Col. 2:13-14 Nailed it to the Cross

It makes a difference. This is something that they'll look back on in 20 years from now, and they're going to say,

I remember going up on the front step, and I don't remember any of the questions, but I remember that they were important ones, and hopefully these things stick with them, even if they're in the most remotest way, and that these catechism questions will be in their heads, so that they'll be able to take advantage and know how to take charge in the world in proclaiming the gospel.

So today, we're going to be doing, last week, we finished with the Book of Ruth last week, which, once again, it was an absolute blessing to go through that text, to see the wonderfulness that is the

Book of Ruth, and the gospel that is very clearly seen in there, as well as the principles therein. So today, what we're doing today, as we're not decided yet as a church, where the next book that we will go through on a

Sunday is, there's a couple different things that are going through my mind, whether it be something in the New Testament or the

Old Testament, I've been thinking maybe Jonah would be a fun book to go through. I don't know. We'll figure it out together, though.

It's something to be in prayer about. But for these next four Sundays, they're going to be all topical messages, so I'll give a topical one today, as well as next week, and then we'll have

Zach and Rick, two people from our church, which, what a glorious thing that is to say that.

Two people from our church to give a topical message on different texts. And so, after that,

I hope, in those four weeks, we can figure a new text to go through. So be praying, though, for that. Today, we're going to be in Colossians 2, verses 13 -14, though.

So I would ask, whatever way that you can, to please turn and open up there with me. Colossians 2, verses 13 -14.

As you're making your way there, let us go ahead and just start off with a prayer here for this text.

Lord God, I just ask, Lord, that we would recognize you,

Lord, in this text, that we would love you better from it, that we'd glorify you more today from it,

Lord, and that we'd worship you through this text.

Lord, I pray that each one of us would be more like you, that we would each seek to walk a better life today, that we'd have love towards one another, and that love would permeate in everything that we do,

Lord, as church is not just for the edification of your saints, but it is for us to love one another.

It is for us to worship you and to be in thinking and celebrating your resurrection,

Lord God. So let us just worship you today through this means. Lord, let us care for one another.

And Lord, let us be refined to what your text says. And Lord, just let it speak to us today,

Lord. And God, I just lift these things up and say these things in your holy name, and knowing that they will be done in that very name,

Jesus Christ. Amen. So, Colossians chapter 2, verses 13 and 14 for the day.

This is a wonderful text. This is one of my most favorite texts to go to to talk about what happened on the cross, what the implication of Christ paying a payment for us is.

I hope it's a text that if you mark things in your Bible, I hope that these two verses are highlighted, underlined, and marked up left and right, because this is an important text for the

Christian. As every word in the Bible is, but this is some special, unique stuff that is taught in here.

Just to help us to flesh this out and understand what the context of this is, we're going to read verses 8 all the way to verse 17 for today.

And so please just follow me through this right now. Just know that we're going to be focusing on verses 13 and 14 for the day, though.

Colossians chapter 2, verses 8 through 17 says this, See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form.

That's a beautiful Trinitarian second person of the Trinity text for Jesus Christ. Verse 10,

And in him you have been made complete, and he is the head over all rule and authority.

And in him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.

In the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead.

This is our selected text for the day 13 and 14. And when you were dead in your transgressions in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, and which was hostile to us.

And he has taken them out of the way, having nailed it to a cross.

Hallelujah. Let us keep on reading verse 15 to 17. When he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities, he made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through him.

Therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink, or in respect to the festival or a new moon or a

Sabbath day. Things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

Let us pray again. Lord God, I thank you just for the beauty that is in this text in Colossians chapter 2.

Lord, I pray that each one of our theology, each one of our understanding and knowing of who you are would grow and surpass what we had expected today,

Lord. God, let our hearts wither away from our sin, and let it just grow in love and adoration for what you have done for us,

Lord. God, let us worship you today through this text, Lord. Let us see your cross, let us see the payment made, and let us see the terribleness that is sin and what it has done to your only begotten

Son, Jesus the Christ, in whom we pray this too. And we say this in that name of the

Savior. Amen. Brothers and sisters, I hope you can already see right now why this is a beautiful text here in Colossians chapter 2.

The amount of wording that is in here, the meaning and the implication of these words is one of serious degree, and it has serious implications towards our salvation, what happened on the cross, how we are to apply these things in our own theology and our own understanding.

Just as a quick overarching context for the entirety of the book of Colossians, just so that we understand what's going on here since this is a topical message, it's written, of course, by Paul to a church in that region, and therefore it's the epistle to the

Colossians. This would be known as what is like a sister letter to that of the

Ephesians book that we have. So the book of Ephesians and the book of Colossians were written at the same time.

And so guess what? We're going to see very similar language that's used in both of those letters, to the

Ephesians and to the Colossians. Just like how the book of Romans and the book of Galatians, those books were written at the same time.

So we see those things very similarly being laid out for us, emphasis of what's going on in Paul's time and the heretical things that he's been hearing around him and him addressing.

But in here, just as a little bit more additional context of what Paul is writing this letter for, is that the

Colossians have suffered some very interesting things that have been going on in their church. It's kind of this hub area that the gospel has been able to go out into the whole world through.

According to chapter 2, verse 18, just right after this, it says that there's some that are worshipping angels.

And so Paul is confronting them on this. There's also some stuff that's in here that's confronting

Gnosticism and this idea that material is evil in of itself. And so Paul is confronting them in these different areas that have been influencing that church in that time in that way.

And so how should we apply this today to ourselves as this letter was written to them?

It's holy, it's inspired, it's scripture. When we look at this, we need to recognize that there is a better hope in Christ, a better hope in the heavenly and that which we look forward unto, which is

Jesus who stands in victory right now for us. And that truly is this entirety of this book is us seeing the gospel language as well as the riches of the heaven and the hope that is there for us.

So for today, verses 13 and 14, let us go ahead and look at this text. There's going to be a plethora of things that we read through.

Just a side note, verses 13 and 14, does anybody have a King James translation with them right now?

Yeah, Evelyn, would you mind just reading verse 14 just so that we can hear what is said in there by how that translation is worded?

Yeah, so the beautifulness of that is that the LDS love that word ordinances.

They love that. And so I'm just letting you know that when you go to an LDS person and you share the gospel with them, this is a wonderful text to show them because in their mind ordinances mean everything.

They think that the gospel is full of ordinances. And what does that text say? That he took all those ordinances that were against us and he nailed them to the cross.

So just know that the King James translation, the wording here is the same. It means the same thing.

It has the same implication. But just how it was translated back then actually plays very much in our favor when we talk to the

LDS. That's just a side note for you guys. I just wanted to make sure that we understood that right now. But let's look at verse 13 to 14 and let's start looking at what this has to do for us.

So right here it says, and when you were dead in your transgressions,

I want you to pay attention and notice the timing of this salvation that has come to us.

And when you, when, when, when did you receive this salvation? When was the payment made for you, the church?

For me, the sinner? For you, the fallen? When was this payment made?

That is what was just read for us in verse 14. When was it done? When you were dead in your sins and transgressions.

What is that talking about in there? Well, when we see the cross and we see what

Christ has done for us and our benefit, we're coming right out of the gate with gospel language as the text demands us to.

Christ Jesus did not go upon that cross waiting for us to make ourselves clean before he could do such.

When did that payment get made? When did salvation come to us?

When we were dead. When we couldn't do it.

When we smelt and our decaying bodies. That is when this happened for us.

That's important to notice because there are some that would try to teach that in order to come to the cross of Christ, you must pick yourself up and you must clean yourself off and you must do this in order to have salvation.

That's not what is taught in here. I would assume that many of us in this room have seen a dead person in our lives.

I assume that we have done that. I have the wonderful privilege, and I know that's a very strange thing to say, to be reminded of this text on a pretty constant basis with my current work.

I see people dead quite often. I see them in different states of decay.

I see them suffering physical death. I have never seen somebody pick themselves up and walk themselves to the morgue.

Sometimes I wish that was the case, but that's not the case. That doesn't happen. Why? Because then, when the timing of what is going on in that case, they are dead.

There is no picking themselves up and washing themselves off.

There is no such thing as that when you are talking about a dead person. They are decaying. They are decomposing.

They are suffering that curse that Adam has brought upon us all. That when he fell, so did all of humanity.

This is very important for us to notice. The timing of when this has been done for us.

When you were dead, in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, this text, again, that sister text that was written at the same time as this book by Paul, he says this again in another portion of Scripture.

Ephesians chapter 2. Let's go and just read this for us real fast. Again, with this timing.

When did salvation come to you? When was this payment made for you? When was it given to you, church?

This is so important for each one of our theologies. Ephesians chapter 2, and we'll read verses 1 -7, just to help us understand the seriousness of what sin is against a holy

God. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 -7. Again, Paul is penning both of these letters very, very close to one another.

He says, and when you, again, and you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the courts of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit, this is now working in the sons of disobedience.

That is working now in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too, all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God being rich in mercy, that's the best but I have ever read in a sentence.

You were dead in your transgressions, you were by children nature of wrath, but God, but God, but God being rich in mercy because of His great love, which with He loved us, even when we, again, we see that timing of this, when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with whom?

Christ. Christ was risen from the grave.

And because of that, that is how we have life because He lives.

He has risen us with Him. By grace, you have been saved. And then in verse six, and raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus in order that in the ages to come

He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Notice in there that this is a continual showing that it is not that Christ has saved you and that's the only way that ever you're going to know

His riches and His graces, His grace. It's a continual thing.

If you've come to church today and you are burdened and you are heavy laden and you are suffering from what this week has brought to you,

Christ Jesus reigns upon the throne and He has seated you with Him so that you might know the surpassing greatness of His mercy.

That's wonderful. So when we go back to Colossians chapter 2 verse 13, it says when you were dead in your transgressions, it's the same language that's used there in Ephesians, it's the same teaching that is being taught there in both of these letters, you were children of wrath, undeserving, unsavable by your own will, your own actions.

A dead man can never undead himself. I'll say that again. A dead man can never undead himself.

I don't know if that's a word. Jesus Christ, though, was that dead man that did undead himself for us.

He is living today. When you were dead in your transgressions, and now this is important, especially for what

Paul is confronting in a multitude of letters, as he's writing continually to Gentiles and even

Jewish Christians that are being influenced by others saying that you must be circumcised in order to have salvation.

This is the Judaizers that is being spoken of often, especially in the book of Galatians, that people are coming into the church and saying, nope, nope, you have to be circumcised in order to be a true

Christian. Notice in here what Paul says. When you were dead in your transgressions, and the uncircumcised of your flesh.

That goes back to where the Jew of that day was coming into the Christian church. The Judaizer is saying, nope, in order for you to have salvation, you have to pick your dead body up off the ground, clean yourself off, circumcise yourself, and then the grace is sufficient for you.

Paul is saying, no, that when you were dead, the time when you were dead and you were uncircumcised, you were a

Gentile. You were not a part of this salvation of God.

When you were dead and uncircumcised, that is when God has saved you.

This goes against what's called works -based salvation. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone and Christ alone.

Donna said that today, that it is only in Christ alone that we are able to go about our weeks.

This is the truth. This is factual. And then check this out.

This is amazing. Uncircumcised of your flesh. That wording again is used again just as a side note in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11.

Actually, just the entirety of chapter 2. After it talks about us being dead in our sins, he says, you who are called the uncircumcised by the so -called circumcised.

Actually, let me just go and read it real fast for us. Ephesians chapter 2, so I don't misquote it. Just verses 11 to 14 right now.

Therefore, remember that formerly you, the Gentile in the flesh, again, those that have not been circumcised.

So you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called the uncircumcised by the so -called circumcision, which is performed by the flesh by human hands.

Remember that at that time, separated from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.

So when we look at that, that's the importance of what's being talked about here in Colossians chapter 2, the uncircumcised.

You were uncircumcised when Christ saved you. You did not bring about favor unto yourself.

It's only what God, that but God that is talked about there in Ephesians chapter 2.

Now notice this, that when you were dead church, when you were uncircumcised in the flesh, when

I likewise, what does it say? He made you alive. Notice the pronoun in there, in the world that likes to change pronouns.

He made you alive. Who has done this? Did the dead person do this?

Did the uncircumcised person do this? He, Jesus the

Christ, God in flesh. He has done this. He has made you alive together.

Now, this is wonderful. This is again the importance of the resurrection. Together with him.

If Christ had not been raised from the grave, you would have no hope today. Christ, that grave is empty.

And therefore you have been raised with him and you are alive together with him. In Ephesians chapter 2, you have seated yourself with him in the heavenly places.

He lives for you today at the right hand of the Father. That's wonderful. He says, and made you alive together with him.

Now, we'll go back to that saying here in just a second. He says, having forgiven us all our transgressions.

Now notice the pronoun that's used in there again. Our. All of us.

Or excuse me, having forgiven us. Us. All. Our. Transgressions.

Us. Church, look around the room right now. Like, I'm being serious. You need to look at your fellow

Christian today and know that you are equally dead in sin, but together you have been ransomed by what?

By Jesus the Christ. He. But God being rich in mercy.

That is tremendous. We only have fellowship in Christ.

We only have fellowship there. We're not brothers and sisters because we all work at the fire department together.

We're not brothers and sisters because we're all ranchers. We're not brothers and sisters because of anything other than what

Christ has done. That's so important to remember.

It's only what Christ has done that has made us brothers and sisters. And therefore we are adopted sons and daughters and therefore we are part of the family of God.

And it says that in the process of this, having forgiven us, we have sinned against God alone and it is

God Himself that has forgiven us of our sins and transgressions. All praise to the Christ.

All praise to the Yahweh. All praise to God Himself. Now verse 14, there's some serious, serious implications that are made here in verse 14.

The wording here, the very first portion of verse 14, it says, having canceled out the certificate of debt.

This language that's in here is a transactional language. Having forgiven us our debt.

Having forgiven us that which we have, how many of the people in here have purchased a credit card or have received a credit card in their life?

I hope you don't use the ones that you get in the mail. But have you ever gone to Sportsman's Warehouse and signed up for a credit card?

And Andy buys a super nice hunting rifle and forgets to make a payment on it.

Andy, you haven't done that I hope, but that wouldn't be good. I once signed up for a

CNA class when I was trying to do some X, Y, and Z things. I ended up not taking it. And unknowingly to me,

I was racking up debt because I had signed up for it and didn't attend it and I thought I wasn't included in it because that's what

I was told. It was a miscommunication apparently. And so a year goes by and I get a call from a debt collector.

I had racked up a debt that I owed. Brothers and sisters, what we have in here, this debt that is talked about, is the debt that it is collected by God for violating

His law. The Bible is clear in Romans 6, 23, for the wage of sin, the wage, your payment, your debt, that which you owe is death itself.

Having, so you have a certificate of debt. Each one of you. You have a list.

I don't know how God sees it, but just looking at this as an analogy, just imagine on your back, everywhere you go, there is a stapled certificate of the debt, the sin that you have committed against God and everywhere you go, it is racking up a debt.

You're spending that credit card at Sportsman's Warehouse buying X, Y, and Z guns and it's a debt you can't pay.

Because you're dead and uncircumcised. So now it says, cancelled out that certificate of debt, consisting of decrees against us which was hostile to us.

The law of God, according to Romans, it says that the law was given to hold everyone accountable.

The law is holy. We read part of the law with the children today. What is the third commandment? That you should not take the name of the

Lord in vain. That is a good thing. That is not a bad thing. However, the law was given to hold us accountable to God.

And what does it say in there in Romans chapter three? For all fall short of the glory of God.

Now think about this. You would have that stapled on your back, that debt, and each one of us are equal in that debt we have racked up.

And you want to know what that debt is? The eternal wrath of God abiding upon us. That is what we owe.

So when it says in here that it was hostile to us, you need to know the degree of how awful sin is.

And it says that He has taken it out of the way. This is so awesome.

He has taken it out of the way. That stapled on on your back, He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

How was the debt canceled? That's spoken of in this text. Having canceled out that certificate,

He has taken it out of the way. How was it done? It was nailed to the cross with Him.

It was nailed to the cross with Him. Us, husbands and wives that are

Christians, your husband's sin was paid by Jesus. Your wife's sin was paid by Jesus.

Your closest neighbor, the children that are in your families, if they profess faith in Christ and they come to Him, their debt has been paid by Jesus.

Church, the next closest of your neighbors, the ones in this room right now, the ones that we should love as family, it's been paid by Jesus.

He has taken it and nailed it to the cross. So when we see here in 1

Peter, and there's a plethora of texts that we can read about the atonement of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2 24 says,

And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

By His wounds you were healed. 2 Corinthians 5, this is a beautiful text.

I would actually encourage you to turn there with me. Colossians chapter 2, verses 21, or 2

Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. I think I just said Colossians chapter 2. That's the text that we've been in.

2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. 2

Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21. And He made Him, so this is the

Father making Him, who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.

Jesus was not sinful by any means or in any way, but He became sin upon that cross for us.

And it says, He became sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Let's turn to one more place. John 19, verse 30.

There are so many places I would love to take you all the day. John chapter 19, verse 30.

John chapter 19, verse 30. When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine,

He said, It is finished. And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus on that cross, He paid it fully.

It is finished. I know I asked you earlier to look around the room and see that it was us in Him and that we're the family of God because of what

He has done because God, but being rich and merciful, there is not a charge upon any of your backs today.

You do sin today. You will sin tomorrow. Pray to God that you won't, but you will.

Every single racking up of debt, that certificate in its whole, if I lived to only be 27 years old, 26 right now, if I only lived to be 27 years old,

I've racked up a tremendous amount of debt against God, but God paid it all 2 ,000 years ago upon a cross.

There is not a single charge that can be made against the Christian by anyone including

God Himself because God Himself paid it.

That sin that has been upon your back has been paid fully, and it will not be held against you,

Christian. It will not. It cannot because it's been paid for fully.

When Christ's body came off the cross, after He said it was finished, after He bowed

His head and gave up the Spirit, after the payment had been accomplished, when

Christ's body had been removed from that cross, you want to know what didn't come off the cross? Your sin debt.

It was annihilated, paid for completely. There is not a single letter that ever was still upon that cross that you owe today because if you do, you are not saved because you can't save yourself.

You are dead in your sins and transgressions. It was paid for completely.

There's not an iota of the law, not a letter, not a period, not a dot, not a crossing of a

T that can be held against you. So you have violated the Third Commandment. You've violated them all, but Christ became sin on the cross so that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

Now thinking through this even more, is that tomb of Christ empty?

Yeah. Christ rose again. Your sin debt is likewise empty because Christ rose again.

There are so many places in Scripture that we can go through to talk about this because this is the very fundamental principle of the

Gospel. That the Gospel is that Christ lived a perfect life, therefore He could pay the perfect payment and that it is through His death,

Him paying the price of your sin. Brothers and sisters, again, you look around this room and I know many of us in the married life, we could say, yeah,

I know my spouse is sinful. I see it. And I hope that you say that jokingly because they see it about you too.

That sin that you have racked up, that through the death of Christ, that gruesome death that each one of us, when we see the payment of what sin is, that is not something you want to take a picture of.

That is not something that you want to look at. It's not something that is a joyful thing to think about.

It's the perfect land, suffering, the wounds you deserve, the wrath of God you deserve.

It should make you shudder and turn your head away from it as fast as you can, but Christian, oh no.

You keep your eyes focused upon that cross. It is in the suffering of that land that you have the most joyous shout of redemption that you could ever proclaim.

My debt has been paid by God Himself. And there is not a letter that anyone can hold me to that I have violated.

Redemption has been brought near. You were dead in your sins and your transgression and you were uncircumcised of your flesh.

But Christ has risen again and all glory be to Him, the Lamb. Let us go ahead and pray.

Lord God, I thank you again for your gospel, your death, burial, and resurrection, this good news upon which we proclaim salvation in.

Lord God, let us never enter your throne room, your judgment, and ever say,

Lord, Lord, look at what I have done for salvation, Lord. Let our only plea be that of what the

Christ has done for us, Lord. Let us throw ourselves at your mercy seat, Lord, and if there is one of us here today that has not experienced salvation, that is in Jesus the

Christ, Lord, I would beg you, God, to draw, to change, to sanctify, to justify, and to glorify,

Lord. Let us all know what this gospel is and let us all proclaim it to one another here in this room and let us proclaim it unto the world today,

Lord, because we need a constant reminder of you crucified, Lord. So Lord, I thank you again for the privilege it is to have gone through the book of Ruth, which brings about the cross, and Lord, God, I thank you for this text here in Colossians chapter two that reminds us of the seriousness of sin, but even better, the seriousness of the payment that was made for us,

Lord. God, I just lift these things up to you in your holy, holy, holy name, the name upon which we make this plea,

Jesus the Christ. Amen. Brothers and sisters,

I would ask you to please stand with me as we sing our final song today. It's a joy to be here.

It's a joy to go through that text with everyone today. So please stand with me as we do our final song.