As a highly trained Jew, Paul understood how the Hebrew Scriptures pointed to Christ. Writing to the Colossians, he used the terminology of Purim from the book of Esther to describe our salvation experience.
“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).[1]
To grasp the spiritual reality of our salvation in Christ, we must first understand and experience the Feast of Purim. Unless you have the idea that you were dead in your transgressions, it is difficult to understand the idea of life. Haman wrote a decree in the name of the king to annihilate the Jews and a date was set for their death. Since the laws of Persia and Media could not be repealed, the king gave Mordecai his signet ring and told him to write a new decree that would override Haman’s decree of death (Esther 8:8). Although Haman’s edict was still in motion, his declaration was overridden by a greater decree.
In the same way, our King established a decree: if you sin, you die (Romans 6:23). As a result of sin, your life ended. God’s decree about sin resulting in death still stands, but it is overridden in Christ. If you go back into a life of sin, you will live under that decree of death. I want that to be real to you. You were dead in your sin and trespasses—your spirit was literally dead (Ephesians 2:1). When you received Christ into your life, you became alive. Yeshua (Jesus) canceled God’s decree of death by going to the cross for your sin. Paul emphasized, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
The Feast of Purim is a celebration of life and is a classic illustration of our salvation in Christ. The new decree told the Jews to stand strong and fight against everything that was set to kill them (Esther 8:11). If they did not stand up to enforce the new decree, they still would have died. Just as the king ordered Haman to be hanged on his own gallows, so Christ defeated satan at the cross. Yeshua canceled the certificate of death that consisted of hostile decrees against us. He took those decrees and nailed them to the cross, but He did not remove the enemy’s entire plan. The kingdom of darkness is still set to destroy all flesh (Matthew 24:22). We must engage in spiritual warfare to end everything that satan has set in motion against us.
The Christian life is about enforcing the new decree against all that exists under the old decree of death. Yeshua enables us to use the King’s signet ring and gives us the authority of His name. The power of the cross gives us the advantage over satan and his kingdom. Salvation in Yeshua is about living in newness of life by faith in Him. I bless the Body of Christ to have this revelation. We enforce what Yeshua did for us on the cross and celebrate Purim in the name and authority of Christ our Lord.
[1] All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995).