God's Mercy

Sunday's second reading is from Colossians 2:12-14. It is so incredible and I cannot stop thinking about it!

You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And even when you were dead (in) transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;

First- to be dead in transgressions- to be dead to sin- is to have no power to make up for it or atone for it. It's as good being a dead man trying to bring himself back to life! When we are dead in sin, we are powerless. But Christ not only forgives us of our sins, but He raises us to new life!

But check out the POWER of verse 14.

OBLITERATING THE BOND AGAINST US: The word for obliterating in Greek is the verb exaleiphein, which means to blot out or wipe away. Ancient documents used to be written on either papyrus or vellum, which is made from animal skins. Both were very expensive and could not be wasted. Ancient ink did not contain acid, so it did not "bite" the paper. If papyrus or vellum had already been written upon, the scribe would take a sponge and wipe the writing out. Since the ink was only on the surface, it completely disappeared, as if it had never been. The Lord doesn't just forgive our sins, He erases all traces of them!


HE ALSO REMOVED IT FROM OUR MIDST, NAILING IT TO THE CROSS: During the time of Christ, when a law or ordinance was cancelled, it was nailed to a board. Jesus nailed the bond against us to that cross. The list of our sins and everything we owe the Lord was crucified and is never to be seen again.


How gracious is our God in His mercy! As many times as I have sinned and begged for forgiveness is just a drop of water in the ocean of His mercy!


AMAZING.