A reflection on Colossians 2:14 - Law nailed to the cross?

Col 2:14 (KJV)
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... (KJV)

I heard a sermon today aganist the idea of antinomianism (there is no more Law for Christians). One of the main verses in contention is Col 2:14. It was a classic one I have heard before and it was delivered well. But I feel strongly about this particular verse and how it has not been critically analyzed by a good portion of Christian denominations.

Let me breakdown the two arguments:

ANTINOMIANISM: According to Col 2:14, the Laws of Moses such as the Ten Commandments no longer apply to a Christian. They are merely 'suggestions'.

SERMON COUNTERARGUMENT: According to Col 2:14, it's the Ceremonial Laws (ie: sacrificing lambs) that no longer apply to a Christian.

ANTINOMIANISM states that the Ten Commandments (found in Exo 20), the laws handwritten by God, was cancelled out by Christ dying on the Cross. In short, there is no need to be concerned of the commandments of God. The laws, from forbidding against adultery, to not murdering people, to keeping the Sabbath day holy -- working six days and keeping the seventh holy, all of this would no longer be required by God.

Most Adventist Christians, contend that Col 2:14 is specifically about ceremonial laws, about "ordinances" that's nailed to the Cross. This is supposedly why we no longer celebrate certain festivals, or why Christianity no longer needs to slay lambs on an altar like in the Old Testament.

My view: Both positions are incorrect.

The debate partly is dependent on the original Greek phrase in Colossians. The KJV phrase "handwriting of ordinances" is "cheirographon tois dogmasin". A modern translation has the phrase placed in this manner:

Col 2:14 (ESV)
by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (ESV)

While the KJV and ESV are translating the verse correctly, the ESV has it in the correct context. Cheirographon usually is applied to handwritten bonds, contracts, or debts. Dogmasin refers to legal requirements or demands.

Nothing in the verse says the law was nailed to the Cross, but rather the bonds of the laws itself. This is good news for Christians in both sides of the antinomianism argument -- because it basically means death was defeated when Christ died for your sins.

Conclusion
Paul, the author of this verse, wrote an earlier letter to the Romans that reflect very similar sentiments that I'm sure everyone can appreciate:

Rom 6:14 (KJV)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (KJV)

Aren't you happy that through your faith, the wages of sin was nailed to the Cross?


REFERENCES:

1. Meyer, Elizabeth (2004). Legitimacy and Law in the Roman World.
   Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   
2. http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Bible.show/sVerseID/29509/eVerseID/29509
   
3. http://www.apu.edu/infocus/2002/03/crucifixion/
   

The strength of a public company? Case study: Convergys, PLDT

Quote of the Day: Why is the grass greener on the other side? Because sometimes there's more manure.

So recently someone asked me how to measure the strength of a public company. Is it when they have assets like large buildings? Is it by the number of people?

The short answer: none of the above. It's the stock the price.

The long answer: The health of a public company isn't based on how large something is (ie: Enron), but rather its stock price and shareholder wealth. Case and point, as we have seen with Bear Stearns, one of the largest brokerage firms in the world, it lost most of its value within a couple of weeks once investors started doubting them.

At the end of the day, no matter what scandal, no matter whatever bad news occurs, if the shareholders are fine with your company and are loyal -- your company will always stay afloat. However, if shareholders are starting to doubt your company's ability to have sustainable growth, your stock price will take a toll.

CASE STUDY 1: Convergys (NYSE: CVG)
Here's a U.S. based firm I looked at for investment purposes a number of years ago. After running the numbers, I ultimately didn't invest. Today I ran and looked at their margins -- I still wouldn't invest.

I have strong interest in multi-national BPO firms. These are the ones that are usually able to weather economic recessions, they bring much needed jobs overseas, they bring savings and they lower cost of living for U.S. consumers.

Convergys hit the headlines this year -- spent sums on marketing, promos, etc. But at the end of the day (or to be more precise, at the end of a decade), shareholder wealth has been flat and costs continue to go up. Their net income is roughly 5.9% of their gross revenue (169 mil / 2844 mil).

At the last annual shareholder meeting -- the conversations were less than friendly. As one prominent newspaper in the area bluntly put it, "Convergys faces investors' doubts".

In my mind if a company does not continue to have good solid performance over a 10 year period and does not capitalize on shareholder wealth, it will not survive.



"Stock price plunged 42 percent in 6 months..."

"But despite the positive moves, the company's stock price plunged 42 percent in a six-month period, dropping from $24 per share in July 2007 to $13.66 in March 2008. It now sits just 7 percent higher than its price at the company's initial public offering in 1998. Convergys stock price dropped more than 3 percent in afternoon trading Tuesday, to $15.76 per share."

Source: BizJournals

"We would have done better in Treasury bonds"

"I think the issue here is, it's been 10 years," since Convergys was taken public, he said. In that time, the company's share price has climbed 7.5 percent. "We would have done better in Treasury bonds," Taxin said. Convergys shares closed down nearly 3 percent on Tuesday, at $15.84. The stock is down 3.77 percent year-to-date.

Source: Cincinnati.com

CASE STUDY 2: PLDT (NYSE: PHI)
The Philippines Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) company is one of my favorite companies in Asia. Traded as "PHI" in the New York Stock Exchange, it has performed well in the past 10 years. They pay dividends to their shareholders and because of their continued revenue growth and consistent net returns -- they have solidified themselves as the market leader in Southeast Asia. Their net income is roughly 27.2% of their gross revenue (34 bil / 125 bil).



The bottom line with PLDT: they have higher margins and better shareholder wealth. That means they can outlast market volatility and if you are working for these guys, you can feel safe that your job is secure because the investors have confidence in their ability to perform.

CONCLUSION

At the end of the day, when you look for a company to invest in (or work in), look for the company that is managed well. Some companies act like young adults with new credit cards -- they spend money that they do not have and at the end of the day, they go bust. While other companies spend moderately and invest over long term goals versus short term.

Invited to Iloilo

I'm having a sermon at Iloilo this coming April 19th. You are invited to come if you are able to. If you need directions, email me.

Venue: Iloilo Central Church
Date: 4/19/2008, Saturday, 10AM MNL
Location: Iloilo City

Reflection - Who are you?

I recently listened to one of my favorite bands Barlow Girl. One of their songs, Mirror, made me reflect on a few questions about how we all seem to be defined by the standards and judgments of others. See the lyrics below:

"Mirror"

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Have I got it?
'Cause Mirror you've always told me who I am
I'm finding it's not easy to be perfect
So sorry you won't define me
Sorry you don't own me

Who are you to tell me
That I'm less than what I should be?
Who are you? Who are you?
I don't need to listen
To the list of things I should do
I won't try, I won't try

Mirror I am seeing a new reflection
I'm looking into the eyes of He who made me
And to Him I have beauty beyond compare
I know He defines me

You don't define me, you don't define me

Who are you?
The answer to this question seems to fluctuate over time in your life. When you grew up, you were known mainly by your parents reputation, and as you grew into adulthood, you were identified by your career, your intelligence, your position, your ethics, your morality, your hobbies, or whatever perception others had on you.

But does the judgment of others, or the position that we hold in life really answer the question of who we are? When you pass the layers of our work identity, of our day to day activities -- deep down in the core of our soul -- who are we?

Can He have a say?
I know that I'm affected by the world around me. And so are you. We are affected by what people say, how they criticize us or how they compliment us. Sometimes it plays over and over again in our heads. But no matter how smart you are, or no matter how stupid you think your life has been -- no one has the right to tell you who you are.

It doesn't matter if you have killed people (like Moses and David), or have lied and cheated (like the thief on the Cross) -- we still do not have the right to define who you are. My opinions about people are swayed like the waves of the ocean by the winds, but there is one opinion that matters the most and that comes from the God that made you and the God that makes your every breath possible.

So stop being depressed about the things that have brought you down in the past because none of my opinions or anyone else's for that matter actually means anything when it comes to who you are. The betrayals, the hurts, the sense of loneliness that we all have come to experience, our God has gone through them as well.

He has a clear idea of who you are and it is written in these passages:

1 John 3:1-10 (New Living Translation)

1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.

---

Psalm 139:13-16 (New Living Translation)
New Living Translation (NLT)

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

Summary
You are a child of God and there is nothing that anyone can say or do to take that away from you. Imagine the original feeling that you had when you were a child and you were embraced by your parents, and you knew deep inside no matter what they loved you unconditionally.

This is the very life, the very type of fulfillment that God has been longing to bring to your life. So stop living to the standards of your surroundings and to the restrictions that the world places on you, move on to a life that God has wanted you to set out in the first place: a place of fulfillment, a sense of belonging, and contentment that you are a unique and special person.

So I'm looking through the news...

So I was looking through the news, looking for updates about the economy, the current Asian rice crisis, Sadr's ceasefire in Iraq, etc. Instead, Reuters, one of the main news wire services in the world, gives us this...

Apple's newest MacBook Air hacked in 2 minutes

Interesting article on InformationWeek. Using a zero-day vulnerability exploit (lingo for no one knew about the problem), the default Safari browser on MacBook Air was remotely exploited and researchers were able to gain access within 2 minutes.

On the flip side, they also used the newest models of PC laptops, one with Vista and the other with Linux's Ubunta OS. Ubuntu and Windows Vista were not hacked but Apple's MacBook Air was.

Ouch, so much for those Apple TV commercials on how they are soooooo much more secure than Windows.

The team of researchers from Independent Security Evaluators (ISE) won $10,000 for finding the exploit.

Number 1 Killer In The World: Crime? Bird Flu? Nope - YOU

The Hidden Killer
Throughout the world, from the richest spots in the United States to the poorest areas in Haiti, there is a killer that causes more deaths than any other individual or conflict.

It's you...or to be more precise, its your health.

We worry so much about poverty, crime, and other social issues, that we often forget the number one killer in the world -- our health. Heart disease, cancer, and other ailments are the leading killers of mankind. This CNN article entitled, "Heart disease still the most likely reason you'll die", reminds us that the worst enemy of man is man itself and the choices he makes.

Evaluate Your Thoughts On Health
I consider my relationship with God and my family as my number one concern. But a close third is my health. Here's are some honest questions that I ask myself and it helps me define my choices. Perhaps you could use it as well to do a self evaluation.

1. What's the financial impact of bad habits and to my family's finances?
   
2. How can I provide for my family if I'm sick or can't work?
   
3. What sort of role model am I to my family if I'm overweight?
   
4. What sort of role model am I to my family if I'm smoking?
   
5. What sort of role model am I to my family if I'm drunk all the time?
   
6. What sort of role model am I to my family if I'm doing drugs?
   
7. How would people remember me if I passed away? Would they say nice things in the funeral but in their minds, "Yeah he died because he was dumb about his diet."
   
8. Am I influencing my friends to copy my bad habits?
   
9. At the end of the day, did I make my world a better place?
   

Many Diseases Are Preventable (ie: stop smoking)
Heart disease is deadly but also preventable. Cancer is deadly but also preventable. For instance, smoking affects both your heart, your brain, and it increases your cancer risk. To avoid the potential diseases, get rid of the habit. I know its harder said than done -- but you have to stop letting tobacco companies control you. You are killing yourself and feeding their bottom line.



Exercise Isn't Hard -- Just Walk
Physical therapists, sports medicine doctors, and alike are stating that the best exercise is brisk walking (speed walking).

According to the American College of Sports Medicine, "Walking, among the easiest and lowest impact activities a person can do, was proven to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as 40 percent, even in very moderate and achievable amounts."

Most Corrupt Officials Award 2008

PRESS RELEASE

February 24, 2008

Manila, Philippines Customs Office Receives, “The Most Corrupt Officials Award”

The first ever The Most Corrupt Officials Award (MCOA), stems to spotlight the best corrupted officials in the world. Its aim is to recognize the hard working officials who to the best of their ability, have gone above and beyond their normal duties to ensure maximum corruption.

The first winner this year is the Manila Customs office. On February 16, 2008, books worth P9786.00 was charged customs tax of over P7000.00+, a tax rate of 71%. The DHL shipping numbers were: 8417858514, 8417858525.

We would like to thank the Manila Customs office for showing the world how NOT to run a customs/clearance office. Their clear dedication in making sure that the country continues to suffer from bad rankings high above other countries is a testament to Manila Customs' integrity, character, and family values.