E NMITY :

The Law of Sin and Death, and Colossians 2 Revisited

(A Sequel to Can Current Adventist Understanding of the Law
Survive the Swelling Storm of Scrutiny?)
Richard A. Bokovoy, II

Introduction
In the previous paper we investigated if there are things in the Law of God that we have
been missing as Adventists and it was found that God has much light to send us from the Law
and the gospel. In fact, we saw that the gospel is actually part of the Law when we see that the
great Law includes both moral and ceremonial portions and that the ceremonial portions were
prophecies carried out that point to Christ and His sacrifice. Here is a statement that verifies
this:
The types and shadows of the sacrificial service, with the prophecies, gave the Israelites a veiled,
indistinct view of the mercy and grace to be brought to the world by the revelation of Christ It
was seeing the object of that which was to be done away, seeing Christ as revealed in the law,
that illumined the face of Moses. The ministration of the law, written and engraved in stone,
was a ministration of death. Without Christ, the transgressor was left under its curse, with no
hope of pardon. The ministration had of itself no glory, but the promised Saviour, revealed in
the types and shadows of the ceremonial law, made the moral law glorious.1

Christ can only be revealed in the Law when we see that the moral and ceremonial laws are
connected to each other and are part of the same Law called the Torah in Hebrew. The moral
law is the Ten Commandments, each of which are further broken down by statutes written in the
Book of the Law; and it was shown in the previous paper that the Fourth Commandment is
exceeding broad (Ps. 119:96) and entails much more than we ever imagined.
The Fourth Commandment, as written in the First Table of Stone, only specifies one period
of time: the Sabbath day (the seventh day concluding a week). Nothing written on the Stone
points to a Saviour from sin. But when we look into the Book of the Covenant we find other
periods of time: the Tamiyd (morning and evening opening new days, perpetually)which is the
foundation for all the timesthe Chodesh (the New Moon opening a month), and the year
containing annual festivals (Chaggim) and Sabbaths. Connected with each of these times were
the types and shadows pointing to Christ, which are collectively called the ceremonial law. Thus,
through the portal of the Fourth Commandment, the ceremonial law is connected to the moral
law, and together they form the one Torah Law. It is a Law of perfect love, with Christ at the very
center of it, when we look to the end of the ceremonies that were to be done away when type met
1 Review and Herald, 4/22/1902. (As before, unless otherwise noted, all non-Bible quotes are from
Ellen G. White.)

antitype at the cross. The prophetic ceremonies ended, but their law of sacrifice fulfilled in
Christ can never be done away, for He will always be the Lamb of God.
The purpose of this paper is to further investigate the Law of God, specifically its dual
nature of righteousness and life, versus sin and deaththe latter in particular, in its relation to
the New Testament texts that antinomians use to try to prove that Gods Law was done away
with. Before we only had an opportunity to take a partial look at one of these, Colossians 2, but
here we will explore it more fully after examining other related texts to unveil the mystery of
enmity. So let us begin by turning to 2 Corinthians, Chapter 3, which Sister White referenced in
our opening quote.

I. Two Ministrations of the Law: Life and Death

Ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but
with the Spirit of the Living God; not in Tables of Stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart ...
ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious,
so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his
countenance; which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be
rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the
ministration of righteousness exceed in glory For if that which is done away was glorious,
much more that which remaineth is glorious. Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great
plainness of speech: And not as Moses, which put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel
could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: But their minds were blinded: for
until this day remaineth the same veil untaken away in the reading of the Old Covenant; which
veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their
heart. Nevertheless when they shall turn to Jehovah, the veil shall be taken away. Now Jehovah
is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of Jehovah is, there is liberty.2

This is a favorite text of antinomians. They feel confirmed in their belief of Gods Law being
done away in Christ. It is plain that Paul is referring to both moral and ceremonial law, not
one or the other; the Tables of Stone represent the Ten Commandments and the glory of Christ
is revealed in the ceremonial types. They would argue that the Holy Spirit writes a new law in
the hearts of believers, and that the old Mosaic law of letters need not be observed. If a precept
is not explicitly stated in the New Testament Scriptures they reject it and say that it is of the old
Mosaic Law that was done away with. It is all because they fail to understand the dual nature of
the Law. When Paul speaks about the Law in negative termsusing such words as
condemnation, death, done away, abolished, etc.they think that he is saying that to obey
the old Law would bring negative things to a Christian, such as legalism. But in actuality, Paul is
only describing a certain function of the Law in negative terms. Sister White very well describes
it here:
The law of God, spoken in awful grandeur from Sinai, is the utterance of condemnation to the
sinner. It is the province of the law to condemn, but there is in it no power to pardon or to
redeem. It is ordained to life; those who walk in harmony with its precepts will receive the

2 2 Cor. 3. All Bible quotes in this paper are derived from the King James Version (KJV) with occasional
minor alterations of capitalization and wording to capture the truest meaning of the passage. In this
case, Gods Divine Name is used as reflected in the well-preserved Syriac Peshittah, which the author
believes rightfully preserves it, thus testifying that Jesus is also Jehovah.

reward of obedience. But it brings bondage and death to those who remain under its
condemnation
...
The glory that shone on the face of Moses was a reflection of the righteousness of Christ in the
law. The law itself would have no glory, only that in it Christ is embodied. It has no power to
save. It is lusterless only as in it Christ is represented as full of righteousness and truth. 3

It is seen in this quote, as it is seen in thoroughly studying Pauls statement, that the
negative attributes of the Law only apply to the transgressor (sinner) of the Law. The
righteousness of the Lawas defined by its precepts and as fulfilled in Christis not the thing to
be done away. Paul uses great plainness of speech saying that the veil is done away in
Christ. The veil of blindness is to be taken away, not the Law itself. But even unto this day,
when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. A heart condition called unbelief is the
problem; there is no fault in Gods Law in meeting the condition of humanity. God veiled the
plan of redemption in physical symbols that we can relate withbut this was only in response to
meeting fallen humanity where they are at.
Had the law of God never been transgressed, there would have been no death, and no need of a
Saviour; consequently there would have been no need of sacrifices
If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Noah, and
observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision
they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be
proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. 4

From the very beginningwith Adamsacrifices were only required because of sin. So why is it
that we still sin? Is it because we are not trying hard enough to stop? No, no. It is because we
have a veil over our hearts. We are blinded and do not see a clear view of our Saviour. This is
why God gave the ceremonial law. Because of our veil of unbelief in a sin-pardoning, sincleansing Saviour, God gave us a veiled, yet glorious, system contained under the Fourth
Commandment called the ceremonial law. It is only glorious because it points to our much more
glorious Redeemer who gives us rest from our sins, and when we get a clear view of Him, the veil
is removed and we see the glory that Moses saw, as was reflected in his face at Sinai. The
children of Israel could not behold this glory because of the veil over their hearts. They were
living under the principle of all that Jehovah hath spoken we will do (Ex. 19:8), as if they were
their own saviour.
After many centuries, this same principle was practiced by the Pharisees in the time of
Christ. Their physical eyes beheld His holy life, but their spiritual eyes could not see beyond the
symbols of their law; they could not see Christ in the Law and instead saw Him as a law breaker.
To them, the moral code of the Law consisted of letters to try to live up to, and they added their
own precepts to it, seeing that they needed something more to keep it. They could not see that
the lambs pointed to the Lamb, and that His sin-pardoning blood and set-apart Spirit alone
could bring liberty to free their captivity to sin (represented by their captivity to Egypt, Babylon,
and Rome).
Many in the Christian world also have a veil before their eyes and heart.5

3 Review and Herald, 4/22/1902.

4 Patriarchs and Prophets, 363-64.

As a result,
The Redeemer, with a heart of unalterable love, still sheds his sacred blood in the sinner's
behalf.6

Though type has met antitype, now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. As long as there is sin, there is an active Saviour. But this is the
Covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put My Law into
their hearts, and in their minds will I write it; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no
more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin (Heb. 9:26; 10:16-18).
Because the veil of unbelief is over our hearts, because we have not a clear view of our
Saviour, because of the continual commission of sin, the atoning sacrifice of a heavenly
Mediator is essential.7 We, like our ancient ancestors, have yet to fully enter into the New
Covenant, where we are the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the
Spirit of the Living God; not in Tables of Stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart ... ministers of
the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth
life.
Until the veil is removed from our hearts so that the Spirit can fully write the Law there, we will
still be sinning and Christ will still be offering Himself in heaven for our sins. When Christ died
on the cross, the inner veil of the earthly sanctuary was rent in twain, but a veil still remains
upon our hearts. The New Covenant way was opened for us at Calvary, but we have yet to fully
enter into it; thus, Christ must still carry out what the ceremonial law typified. As we come to
comprehend this, it will become reality to us and we will become living epistles to proclaim this
Loud Cry of Christ still offering His blood for our sins until we are entirely cleansed. His
ministry is soon to close for those who refuse such great a salvation, and they will only receive
the plagues. This is the final message, the most startling one ever given to man. It will be
proclaimed that the Law of God declares death upon those who transgress it, but it declares life
upon those who choose Christ to fulfill its righteousness in them.
The letter killeth when a veil is over our spiritual eyes, preventing Christ our
Righteousness from being seen, and over our heart, preventing the Spirit from writing the
righteousness in us. We see letters and symbols, but since we do not see Christ in the Law, we
either try to achieve the requirements on our own or we instead declare that it is all done away.
The Spirit giveth life when the veil is removed. Life comes only in pure obedience to Christ in
the Law. Without this, the Law will bring us under condemnation, for we are without Christ to
fulfill it in us. Only by His merits are we declared and made righteous, but the Law will testify to
this when our case is closed.
Sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under grace. 8

5 Review and Herald, 4/22/1902.

6 Review and Herald, 1/9/1883.
7 The Youths Instructor, 4/16/1903.
8 Rom. 6:14.

II. The Law of Sin and Death

Paul has much to say about the Law, and in the book of Romans especially he speaks of it in
negatively. Antinomians interpret under the Law as being those who believe that the Law is
still binding. However, Paul goes on to explain what he means by using the illustration of
servanthood:
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye
obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness Being then made free
from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.9

In order to maintain unbiblical preconceived ideas, one must take a text out of context. Here the
context is speaking of being under servanthood, or bondage, to sin unto death, but then being
made free from sin with the end everlasting life (v. 22). Thus, when Paul uses the term
under the Law (Rom. 3:19), he is meaning being under sin (Rom. 3:9; 7:14), which the Law
condemns and declares that the transgressor must die from. But this word substitution makes it
sound as if the Law is sin, so Paul clears this up for us:
Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law Sin, taking occasion by
the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.10

What does Paul mean when he says that sin takes occasion by the commandment (mentioned
also in v. 11)? Does the Law make us sin?
Was then that which is good [the Law (v. 12)] made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment
might become exceeding sinful.11

Thus Paul is explaining a function of the Law: it reveals sin. Then, in Verses 14 to 25, he
describes a waran enmitybetween the mind and the flesh. In doing so, he identifies the Law
of God on one side and the Law of sin on the other. This explains the dilemma! When Paul
speaks of the Law in negative terms, it is the Law of sin. When he speaks of the Law in positive
terms, it is the Law of God. What Paul is describing is two different functions of the same
Law at enmity with each other, thus making it appear as if they are two different laws. Hence,
the Law of sin describes the function of the Law that reveals sin to be sin. But the other
function of the Law reveals righteousness, especially when we see Christ who fulfills it for us and
in us. This is when Paul calls it the Law of God, which is in reality the righteousness of the
Law (8:4).
Associated with the function of the Law that reveals sin is the function of condemnation, for
the wages of sin is death (6:23). The Law identifies sin for all, but it only condemns the one
who transgresses it. The Law itself cannot create sin. A power must come about from without
the Law itselfa power from beneathto actually cause sin, and death will follow. And it is the
same way with the opposing function of the Law. It reveals righteousness to everyone, but a
9 Rom. 6:16, 18.
10 Rom. 7:7-8.
11 Rom. 7:13. Brackets added.

power must come about from without the Law to create the righteousness, even Christ who
brings us life.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the Law of sin and death.12

The dilemma has now been explained. The Law that we are not to be under but freed from is this
Law of sin and deaththat is, freed from sinning against Law of God and incurring the wages of
sindeathwhich the Law declares. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness. Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death. The only way to reach
an interpretation that we are to be free from the Law of God or the righteousness of the Law
is to wrest with Pauls writings unto our destruction (see 2 Pet. 3:15-16), for the carnal mind
prefers a theology that is free from righteousness, because it is at enmity with its constraints:
The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.13

When the context is taken into consideration, the Bible is clear: Sin leads to death, and
righteousness leads to life; and righteousness can only be attained if Christ be in you (8:10).
Without Christ, the flesh will either try to find a way out of the Law of God or it will try to keep it
by heaping good works upon the guilt of sin. Paul encountered both problems. That is why he
wrote as if two laws existed. He wanted us to see a Law with Christ, versus a Law without
Christ.
Earlier in his epistle to the Romans, Paul followed the same principle, just in a different
setting. He explained how the righteousness of the Law was attained. Many were trying to attain
it by their own works, but he explained how righteousness could only be attained by faiththe
faith of Jesus Christ (3:22) and faith in His blood (v. 25). Thus, he spoke as if there were two
laws.
Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what Law? of works? Nay: but by the Law of faith.
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the Law. 14

Again, Paul knew that people would take that out of context to cancel the Law, so he added:
Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the Law. 15

The Law functions either to expose sin or to reveal righteousness, but a power from beneath or a
power from above only creates the sin or the righteousness. Then, when we choose one side or
the other, the Law simply confirms the person either to condemnation or to commendation. The
true enmity is between the power working from beneath and the power working from above. But
Paul uses the language of two lawsworks versus faith, or sin versus Godto convey the two
12 Rom. 8:1-2.
13 Rom. 8:7.
14 Rom. 3:27.
15 Rom. 3:31.

views that people have of the Law. His concern was that many were viewing it as a Law that is
achieved merely by ones own efforts, but he showed that man has a fallen flesh and that
naturally the lower passions rule and are at enmity with God and His Law. So he wanted to paint
an entirely different picture of the Law than what people had in their minds for so long.
Unfortunately, many people today still have a wrong picture of it. They think that Christ freed us
from being in bondage to its impossible standards. They then wrest with Pauls writings to
maintain their view. But it is just the opposite. Christ came to free us from having to keep it on
our own and continually failing. He came to establish the Law, that the righteousness of the
Law might be fulfilled in us.
Paul wants us to see a new picture of the Lawone with Christ in it, fulfilling in us the
righteousness thereof as we trust in His power to do so and claim His merits alone. Christ is the
Living Lawa term that Alonzo T. Jones and Ellet J. Waggoner frequently used. Christ says,
Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill (Matt. 5:17). When He fulfills the Law, He becomes the Living Lawthe very
embodiment of it. The Tamiyd, the Sabbath, the Chodesh, and the annual festivals are all to be
seasons of celebrating and honoring His plan of freeing us from the Law of sin and death. At the
cross, the ceremonies associated with them died with Him, to have their true fulfillment in Him.
All moral principles are dead letters that cannot save without Christ, but in Him they become
alive and are fulfilled in the righteousness He creates in us as we continually depend on Him.
Then the Law will no longer function to condemn us but to commend us, as we are hid in Christ.
This is the Law that Paul wants us to see. It makes us want to burst in joy with the Psalmist,
saying O how love I Thy Law! It is my meditation all the day (Ps. 119:97). Paul wants to carry
us away from the experience we may have formerly had with the Law: works that always fall
short, sins that keep coming back, condemnation, and death. This new, yet intended, way of
viewing Pauls writings on the Law will give us much further insight as to what was nailed to the
cross in Colossians 2. We just have one more stop to make on the way there: the parallel text to
it in the Book of Ephesians that will further explain the enmity, unlocking its mystery.

III. From Enmity to Reconciliation

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.16

The world is at enmity with God (see Jas. 4:4). But the promise is to put us at enmity with the
serpent (the devil) through Christ (the Seed of Eve and Mary, who represent the church), who
was bruised for our iniquities so that we are healed (Isa. 53:5). Only by placing ourselves in
ChristHis perfect life, His sufferings and death, and His life and resurrectionand by Christ
being placed in us, can we experience this reversal of enmity unto reconciliation with God.
The books of Ephesians and Colossians cover many of the same subjects and phrases, with
dozens of cross-references. The theme for both is the completeness of Christ for our salvation,
with our relationship to Him as He being the head and us the church being His bodywhich the
apostle links with Christs physical body that was crucified, buried, and risen, of which the
church is baptized into. The great mystery that Paul continually refers to is Christ in us, and us
in Christ.
16 Gen. 3:15.

Christ in us:
...That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith filled with all the fullness of God.17
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made
manifest to His saints which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.18

Us in Christ:
God even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ And hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.19
You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He
reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and
unreproveable in His sight every man perfect in Christ Jesus.20

In this study, we want to focus more on the latter truth: us in Christ. In one point in our lives, we
are all enemies to God due to our sins. [The Greek word translated to enemies here is
echthros; we will soon see the feminine version of this wordechthrawhich is translated to
enmity.] But Paul wants to show us a very beautiful picture, a spiritual reality originating at the
cross. As Christs body hung there, He bore all the sins of the world to bring reconciliation to the
enmity between sinful man and a holy God. With the spiritual truths symbolized at the cross, we
die with Him from our sins, which are buried in His burial, and we are resurrected as new
creatures in Christ. These truths are very real and they take effect in our lives as we picture them
in our minds, continually placing ourselves in Christ and His merits. These are things to think
upon throughout each day that we may dwell in heavenly places instead of in the corruptions of
this world. Thus, our thoughts are continually drawn upward as we choose to think upon these
things by the drawing power of Christ. In Him, we are to die daily, continually (1 Cor. 15:31), to
the enmity of sin with its every alluring temptation and its every passion that wars with the soul.
The majority will deny their Saviour and receive no benefit from the atonement Christ
made at the cross, for we covered in the first paper that this was the corporate atonement that
opens the way for man to be saved from his sins. In order to receive the benefits of the
righteousness of Christ that He imputes and imparts to us, we must sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Practically speaking, Christ, in His body, must bear our sins as we
confess them upon Him. Then, through the shedding of His blood, with the merits of
righteousness and life that are in His blood, He will bring us into reconciliation with God and
His Law. We are thus presented to God as holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His
sight, perfect in Christ Jesus. This is the imputed righteousness we receive as we sit together
in heavenly places in Christ JesusChrists righteous life in place of our sinful life. At that time,
the Spirit of Christ imparts the righteousness which we are entitled to have due to the imputed
righteousness we received. Even when we are not sinning, we are to dwell in Him, claiming His
17 Eph. 3:17, 19.
18 Col. 1:26-27.
19 Eph. 2:4-6.
20 Col. 1:21-22.

merits, receiving His life. Thus, Christ can dwell in His spiritual body, the church, when we have
been dwelling in Him in heavenly places.
With this wonderful impression of salvation in mindyea, with our eyes fixed on Calvary
let us proceed on to the text in Ephesians that is of most interest to us:
At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the Covenants of the promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us; Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so
making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the holy ones,
and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit.21

It is important to understand that the Christian church is not different from the Hebrew church.
We are to form one spiritual temple for Christ to dwell in us. Without an understanding of this
foundation, we will have a false concept of the gospel, and we will interpret the Law of
commandments contained in ordinances to be at enmity with us in its fulfillment. But Christ
has one people and one Law that governs His body.
Not understanding Pauls language regarding the Law would hinder us as well; that is why
we have studied it first. Remember, there are two functions of the Law that are at enmity with
each other. On one side we have a Law that points out sin and condemns the sinner to death
because Christ was not sought to fulfill the Law. On the other side we have a Law that reveals
righteousness and points to a Saviour that creates the righteousness in us after taking our sins
and replacing them with His imputed righteousness. The former is at enmity with the latter,
thus the former fits the context in which Paul uses the phrase the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, which he calls the enmity. It must be the Law of sin and death,
which is certainly against us. The righteousness of moral law cannot be the enmity, for it
ensures eternal life; without it, heaven would not be heaven. And ceremonial law being fulfilled
in our Saviour is certainly not at enmity with us either, for He is the only way that we can live
righteously!
The ceremonial law that perpetuated sin and death through the perpetual slaying of beasts
after having sins confessed over them had to end at the cross. Hence, Sister White wrote that
the Law of commandments contained in ordinances is this ceremonial law. 22 This is the
extent to which we covered the parallel texts in Colossians 2 and Ephesians 2 in the first paper.
However, this is only a partial understanding. No prophet quoting Scripture conveys all the light
that can be drawn from it. With our fuller background in how Paul deals with the Law, we
need to assess these critically important texts. Again, the ceremonial law involving animal
21 Eph. 2:12-16.
22 Signs of the Times, 9/4/1884.

sacrifices that kept pointing to Christ for thousands of years had to come to its end lest it never
reach its fulfilment; but when it is fulfilled in Christ, the real substance it shadows is
immortalized!
We must now dig deeper and see how this Law Paul is referring to embraces more than just
ceremonial law. We must have a bigger picture to harmonize all of the Pauline texts that pertain
to the Law. The enmity was in Christs flesh, and it was slain there when Christ was slain. The
only thing that we know Christ bore in His flesh was sin, and this is what killed Him.
It was not the spear thrust, it was not the pain of the cross, that caused the death of Jesus. That
cry, uttered with a loud voice (Matthew 27:50; Luke 23:46), at the moment of death, the
stream of blood and water that flowed from His side, declared that He died of a broken heart.
His heart was broken by mental anguish. He was slain by the sin of the world.23
Christ 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.24

What is the curse of the Law that Christ became? It is the enmity of sin and death! Sin is
accursed by the Law, and death is decreed to be its wages.
For He [the Father] hath made Him [the Son] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him [the Son].25
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. 26

The works of the Law (trying to keep the Law on our own, failing) keep us under the curse of
sin and death. Christ became this curse after living perfectly in all things which are written in
the Book of the Law to do them. The Book of the Law is the Torah Law, containing both moral
and ceremonial portions, just as Sister White said that the Law in Galatians included. 27 In fact, it
seems we have seen a pattern all along that Paul is always referring to the whole Torah. Why
would that not be the case here regarding the Law of commandments contained in
ordinances? If Paul meant merely sacrifice and oblation laws, why did he not just indicate it as
such?
The moral injunctions identify sin and thus pronounce death upon the transgressor, while the
ceremonial injunctions pronounce death upon a substitute for the penitent sinner. Christ bore
our sins in His flesh and died the death that we deserve in feeling the guilt and covenanting to
permanently be one with man and never go back. He takes our enmity that we may have peace,
and since that time He has not had peace, for He still bears our sins and our griefs:
23 Desire of Ages, 772.
24 Gal. 3:13.
25 2 Cor. 5:21; brackets added.
26 Gal. 3:10.
27 Manuscript Releases, 1:131.

Thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. I, even I,
am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Put Me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 28

But the fact that there was an end to His suffering on the crosswhen He was slain and our sins
were slain with Himindicates that there is an end to sin and His long travail in heaven where
we are justified, for the body of Christ at Calvary is a prophecy of His church body. After the
suffering comes the resurrection from the grave unto everlasting righteousness, life everlasting.
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring
in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most
Holy.29

Christ made an end of sins and brought in everlasting righteousness in His own life. He then
bore the sins of the world and that came to an end. But this was all to point forward to the time
when sin would come to an end in His faithful servants at the end of time, the very purpose of
His mission. Then will be the resurrection of His spiritual body: those who were redeemed in
His physical body through His sin-bearing flesh and sin-pardoning blood. 30
The enmity of sin and death will come to its end, and a redeemed human race will be reconciled
to God, and so shall we ever be with the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17). The cross opened up the way for
this to happen and revealed it; and it also reveals to our dull senses of the pain that, from its
very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God (Education, 263). The enmity has hit the
Father and the Son by far the most. It is time to recognize this and make an end of sins.
We now have enough background to more fully understand Colossians 2.

IV. Colossians 2 Revi sited

Ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of
the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen
with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead. And
you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together
with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 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; And
having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat offerings, or in drink offerings, or offerings
in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Offerings which are a
shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.31

28 Isa. 43:24-26.
29 Dan. 9:24.
30 In the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight (Hos. 6:2).
31 Col. 2:10-17.

We are complete in Christ. He is the Head of His spiritual body (and everything else that is),
which He abides in and which we are to be. In turn, our experience is in being in Him. It is
interesting how Paul uses the words circumcision and baptism here. We are circumcised in
Christ. Paul calls this the circumcision of Christ.
And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.32
For He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people was He
stricken.33

Christ took our sins upon Himself, and was cut off, just as the foreskin of the flesh is cut off in
circumcision. Our sinsthe sinful works of the fleshcaused His cutting off from life. But Christ
was thus circumcised unto death not for Himself but for the transgression of His people. Paul
then immediately switches to baptism, which is the New Covenant ordinance replacing the Old
Covenant ordinance of circumcision, which involves bloodwhich makes atonement for sin.
Everything typifying atonement, especially involving blood, ended at the cross, but God gave us
a bloodless replacement rite just as He did for the Passover meal involving a sacrifice, giving us
the Lords supper instead. Baptism is also a rite of initiation, and its symbolism involves a dying,
burial, and resurrection. Like with the circumcision, we are buried in baptism with Him.
It is important to understand the language that Paul is using. As we have seen before, the
things that he describes taking place at the cross are not all literal, but symbolic and metaphoric.
We were not literally circumcised or baptized at the cross. Nor were our sins forgiven at the
cross (which would mean everyone is forgiven of their sins). Nor was there a literal handwriting
of ordinances hung to the cross to be blotted out. Taking any of these literally can cause us to
have serious doctrinal problems.
It all makes sense when we realize that Paul is trying to convey to us spiritual experiences
we are to have by using the illustration of the cross. It doesnt mean that Christ did not literally
bear our sins, for we know this is true. But our salvation did not literally take place 2000 years
ago; it is a present situation to have our sins removed and receive the righteousness of Christ,
which is eternal life. Our salvation is being wrought out by Christ in His humanity through His
blood atonement in heaven and by His Spirits sanctifying us. So, as far as our justification and
sanctification are concerned, we are to look to the cross only to help us visualize a spiritual
reality. Salvation must be presently wrought out by Christ through our cooperative faith in Him.
Symbols do not save us except for what they reveal and the impressions thus made. But Satan
would have us believe the strong delusion that a simple confession of faith will do, with our
salvation all taking place in the past. With this understood, let us proceed on.
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.

Again, Sister White calls this the ceremonial law 34which it is, but it is more than that.
The context has been indicating to us that it is dealing with our sins, and since our sins caused
32 Dan. 9:26.
33 Isa. 53:8.
34 Signs of the Times, 9/4/1884.

His death, He died as our Substitute. This must again be the Law of sin and death. The moral
portion of the Law exposes sin, while the ceremonial portion of the Law decrees death for the
sinners substitute. Both go together, because they are part of the same Law. It is the Law of
enmity to the transgressor and the perfect Law of liberty to the Christ-filled guardian of the
Law (Jas. 1:25). Only the one who sins requires a sacrifice, but all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), so we all require a sacrifice. Therefore, Christ made atonement
for all mankind by dying the death that we owe for our sins and by making a way available for
sinners to be saved.
Yet sin must come to an end as prophesied. It is against us, contrary to us, enmity to us to
continue in sin. If we do, then the Law is at enmity with us because it declares our sin and our
death. But since Christ became sin and death for us at the cross, Paul uses a metaphor of the
handwriting of ordinances being blotted out and nailing it to the cross, for Christ becomes the
enmity for us that we may become reconciled with God and His Lawno longer condemning us.
The moral laws condemn our sins, and the shadowy laws declare that death is required for
our sins, which Christ fulfills on the cross. And the latter is what Paul goes on to specify with his
therefore statement regarding the ceremonial meat and drink offerings of the earthly
sanctuary associated with the yearly, monthly, and weekly days of the Law.
Since Christ died the death prescribed in the ceremonial law, Paul says that we do no need
to allow anyone to condemn us for not making meat and drink offerings when we worship God
at His appointed times of meeting, for Christ is the body that casts a shadow in the ceremonial
types. This was explained in more detail in the first paper.
There is currently a debate over whether the body is the physical body or the spiritual
body, but there need not be any. Based on the context, it appears that it applies to both! Most
directly, it is Christs physical body, but since we, as Christs spiritual body, are to be in Him
through His sin-bearing flesh and sin-pardoning blood, circumcised with His circumcision,
crucified, buried, and raised up with Himthis may refer to His spiritual body as well. Christ
became the fulfilment of ceremonial law for the moral law that we transgressed, and we are
forgiven and reconciled in Him. The enmity of sin and death are cut off in Him, buried in Him,
and we are resurrected in Him. We are complete in Him. We have no salvationyea, no
existenceoutside of His body that hung on the cross, which wounds will shine forth brightness
and revelation forever in paradise.
Another ongoing debate is over what the handwriting of ordinances is. The three options
are human decrees, ceremonial law, or a bill of debt for our sins that Christ paid off. Again, the
answer seems to be all three!
It obviously includes ceremonial law, because Paul directly refers to meat and drink
offerings found in the shadow of Christ and because Sister White clearly indicated it. Ceremonial
law is only against us if they fail to see Christ fulfilling the prophetic symbols, or if the
ceremonies are practiced at all after the cross (thus showing we do not see Christ fulfilling the
types).
But it also must be kept in mind that the Jews added many of their oral traditions and
ceremonies to the ceremonies prescribed in the Torah Law which many had been following and
calling it the same Torah. In addition, we find the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world (v. 8) before the passage, and we find the commandments and doctrines of men (v. 22)

and neglecting of the body (v. 23), among other things, after the passage. They were doing
these things because they did not see Christ in the Law, but only the ceremonies themselves; so,
having no remedy for sin, they had to come up with many burdensome ways to try to hedge in
themselves from sin. These things also created a greater hedge between Jews and Gentiles (who
were seen to be unclean because they didnt participate in all of the ceremonies). With Christ
removed, the ceremonies just became a system of human works perpetuating enmityconstant
sin and constant human rituals to try to remedy it. God never intended it to be this way. The
Jewish nation was to see Christ in the ceremonies, receive His righteousness, and make an end
of sins before the 70 prophetic weeks expired. So Christ did it for them instead, but they rejected
Him. The final week came, and the ceremonies came to an end; the nation bore the curse and
ceased to exist.
What about the third option? The Greek word translated to handwriting is cheirgraphon.
Strongs (G5498) includes: a manuscript (specifically a legal document or bond (figuratively)).
Thayers includes: a note of hand or writing in which one acknowledges that money has either
been deposited with him or lent to him by another, to be returned at the appointed time.
Summarizing, we could say that it is a legal bond of debt. The figurative one Paul described
contained ordinances, or decrees. As we have seen, these would have included both moral and
ceremonial injunctions, thus indicating sin and death, respectively. This Greek word fits well
with what Christ accomplished on the cross, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins (Heb. 10:4) and Christ paid the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the First Covenant (9:15). The debt of sins had been accumulating since Adam,
for animal sacrifices could never make atonement for sins; they only typified of what was to
come.
Therefore, the figurative legal bond included the moral precepts defining the sins as well as
the ceremonial precepts Jesus fulfilled in His death on the cross, thus blotting out the debt,
requiring death, for those accumulated sins. But it also includes us living after the cross because
He is the Sacrifice for all time and He bore all the sins of the world, paying the debt of death that
we have owed heaven. By becoming sin and death for us all, a new and living way is opened
through His sin-bearing body and sin-pardoning blood for all who desire to be cleansed from
their sins (Heb. 10:20). All the universe is indebted to His Sacrifice, even angels who never
sinned, for the fountain opened at Calvary is the fountain of life for all. It is the one guarantee
that affliction shall not rise up the second time (Nah. 1:9).

Conclusion
The enmity of sin and death were in actuality nailed to the cross, for this is what the body of
Christ bore in place of His spiritual body, the church. Moral law defines sin, and ceremonial law
reveals the sacrifice and remedy for sin, and that is why Paul calls it the law of sin and death.
The legal bond represents the debt of death that we owe according to our sins. This is what
Christ cleared by His death, but the benefits of His Sacrifice can only be received through His
atonement in the sanctuary, for that is how sin itself is taken away and kept until it can be
placed upon the antitypical scapegoat. Christs merits are just waiting there for us to claim; then
peace is ours.
Sin involves more than debt. It is enmity against God and His government. No one can be
saved from sin if he or she is at enmity with God, for that is what sin is! It must be taken from us

and placed on Him, to be transferred into the sanctuary by His blood. There it remains until the
sanctuary is cleansed. This entire process must take place before every argument of the great
controversy is settled. It must be seen that the righteousness of the Law is holy, and just, and
good (Rom. 7:12) and that it can be fulfilled in us, while the transgression against it brings only
death. God is waiting for a people to agree to all the righteousness of His Law so that they can be
fully sealed. This will require drastic changes in how we view the Law of God. We are now in the
studying process, but ultimately we must practically apply what we learn. We must have a clear
view of Christ in His Law and no more return to the Old Covenant where He is removed, or
where we add to or take away from what is written in the Law. Thus we will end the perpetual
sin we have been in ever since our first parents ate of the forbidden tree, for Christ will be
formed in us, the hope of glory, because we will have sat together in heavenly places in Him
while the probation of His sprinkling blood still lingered. There will be no more enmity, no more
suffering and dying.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into
judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.35

The Law that is against us is the Law we transgress, not the Law that Christ fulfills for us and in
us. It will surely find us out in the Judgment unless our sins are blotted out by the blood of the
Lamb. It is against us to sin because it requires a Mediator to continue His ministry, thus
delaying eternity. Because of the insubordination of man to God, the delay continues. We still
have a precious fountain to cleanse us from all our iniquity, but it is against the entire universe
for the rebellion against Gods Law to continue. God has winked at our ignorance in the past
when moral and sacrificial precepts were not understoodbut we are now reaching a time
where ignorance is disappearing as the increase of the knowledge of Jehovah makes its way
through the earth. All will see a complete Law, and through the Fourth Commandment, a
complete Saviour within it. He will give rest from the enmity of sin as He has promised in the
types attached to His cycles of time, with the Seventh day being the sign of those who enter into
His rest. The result will be a plentiful harvest of sealed servants of God. Sin, and the sacrifice
and oblation required for its removal, will cease. With the galling enmity destroyed, the glorious
eternity will arise.
The atoning sacrifice through a mediator is essential because of the constant commission of
sin. Jesus is officiating in the presence of God, offering up His shed blood, as it had been a lamb
slain. Jesus presents the oblation offered for every offense and every shortcoming of the
sinner.36
This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith Jehovah, I will put My
Law into their hearts, and in their minds will I write it; And their sins and iniquities will I
remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for
sin.37

35 Eccl. 12:13-14.
36 Manuscript 50, 1900.
37 Heb. 10:16-18. We need to enter into this New Covenant experience; the Law is inside, not outside,
and sin is no more.

The letter of the Law is just symbols. Words are symbols. Ceremonies are symbols. It is not the
real substance, for many read it and it does nothing for them because they have no living faith in
the true Sacrifice typified, whose power speaks the life of righteousness into existence. It is the
power we need; the form of religion avails nothing without the power. Yet we still need all of the
words and symbols, otherwise the attributes of the unseen power could not be communicated to
us in our current state. But the letter of the Law, without faith in the power to fulfill the
righteousness thereof, leads to sin and death, because we are without the substance which only
God can create. That is why Paul says, the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life (2 Cor. 3:6).
The letter has no life. It is the life of Christ we need; without itwhether we know the letter
of the Law or notwe are left with a condemning conscience and a letter that kills. But Christ
took this guilt and death upon Himself that we may live.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.38

How will the Law be sealed in the 144,000?By believing in Christ fulfilling it for them and in
them, as they abide in Christ. The Law of Love will never perish, but the letter will pass away.
Here are they that guard the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. 39

38 Jn. 3:16, 18.

39 Rev. 12:14. These are the first-fruits of all who will live. The Law will exist in the heart, no longer
dead (1 Cor. 13:8-13).