Nailed to Cross

One Truth One Law

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Did the early church teach Christ nailed the ten commandments to the cross?

When we sin we incur a debt to the law which is symbolized in the Greek word cheirographon SGD 5498. This understanding is described in Colossians 2:14,

having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and he (Christ) has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross (NASB).

This certificate of debt consisting of decrees represents the price required by the law for committing sin. This price can only be paid by one’s life (Ez. 18:4, 20; Rom. 6:23) and is required of God (Gen. 9:5). In the first covenant the sacrificial law required the shedding of animal blood to pay the physical debt for sin (Heb. 9:13, 22). In the second covenant, the sacrifice of Christ fulfilled the requirement of the law, which was pictured by the offering of animals through the shedding of his blood for us (Mt. 5:17; Jn. 1:29; Heb. 9:28; 1Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:10-12). Thus Christ redeems (buys back) man from his state of debt for breaking the law (Gal. 3:13; 4:5; 1Pet. 1:18-19; Gen. 48:16; Isa. 63:9).

The certificate of debt consisting of decrees does not refer to the ten commandments. In the first covenant, the temple system regulated sin among God’s people. When the law of God is breached, a debt is incurred. This debt was paid at the temple through obedience to the sacrificial ordinances. The decrees or ordinances that were against God’s people pertained to the requirement in the law to pay the debt by offering the appropriate sacrifices for sin.

Neither God's commandments nor His law were nailed to the cross. It was Christ, who in his death fulfilled the sacrificial ordinances, that took on the debt we all incur for breaking the law (Rom. 7:5-6; 8:2; Gen. 9:5; Ps. 56:13).

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