“Paid in FULL”
What Exactly Was Nailed to the Cross… God’s Law, or the Record of Debt Standing Against Us Because We Had Broken It?
Many believers have been taught that the Law of God was nailed to the cross. But is that what Colossians 2 actually says?
What if God’s Law was not abolished at all?
What if what was nailed to the cross was the written record of our debt; the record of our sins and the judgment that stood against us, because Messiah willingly bore it on our behalf?
Consider this:
A man is brought before a righteous king. He has stolen, and the matter has been established by witnesses ( by two or three witnesses). According to the king’s law, the man is guilty, and a just righteous right—ruling stands against him.
But the king’s son has compassion on the man. Though the son is innocent, he willingly takes the man’s penalty upon himself and pays his debt in full.
“Paid in FULL.”
As the forgiven man leaves the king’s court, people begin shouting:
“The law against stealing has been abolished! We are no longer required to obey it!”
But the man turns to them and says:
“No. The king’s law still stands. I was found guilty because I had broken it, and a just judgement stood against me. The king’s son did not remove the law… he willingly paid the debt I owed because I had transgressed it. My debt was paid in full, but the law of the king was never done away with, it remains in effect.”
Could it be that Jesus, Y’shua the Messiah, did not abolish the righteous instruction of God, but instead bore our sins, carried our judgment, and canceled the record of debt that stood against us because we had transgressed it?
This does not mean that obedience earns redemption.
We are saved by grace through faith in Messiah… not by our own works, merit, or righteousness.
But grace does not redefine sin. Grace does not make lawlessness, righteousness. Grace does not free us to return to the very transgressions from which we were redeemed.
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:1-2, LSB)
Grace forgives us, transforms us, and teaches us to walk in a new way.
The one who has received mercy is called to repent, to turn back to יהוה, trust in Messiah, and learn to walk in HIS righteous ways.
The debt was nailed to the cross/stake/tree. The record of our transgressions was removed, Messiah bore the penalty.
But the righteous ways of the King were not destroyed.
The Law of יהוה still reveals HIS standard of righteousness, HIS definition of sin, and HIS loving instruction for how HIS redeemed people are called to live.
Something to prayerfully consider:
“And you being dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh (“the body of sins”), He made you alive with Him, having graciously forgiven us all our transgressions. 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 (execution stake) cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14, LSB)
“Do we then abolish the Law through faith? May it never be (C’has b’Shalom, G-d forbid)! On the contrary, we establish the Law (Torah).” (Romans 3:31, LSB)
Your Beloved ones,
Shalom Lekha
