Colossians 2:14 (NKJV) “having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:14 (AMP) “having canceled out the [a]certificate of debt consisting of [b]legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:14 (NIV) “having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:14 (ISV) “having erased the charges that were brought against us, along with their obligations that were hostile to us. He took those charges away when he nailed them to the cross.”
Colossians 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;”
Certificate of debt: This term refers to a debtor’s handwritten note acknowledging the debt.
legal demands: the requirements found in the Mosaic Law which were violated. The debt is the punishment due for the violator’s sins.
This certificate of debt,
It was not a false accusation, it was not an illegal document because the debt it contained was a true debt [This was due to violations of the requirements of the Mosaic Law]. The debt had to be paid (Death was to be the punishment for the violation [for the wages of sin is death]). In other words it had legal standing in the courts of the heaven whether you had the law or not as explained in Romans 2: 12 – 16
Romans 2:12-16 (AMP) “12 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without [regard to] the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged and condemned by the Law. 13 For it is not those who merely hear the Law [as it is read aloud] who are just or righteous before God, but it is those who [actually] obey the Law who will be [a]justified [pronounced free of the guilt of sin and declared acceptable to Him]. 14 When Gentiles, who do not have the Law [since it was given only to Jews], do [b]instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law. 15 They show that the [c]essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts; and their conscience [their sense of right and wrong, their moral choices] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or perhaps defending them 16 on that day when, [d]as my gospel proclaims, God will judge the secrets [all the hidden thoughts and concealed sins] of men through Christ Jesus.”
These
- charges,
- handwriting of ordinances,
- legal demands, or legal obligations
Which ever way you define it (them),
- handwritings,
- certificate of debt,
- legal indebtedness,
- charges against us,
- and handwriting of ordinances,
were
- against us,
- standing against us,
- hostile to us
but He has
- taken it (them) away,
- wiped it (them) out,
- set it (them) aside,
- completely removed it (them),
- took it (them) away,
- and took it (them) out of the way.
He nailed it to The Cross. Debt paid if Full. Debt to the law paid in full.
“By nailing it to the cross. ‘By nailing’ indicates more plainly that this was the method by which the bond was forever removed. ‘It was the law rather than Christ, which was slain and done away with on the cross, because He bore the curse of the law, took away its condemnation. Men slew Christ, but the Lord slew the law on the cross; Gal_2:13; 2 Pet. 2:24’ (Braune). The figure need not be pressed in its details.”
–A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
You must appropriate this into your life.
Believe and have faith in God.
Let Jesus Christ be your Lord and Savior
Live a life from these ordinances
“The first act of the Christian life is to receive Christ, and every moment afterward we must continue receiving Him. The act must become an attitude. Breathe in the love and power of Jesus. Take deep breaths. Then we shall be rooted in Him in secret, and built up in Him in our outward walk and behavior. If we have Christ, we have all God’s fullness, and this is easily accessible. Like Jacob’s ladder, He links us with God. What need have we for celestial beings, like those invented by the Gnostics, or for the rite of circumcision, as insisted on by the Jews? We have everything in Jesus. He has fulfilled the Law in all respects on our behalf. Let us put the waters of entire surrender and consecration between our past, our sins, and the world, and rise into His life, the life of resurrection glory and power.”
– Through The Bible Day by Day ~ F.B. Meyer
