Yes, They Were Nailed to the Cross
By Walter E. Gillis
Catechizing the Scriptures to Learn What “They” Were As a rule, when men meet with a question in theology that requires careful analysis and knowledge of the principle involved, they have a way of letting their previous ideas, which have been fostered by old associations, bias their judgment before they have weighed the evidence. For instance, the question is often asked, “What was nailed to the cross?” and almost immediately springs forth the answer, “The law, of course.” “What law?”—“Why, the law of God. What else could it be?” Now, if these people who are so positive of their position would let their mind run to and fro in the Scripture of truth for a brief moment, they would be amazed that the most vital element in God’s dealings with men should be so little understood. Let us briefly catechize the Scripture, and see if it is not so. For what did Christ die? Isa. 53: 10, 11: “When Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, . . . by His knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.” What is sin? 1 John 3: 4: “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” What is the result of transgressing God’s law? Rom. 6: 23: “For the wages of sin is death.” Eze. 18: 4: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Does this mean the death to which all men are physically subject? Rev. 2: 11: “He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.” Since Christ died as the substitute for sinful man, He must have died as they will die who receive punishment for their sins. If the transgressed law was so perfect and so unchangeable that one of the Godhead must die in order to meet its requirements, could it be nailed to the cross? Ps. 19: 7: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” Isa. 51: 6, 7: “My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law.” What Was Nailed to the Cross?
What, then, was nailed to the cross? Col. 2: 14: “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, . . . nailing it to His cross.” Verses 20 and 22: “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ, . . . why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, . . . after the commandments and doctrines of men?” Titus 1: 14: “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.” Ps. 119: 142: “Thy law is the truth.” John 14: 6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” What do these man-made dogmas emanate from? Eph. 2: 15: “Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances.” What is the result of these commandments of men being nailed to the cross? Verse 16: “That He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” What is this enmity? Rom. 8: 7: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” What, then, must have been the purpose and work of Christ?—To bring men into harmony with God’s law. See 2 Cor. 5: 17-21. What now is man’s privilege? Rom. 8: 3, 4: “God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”