Thursday, April 11, 2024

Has the Holy Spirit revealed that the old law was nailed to the cross?

Has the Holy Spirit revealed that the old law was nailed to the cross?

ESV Col 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
"The record of debt" doesn't sound much like "the old law".
Prefer a different version?
CEV God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.
HSCB He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.
LSB Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
MOUNCE (a Biblical Greek expert) Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us, He also has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
NASB having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
NIV having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
RSV having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
VOICE eliminated the massive debt we incurred by the law that stood against us. He took it all away; He nailed it to the cross.
This text evokes the idea of a criminal's charges being nailed above the criminal's head while he hangs on the cross. We see this exampled in the case of Jesus:
WEB Matt 27:37 They set up over his head the accusation against him written, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
WEB Mark 15:26 The superscription of his accusation was written over him, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
It is this record of charges against us that Col 2:14 is speaking about. Our charges were nailed to the cross upon which Jesus hung, so that our charges became his charges. As Peter states...
WEB 1 Pet 2:24 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.
It is true that the Holy Spirit has revealed that we are no longer to serve the letter of the law, but rather the spirit. Paul says this at least three times:
WEB Rom 7:6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
Rom 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
2 Cor 3:6 who also made us sufficient as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
That's the essence of what Jesus taught: "Keep the commandments, the ones that teach you to love your neighbor as yourself; this is what the law and prophets teach, and it's what I teach, and it's what I want you to teach."
It's what Paul teaches:
WEB Rom 13:9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Gal 5:14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
And it's what James teaches:
WEB James 2:8 However, if you fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
Jesus teaches the law of Moses, but he teaches the spirit of the law, not the letter. And he tells his Apostles to teach what he taught them.

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