NAILED TO THE CROSS

                                     

If you're a Christian, and/or attend church regularly, or if you've been around Christians much, then I'm sure you've heard somebody say that the law was nailed to the cross. They say the Ten Commandments were only for the Jews, not for Christians, and they were nailed to the cross when Jesus died. Then, they usually quote Romans 6:14-15, and say, "We’re not under the law but under grace."

So, if we no longer have to obey the 10 Commandments, is it okay to Lie, Steal, Kill, Commit adultery, and take the name of the LORD in vain? Then they say, "No. Nine of the Commandments were repeated in the New Testament, so we do have to obey those nine."

Today, I want to ask, and answer the question, What exactly did Jesus nail to his cross?

We'll start with Colossians 2:11-14, and Ephesians 2:11-18

Colossians 2:12-14
12 You were buried with him in baptism and rose with him through faith in the operation of God, who raised him from the dead.
13 Because you were dead in your sins and uncircumcised in your flesh, but he made you alive together with him, and forgave you for all your sins,
14 Erasing the handwritten law that was against us, which was contrary to us, he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Ephesians 2:11-18
11 So remember, that in the past, you were Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcised by those who are Circumcised in the flesh;
12 At that time, you were without Jesus. You were not part of the community of Israel and were strangers to the covenant of promise. You were without God in the world, and had no hope:
13 But now, in Jesus, the Messiah, you who were once far away are made near through the blood of the Messiah.
14 Because he is our peace. He has made both, one, and has broken down the wall that separated us.
15 In his flesh, he destroyed that wall, which was the law of precepts and ordinances, in order to create in himself one new man from the two, and make peace;
16 So that he might reconcile both to God in one body, and destroy the wall through the cross:
17 He came and preached peace to you who were at a distance, and to those who were near.
18 So now, through him, we both have access to the Father through one Spirit.

In these 2 passages, Paul is talking to two different churches, but he's saying the same thing to both, although it's not word for word. Notice that he uses the same terms in the highlighted sections in each passage marked by corresponding colors.

Paul is telling the Colossians and the Ephesians that Jesus died for the Jews and the Gentiles to bring all his followers together as one people. There was a law of precepts and ordinances which he calls a wall that separated both groups. He also calls it the handwritten law which was against them. Both terms refer to the Law of Moses.

He says Jesus destroyed that "Wall" which was the handwritten law of precepts and ordinances which was against them by symbolically nailing it to his cross. He became sin for us on that cross. He was the supreme sacrifice that all the animal offerings pointed forward to. So, what was nailed to the cross? It was the Law of Moses; not the Ten Commandments. Let's look at a few verses from Moses to confirm this.

Deuteronomy 10:1-5
1 At that time the Lord said to me, Cut two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me into the mountain, and also make you an ark of wood.
2 And I will write on the tablets, the words that were on the first tablets which you broke, and you will put them in the ark.
3 And I made an ark of shittim wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up into the mountain, with the two tablets in my hand.
4 And he (God) wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spoke to you in the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them to me.
5 And I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me.

Notice that the 10 commandments were written on two tablets of stone, and were placed inside the ark of the covenant itself, but, as the next few verses show, the Law of Moses was written in a book, (scroll) and placed in the SIDE of the ark of the covenant.

Deuteronomy 4:14
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, so you might do them in the land which you go over to possess.

Deuteronomy 31:9
9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:25-26
25 Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,
26 Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.

Notice that the Law of Moses (Precepts/Ordinances and Judgments) was against them. That's the same wording Paul uses in Colossians 2:14. The law that was against them was the Law of Moses, and clearly, that is the law that was nailed to the cross; not the Ten Commandments.

Since that's the case, what about the Ten Commandments? Well, the Bible tells us the Ten Commandments was the Old Covenant written on stone (Deut. 4:13), and the New Covenant is the Ten Commandments written in our minds (Hebrews 10:16).

The Ten Commandment Law was NOT nailed to the cross, the Law of Moses was. So, that means the Ten Commandments are still there for us to obey; all ten, not just nine, and by the way, all ten of the commandments were repeated in the New Testament; not just nine, as some people claim.

The Ten Commandments were not just for the Jews. In fact, they were not given to the Jews. They were given to the Children of Israel, which, at the time, consisted of all twelve tribes. The Jews came much later from the tribe of Judah. The Ten Commandments existed before God wrote them on the stone tablets for the Israelites in Exodus chapter twenty. Look BACK at chapter 16 and read this verse carefully.

Exodus 16:4
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, Look, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people will go out and gather a certain amount every day, so I may test them, to see if they will follow my law or not.

Much earlier than that, God said this about Abraham;

Genesis 26:5
5 Because Abraham heard my voice, and obeyed my ordinances, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

So God's Law was already there before there was ever a Jew or a nation called Israel. The Israelites had been in Egypt for over four hundred years and had been deeply influenced by Egyptian culture. Many of them were even serving the Egyptian gods. They needed to be reminded of the true God's Law, so he spoke the Commandments to them, and then he wrote them down for them. The fact is, that God's law has always existed because he has always existed.

Just a few more points to wrap it up:

The New Testament does say, "You are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14). But the first part of that verse says, "Sin shall not have dominion over you…"

Romans 3:20 says the law is the standard that shows us what sin is.

In Romans 7:7, Paul says he would not have known what sin was without the law.

Romans 10:4 says the goal of the law is to bring all who believe to Jesus to be justified.

1 John 3:4 says, Whoever sins, breaks the law: because sin is breaking the law.

There could be no sin without the Law, so it has been around as long as sin has. Please look at these next few verses carefully.

Galatians 5:18
18 If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

BUT, those who are not led by the Spirit are STILL under the Law. Let me say that again. Listen closely. Galatians 5:18 says, "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law." Those who are NOT led by the Spirit are still under the Law. What does that mean?

We who have accepted Jesus as our Savior are not under the Law because we've accepted God's free gift of Salvation, and our sins have been forgiven. We're now under Grace. But, just because we're no longer under the Law, doesn't mean the Law is no longer there. Those who have NOT yet been saved still need the Law to show them what sin is so they can come to Jesus and be saved.

Galatians 3:24-25 says it another way.

Galatians 3:24-25
24 So the Law was our teacher to bring us to Christ, so we might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith has come, we are no longer under a teacher. (The Law)

Everyone is not saved. Everyone does NOT have faith. Those people STILL NEED THE LAW to tell them what sin is. They still need the Law to show them they're lost, and to point them to our loving Savior. They still need that teacher. So the Ten Commandment Law has not been changed nor done away with. IT IS STILL THERE, just as strong, and as in effect as ever.

Keeping the Ten Commandments WILL NOT save us. We should obey them because we ARE saved. All ten, not just nine of them. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15). If we love him, we should want to obey his Commandments; Not to be saved, but because we ARE saved.

So, the next time you hear someone say the law was nailed to the cross, you'll know that it was not the Ten Commandment Law. It was the law of Moses with the precepts and ordinances, and the sacrifices that symbolized the one great sacrifice of the Son of God for us for all time.

You can read what the Bible says about the Old and New Covenant at the link below.
https://teddylynn.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-old-and-new-covenant.html

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THE VISIONS OF PETER AND CORNELIUS

In Acts chapter 10, the Apostle Peter was lodging with Simon the Tanner, in the port city of Joppa. Simon’s house was by the seaside, and Peter was on the roof praying when he received a vision from God. The day before, in Caesarea, another man had received a vision that would directly tie in with Peter’s vision. That man’s name was Cornelius. He was a Roman centurion of the Italian band. He was a just man who believed in God and had a giving heart. He supported the things of God and had a good report among the Jewish nation, and he was always praying.

It was about three o’clock in the afternoon when Cornelius had his vision. In the vision, an angel of God came to him and basically told him that God recognized all the good he was doing, and approved. God saw his heart and knew he believed in him. The angel told Cornelius to send some men to Joppa to find Peter, and he would come, and tell him and his family how to be saved (Acts 11:14).

He told him that Peter was in Joppa, at Simon the Tanner’s house, by the seaside. When the angel left, Cornelius called two of his servants, and a trustworthy soldier under his command, and sent them to Joppa.

The Next day, Peter went up on the roof of Simon’s house to pray. Around lunchtime, Peter got hungry. He would have eaten something, but while the food was being prepared, he fell into a trance.

Notice first that Peter is in a trance. He is having a vision. It is not literally happening. Acts 10:17 makes this perfectly clear. In the vision, Peter saw heaven open up, and some sort of vessel came down, like a sheet that had been tied up at all four corners. In it, there were all kinds of unclean animals and birds.

Then, he heard a voice say, “Rise, Peter, kill, and eat” (Acts 10:13). But Peter said, “No, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common, or unclean” (Acts 10:14). Then the Lord spoke to him again, and said, “What God hath cleansed, do not call it common” (Acts 10:15). This happened three times, then the vessel was carried back up into heaven. When Peter came out of the trance, he thought about the vision. That’s probably all he could think about. He didn’t understand what the vision meant.

In the old testament, God had spelled out many health laws, and there are certain animals that are harmful to our health, so he said, “Do NOT eat their flesh” (Leviticus 11). Many people today don’t think we have to worry about these health laws anymore, and we can now eat anything we want. This vision that Peter had is one passage of scripture they often use to show that. Was that what the Lord was saying? Let’s see.

First, notice that Peter didn’t immediately know what the vision meant. He knew the health laws, and he knew that the same animals that were too filthy to eat before Jesus died were still filthy afterward. Peter said he had never eaten anything common, or unclean, and he didn’t seem to want to. This was years after Jesus had died, and he still hadn’t eaten any unclean animals.

Unclean animals have nothing to do with ceremonial uncleanness, as some new Bible translations suggest. God has always made a distinction between unclean, and clean animals. We see it at the flood. Hundreds of years before there was ever a Jew on the earth. “Unclean” means “Unhealthy” or “Diseased.” Remember, the lepers had to warn people away when they came near, so the leprosy wouldn’t spread to others. They would shout, “Unclean, Unclean.”

Eating unclean animals causes diseases in humans even today. Cancer, strokes, blood disease, and heart disease, just to name a few. That’s why God said, “Do NOT eat their flesh” (Leviticus 11). So no, this vision was not the Lord’s attempt to let us know we can now eat “Unclean” animals. That’s certainly not what Peter thought it meant. So, what did it mean? Let’s see.

While Peter was thinking about what this vision meant, the men that Cornelius had sent were standing at the gate of the Tanner’s house, asking to see Peter. The Holy Spirit spoke to Peter and told him the three men were there, looking for him. He told him to go down off the rooftop and go with the men, without doubting because he had sent them.

Peter went down and met the men, and introduced himself. When he asked what they wanted with him, they told him about Cornelius the Roman centurion, and about his vision from God, telling him to send for Peter. The next day, Peter and some of the brothers from Joppa headed out to Caesarea with the men that Cornelius had sent.

When they arrived at the home of Cornelius, he came out to met them and fell down at Peter’s feet to worship him. Peter lifted him up, and said, “Stand up, I’m only a man, just like you” (Acts 10:26). They talked as they went into the house. Once inside, Peter saw that many people were gathered there. Cornelius had invited his kinfolks, and his friends to hear Peter tell them all how to be saved (Acts 11:14).

A great idea, right? We should always invite our family and friends to come and hear God’s word. Peter began by saying, “You know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come to one of another nation; but God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

There it is. The meaning of Peter’s vision. Call No Man Common or Unclean. It had nothing to do with eating unclean animals. It had nothing to do with eating at all. God was showing Peter that all men were created equal. In fact, Peter goes on to say he now knows that “God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation, those who fear God and do right, are accepted by him” (Acts 10:34-35).

One person is no better than another in God’s eyes. We were all created equal. Cornelius was not a Jew. He was a Roman Gentile, but he was a servant of God. More proof that this vision has to do with Gentiles, and not food, is found in Acts Chapter 11.

Act 11:1-4 
1 And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God. 
2 And when Peter come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 
3 Saying, You went in unto uncircumcised men and did eat with them. 
4 But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

Peter told the Apostles, and the brothers the details of his vision, and the vision Cornelius had, and what he did, and how the Gentiles had been saved and received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 11:5-16). Then he said, “Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, that I could withstand God?” (Act 11:17)

“When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then God has also granted the Gentiles repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18).

Many of the Jews accepted the fact that God included the Gentiles in his family, but there were some who didn’t, and many still don’t today. Many don’t even believe Jesus was the promised Messiah. Among those who did accept the Gentiles' conversion, there was disagreement on whether or not they should be circumcised.

Act 11:5-9 
5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. 
6 And the Apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter. 
7 And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, you all know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles, by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 
8 And God, who knows the hearts, bare them witness giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; 
9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.

Throughout the Bible, there is example after example of Gentiles becoming part of God’s people, like Rehab, and Ruth (Joshua 2, Hebrews 11, Ruth 1-4). Many of the Egyptians left Egypt with the Hebrews and joined God’s people (Exodus 12:38). God even spelled out rules concerning those who were not born into his people, but choose to join them.

The Jewish religion was never meant to be exclusive to the Jews, but the religious leaders of the Jewish nation had somehow started believing it was. God wanted that to be set right, and by Peter telling Cornelius, and a house full of his family and friends, this truth started to spread everywhere. Now Gentiles all over the world understand that we can become heirs to the promises that God made to Abraham. We can receive citizenship in God’s kingdom, and have eternal life, through the shed blood of Jesus, the Messiah, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the whole world. Praise the Lord for this knowledge, and gift.

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© 2016 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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