Through Christ's death on the cross, the body of sin was annulled, or made of no effect, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves (Rom. 6:6b). Brother Nee said that Christ's death made the body of sin jobless, unemployed. The job of the flesh is to sin. Now the crucifixion of Christ has made our body of sin jobless, of no effect, that we should no longer serve sin as slaves. The flesh has lost its job. This is all related to the death of Christ dealing with the old man.
The death of Christ also dealt with the law of the commandments.
Through His death, Christ abolished the ordinances that the two, Israel and the Gentiles, might be created into one new man in Christ, thus making peace (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14). The main ordinances among the Jews were the keeping of the Sabbath, circumcision, and the dietary regulations. The Jewish religion is built upon these three pillars. These became a strong factor of separation, separating the Jews from all the Gentiles.
Furthermore, all of the different cultures have their ordinances. The Japanese and the Chinese have their specific ordinances. The Texans have their ordinances, and the Yankees have their ordinances. But all of these ordinances have been crucified. The middle wall of partition, the wall of separation, has been torn down by Christ's death. Now regardless of our race or culture, we all can be one in Christ.
With all of the ordinances, we could have never been the one new man. How can the Chinese and the Japanese, and the whites and the blacks be one new man? They can be one new man because Christ slew all the ordinances and crucified all the natural persons on the cross. Now in the new man, there is room only for Christ. In the new man, Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:11).
Through His all-inclusive death, Christ slew the enmity between Israel and the Gentiles that the two might be reconciled to God in one Body (Eph. 2:16). He created the two into one new man and reconciled both in one Body. The one new man is the one Body. As the Body of Christ, the church needs Christ as its life, whereas as the new man, the church needs Christ as its person. With the new man, the person is Christ, and with the Body, the life is the Spirit. Both Christ and the Spirit are one, and the new man and the Body are also one. All the separations have been crucified on the cross, and we have been reconciled to God in one Body.