Blotting Out the Handwriting of Ordinances . . .

[marks]

Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Over the past 100 years or so, archeologists have been unearthing the landfill outside the Egyptian city Oxyrhynchus, with 1000's of parchments from the times of the Apostles.

From these parchments, historians have learned that chierographon, handwriting, was actually used in a technical sense of "promisory note", a hand-written promise to pay.

In Colossians, where the KJV reads, "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us", that was an accurate translation of the word, but an inaccurate translation of what Paul was saying. Paul was referring to the same cultural practice that he used with Philemon,

18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
19 I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it

The handwriting, the chierographon, was cancelled by tetelestai, It is Finished. This was also learned from the parchments.

So, again, the King James is technically accurate, but still tends to give the wrong idea, as if there is a set of handwritten ordinances, and these were blotted out, and taken out of our way, being nailed to the cross.

Holman translates that passage in Colossians,

14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.

The New King James footnotes this word with "certificate of debt". This is just something they didn't know at the time of the King James translation.

But when we read this passage with this understanding in mind, it's not saying somehow that God had blotted out the Law, the 10 Commandments, but He's blotted out our debt for having violated the Law, by nailing that debt to the cross. He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And now our certificate of indebtedness to God is completely blank, clean.

Much love!

 

[Soyeong]

Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Over the past 100 years or so, archeologists have been unearthing the landfill outside the Egyptian city Oxyrhynchus, with 1000's of parchments from the times of the Apostles.

From these parchments, historians have learned that chierographon, handwriting, was actually used in a technical sense of "promisory note", a hand-written promise to pay.

In Colossians, where the KJV reads, "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us", that was an accurate translation of the word, but an inaccurate translation of what Paul was saying. Paul was referring to the same cultural practice that he used with Philemon,

18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
19 I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it

The handwriting, the chierographon, was cancelled by tetelestai, It is Finished. This was also learned from the parchments.

So, again, the King James is technically accurate, but still tends to give the wrong idea, as if there is a set of handwritten ordinances, and these were blotted out, and taken out of our way, being nailed to the cross.

Holman translates that passage in Colossians,

14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.

The New King James footnotes this word with "certificate of debt". This is just something they didn't know at the time of the King James translation.

But when we read this passage with this understanding in mind, it's not saying somehow that God had blotted out the Law, the 10 Commandments, but He's blotted out our debt for having violated the Law, by nailing that debt to the cross. He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And now our certificate of indebtedness to God is completely blank, clean.

Much love!

Agreed. There is a big difference between these two statements:

1.) You shall not commit murder.

2.) This person has been charged with committing murder.

The first is an example of a law that is for our own good while the second is an example of a handwritten ordinance that was against someone that was nailed to their cross. The Romans did not need to legislate a new law against murder every time that someone was crucified for committing murder, so what was nailed to the cross was not the law itself, but the list of their violations of the law, which fits perfectly with the concept of the list of our violations of God's law being nailed to Christ's cross and with him dying in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, but has nothing to do with ending any laws. In Titus 2:14, it does not say that Jesus gave himself to free us from God's law, but in order to free us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so the way for someone to believe in what Jesus accomplished through the cross is by becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to God's law (Acts 21:20) while the way for someone to reject what he accomplished is by retuning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from.

 

[marks]

so the way for someone to believe in what Jesus accomplished through the cross is by becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to God's law (Acts 21:20) while the way for someone to reject what he accomplished is by retuning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from.

But not God's covenant of obedience with Israel (the law and the prophets), but rather the law of Christ, as Paul puts it, or in John's words, 2 commandments, to believe in Jesus, and to love others . . . a new commandment, that being, "Even as I (Jesus ) have loved you." The highest standard of all, and higher then the Law in the Covenant God made with Israel it Mt. Horeb.

Much love!

 

[Soyeong]

But not God's covenant of obedience with Israel (the law and the prophets), but rather the law of Christ, as Paul puts it, or in John's words, 2 commandments, to believe in Jesus, and to love others . . . a new commandment, that being, "Even as I (Jesus ) have loved you." The highest standard of all, and higher then the Law in the Covenant God made with Israel it Mt. Horeb.

Much love!

In Matthew 4:15-23, Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, which was a light to the Gentiles, and the Mosaic Law was how his audience knew what sin is, so repenting from our disobedience to it is a central part of the Gospel message as well as the way to believe in what Jesus accomplished through the cross. Furthermore, Christ set a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to the Mosaic Law, and we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22) and that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way he walked (1 John 2:6). So Christ spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Law of Moses by word and by example and I don't see a good reason to think that the Law of Christ was something other than or contrary to what he spent his ministry teaching.

The greatest two commandments of the Mosaic Law are to love God and our neighbor, so following those two commandments is not doing something other than obeying the Mosaic Law. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Mosaic Law as being about how to love God and our neighbor and said that all of the other commandments hang on them, so if you think that we should obey the greatest two commandments, then you should also think that we should obey the commandments that hang on them in accordance with how Jesus loved us. For example, if we love God and our neighbor, then we won't commit adultery, murder, theft, idolatry, rape, kidnapping, favoritism, and so forth for the rest of the Mosaic Law.

Part of the command to love our neighbor as ourselves is the command to love ourselves, so in order to correctly know how we should love ourselves and the answer to that is that we should love ourselves as God loves us, which is also how we should love our neighbors, so again that is not doing something other than obeying the Mosaic Law.

 

[David in NJ]

Colossians 2:13-14 KJV
13) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Over the past 100 years or so, archeologists have been unearthing the landfill outside the Egyptian city Oxyrhynchus, with 1000's of parchments from the times of the Apostles.

From these parchments, historians have learned that chierographon, handwriting, was actually used in a technical sense of "promisory note", a hand-written promise to pay.

In Colossians, where the KJV reads, "blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us", that was an accurate translation of the word, but an inaccurate translation of what Paul was saying. Paul was referring to the same cultural practice that he used with Philemon,

18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;
19 I Paul have written it with mine own hand, I will repay it

The handwriting, the chierographon, was cancelled by tetelestai, It is Finished. This was also learned from the parchments.

So, again, the King James is technically accurate, but still tends to give the wrong idea, as if there is a set of handwritten ordinances, and these were blotted out, and taken out of our way, being nailed to the cross.

Holman translates that passage in Colossians,

14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.

The New King James footnotes this word with "certificate of debt". This is just something they didn't know at the time of the King James translation.

But when we read this passage with this understanding in mind, it's not saying somehow that God had blotted out the Law, the 10 Commandments, but He's blotted out our debt for having violated the Law, by nailing that debt to the cross. He became sin, who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. And now our certificate of indebtedness to God is completely blank, clean.

Much love!

Stay with the Truth and you will not turn back to that which has been canceled.

Galatians ch3
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

 

[Soyeong]

Stay with the Truth and you will not turn back to that which has been canceled.

In Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so the way to stay with the Truth is not by holding the position that the Truth has been canceled.

Galatians ch3
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

According to Deuteronomy 27-28, relying on the Mosaic Law is the way to be blessed while not relying on it is the way to be cursed, so Galatians 3:10 should not be interpreted as Paul quoting from Deuteronomy 27-28 in order to support a point that is arguing against it by saying that relying on the Mosaic Law is the way to be cursed, while not relying on it is the way to avoid being cursed. Rather, the way to be cursed by the Book of the Law is by not continuing to do the things in it, so everyone who relies on works of the law instead of the Book of the Law comes under that curse. In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, so works of the law are of works while he said that our faith upholds God's law, so it is of faith, and a law that our faith upholds can't be referring to the works of the law that are not of faith.

In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys the Mosaic Law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to the Mosaic Law. Moreover, in Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is the Mosaic Law, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it. God is trustworthy, therefore the Mosaic Law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust God is by obediently trusting in His instructions, it is contradictory to think that we should trust God instead of trusting His instructions, and to interpret these verses as speaking against relying on God's instruction is to interpret them as speaking against relying on God.

In Deuteronomy 27-28, it lists the blessing of relying on God's law and the curse of not relying on it, so being set free from the curse of the law is being set free from not relying on it so that we can be free to enjoy the blessing of relying on it. In Psalms 119:1-3, the Mosaic Law is how the children of Abraham knew how to be blessed, and in John 8:39, Jesus said that if they were children of Abraham, then they would be doing the same works as him, so the way that the children of Abraham are multiplied and are a blessing to the nations in accordance with inheriting the promise through faith is by turning the nations from their wickedness and teaching them to do the same works as Abraham by walking in God's way in obedience to His law.

 

[David in NJ]

In Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so the way to stay with the Truth is not by holding the position that the Truth has been canceled.


According to Deuteronomy 27-28, relying on the Mosaic Law is the way to be blessed while not relying on it is the way to be cursed, so Galatians 3:10 should not be interpreted as Paul quoting from Deuteronomy 27-28 in order to support a point that is arguing against it by saying that relying on the Mosaic Law is the way to be cursed, while not relying on it is the way to avoid being cursed. Rather, the way to be cursed by the Book of the Law is by not continuing to do the things in it, so everyone who relies on works of the law instead of the Book of the Law comes under that curse. In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, so works of the law are of works while he said that our faith upholds God's law, so it is of faith, and a law that our faith upholds can't be referring to the works of the law that are not of faith.

In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys the Mosaic Law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to the Mosaic Law. Moreover, in Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is the Mosaic Law, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it. God is trustworthy, therefore the Mosaic Law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust God is by obediently trusting in His instructions, it is contradictory to think that we should trust God instead of trusting His instructions, and to interpret these verses as speaking against relying on God's instruction is to interpret them as speaking against relying on God.

In Deuteronomy 27-28, it lists the blessing of relying on God's law and the curse of not relying on it, so being set free from the curse of the law is being set free from not relying on it so that we can be free to enjoy the blessing of relying on it. In Psalms 119:1-3, the Mosaic Law is how the children of Abraham knew how to be blessed, and in John 8:39, Jesus said that if they were children of Abraham, then they would be doing the same works as him, so the way that the children of Abraham are multiplied and are a blessing to the nations in accordance with inheriting the promise through faith is by turning the nations from their wickedness and teaching them to do the same works as Abraham by walking in God's way in obedience to His law.

John 1:17
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the TRUTH and the LIFE.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Stay with the Truth and you will not turn back to that which has been canceled.

 

[Soyeong]

John 1:17
And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given through Moses, but Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ

There is no "but" in the Greek in John 1:17, rather John 1:16 says grace upon grace, so it is speaking about one example of grace being added upon another. In Psalms 119:29, he wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law, and. in Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so grace and truth came through Jesus because he spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Mosaic Law by word and by example.

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the TRUTH and the LIFE.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.

The Mosaic Law is God's way (Psalms 119:1-3), the truth (Psalms 119:142), and the life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47), and the way to see and know the Father (Exodus 33:13), the Mosaic Law is God's word, and Jesus is God's word made flesh, so he is the embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life, and the way to see and know the Father (John 14:6-7). God's word is not a different way to the Father than God's word made flesh.

Stay with the Truth and you will not turn back to that which has been canceled.

All of God's righteous laws are eternal (Psalms 119:160), so none of them will ever be cancelled. Instructions for how to act in accordance with God's righteousness can't be canceled without first canceling God's eternal righteousness.

 

[David in NJ]

There is no "but" in the Greek in John 1:17, rather John 1:16 says grace upon grace, so it is speaking about one example of grace being added upon another. In Psalms 119:29, he wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey the Mosaic Law, and. in Psalms 119:142, the Mosaic Law is truth, so grace and truth came through Jesus because he spent his ministry teaching his followers to obey the Mosaic Law by word and by example.


The Mosaic Law is God's way (Psalms 119:1-3), the truth (Psalms 119:142), and the life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47), and the way to see and know the Father (Exodus 33:13), the Mosaic Law is God's word, and Jesus is God's word made flesh, so he is the embodiment of the way, the truth, and the life, and the way to see and know the Father (John 14:6-7). God's word is not a different way to the Father than God's word made flesh.


All of God's righteous laws are eternal (Psalms 119:160), so none of them will ever be cancelled. Instructions for how to act in accordance with God's righteousness can't be canceled without first canceling God's eternal righteousness.

You have it backwards and you need to follow God FORWARDS

 

[Soyeong]

You have it backwards and you need to follow God FORWARDS

The way to follow God forwards is not by refusing to follow what He has commanded, but rather that is backwards.

 

[David in NJ]

The way to follow God forwards is not by refusing to follow what He has commanded, but rather that is backwards.

Your statement below is contrary to the Word and God's will for your life.

Soyeong says: "In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys the Mosaic Law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to the Mosaic Law. Moreover, in Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is the Mosaic Law, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it."

Evidence #1 -For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

Evidence #2 - But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

Evidence #3 - having wiped out the handwriting of requirements (Mosaic Law) that was against us,

Evidence #4 - Mosiac Law = which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.


Why are you fighting against God?

 

[Soyeong]

Your statement below is contrary to the Word and God's will for your life.

It is absurd to think that the Word of God's will for my life is to refuse to obey the Word of God.

Soyeong says: "In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 that the one who obeys the Mosaic Law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to the Mosaic Law. Moreover, in Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is the Mosaic Law, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it."

Evidence #1 -For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”

In Acts 5:32, the Spirit has been given to those who obey God, so obedience to God is part of the way to receive the Spirit, however, Galatians 3:1-2 denies that "works of the law" are part of the way to receive the Spirit, therefore that phrase does not refer to obedience to God. Again Romans 3:31 says that our faith upholds God's aw in contrast with Galatians 3:10-12 saying that works of the law are not of faith. So those all who rely on works of the law come under the curse of not relying on the Book of the Law because they are doing that instead of relying on the Book of the Law. Again, it says that cursed is everyone who does not continue to do all things which are written in the Book of the Law, so the only way to avoid coming under that curse is by continuing to rely on the Book of the Law.

Evidence #2 - But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”

Again, Galatians 3:10-12 connects a quote form Habakkuk 2:4 saying that the righteous shall live by faith with a quote from Leviticus 18:5 saying that the one who obeys God's law will live by it, so the righteous who are living by faith are the same as those who are living in obedience to God's law. It is contradictory to live by faith in God instead of living by faith in what God has instructed.

Evidence #3 - having wiped out the handwriting of requirements (Mosaic Law) that was against us,

Evidence #4 - Mosiac Law = which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

There is a difference between these two statements:

1.) You shall not commit murder.

2.) This person has been found guilty of committing murder.

The first is an examplone of God's laws that are for our own good while the second is an example of a handwritten ordinance that is against someone that was nailed to their cross. The purpose of the brutality of crucifixion was to act as a deterrent, so the Romans wanted to make sure that everyone knew why someone was being crucified, which they did by nailing a handwritten sign to their cross that listed the charges that was agains them, such as in Matthew 27:37, where they nailed a sign to Christ's cross that listed the charge against him that he was King of the Jews. This is likely also how they knew that the people who were crucified with Jesus were thieves. The Romans did not nail any laws to people crosses, for example, they didn't nail the law again murder to someone cross, then need to legislate a new law agains murder to replace the old one. This fits perfectly with the concept of the list of our sins in transgression of God's law being nailed to Christ's cross and with him dying in our place to pay the penalty for our sins, but has nothing to do with nailing any of God's laws to the cross.

In Titus 2:14, it does not say that Jesus gave himself to free us from God's law, but in order to free us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people of his own possession who are zealous for doing good works, so becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Mosaic Law is the way to believe in what Jesus accomplished through the cross (Acts 21:20) while returning to the lawlessness that he gave himself to redeem us from is the way to reject what he accomplished.

Why are you fighting against God?

All throughout the Bible, God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Mosaic Law and even Christ began his ministry with that Gospel message, so it is completely absurd to think that doing that is fighting against God instead of refusing to do that.