“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
(Colossians 2:13-15 ESV)
Most of us have been to a funeral. In fact, most of us have been to several. And, for this reason, it’s safe to say that we’ve seen a corpse. We’ve seen someone who is dead.
More often than not, we see such a person at the visitation, prior to the funeral. Or, we see them before the casket is closed at the funeral itself. And one thing we know is that, when a person is dead, he’s dead.
Although we’ve seen horror movies where the dead come out of their casket and terrorize the living, we know that this isn’t reality. We know that a person who is dead is incapable of doing anything. They’re incapable because there is no life in them.
This is the image we need to have in mind as we consider the gospel. It’s this image that we need to have in mind as we read the words of Paul, above. He begins by referring to our natural state. He refers to the condition that results from our sin. And he tells us that we were dead in our tresspasses and the uncircumcision of our flesh.
What this tells us is that we could do nothing. We could do nothing about our condition. And we could do nothing to save ourselves from it. We were absolutely helpless.
Most of us tend to struggle with this truth, when it comes to our spiritual state. We want to believe that we can do something to help ourselves. We want to believe there’s something we can do to save ourselves or, at the very least, to contribute to our salvation. However, as long as we’re in this mindset, we’re unable to receive the blessing that Jesus has provided for us.
Paul speaks of this in the following words. And he makes clear to us that he’s done everything necessary to save us from our deserved fate. He’s done everything necessary to rescue us from death.
He tells us that God has made us alive together with Christ. He’s done so by forgiving us of our trespasses, and by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. And he’s done so, he’s set them aside, by nailing them to the cross.
Death is the penalty of sin. And because the penalty of our sin was paid by Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross, we’ve been released from this fate. Because our sin is no longer counted against us, we are no longer subject to its penalty.
In this way, also, he’s disarmed the rulers and authorities, putting them to shame. He’s triumphed over them. They no longer have anything that they can hold over our head. And, for this reason,we have been freed from their authority and condemnation.
Our faith, then, cannot be in ourselves. It cannot be in our goodness or efforts. And, if it is, we are forever lost. We must, rather, trust in Christ alone and the sacrifice he offered on our behalf. We must do so because it’s in this way, and only in this way, that we are saved.
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