Put to Death on the Cross

Put to Death on the Cross

The soldiers put Jesus to death on the cross, yet there was another death that occurred on the cross that the soldiers did not see. It was a hidden death, with Jesus Himself as the executioner because He reconciled them both in one body to God through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. Eph. 2:16.

When two people file suit against each other in this world, they usually meet to be reconciled. God meets people in order to be reconciled on the cross. There we learn to know the source of the enmity. The source is the flesh with all its passions and desires. For the mind of the flesh (or passions) is enmity against God. Rom. 8:7. So that peace can come, the enmity has to disappear. Then the flesh with its passions must be crucified with Christ. Thus the enmity is put to death. Paul says that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal. 5:24.

Reconciliation to God occurs on the cross. On the cross I agree with God about the source of the enmity and that I am guilty, and on the cross I find atonement for my sins.

However, the enmity itself was put to death on the cross.

The desire of the flesh is not only enmity against God, but also against the person who is God-fearing in spirit and truth.

What is the source of all division among believers? James says that the source is “your desires for pleasure that war in your members.” Jas. 4:1.

You attain to unity and peace by seeking reconciliation through the cross. On the cross you examine, before God’s face, the cause of all strife, and on the cross you discover that it was the flesh with its passions that had been active. Paul said that “God . . . has given us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18. One part of this ministry applies to the mutual relationship of the believers or wherever reconciliation is needed. However, not too many people apply themselves to this ministry. On the contrary, people usually go to one of the other denominations according to the manner of all flesh.

Once people have agreed that it is the flesh with its desires that is the cause of the enmity, then the next step is to get the enmity put to death. This occurs on the cross, but then one has to give up one’s enmity of the cross and instead be filled with enmity against the flesh with its passions and desires—that which caused the division. However, there are those who love their lusts more than God. These people never attain to fellowship in the Spirit in the bonds of peace, in spite of calling themselves Christian. They do not make use of the salvation that was finished in Christ.