Were the Ten Commandments Nailed to the Cross?

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Passage Verse

Was the law nailed to the cross?

The answer to this question is yes, there was in fact a law that was nailed to the cross and it was a law that pointed forward to Christ that He took the place of. The answer to which law is easily found by just asking yourself what law was instituted and practiced for sin before the cross that Jesus Himself replaced. The answer should be very evident if you think about it but sadly, there are many who do not want to see this truth so they choose to say the Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross instead.

It was Jesus that became our one and final perfect sacrifice and replaced a law that was not what God wrote in stone but the sacrificial law. This was part of the Mosaic Law that is so called because it was written down by Moses. It was also called the ordinances and the ceremonial law. This ceremonial law was given to Moses by God and was written by Moses in a book (Deuteronomy 31:24) and was stored on the outside of the Ark of the Covenant. (Deuteronomy 31:26)

The Ten Commandments on the other hand were personally spoken by God, and written by God (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 4:12-13) and were stored on the inside of the Ark of the Covenant. (Deuteronomy 10:5) On the top of the Ark of the Covenant were two Cherubim and between them was the Shekinah glory which represented the very presence of God. Directly under this Shekinah glory was the mercy seat and under this was where the stone tablets which God wrote Himself are stored. This is the Moral Law of God and there is no record of God ever doing anything like this and so what He wrote in stone is obviously very important to Him. The Bible tells us that the purpose of this law is to point out sin. (Romans 7:7) Above is Moses holding the Ten Commandments that you can see a list of from Exodus 20:2-17 and Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

There are some who erroneously claim that what God wrote in stone and the ordinances are the same thing but even from what we just read we should be able to see that this is not possible. It is also easy to see from Luke 1:6 that the ordinances and the Commandments are two different things. And note also how Hebrews 9:1-2 states that the Old Covenant “had also” ordinances that were part of the worldly sanctuary which is were the sacrifices were carried out to make reconciliation for sin before Christ.

So the words in Hebrews 9:1 that say “had also” mean that these ordinances were in addition to something else. And since these ordinances were the sacrifices that were carried out in the sanctuary, then what else is this verse also referring to that still remains? It was the sacrificial law that was added because the law that God wrote in stone was transgressed (1 John 3:4) and hence is what remains.

And Luke 1:6 is before the cross of course and this is why this verse states they were keeping both the Commandments and the ordinances as the sacrificial law had not yet ended.

So the Old Covenant “had also” ordinances but after the cross and in the New Covenant, these ordinances had ended as Christ replaced the sacrificial law by becoming our one and final perfect sacrifice. When John the Baptist first laid eyes on Jesus, he cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

The only verse in the Bible that mentions anything being nailed to the cross is Colossians 2:14 and this is the verse in contention and where the misunderstanding stems from. Note that this verse refers to the ordinances and the Thayer dictionary just given for this verse has very easy to understand words that inform us that this is the Mosaic Law being the sacrificial law as previously discussed.

We find that Ezekiel 45:17 is the perfect parallel to Colossians 2:16 and informs us that this sacrificial law had meat and drink offerings and new moon festivals and yearly sabbath days (plural) such as Passover and the Day of Atonement that belonged to the law of sacrifices that did end at the cross. The Ten Commandments and the law of sacrifices (ordinances) are not and cannot ever be the same thing. One was practiced for sin and the other was sin to break. It was the sacrificial law that was practiced when the Decalogue written in stone was broken. This magnificent law is about loving God and loving others as yourself and was never practiced because of sin. To imply that this was the case is to say that when one sinned such as committing adultery, that they would then in turn have to go and commit murder to make reconciliation for that sin of adultery. I hope it is not hard for all to see that this is utter nonsense.

When one sinned such as committing adultery before the cross, one had to take an unblemished lamb for example to the temple priest and have its blood shed. This was the sacrificial law that was part of the Mosaic Law, which was added because of sin. (Galatians 3:19) Note that the blood of animals cannot take away sin (Hebrews 10:4) but it was the faith that they had in that animal sacrifice that pointed forward to the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that took away their sin. Hence these ordinances ended at the cross. So as you can see, the ordinances are not the Moral Law and Colossians 2:14 says that it was only the “ordinances” that were nailed to the cross. So the meat and drink offerings, new moons and yearly sabbath days that were to make reconciliation for sin before the cross are what ended.

Hover over the following tooltip and note the comparison of Ezekiel 45:17 and Colossians 2:16 that reveal what was done to make reconciliation for sin before the cross and it is this law of ordinances that Paul mentions in Colossians 2:14 that has ended. So the only thing that ended at the cross is what Jesus Himself replaced and why it is said that Jesus nailed this law to the cross. Hover over the following tooltip's for Adam Clarke and Albert Barnes Commentaries to read what these two famous theologians had to say on Colossians 2:14-16. See Colossians 2:16 for more detail on this passage.

Thus we find it was not what God wrote in uneditable stone that was nailed to the cross but the ordinances of the Mosaic Law that Moses wrote in a book. Read the Ten Commandments and the ceremonial law for a very detailed exegesis of these two laws.

When studying scripture, one needs to be able to line up all scripture that relates to a particular topic, and if one cannot line up all scriptures than one must understand that they have something wrong in their conclusions.

Now note that it is not possible to line up all scripture if one is going to say that the Moral Law was nailed to the cross. Here are a handful of scriptures that reveal how many contradictions we would have if this were so. (Matthew 5:17-19; Luke 16:17; Romans 2:13; Romans 3:31; Romans 7:7; Romans 7:12; Revelation 22:14) So it becomes impossible as you can see to line up all scripture with this fallacy.

Jesus said that His law was to last as long as heaven and earth as seen in Matthew 5:17-19 and that we are to not only obey His law but teach it also. The NIRV Bible and CEV Bible translations help give clarity to the meaning of fulfilling the law and a jot or a tittle. Please read “fulfilling the law” for more detail on this very misunderstood and abused passage.

Conclusion

The wise will know that it is our adversary that would have us believe that we can freely sin and that we do not have to obey that beautiful law that God personally spoke and wrote and we should realize this. James calls it the perfect law of liberty, which means freedom! (James 1:25, 2:10-12)

“Blessed are they that do his commandments,
that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through
the gates into the city. For without are ... murderers, and idolaters,
and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.” Revelation 22:14-15 (KJV)

Please read the Ten Bible Commandments for a web site with over one hundred pages of information on the Ten Commandments covering all aspects in excellent detail.