Nailed to the Cross

He forgave us all our sins, 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. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Colossians 2:13c-15

We need to remember that Paul is writing to believers who were being confronted on two sides by false teachers. On one side where the Judaizers who where teaching that to really know God, to be saved, you needed to fulfill the law, specifically, be circumcised. Then on the other side the predecessors of Gnosticism and philosophers  were teaching that you needed their secret knowledge to be truly enlightened or saved. Sound familiar? 

Paul deals with the heart of the matter directly in Christ. The world is really dealing with guilt. The real guilt that all people know. Some try to work it away, while others just try to explain it away. Have you noticed the new self-righteousness of the world? Save the world. Drive a Prius. Drive an electric car (that is mostly supplied with electricity created from fossil fuels). Recycle. And so on and so forth. Blame the rich. Blame something else for the evils in this world. Blame the god you don't believe in. Demand justice from someone else. 

Paul dealt with the prevailing ideologies of his day. How? The supremacy of Christ and his real death on a real cross. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Christ took that charge and nailed it to the cross. All our sins. Dealt with in Christ, nailed to the cross. Your guilt is nailed to the cross. Remember the false teachers were in essence saying that either Christ's death on the cross wasn't enough or it didn't really happen. Paul emphasizes the truth that Christ did die on the cross and that in so doing he triumphed over sin, all our sins. He nailed them to the cross. My sin, your sin, all of it, nailed to the cross. That's the truth and that truly is good news!