Information Related to "Questions and Answers - Jul/Aug 2001"
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Q: I would like some information, please. In Colossians 2:14 Paul speaks of “ordinances” nailed to a cross. What does this mean?
S.B.G., Dalhart, Texas
A: The New Living Translation helps make the meaning much clearer: “He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.” In our modern justice systems, a parallel to the “handwriting of ordinances” (King James Version) would be a formal written order of a death sentence issued after the evidence against the accused criminal—in this case, us—had been examined.
Colossians 2:14 speaks of a death warrant rightfully issued because we have all sinned by transgressing God’s spiritual law (1John 3:4). Since “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), we have all earned that sentence. However, the death sentence is mercifully commuted when we repent of sin and seek God’s forgiveness. The apostle Paul’s wording is a dramatic characterization of the benefit of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. The death warrant bearing our names and the sins we committed is nailed to the cross of Christ, who willingly took the death penalty against humanity on Himself.
Forgiveness, however, is more than a pardon because the penalty for our spiritual crimes wasn’t merely set aside. It was paid in full by Jesus’sacrificial death for us (1John 1:7-9).
Imagine the certified copy of an execution order with your name on it being hammered onto the beam on which Christ was crucified—right next to His body, splattered with His life’s blood—to show that you do not have to die for your spiritual crimes. This is the striking illustration Paul presents in Colossians 2:14.
Those who would have us believe that this passage refers to the cancellation of God’s law completely misrepresent Paul’s powerful teaching analogy. After all, if Jesus came to do away with His Father’s law, there would have been no need for Him to give His life for us since “where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15; 5:13).
Again, likening the approach of those who believe God’s law was canceled to what takes place in our modern justice system, they in effect are saying that commuting the death sentence of a murderer has canceled all laws against murder. This obviously makes no sense.
For further understanding about the effects of the sacrifice of Christ, forgiveness and real conversion, please The Road to Eternal Life and Transforming Your Life: The Process of Conversion. To better understand the purpose of God’s law and why it is illogical to argue that Jesus abolished the law, be sure to request the booklet The Ten Commandments.
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Keywords: Colossians 2:14 Colossians
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