God Drove a Nail Through Your Guilt

From Gospel Translations

Audio Transcript

This is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. If you want to explain to somebody what happened to your sin, go here. What happened to your treason? Colossians 2:14: It happens “by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”

So God took the record of our rebellion — it’s a pretty long document — the sworn affidavit of our treason, and folded it up, put it in the hand of Jesus, and drove a nail through it. Through his hand and into the cross. That’s what it says: This record of debt, he put aside, nailing it to the cross. I’m not making up word pictures. This is in the Bible.

So God took our rebellion and he nailed it to the cross. What does that mean? What does it mean that the record of our debts — the affidavit of our treason that totally unfits us for fulfilling the purpose of the universe — is nailed to the cross? What does that mean?

It means those debts are paid. It means the capital sentence for treason is executed. It means the curse of the law is endured. It means the sin has been condemned in the flesh. It means Christ has been smitten by God. Pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities, and on him the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all, and then drove it through his hands with nails into the cross.

God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

As by the one man’s disobedience the many were appointed sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be appointed righteous. (Romans 5:19)