The doctrine of Christ on the Cross from Paul’s letters to the churches.

2. My topic this morning is Jesus on the cross.
I have decided to take a look at the doctrine of
Christ on the Cross but I’m not going to look at
Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, we’re going to
look at Paul’s letters to the churches.

3. Firstly we find the cross of Christ being preached as
foolishness to the perishing, but the power of God
which saves.
NIV (Yes, I also baptized the
household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't
remember if I baptized anyone else.)

4. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to
preach the gospel—not with wisdom and
eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied
of its power. For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
us who are being saved it is the power of God.

5. The simple doctrine that Christ was crucified to
make atonement for the sins of men.
This was the peculiarity of the gospel; and on
this doctrine the gospel depended for success
in the world.
Christ Crucified must be preached.

6. Next we find Paul’s reason for boasting, glory is
the Cross of Christ.
NIV May I never boast except in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through
which the world has been crucified to me, and I
to the world.

7. That I should boast; or that I should rely on
anything else.
Others glory in their conformity to the laws of
Moses; others in their zeal, or their talents, or
their learning, or their orthodoxy; others in their
wealth, or their accomplishments; others in
their family alliances, and their birth; but the
supreme boast and glorying of a Christian is in
the cross of Christ.

8. God’s reconciliation of man is done only
through the Cross of Christ.
NIV For he himself is our peace,
who has made the two groups one and has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of
hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law
with its commands and regulations. His purpose
was to create in himself one new humanity out
of the two, thus making peace,

9. and in one body to reconcile both of them to
God through the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility. He came and preached peace
to you who were far away and peace to those
who were near. For through him we both
have access to the Father by one Spirit.
By the atonement which he made on the cross.
It is by the atonement only that men ever
become reconciled to God. Through His death
on the cross we have access to the Father.

10. Those that are against us are enemies of the
Gospel and the cross of Christ is central to the
Gospel.
NIV Join together in following
my example, brothers and sisters, and just as
you have us as a model, keep your eyes on
those who live as we do.

11. For, as I have often told you before and now
tell you again even with tears, many live as
enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny
is destruction, their god is their stomach, and
their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on
earthly things.

12. The characteristic of those persons mentioned
in verse is they were living in a manner which
showed that they were strangers to His pure
gospel. An immoral life is enmity to the cross of
Christ; for He died to make us holy. A life where
there is no evidence that the heart is renewed is
enmity to the cross; for He died that we might
be renewed.

13. They are the enemies of the cross, in the
church,
(1.) who have never been born again;
(2.) who are living in the indulgence of known
sin;
(3.) who manifest none of the peculiarities of
those who truly love Him;
(4.) who have a deeper interest in worldly affairs
than they have in the cause of the
Redeemer;

14. Peace is possible because of the Cross of
Christ.
NIV For God was pleased to
have all his fullness dwell in him, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things,
whether things on earth or things in heaven, by
making peace through his blood, shed on the
cross.

15. by making peace. or, having made.
The Greek will bear either.
The meaning is, that by His atonement He
produces reconciliation between those who
were alienated from each other.
It does not mean here that He had actually
effected peace by His death, but that He had laid
the foundation for it;
He had done that which would secure it.

16. through his blood, shed on the cross.
That blood, making atonement for sin, was the
means of making reconciliation between God
and man.

17. One of the most wonderful things that happened
on the Cross of Christ is He took away that
which was against & hostile towards men.
NIV When you were dead in
your sins and in the uncircumcision of your
flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He
forgave us all our sins, having canceled the
charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood
against us and condemned us; he has taken it
away, nailing it to the cross.

18. having canceled the charge of our legal
indebtedness The word rendered legal
indebtedness means something written by the
hand, a manuscript; and here, probably, the
writings of the Mosaic law, or the law appointing
many ordinances or observances in religion.
The allusion is probably to a written contract, in
which we bind ourselves to do any work, or to
make a payment, and which remains in force
against us until the bond is cancelled.

19. That might be done either by blotting out the
names, or by drawing lines through it, or, as
appears to have been practiced in the east, by
driving a nail through it.
The Jewish ceremonial law is here represented
as such a contract, binding those under it to its
observance, until it was nailed to the cross.
The meaning here is, that the burdensome
requirements of the Mosaic Law are abolished,
and that its necessity is superseded by the
death of Christ.

20. His death had the same effect, in reference to
those ordinances, as if they had been blotted
from the statute book.
This it did by fulfilling them, by introducing a
more perfect system and by rendering their
observance no longer necessary, since all that
they were designed to typify had been now
accomplished in a better way.

21. How POWERFUL is the event that took place on
the cross of Christ!
It is at this time we come together to break
bread and remember the most important event
in history.
The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
I hope this short review has prompted you to
remember the body of Christ.