What was nailed at the cross?

[skyblue888]

The law of ten commandments was not nailed to the cross for it is still very much a ministration of condemnation and death for those who break it.(2 Cor.3:7,9) It was not the law itself that was nailed to the cross but its condemnation, its sentence of death. In that sense only it is against us "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," and "the wages of sin is death." Rom.6:23.

But as we come to God just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent, and hang our helpless souls upon the merits of His cross, the handwriting that is against us, the sentence of death, coming from the broken moral law, is taken away.

May be the following will help grasp this beautiful truth:

"We see in the midst of the throne One bearing in hands and feet and side the marks of the suffering endured to reconcile man to God. We see a Father, infinite, dwelling in light unapproachable, yet receiving us to Himself through the merits of His Son. The cloud of vengeance that threatened only misery and despair, in the light reflected from the cross reveals the writing of God: Live, sinner, live! ye penitent souls, live! I have paid a ransom." A.A.333.

Beautiful!

The ceremonial laws were not against us either. They were not "nailed" to the cross because they were against us! How could they be against us when they typified Christ? They were not "nailed" to the cross but since type had met antitype, the shadow its substance, they had fulfilled their purpose. They were done away with but not "nailed" to the cross because they were against us because they were not against us. The ceremonial laws spoke of faith in the merits of a Saviour to come!

What say you?

sky

[Gerr]

In Col 2:14 it was the "handwriting" KJV/NKJ, "certificate of debt" NASB, "record of debt" ESV, "written code" NIV, "record of the charges" NLT, "unfavorable record of our debts" GNT, "charge of our legal indebtedness" TNIV, Gk cheirographon that was against us. IOW the record of our law violations!

[Robert]

"record of the charges".... IOW the record of our law violations!

Okay, figuratively, of course, but better yet...what was really nailed to the cross?

Rom 6;6 "Our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with"

Rom 7:4 "You [your fallen life from Adam] also was made to die to the Law [it demanded your death] through the body of Christ"

In reality our corporate life died in Christ Jesus. Remember, Deity didn't die - humanity died!

[pnattmbtc]

One explanation explained that "cheirographon" means anything written by hand, particular legal requirements or certificates of debt. The verse immediately before, plus verse being discussed, says:

Quote:

3And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

14Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

So the idea presented is that taking out of the way the "cheirographon" which was against us is parallel to forgiving us our trespasses. That is, the trespasses were forgiven, and the record of the same was done away with.

It seems to me there was another explanation I liked a lot which was different, but I don't remember it.

[pnattmbtc]

I found the explanation. It's actually not different than what I just wrote. I'll present it without the quote box, to make for easier reading, as it's a bit long.

This is from an article from http://www.sdanet.org/atissue/sabbath/richardson.htm, by William E. Richardson, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Religion, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.

"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of any holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ" (Col. 2:14-17).

In this day of the "sound-bite," we biblical expositors have our work cut out for us. When the passage is tough, requiring serious thought and expression, the attention of our listeners wanders, eyes glaze, and we quickly reach for an easier explanation. I believe that desire for the "easier explanation" is part of the reason Colossians 2:14-17 still suffers occasional exegetical abuse. Understandably, we who hold both the law and the Sabbath in considerable esteem approach the passage with some uneasiness, since Paul's figure of nailing something to the cross (verse 14) is in close proximity to a Sabbath (verse 16) and some sort of law (verse 14). So, to protect two of our most revered pillars, we tend to interpret this passage with certain presuppositions firmly in place. However, in this exposition we will focus sharply on the Colossian context before making contemporary applications.

Colossians 2:14-17 is not a passage with a transparent meaning. Even a good English translation is not enough to resolve all the doctrinal and theological difficulties. In fact, this is one of those passages in which a few of the finer points of the original language gives us a real boost to our interpretive task.

The context

The first phrase that gives rise to some contention is cheirographon tois dogmasin, translated in the KJV as "handwriting of ordinances." Other translations include "Certificate of debt" (NASB), or "bond written in ordinances" (RV), or "the bond which stood against us with its legal demands" (RSV). Since the words occur nowhere else in Scripture, lexical definitions must be carefully guided by the immediate context.

The context begins with 2:12, where Paul speaks of being "buried with Him in baptism." The result of that "burial baptism" is resurrection to a new life and cleansing from sin. Paul refers to that cleansing with two participle phrases that are parallel, the second repeating the thought of the first. The first of those two phrases is "having forgiven us all our trespasses" (verse 13, RSV). The parallel and repetitive phrase is "having canceled the bond [cheirographon tois dogmasin] which stood against us" (verse 14, RSV). Both phrases mean essentially the same thing, the second simply repeating in different terms what it meant for him to forgive our sins. Thus forgiveness of our sins has resulted in the canceling of the bond that was against us.

It is primarily the KJV translation of verse 14 ("handwriting of ordinances") that has led some to interpret the phrase as referring to the various Mosaic rituals and ceremonial "ordinances" that largely ceased to have relevance after Christ died on the cross. So if some law was nailed to the cross, it would have to be the ceremonial law, since the moral law was not made "void" by the cross (Rom. 3:31).

However, Paul rarely makes the neat division between the ceremonial law and the moral law that we are often quick to make. In fact, his references to the ceremonial laws are rare. When he does use the word "law" (nomos), he most frequently has in mind the moral law in general and often the Decalogue in particular. Of course, in our passage he doesn't use the word "law" at all, which is why we have to be so careful to reason from the context to understand his meaning.

In a strikingly similar passage in Ephesians 2:14, 15, Paul tells how Christ has brought peace, not just between Jew and Gentile, but between all humans and God, by nullifying the "law of commandments in decrees" (ton nomon ton entolon en dogmasin) (see New Jerusalem). Here the word "law" is linked with the word dogmasin, the same word translated "ordinances" in Colossians. The context of both Colossians and Ephesians indicates that something more than ceremonies was involved.

One thing is very clear: when Paul elsewhere refers to the impact of the cross for the Christian, he does not limit his reasoning to abolishing the ceremonial law. For Paul the most important thing that ended at the cross was the condemnation brought about by our sin. That condemnation arose out of a broken moral law. As he says in Romans 7:7, "if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin" (RSV). In other words, it is the broken law that stands before us and condemns us, which is all the moral law can do for those who have broken it. But as Paul says in Romans 8:1 "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (RSV). Or, as in verse 3, "God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son . . . condemned sin in the flesh" (RSV).

To put it another way, the moral law could point out sin, but could not forgive it. So God had to intervene, or we would stand forever condemned by that law. At that point, the "principalities and powers" that Paul mentions in Colossians 2:15 would triumph over us. But now, as a result of the cross, that picture has changed, and the powers have been defeated. And that happened when the condemnation of the moral law was figuratively nailed to the cross. The NRSV smoothly translates it: "erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross." Thus He made "peace by the blood of his cross" (Col. 1:20, RSV).