When Christ said he "led captivity captive...." what did He mean?

[Christine]

What or who leads all of us into sin and death? Satan

What did Christ do at the cross? Did he not take away all our sins, past, present and future? 

I'm wondering if in the context it was given, Satan and all he stands for is taken captive by Jesus and his DBR.

James, Fausett and Brown say this:

captivity — that is, a band of captives. In the Psalm, the captive foes of David. In the antitypical meaning, the foes of Christ the Son of David, the devil, death, the curse, and sin (Col_2:15; 2Pe_2:4), led as it were in triumphal procession as a sign of the destruction of the foe.

Be sure and check the scriptural quotations.

Comments or discussion?

[Oasis]

Hi Christine,

I'd never thought about Col. 2:15 that way before.  I read verses 13 and 14(preceding), and then v. 15 again,

v13-When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins,
v14-having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
v15-And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Reading those three together reminded me of this passage in Romans 8,

v1-Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
v2-because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
v3-For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
v4-in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

In both passages Paul explains Christ's triumph over sin and death(aka Satan), not only for himself, but for us also.  Both passages speak of the cross being the beginning of the end for Satan and those who follow him. 

I think Christ's resurrection completed the victory both for Him and us.  It was the final proverbial "nail" in Satans(evil's)coffin. 
The whole of Romans 8 is a testament to Christ's victory for us through His DBR.

Check out these victorious verses!
Romans 8:
v31-...If God is for us, who can be against us?
v32-He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
v33-Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?...
v34-Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
v35-Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...

Here is the best proof in Scripture(imho)of our eternal bond with Christ as believers,

v37-No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
v38-For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
v39-neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I love what Adrian Rodgers says about our Salvation:

"ETERNAL LIFE is not something you get when you die;
it's something you get when you believe."-A.R.

Believing in God is not enough.  Satan believes in God.
Believing God is our victory over Satan.

ybiC,
Kab

[Christine]

Hi Christine,

I'd never thought about Col. 2:15 that way before.  I read verses 13 and 14(preceding), and then v. 15 again,

v13-When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins,
v14-having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.
v15-And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Reading those three together reminded me of this passage in Romans 8,

v1-Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
v2-because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
v3-For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.  And so he condemned sin in sinful man,
v4-in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

In both passages Paul explains Christ's triumph over sin and death(aka Satan), not only for himself, but for us also.  Both passages speak of the cross being the beginning of the end for Satan and those who follow him. 

I think Christ's resurrection completed the victory both for Him and us.  It was the final proverbial "nail" in Satans(evil's)coffin. 
The whole of Romans 8 is a testament to Christ's victory for us through His DBR.

Check out these victorious verses!
Romans 8:
v31-...If God is for us, who can be against us?
v32-He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
v33-Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?...
v34-Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
v35-Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?...

Here is the best proof in Scripture(imho)of our eternal bond with Christ as believers,

v37-No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
v38-For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
v39-neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I love what Adrian Rodgers says about our Salvation:

"ETERNAL LIFE is not something you get when you die;
it's something you get when you believe."-A.R.

Believing in God is not enough.  Satan believes in God.
Believing God is our victory over Satan.

ybiC,
Kab

AMEN!