Daily Bread - Oct 12 2006

Col 2:14 - "Wiping out the certificate of indebtedness the degrees that were set against us and took it out of the midst nailing it to the cross."

Certificate of indebtedness is translated from a Greek word that only appears one time in the Greek New Testament. The Greek word 'cheirographon' is defined by the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains as a word relating especially to financial accounts. One may conclude that Paul is either referring to the Law of God or to the record of man's sin that demanded the just penalty of death in order to clear it.

Now it is a well-established fact that the death of Christ Jesus on the cross was more about removing man's sin and offense than removing the Law of Moses. However, Paul plainly states that Jesus abolished the law at the time of His death as well (Ephesians 2:15). Therefore, we may conclude that Jesus both destroyed the debt of sin and the Law that was the testimony of condemnation against us when He died on the cross. Paul informs us that we are dead to the Law by the body (or crucifixion) of Christ in order that we may come into the New Covenant (Romans 7:4). In fact, Paul reveals that the affliction of sin that worked in us was connected to the law. He made the argument that it was through the revelation of the law that sin was revealed. Therefore, if the law was taken away, sin would also be taken away.

Paul is connecting the law of sin to the law of God. For, in fact, the law of God not only existed to reveal the law of sin but to bring a testimony of condemnation against it. We know that the consequence of man's sin resulted in death and thus the law of death began to govern mankind (Romans 5:12-15).

Yet Paul takes it one step further and reveals that the subsequent Law of Moses was also connected to the law of death. But now through the New Covenant the Law of sin and death has been replaced by the law of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:3).

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
www.abidingplace.org