I know very little about disarming anything. I’ve never disarmed a bomb. I’ve never disarmed an armed assailant. I may have disarmed a few self-righteous
church people, but likely for my own self-righteous reasons. And sadly enough, disarming much in this life
seems quite foreign to me.
As a little kid I loved to watch television shows where the
good guy would knock the gun out of the bad guys hand and totally disarm and
subdue his would-be aggressor. Then I would
spend hours in my back yard or basement subduing and disarming imaginary bad
guys. Kicking and swinging at nothing
but what I saw in my imagination. I know
it sounds silly, but it made me feel tough in a child-like way.
About two thousand years ago, a very important “disarming” occurred,
and for that I am deeply and eternally grateful. Paul the Apostle writes in Colossians 2 verse
15, “And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross.”
This is a description of a very important and powerful event
that we may be prone to forget. Prone to
forget because, we still live with the vestiges of judgment and condemnation
that often echo in our minds from past efforts at self-righteousness, not to
mention from the mouths of Well-intentioned
Dragons. You know the kind of people
I’m talking about.
They are the ones who by their own insecurities and bondages
ply a pseudo-biblical-works dogma to the unsuspecting and often innocent “little
ones” among us. And if we stiffen or seem
to chafe under their idea of righteousness we are considered rebellious, disharmonious
or even back-slidden.
But may I respectfully challenge that kind of dogma. For what Christ did on the cross, gives me
the power and liberty to stand victorious over my old sin nature – it is gone. He disarmed all the powers and authorities
that held any claim over my past sins and failures. And even more He disarmed the power of the
lies that would hold sway over my present and my future.
So with gratitude and humility I embrace the canceled debts
and charges against me. Because of His
suffering, His death on the cross, and His triumphal resurrection from the
grave I will never be governed by a sin-based, lie-based, works doctrine or
dogma ever again.
Debt-free people are the freest indeed. They are also a threat to those in bondage to
a debtors-ethic. For though I owe Christ
my all and everything, and I willingly give it, I can never nor should I ever attempt
or consider “repayment” as part of my relationship with Him. For that would then rearm our enemy and resume
the cycle of self-righteous works and thereby put to shame the cross of Christ
our only hope.
Once and forever Christ disarmed the enemies of our souls and led them as public spectacle down the permanent road of freedom and life. So may we never concede to their influence again, nor rearm them with a lack of assurance and faith in Him alone.
Remember, they are Disarmed – forever.
