OUR INDICTMENT. This bond God annulled by the Cross. Paul thinks of the "title" or label on a cross, in this case the indictment." (Concise Bible Commentary p-883)
Our failure to keep the laws, statutes, ordinances and word of God brought on our INDICTMENT!! The "handwriting of ordinances" was the 'bond', the debt we could not pay, that was cancelled.
"14 handwriting. Or, 'bond'. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, the 'handwriting of ordinances' (or bond of legal obligations) was cancelled." (Irwin's Bible Commentary p-522)
And what was this 'bond or legal obligations'? It was the INDICTMENT spelling out our death warrant. The indictment has been cancelled, no longer against us! How plain this Scripture is now that we see it in the light of the previously stated clear Scriptures.
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