XXI.

Our Indictment Cancelled in the Cross.

"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."-COLOSSIANS ii. 14.

LIBERTY, as

for man.

we have seen, is the way to true life It is so, not only spiritually, but also to a great extent, socially. Here is a slave, with the energies, capabilities, and aspirations of manhood; but under the shackles of serfdom he has nothing to live for; neither his time nor his talents are his own; his spirit within him is crushed, and his hope is dead. Day succeeds to day in the weary monotony of his bondage, and nothing seems of sufficient importance to excite his interest, or arouse his enthusiasm. But proclaim his liberty, assure him of his freedom, let him become consciously and clearly his own master, and forthwith he becomes another being; new feelings throb in his bosom, and new energy fires his soul, as new prospects light up his horizon. In a profound sense old things pass away, and all things become new. So it is with the man whom God sets free from the bondage of sin and the condemnation of guilt. In pardon there is the power of a new life. Quickening from God comes in the forgiveness of sins, and along with it.

The Apostle proceeds in this verse to expound further the

idea of liberty and forgiveness, but in a somewhat obscure and figurative manner. However, the language, though figurative, embodies deep spiritual truth and sublime realities.

I. The first thing that requires our attention is the indictment against us-"the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us." There are various opinions as What is the handwriting of

to the meaning of these words. ordinances? It is to be remembered that the Apostle is writing to a church mainly composed of Gentiles, so that in the terms which he uses he would scarcely refer to anything exclusively Jewish; and as the ceremonial law, in its details of service and its diversified requirements, was of that character, and necessarily unknown to Gentiles, St. Paul's allusion cannot be to it. He refers generally to the law of God, the majesty of moral law requiring perfect obedience, with a reference probably to the fact that the law of the ten commandments was originally given on two tables of stone, as written by the finger of God. No less truly is the grand outline of moral law written on the tablets of the human heart. This is the statement of the same Apostle to the Romans: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves" (Rom. ii. 14). The law of God, then, has ordinances, or statutes, and decrees, which bear on every man, and to which every man's moral nature responds. The handwriting is the indictment against us, because of our disobedience and violation of the precepts which we ought to respect and obey.*

Here, then, we have the fact of man's moral obligation.

* “Nam beneficium chirographi deleti ad omnes spectat tam Gentiles Judæos ergo hujusmodi chirographum ponere oportet, quo quam exaliqua parte tenentur omnes: ceremonali autem lege Gentes nunquam tenebantur."-Bp. Davenant's Comment. in loc.

The tables of the law and the fleshly tables of the heart are inscribed with statutes for us to keep. Every soul of man is under law to God; and men everywhere have more or less distinctly the consciousness of moral obligation. Take the summing up of the moral law as given by our Lord Himself in the two great duties of love to God and love to our neighbour, and you find some moral sense of these duties everywhere diffused amongst mankind. Where is the nation or tribe that has not some notion of a deity, and some sense of the homage and worship due to him? Where is the community or people that has not some sense of the rights of person and property, and amongst whom theft and murder are not visited with punishment? Everywhere there is the power of moral law, and everywhere a clearer or more obscure sense of moral obligation prevails. You cannot find a man who in some sense is not a law unto himself. The handwriting of God is in truth on every man's soul, and by it he knows and feels that while some things ought to be done, others are forbidden as positively wrong. In some the handwriting may be much more legible than in others, and its statutes and ordinances more positive and clear. Men may try to efface the handwriting, as well as to defy it, but such attempts only confirm the fact that it exists in all the force of its obligation and the fulness of its claim, and proves that it is against them. Moral law girdles the world of human thought and affection, and lays its hand on every man's heart, Just as really as physical law binds our planet to the great solar system, and grasps in its powerful hold the smallest atom as well as the mightiest organism on the globe.

But this handwriting is against us, so that we see here also involved legal condemnation. The law, with its ordinances and sanctions, is against us. How so? Simply

because we have broken it. The law is for the lawless and

disobedient. In itself it is "holy, just, and good," and can have nothing against obedience, innocence, or perfection. Its voice and verdict are only against the sinful and the rebellious. Hence they are against us. We see an obligation unfulfilled, an authority defied, a law broken, a handwriting with ordinances which we have not kept, and statutes we have not obeyed. It commands our supreme love to God, and we have not loved Him; it requires us to cherish His fear in our hearts, and we have not feared Him; it prescribes His glory as the chief end of our existence, and we have lived for ourselves instead of living for Him. This is the great debt we owe to God as our Creator and Father: we have not paid it, and we cannot now pay it, so that the voice of the law can only be in an indictment against us, and to our condemnation. In Scripture, sin is often likened to a debt; sins of omission are clearly so. Our Saviour thus alluded to it in the prayer which He gave us, especially in the petition for pardon as rendered by St. Matthew: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (vi. 12). We are spiritually bankrupt; and the handwriting of moral obligation must be against us, so long as we owe to God that which we cannot pay.

But it is not only against us; it is also contrary to us. The repetition of the sentiment seems to be made by way of stronger emphasis. The terms are not meant to be exactly equivalent. The one expresses a silent and recorded condemnation, and the other a positive hostility. It is hostile, "not merely in its direction and aspects, but practically and definitely." A man may owe a debt which he cannot pay; and the very fact of the indebtedness is an obligation against him so long as he cannot discharge it. It lies against him, even although there may be no positive demand for payment. But if by any process of what amongst men is called dunning, the debt is often brought before him, and he is unplea

santly reminded of it, then the obligation is not only against him, but also contrary to him: it disturbs his peace, interrupts his enjoyment, and fills him with greater or less dread. So with the Divine handwriting which is against us, the law of God, which we have broken, acting on the law of the mind, appeals to our sense of moral obligation, constantly reminds us of our shortcoming, shows a hostile aspect toward us, and thus is against our peace and happiness. Its spirituality is against us, for we are carnal; its purity is against us, for we are unholy; its justice is against us, for we have kept back from God that which is His due in loyal homage, fervent love, and cheerful obedience; its solemn sanctions are against us, for we have sinned and grievously rebelled. The handwriting is the authentic testimony that we are debtors, and it is contrary to us because we have not paid that which we owe, and are spiritually insolvent and ruined. Such then is the indictment "that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Rom. iii. 19). The finding of the law is against us. This language, though metaphorical, conveys solemn reality. Our condition under such a verdict is without encouragement or hope; "for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But there is deliverance through the triumph of grace.

II. The handwriting against us is blotted out; it is taken out of the way; it has been nailed to the cross on which the Saviour died. This deliverance wrought for us is described, as if with thoughtful consideration, by two expressions the handwriting against us is blotted out and taken away, so that the strongest assurance is given of salvation from guilt and condemnation. The verdict against sinful men is erased or wiped out in the case of all who come to God in faith and repentance. This idea of blotting out often occurs in Scripture in reference to sins, and has a most