The blotted out handwriting.

Colossians 2

This document, which we are going to peruse, is related to a passage found in Colossians 2 ; a passage that was shared among us during one of our meetings.

I put the text in two different versions : The first is according to the King James Bible translation, and the second is from the English Revised Version. And after them there will be the American Standard Version with a small amplification of the text, in order to get a better explanation.

King James Bible : 14 : (God, through Jesus Christ) 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; ¹⁵ And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

English Revised Version : 14 : having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it (bond) out of the way, nailing it to the cross ; ¹⁵ He stripped the rulers and authorities [of their power] and made a public spectacle of them as he celebrated his victory in Christ.

American Standard Version amplified : 14 having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which (bond/obligation) was (therefore) contrary to us : and he hath taken it (bond) out that way, nailing it (this bond) to the cross; ¹⁵ having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

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In the King James version, see that it is the word “handwriting” that is emphasized, whereas the handwriting is really only the “support of the obligation“.

So doesn’t the fact of passing quickly over this text and not reflecting on what this word “handwriting” contains within itself, strongly displace the subject?

Yes, it does, because if we don’t see what contains this “handwriting“, then we don’t really see the work that is being done here.

In chapter 2 of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul -him again-, speaks about the ordinances : Here is the text:

14-15 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances…

– Is it necessary to comment on this word “ordinances“?

– Doesn’t anyone know within themselves what this word “ordinance” means ?

Here is the meaning of this word for those who do not know it : a law, usually of a city or town, that forbids or restricts an activity.

– So, when something has been done by “ordinance“, can we say that it has been done in freedom ?

– And if something is not done freely, such as for example, out of love, can God accept it ?

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But beyond what is visible, I believe that what prevents the reader from staying on this text to meditate on what is written is the verb “blot out” which is used in these three translations or versions.

King James : Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us (the handwriting), and took it out of the way (the handwriting), nailing it to his cross ;

English Revised Version : having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which (bond) was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross ;

American Standard Version : having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us : and he hath taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross ;

This “blotted out” takes on so much importance in our eyes that everything else in the verse that talks about the handwriting becomes secondary, so that we overlook it and do not try to find out what this “handwriting” consisted of. For example, the fact that he blotted out the handwriting that caused people to sin is far superior to the fact of blotting out sins.

It is therefore necessary for the Spirit to take us beyond this first view, because knowing that a handwriting has been blotted out, if we have not learned in relation to what and to whom it has been blotted out, will not be of help to us, and moreover it will have the consequence that we will not be able to come to the aid of those who are still under the yoke of this famous “handwriting”.

More than that : We will not be able to know what Jesus’ death was for; and his resurrection will be of no use to us if we don’t understand the connection it has with this blotted out handwriting.

It is therefore imperative to know the meaning of this passage in its entirety, in order to know if our life is in harmony with that of God.

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So, in this passage of Colossians 2, what is the handwriting ?

As a first explanation, we will say that beyond being a written document, it is also an action (or the result of an action); an action that is done or lived being under the regime of the obligatory commandment of the law, that is, interpreted out of the Spirit.

Indeed, our first reaction when reading this passage is to always attribute this word “act” to a written document. But, without thinking, through inattention, it was “my acts (/deeds)” that I saw. Yes my deeds or my personal actions.

Indeed, this word act has been transformed by myself into “my acts“, that is, my bad actions; and this because my gazes are still focused on myself.

– – –

Note : This second meaning appears in French, as most of our translations use the French word “acte”. The French word “acte” is comparable to the English word “deed”, which also contains a double meaning. A deed can be a “written document”, but it can also be “an action and an act”. This double meaning gives us a better understanding of Jesus’ work as a whole.

– – –

In that case, the center of my life is me and it is no longer the One who carries the handwriting on Him, in order to lead it to death; what makes me attribute to myself all that is written. And what stem from this bad vision is the accusation that comes to me with what I see, but badly.

However, we know very well that the law is holy and spiritual, becuse even though it was written on paper, there is still within it all the divine principles that are in God, and it is impossible for what is holy and spiritual to be nailed to the cross; and even less so by the death of Jesus.

So if we do not take the trouble to pause for a few moments on this text, it is obvious that our Christian walk will always be mixed with accusation and condemnation, and we will never know the origin of this evil.

It is therefore important to be aware of the seriousness of certain subjects, and to go a little deeper into them so as not to leave the field open to the adversary, as is the case for many today.

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I come back to the word “handwriting“.

– A handwriting can be a written document, such as a notarial deed for example.

– Or the written document of the highway code.

– Or the written document of the law given by Moses.

Are these handwritings bad ?

No, they are good, but they become bad as soon as I feel obliged to follow them “to the letter“.

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But here brothers and sisters, I would like to talk about a worldwide problem, regarding what is preached in “Christianity“.

This passage from Colossians 2, as well as many other passages where it is Jesus who speaks, or Paul following him, to whom are they speaking? To the nations or to the Jewish people ?

It is up to you to give your own answer, but here in this passage, let us understand that a “handwriting” can reach us in the form of a condemnation or ordinance, if and only if we are under the law of these ordinances ! However, the Christians of Colosse were nations, and what Paul was testifying to them is what accused the Jews before Jesus went to the cross.

This testimony was therefore a very strong invitation to the Colossians not to allow themselves to be deceived by those who had come – or who would come – to tell them to put the law into practice, which would have the immediate effect of putting them in turn under condemnation, whereas “through Jesus” all that condemned the Jews was yet nailed to the cross.

This subject is sufficiently serious for us to pause for a few moments, because to allow ourselves to be condemned by something that does not concern us is beyond comprehension, and shows that we are not capable of seeing that above us, a very strong power opposes the divine thought, and that it is only “in Christ” that these powers lose all their strength, having been nailed to the cross by Him.

Yes, they lose all their power assuming that they are shown “by the Spirit“; power that goes far beyond the visible.

What was nailed to the cross was not the commandment, which is holy, because in itself the law is holy and spiritual, so it is impossible for God to condemn what is holy. But what was nailed to the cross was the obligation to put the commandment into practice. Yes, to put it into practice as by constraint and not naturally.

This obligation was like the image of a thick black thread that had been woven by a foreign hand into a very valuable fabric, and which, because of its black colour, dulled all its beauty.

Lived by Jesus, the Law then becomes for me the colour of what is in the kingdom of God, because without any obligation.

But unfortunately, to this beautiful Law was inserted with finesse, the commandment with “its obligation to put it into practice“, and it is in this way that the condemnation reaches me, if by misfortune I do not do what I am “commanded to do“.

So this Law which was so beautiful at the beginning, assuming that we have seen it with the Spirit in order to live it by faith, finds itself stained by a black colour that has come to be mixed with it, that is, a colour of accusation and condemnation.

It is impossible to separate two colors that have been mixed in a paint…

So there was no solution for us, except to wipe out the whole thing (and not only our sins) and thus start again on the basis of a purely internal law.

This black color is horrible in itself, because it has a taste of condemnation as soon as we approach it; but the work of Jesus lets us know that by His death, the whole of this law in which there was the two mixed colors, will be wiped out.

We no longer have to walk according to the written law, whether it is with or without commandment, whether it is with or without obligation, since Jesus by his death has wiped out the whole thing!

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How beautiful is the Law of the Spirit of life which is in Jesus Christ, the risen one; an interior Law which now allows us to live only by our interior being. And it is precisely there that the Law of faith finally finds its full accomplishment. It is this Spirit of life that carries us and keeps us out of the false law, the one of obligation.

To believe is not to do. But when by faith we act, then “the do“ no longer has a place in it because it is life that expresses itself naturally.

We no longer have to justify ourselves before anyone, especially before those who would still tell us that the Christian must despite that walk in the “new commandments of Jesus“. (Clever subtlety).

No, the word “commandment” have no more reason to be because it no longer has a place.

And for me, I can even say the same thing about the word “law” : I no longer walk under a law, even if it would be from God, but I walk by my inner being, that is, by the heart, which walks in union within the “Doctrine” that Jesus came to present to me in his Teaching and in his life, and which I also hear through His voice, the one that knows so well how to speak to my re-newed ear. Re-surrected.

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So for me this question arises (assuming that I have not yet understood that, as one of the nations, this written law does not concern me) : Am I still under an obligatory law to do ?

Or, “in Jesus“, have I been freed from the bondage of having to put into practice the commandments into which the obligation has been inserted ?

I say this because unfortunately this law, which was only intended for the Jewish people who no longer wanted to walk by faith, has reached me too, and it has reached me through a corrupted message, and no matter what the messenger name was.

​

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The essential thing is to have “seen” what was nailed to the cross and, having seen, I am no longer obliged to observe the law under constraint. But it is now in complete freedom that I observe this law, and without asking myself whether I am doing right or wrong.

It is the Spirit of Christ in me that now makes me live this Holy Life.

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So, do I have to keep asking myself questions about what I’m experiencing at every moment? And if I do (ask myself questions), can I say that I walk by faith in Christ ?

Certainly not !

This Law, if it is lived “in Jesus“, is extraordinary, because it is lived in complete freedom; and there one no longer feels obliged to do or produce anything to try to please God.

It is only the obligation that creates the accusation, and by the accusation follows the condemnation that leads to death.

And these are the very things that Jesus came to nail to the cross.

That is, to nail the obligation to put the law into practice…this way, we are no longer accused in ourselves.

Indeed, this is what condemned man: Obligation.

Do you know what this obligation consists of ? It is in the “I must…, you must…“, and it is in line with what the people said to Moses in Exodus 19, (we will do), when at that moment the Lord was proposing Himself to continue to carry his people to the land promised to the faith of Abraham.

The motive of obligation when we want to put the law into practice is therefore different for each one. It may be to seek to please God, or because a foreign voice is asking me to do what my inner self is nevertheless opposed to.

It can also come when we “do works” to convince ourselves that we are a good Christian, or to reassure ourselves about our own salvation that would result from these works done by us. Or to fill the faith that we lack, to fill the lack of certainty in the work that Jesus Christ has done in my favour. Etc. etc.

See here in these few examples that in the obligation, Jesus is the great forgotten and the great absent. It is man alone who is in charge of his own life.

Jesus, close to being condemned and crucified, said to his Father: Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18).

Was it necessary, for him? Or had it been given to him by the Father?

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If there were no law there would be no sin; that is, we would not even see sin; but as soon as the commandment of the law meets sin in us, that is when the problem arises and that is then the fall.

Sin in us even corrupts the spiritual meaning of the law and even pushes us to do what the law tells us not to do. Sin in us switches roles and uses the law to bring us down.

1 Corinthians 15 ; 56 : The sting of death is sin, and the strenght of sin is the law.

So until I grasp the real value of Jesus’ work at the cross, I will not see that the written law, sin and disobedience, have to do with the law. I am talking about the one that contains the commandment that condemns me if I don’t put it into practice at all costs.

And it is within this law that I am kept locked up, in this “law of commandments“. Yes, locked up, locked in the guardianship of the law as long as I have not come to the realisation of my total failure to put it into practice, which prevents me from seeking my help in Jesus Christ and therefore from finally walking by faith in Him.

Galatians 3 ; 23 : But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.

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There is also this notion of act, resulting from what is written on the handwriting, and in which there is an obligation of result, to do, to produce, to justify myself, etc.

This handwriting is not only a written document, but it is what emerges from it, following the reading of this handwriting, and that because I read being under this regime of obligation.

So the law found in my flesh “under sin” a hook to hang on to and make me fall by it.

But doesn’t the Scripture say that this handwriting was “made a public spectacle“?

Yes, of course !

But who was at the spectacle here? Yes who, because a spectacle is made to showcase something exceptional. It is done as a demonstration.

So there was a spectacle and there were spectators.

But who are the spectators in this case ?

Well, they are the Jews, the Romans, the authorities, the rulers, and any person who has “seen” this spectacle, including us.

And at what moment do we see this spectacle? From the moment we see the thing through the Spirit in Scripture, which is for the one who discovers it, the secret of what really happened on the cross.

For indeed, what was going on on that cross for there to be such a demonstration ?

There was this :

– One sins, but he believes in an Other…

– Another pays, without Him having committed any sin…

– This is normal, says God, in his everlasting gospel.

It’s divine Justice !

Where were all the obligations and other ordinances here ?

On the cross !

They were all made a spectacle, nailed to the same wood, making them forever ineffective, because emptied of their murderous substance so pernicious, evil for the man under law.

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So what is “the handwriting” ?

The handwriting is “the outward expression of what the rulers and the authorities send to us as a message, when we walk under the law“; and more precisely in “the obligation to do” ….

Let us remember that this has to do with the obligation, with its commandments and ordinances, and not with the law alone !

And when it is written that Jesus “nailed the handwriting“, we must understand that He also shut the mouth, if I may say so, of the authorities in question who are under the authority of the Devil.

In sum, everything that produced sins was constantly brought into view by the rulers and authorities, but all this was wiped out by the work of Jesus, who at the same time silenced those who used it.

A man can be very strong, very powerful, but if he does not have a fulcrum to establish and prove his strength, then his strength can be questioned, because it cannot be proven. Yet the law was precisely the “trump card” of these dominations and other authorities.

The religious, who are under the control of the Devil, always use the law to introduce within the good Law (the one which shows the divine principles which are in God) the obligation, by the famous: “You shall not“, or “You shall“. In this way, they rely on the obligation to take away the freedom of the believers and to dominate over them.

This way of preaching has become for them their trump card, their strength. But when the Law of God passes through Jesus, it changes completely because He is “the Grace“.

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In the law of God there is no obligation; in the law called “of Moses“, there is.

You will never see in the scriptures Jesus obliging someone. He, He said this :

You have heard that it was said… but I say to you.

The bad law is the “commandments“; yet Jesus says “my commandments“, “My word“, “My doctrine” (which is an oral and not a written teaching) … and when he preached his famous “sermon on the mount“, He ensure to make accessible everything that was previously under law in the old testament.

Jesus does not oblige anyone. On the other hand, he takes away the obligation.

Jesus does not oblige, He proposes ! He says things in words, not in writing.

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At this point, a question remains : “How did Jesus manage to nail with Him this “handwriting” and its authors, that is, the rulers and authorities ? »

I’ve mentionned this a bit above, but let’s continue in this direction :

Jesus managed to do this by “a principle opposed to another principle“.

– By two opposing forces.

– By a handwriting opposed to another handwriting.

Jesus attached Himself to the handwriting of the rulers and other authorities by an opposite principle :

• He has attached Himself to the forces of the devil

• He went willingly to the cross !!!

To do this, He used the strength of the Lamb, that is, in the abasement, in the voluntary acceptance; and it is this abasement that, in front of the Devil, was His strength, a divine strength that still endures today in front of the violence and cruelty that reign in this world.

Present yourself to the world with the character of Jesus in you, and you will quickly see that the person who will be facing you will be completely unsettled, and this because you walk according to principles completely opposite to those of this artificial world.

Philippians 2 ; 5 to 8 : Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it “robbery“ to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the “form of a bondservant“, and coming in the likeness of men. 

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

So Jesus accepted the judgment of the law on Him, even though He was innocent.

By abasing Himself and by accepting the thing, Jesus took upon Himself the handwriting of condemnation of the law, linking this “handwriting” to Himself.

And as He bound Himself to this “handwriting” on the cross, He nailed it, this handwriting, to the same cross as His own !!!

Almost nothing…

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In fact, Jesus “accepted to be caught“.

He gave himself.

He gave himself up to death.

He was then in the position of what was prophesied by John the Baptist : “Behold! The Lamb of God who (by giving himself) takes away the sin of the world! “…

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We can therefore say in a certain way that it is by the “means of the law” that Jesus was killed, but in a false, unrighteous way, that is, with a false tribunal and a false judgment, just as unjust !

Besides, what legal value could a fake court with a fake judgment have ? None at all !

In truth, brothers and sisters, when Jesus died, He encompassed us all with Him, in that He did all this in His flesh, in the same flesh as yours and mine.

So the vision is huge !

Two forces were brought face to face :

– On the one hand, the devil using the law with the force of obligation that we know of it.

– And on the other a lamb, in the strength of its weakness…

This is the picture that the cross of Jesus Christ shows us : Two forces ; two powers put face to face, one nailing with it the handwriting of condemnation by accepting the thing. Like an absorption, this one allowing the opening of an unlimited credit in heaven.

Indeed,

– When a God pays with His Person, who could give it the amount ?

– Who could account for the value of this Gift ?

It is the one who has been delivered, healed, lifted up, rehabilitated, restored to Life, because he or she knows what has happened.

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So Jesus let himself die; he accepted to be killed unjustly.

However, given that He was righteous – that He had no sin and that He was nailed -, therefore “a credit was created in heaven“; a credit available immediately, instantaneously. This is why Jesus was able to say to the malefactor on the cross, “Today.“

… today you will be with Me in paradise (Luke 23, 43)

The precision contained in the word “today“, really means that a credit was created instantly in heaven, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus and it was not something for later, contrary to what many believe.

And that is how the heaven is now open…

– This matter of the malefactor is a “mystery” that has always been a problem for many people. But do you believe, brothers and sisters, that this very specific case happened by accident at the time of the cross?

– Could Jesus have said the same thing at another time ?

– Have you heard a word from Jesus about a “today” before the cross ?

– It is only there that “today” is mentionned. Yes, today you will be with Me in paradise, that is, the happy end of all things.

– And this happened at the cross, even before his death !

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So this cross… Was it a closing or an opening?

– Do you think that this very day, pronounced for the first time as part of the work of Jesus, comes to us today for nothing ?

Let us never forget, – and I do mean never -, that it is on the cross, as He lay dying, that Jesus pronounced this : “This very day“, and that He said this to a malefactor, thereby removing any hold on a “certain religion, based on personal merits“.

And this episode was not virtual, but very real, physically speaking.

Understand that if Jesus opened heaven to a malefactor, then where were the personal merits that were supposed to open heaven for me ?

Jesus did this on purpose, in a very precise way, by saying “Today”, and this to a malefactor, the worst case of all. Or thief, scoundrel, creep, or whatever…

Not only this man was indeed a malefactor, but at that time he was also nailed to a cross. And the law says that men nailed to a cross were “cursed before God“.

Yet Jesus showed this malefactor the opposite, telling him that on that same day he would be with Him in paradise.

It is therefore about a “cursed according to the law” to whom the gates of paradise have been opened, because this man… believed.

In other words, someone cursed by the law is no longer cursed for heaven as soon as he believes in Jesus.

All this means that the cross goes far beyond what we might think or imagine, because the truth is that the cross on which Jesus was winning and not losing, OPENED litterally the “gates of heaven” and of God’s paradise.

The faith that was in this man created a direct link with Jesus; He who was going to die and rise again and triumph. And Jesus formally declared to him that on this very day he would be with Him…

So this link of faith is indefectible ; it goes beyond any other law! Over any written law.

Jesus gave several examples, such as “the adulterous woman”, “the woman of Samaria”, “the woman with an issue of blood”, etc.

You just have to “have the eyes to see” to realise all these spiritual beauties. And it is far from being difficult, unless we believe in the world-famous false gospel.

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This “access into heaven” through non-condamnation is very different from being delivered from the fear of death.

How can I be delivered from the fear of physical and spiritual death, death that is due to my committed sins ?

By the resurrection of Jesus Christ, assuming that I see that I am in Him in “His encompassing“.

I then benefit from the “bank of heaven“, from its unlimited credit. That is when the fear of death disappears.

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In fact, Jesus Christ was our substitute in everything. He has taken our place in every thing.

When we’re under accusation then we’re afraid of death. This is normal. But by the sacrifice of Jesus and by the means of faith, all accusation is then removed, assuming that we have understood the thing.

It has come to the point where one is no longer afraid of death. But provided that you have heard the true gospel; understood and received it.

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But let’s go further if you agree.

Jesus therefore disarmed the principalities by using “another power“: The power of the Lamb.

He manifested this strength by abasing, as well as by accepting judgment, and all within the framework of a Life “outside the law“, but living the LAW, the Law of God.

For indeed, in offering himself Jesus was living the great and beautiful “Law of God“.

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In this case, what is certain is that Jesus had a Law of His own, a Law of God, by which He demonstrated that this law far surpassed the law of Moses in its commandments; and the resurrection of Jesus by the Father came at just the right time to prove that this divine approval took place under this regime, and not under another !

The mercy of Jesus was done outside the law of Moses. I strongly insist on this point because many people do not want to accept that Jesus lived another law, and this in his own time.

If this is not so, then let these people explain to me why Jesus was doing everything against the so-called “Law of Moses“, and especially on the Sabbath days.

And also why Jesus said to the Jews : It is written in your law… if not to show that it was not his law.

In the fact that Jesus applied a Divine law, which is to pay for others, He made this “law of Moses” null and void.

Yes, why say “your law…“, if not because on the one hand it is free and on the other hand it is not.

Indeed, as long as the person practices the law of Moses, he’s fine, but as soon as he stops doing it, he dies.

“You must pay by doing” is the rule of the law…

Romans 10 :

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”

6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach) :

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10-11 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

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Someone will say that he does not live this… And yet this is what he does regularly because when he put into practice what the law tells him to do, he pays. He then deceives himself because he thinks he is free, but in reality he is a slave to what he is commanded to do in order to pay.

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So from the moment that Jesus cancelled this law of Moses in its obligatory side, He cancelled at the same time “the handwriting of condemnation” which came back against us, while we know that the law was not for the Gentiles, but for the Jews who did not want to walk any more by faith in what God had yet promised to Abraham.

But the law has come to us, the nations, and because of our “exercise of the law of Moses” (that is, our desperate attempts to meet the requirements of that law, while claiming to be “under grace”) Jesus has become for us, our Great High Priest of the Law of God, thus encompassing the whole thing for us and on our behalf, neutralising in the process the law of obligation that accused and condemned us.

Therefore, from the moment that Jesus annulled this law of “Moses” in its obligatory aspect, given that Jesus paid for others freely, we must understand that He was therefore “outside the law“.

And if Jesus died in his flesh, that is, in a flesh similar to ours, it is so that we could benefit from his work by encompassing us in him, in our flesh.

Yes, even though Jesus lived all these things in a flesh like ours, we can still see that He was the “Son of the Father“, the Son of God; and that He was taking a great victory over all Authority and Domination in the flesh but also and above all “by the Spirit“.

And if he did it “in the flesh“, it was so that his victory would also be ours, otherwise our faith would not be able to rely on him if he had only been “son of God on the cross“. Indeed, in that case, this victory could not have come down to us.

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Let us understand : I am not saying that Jesus was not the Son of God on the cross. No, I am saying that He was indeed the Son of God, accepting and paying, and this in a flesh “in the likeness of ours” !

In sum, He has encompassed us in Him.

There was only a God who could win over the Devil ; and it was Jesus, as the Son of God, who won over him, even though he was in a flesh like ours, in order that his victory would come down and reach us.

The devil, as a spirit, has a much greater power than that which is born of the flesh. And yet it was in a flesh like ours that Jesus defeated the devil.

Indeed, already in heaven Jesus could have defeated the Devil. But no, Jesus had to come to earth in a flesh like ours, so that we could be encompassed in Him, in His own victory.

You see, this, this is the Wisdom of God, his love, his immense goodness.

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Let us understand that at the cross there was “the Righteous One who paid for the unrighteous“, but above all that He accepted this situation instead of “enduring” it, as some so-called evangelical preachers falsely say. That takes the cake !

Jesus proved not only that he accepted this situation, but that he was a God of grace, so much so that he was able to say: “Father, forgive them.

He said this so that the Romans who had taken part in the crucifixion of Jesus would not feel accused of obeying their superiors.

He also said this on behalf of anyone who might feel guilty because of their sins, which Jesus bore.

This is where we see that Jesus was acting as a merciful and gracious God, and not as someone who “endures” – someone who endures a punishment.

– Jesus was thus doing a double job.

– If he had not said forgive them, what would we have believed ?

– It is therefore an active forgiveness, lived, assumed, this famous “forgive them” ?

– It is a forgiveness without any expectation of return, it is like a father who forgives his little children !

—

In sum, grace was in full operation at that precise moment ! And if some had not seen this grace until then, so different in its nature from that of the law, then they had, through what was happening there, on the cross, the opportunity to see it, this so mysterious grace, so mysterious !

When we are “under grace“, then we don’t find it so mysterious because we have it. But when we are under the law and we see someone paying for us and saying “forgive them” then the thing seems very mysterious to us.

Let us also see that this notion of grace does not exist in us if we are under the law ! On the other hand, if we enter into the regime of grace, it has the power to rid us little by little of the law.

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The cross is therefore a principle ; a principle of “divine power“. Then it becomes a “way of life” for the Christian, and also a power for whoever accepts it.

The cross is thus “the death of the self“, the acceptance of the death of the self; yet it is this “self” which, thus treated, is likely to be employed, later on, for a divine service. But this one “outside of the law“.

So obviously, in front of this vision of what happened at the cross, we begin to understand better what exactly we have been saved from by Jesus. So we don’t try to save ourselves anymore. It’s over.

This is the rest in Him… This is the true Sabbath. The total rest that is “in Jesus“.

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The problem for us today is that this matter is before God, but it is not yet necessarily before us.

That’s why I said :

– But who is at the spectacle ?

– Who is the one who can be useful today ?

– The one who “attended this spectacle“.

It is only in this kind of “spiritual environment” that we can speak the truth, because we have seen something by “the Lord the Spirit“.

Usually when we are in the things above, we are in a kind of invisible… But here it is about a spectacle…Yet Paul, when he quotes these things, speaks only of the cross, saying: triumphing over them (principalities and powers) in the cross. And it is this famous triumph which is given as a spectacle to the one who has eyes to… see.

That is, to ensure to go and see into the invisible; and that is what we are trying to do here, you and I in this little meditation.

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If we could have seen what was happening in heaven during the crucifixion of Jesus, then we would have seen the spectacle of Jesus winning over all things by means of abasement, accepting this situation and endorsing it, while He was pure of all sin.

In sum, there was the One who stripped and there were those who were stripped. Yet the one who was stripping was not the one we generally think.

The one who stripped the other was indeed Jesus !

He was stripping the strength of the strong.

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Brothers and sisters, if we do not enter into this eternal, this kind of spiritual greatness that allows us to “see into the invisible“, then we will remain solely in everyday affairs, in other words, with a very limited understanding of what really happened.

– In this case, what is Jesus to me ?

– My Saviour? Yes, because it is written…

– But my Saviour from what ? From my sins, I would say then.

– But didn’t Jesus have the power to forgive sins already on earth ?

– Yes, of course !

Mark 2 ; 5 : When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

What remained to be overcome on the cross were the principalities and powers that prevented the freedom of each person.

So it is not the sins that are the main thing, we have to admit.

Indeed, Jesus said that on earth he had the power to forgive sins. This meant that on the cross the deliverance would be “other“.

So people usually don’t understand; they don’t understand anymore; they are constantly accused; they don’t see that at the cross there was much more than the forgiveness of sins. Much more ! There was everything that touches our consciences, the purification of consciences.

Jesus died in a flesh like ours, with all our fleshly problems… And do you think he is angry with us today when he sees our problems coming from the flesh ? No, of course, given that he died in our place, and that, on top of that, he is a “compassionate” High Priest !

Jesus purified our consciences mainly from dead works. But where did these dead works come from? From the handwriting of condemnation, that is, everything we were “obliged to do to try to be in order with God, according to the law“.

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So the principalities are still there; they still exist but they no longer have force; they no longer have a handwriting of obligation. They are the ones who are at the spectacle, now, of what we have become as free men and women !

So the show has changed sides, brothers and sisters ! And if they still have a “power”, even though they have been stripped by Jesus, it is because some workers are unfortunately and unfortunately keeping it alive.

And there are still plenty of these “reanimators of death power” !

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Another thing: If I am “under obligation” by these powers, I am at the same time obliged to admit that I am under their own authority. So I spend all my time obeying them.

It is normal after all, in my opinion…

Obeying an authority stripped of its strength… It’s a bit far-fetched, isn’t it? !!?

But in this case, how can I live to God ? And what is living to God if not living “belonging to him” ?

Unless you have another translation ?…

And even more simply, how can we have a real communion with Him under a relationship of obligation ?

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So it’s all a trap !

Let’s already understand the fact that Jesus knew these things all along; He knew why He had come.

So if I happen to see this handwriting coming back to me in my life, in my awareness of things, I must come back very quickly under the regime of the Lamb, and there the regime of obligation will lose its power, since it is precisely under this regime that this power is stripped.

This regime of inner pressure that is “the handwriting“, inevitably comes from an environment or specific circumstances that have plunged me into this bath. It could have come from our early childhood through the surrounding religion, or very recently, for example, by having listened to preaching or read things of this type.

This handwriting oppresses and never lets go, constantly demanding its due. In fact there is no way out, unless someone speaks up and tells the Truth about all these things.

This is different from a conscience in good condition, which can indeed sometimes rebuke us, but with, at the same time, the sight of the “end of the tunnel“. In other words, when we are rebuked by our conscience in good condition, there is no problem without the solution to this problem.

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Concerning Jesus, the fact of not using the law to seek some kind of justification was an abasement. Yes, an abasement, but “under the regime of the lamb” and not under the regime of the law. Yet this voluntary abasement is not at all of the same type that the crushing by obligation to do…

When we walk in abasement, – because not wanting to use the force of the law -, well in this case we walk by faith because we are already in faith.

We then change of “Power“.

– Voluntary abasement is of a spiritual order.

– Self exaltation is a matter of pride.

—

So there were two forces, and one of which we were the victims.

Then came “the power of Jesus“.

How did he do it ?

He let himself die, the better to “take upon himself the handwriting of condemnation“.

What could the Devil do in front of Jesus who let himself be pushed around ?

Nothing… He could not do anything. Jesus had declared in advance that he would die on the cross and that three days later he would rise again…

What can be done about this ?

If Jesus had resisted, the Devil would have had the power to defeat him. But Jesus did not resist, so he slipped through his hands. So he had no hold.

We must know that it is in this “opposition of principles” that the characters of each are or will be manifested.

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If someone wants to reread all that happened from the moment Jesus said: “Let us be going…“, he will always find Jesus, either without saying a word, or to saying a few words “in grace” for those who heard them. And even if He warned someone, it was always “in grace“; in favour of the other person if he accepted this grace.

Yes, such careful reading will be very edifying for the one who will do it.

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A meeting we had about the adulterous woman and the religious and Pharisees who condemned her comes to my mind…

It was not these people as such that Jesus was condemning ; no, it was the handwriting that the law of obligation produced in these men and that they used, which meant that for the woman her end would be stoning, coming from a handwriting that was against her.

For the religious people, there was an obligation to stone the woman, according to the law misinterpreted.

John 8, 5 : Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

It was then to the commandments, at these ordinances under obligation that Jesus lashed out, when he addressed these men saying : “He who is without sin among you “….

Indeed the “commandment alone” said not to commit adultery. It was therefore “legal“. Yet when Jesus asked this question, there was no reason for these men to turn back, but that’s what they did, being accused in their conscience, even though they had the law on their side !?

To sin is to miss the point, we know that now. To sin is to miss God’s goal. So the Pharisees were missing the goal in relation to what the law, seen spiritually, would have taught them.

There is “adultery” and there is “adultery“; and physical adultery is only the “visible” side of spiritual adultery. (Romans 7)

The one who walks “with Christ in God“, does not think of committing the spiritual adultery which is to worship and serve other gods, and whose physical adultery is his “image“.

Coming back to those religious, where can we find the handwriting at that moment? Well, it was in the image of what was in their hearts at that moment, which caused them to speak in a certain way, that is, to put the woman under condemnation.

This famous “handwriting“ which served to condemn the woman, was then made visible to them in themselves, because their hearts were in “the law of obligation to observe all the commandments“.

In sum, the handwriting was coming back to them, but under condemnation, if unfortunately they did not do what the law imposed to them.

Jesus, He, knew very well what the obligation that condemns, and that is intertwined with the “commandment”, produces in man. So, wishing to show this also to us today, the Spirit contained in the Scriptures tells us :

– “Woman (image of the Church), where are those accusers of yours ?

– Is there no one to accuse you ? Where are the verses in the commandments of the law that accused you? (So she had a double rescue, this sinful woman).

– Go, neither do I accuse you…“

Why ? Because even if the Pharisees lied a little about what the law said in a case like this, in Jesus, – the obligation to follow the commandment that is impossible to apply by man alone – was no longer there, since He lived “outside the law“, something that everyone could have followed too.

But, in any case, the death of Jesus was indispensable to erase this written deed entirely.

And it is here that this famous handwriting, which can be compared to a slate with a writing on it, was “erased“, which allowed the veil to be lifted at last.

When a slate has been wiped clean, only one thing remains : the slate ; except that now anyone walking past it can no longer sees anything written on it. Everything that was written on it has disappeared !

The slate as a “framework” is the law, but without the commandment, since it has been erased.

Even the law written and given by Moses has disappeared !

The slate is there, it is true; but as a memory, making us see the grace that has been done to us. A memory that never ceases to remind me the why of Jesus’ coming on my behalf; that is, to set me free.

More than that : “To be truly free“.

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I come back to the word “handwriting” of which it is spoken that it stood or was against us or was contrary to us.

Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus showed by his teaching and his life that he did not function according to the written law. The proof is in these two biblical passages in John 8:17 that we saw above :

– It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true.

And in chapter 10 v 34 :

– Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ‘ ?

Furthermore, in John 7 the word “law” is transformed into “doctrine“, since Jesus never studied the Scriptures.

Humanly speaking, it is as if he did not know the content. He walked in an intimate relationship with God through the inner being, through the Spirit that united them when he was in his humanity.

14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.

15 And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

16 Jesus answered them and said, “My doctrine (unwritten) is not Mine, but His who sent Me.

17 If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.

All this is the truth, yes, but the fact remains that the handwriting, the written document of Moses into which the adversary came to introduce the obligation, is still there and it knows nothing but how to accuse me if I do not put into practice what is written in it.

If this is understood correctly, then the death of Jesus will be for me “the miraculous deed that allowed that despite the fact that Jesus had always lived outside the law, all that still stood against us, that is the written deed, was completely and totally wiped out“! ! !

Nothing remains anymore. All the weapons of the Devil were annihilated in that very moment; and I understand perfectly these moments of thick darkness which occurred, because the battle must have been very tough !

Yes, today I finally have the possibility to walk “without written law“, since it is no more. Therefore to walk by or according to the doctrine of Christ, inner law of God.

I finally have the possibility to walk from now on as Adam walked before the fall came, that is, out of obligation, out of the power of the law, out of sin.

The slate is empty, only its frame remains ; and this gloriously remains as “testimony that something abnormal had intervened in my life“.

I would say that the framework in question is also the cross of Jesus Christ, which allows me to remember what happened so that I can finally live to God and for God.

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It is therefore the “law of faith” that is now my regime of life. It has taken the place of the law that never ceased before to condemn me because of the obligation contained in and mixed with the commandments.

For us, we made this observation that for the vast majority of Christians, this handwriting, although erased by the death of Jesus on the cross, still remains for them. Why is this ?

Because in the building assemblies, their leaders do not know how to put the various colors on the word “law”, and having only little consideration for the sheep who are looking for their Shepherd, they never mention this fact and prefer to talk about “sins“.

Others are just unaware of these things.

It is very vague, but in the meantime all this work again and again. So Christians walk with their backs bent and their heads bowed under a yoke of which they are not even aware, since the preaching of their religious leaders, although sometimes lasting several hours on this subject, is full of “unspoken words“. By doing so they leave it up to each person to solve his own sin problem, since they have no awareness of the word “law“, as well as of the different colors that might be given to it and of the other words that have been raised and understood here in a spiritual way.

Nor are they aware that it is not the law that is responsible for our failures, but that it is the obligation to practice the written commandments, which is.

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What is even sadder is that Paul was not addressing here the Gentiles, but the Jews, for it is as such that he presented himself in this text : was against us (Paul had dual nationality, Jewish and Roman)…. Yet he was writing here to the Colossians, so the nations… the law of commandment had thus passed from Israel to the Nations, although it was not intended for them…

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Why then is the law omnipresent among Christians, if not because the law lived by Jesus Christ has never presented and announced to them ?

Yes, God alone in Jesus Christ has blotted out everything that could still condemn man; I am talking about that condemnation that comes from the obligatory commandment, which again nobody talks about. We have never heard of it. The only thing mentioned is “legalism“, and even then, on tiptoe…

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The problem of this Christian with his back bent is therefore a problem of the law hidden in him, because no one has yet come to show it to him in the light of God, which would have enabled him to be delivered from it.

This law hidden within him thus prevents him from knowing what is the strength of the faith which is also within him; having not yet heard a message opposite to the first one, the faith which is nevertheless in him is not yet revealed to him. Yes, this prevents him from manifesting what is beautiful and above all very effective in taking victory over what, however, is no longer before God.

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It is therefore necessary for every Christian to understand that there is law and law. That one accuses and condemns, while the second is linked to the Spirit and to faith. And that it is the latter that “leads in eternal life“, as Jesus strongly declared.