Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 2:14

"having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross;" — Colossians 2:14 (ASV)

In the closing words of v.12 Paul mentioned God’s raising Christ from the dead. Now he assures his readers that in Christ they share the resurrection experience. In Christ’s case it was a literal bodily resurrection from the dead. In their case, the death was spiritual (“dead in your sins,” “uncircumcision”), and the being make alive is also spiritual. Eventually, of course, believers will experience a bodily resurrection (see 1Colossians 15).

The NIV translation “dead in your sins and... and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature” suggests that “sins” and “uncircumcision” are the sphere in which death was manifested. It is perhaps better to follow ASV and read the text to mean dead by reason of trespasses and an uncircumcised (unregenerate or pagan) nature (cf. Acts 7:51).

The first part of v.13 affirms the readers’ deadness through trespasses and their being made alive in union with Christ. The last part of this verse indicates that their being made alive involved the forgiveness of everything that had once alienated them from God. In other words, forgiveness and being made alive are two facets of the same act of divine grace.

Verse 14 vividly describes the attendant circumstances of forgiveness in Christ. One is the cancellation of “the written code.” “Having canceled” (GK 1981) should be translated “canceling out” (lit., “wiping out”; cf. Acts 3:19; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 7:17; Revelation 21:4); it specifies the act by which the forgiveness was carried out. What is canceled is called “the written code,” an expression used of any document written by hand. This can be understood as an official written indictment or as a self-acknowledged state of indebtedness (like an IOU); in any case, it refers is to the Mosaic law. God has blotted it out so that it no longer stands against us.

Paul uses three expressions to describe the law: (1) It was written with “regulations” (cf. Ephesians 2:15). (2) It was “against us” (i.e., God’s law had a valid claim on us). It was (if we follow the imagery of a “bond”) like a promissory note having our signature attached as evidence that we acknowledged its claim and our debt. (3) It “stood opposed to us.” This suggests that because we could not meet the claims of the law, it was hostile toward us or was an obstacle in our way.

Verse 14a has asserted that this bond or indictment has been “canceled out”; v.14b now adds that God (or Christ) “took it away, nailing it to the cross.” In other words, the bond (the Mosaic law) has been removed permanently, so that its claims against us can never again alienate us from God.

Paul’s vivid metaphor of nailing the law to the cross has been variously explained. Some think it alludes to an ancient custom dictating that when decrees were nullified, a copy of the text should be nailed up in a public place. Others see here an allusion to the custom of hanging over the head of an executed person a copy of the charge on which he was condemned. When Jesus was crucified, the superscription nailed to his cross contained the words “The King of the Jews.” Paul ignores the real superscription and imagines the law as nailed above the cross. That was, after all, the real reason why Christ was put to death—because of our sins against God’s law. Still others understand the idea to be that the indictment was itself crucified.

To sum up, the great principle asserted in v.14 is the destruction of the law in and by the cross of Christ. The law, however, is viewed in a certain character (i.e., as a bond of indebtedness or as an instrument of condemnation).