by Bobby L. Graham
“In recent years I have heard some teach concerning Colossians 2:14 that it was sin that was canceled at the cross, not the Law of Moses? What do you think?”
Truth is not, primarily, a matter of what I think, but of what the Bible teaches. The Bible does teach something on this matter, and I must believe it and teach it to please our God. Thinking apart from what the Bible teaches is unsupported thinking, thus unjustified (2 Tim. 3:16-17)?
First, the Bible does teach that Jesus “canceled sin” when He died on the cross (Heb. 2:9; Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:15). In a figurative manner of speaking, it might be said that Jesus “nailed our sins” to the cross, like the song, Nailed to the Cross, so affirms. However, there is no justification for this conclusion in Colossians 2:14.
Secondly, observe that it was “the handwriting of ordinances” (otherwise translated “the bond written in ordinances” in the ASV or “the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against” in NASB) which was nailed to the cross. In each case, the translation cited stresses the laws constituting something against people. It was not the violation of such decrees or ordinances (sin) being stressed; it was the ordinances or decrees themselves. Sin is the violation of ordinances; the ordinances themselves were contrary to the people who were operating under them. Ephesians 2:15 teaches that Jesus “abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances.”
Remember, the apostle Paul was replying to the false teachings of the Judaizers and possibly of the Greeks as well. Both seem to qualify for rebuke in the inspired letter. First, the Judaizers were intent on retaining the Law of Moses and imposing it, at least in part, on both Jews and Gentiles. Secondly, the philosophical ideas of the Greeks also were close enough to the Colossians that the Holy Spirit replied to such in this letter.
In a general way, Paul’s warning against their being despoiled/robbed by the various teachings and philosophies affecting them, and his affirmation about being complete/full in Christ (Col. 2:10), served as the divine solution to both groups and their respective ideas. He went on to show that in Christ, true circumcision (Col. 2:11-13) and true deliverance from the Law which held them in debt to God (Col. 2:14-15) were available to them because of Jesus’ death on the cross. There He “blotted out the handwriting of ordinances which was against us and contrary to us” and “took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.” It was the Law of Moses which stood against/was contrary to those under it, because of its demand that they obey it perfectly to find justification by Law. Jesus’ death effectively abrogated/terminated that Law, though it might have been still in operation until the terms of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ were proclaimed on Pentecost. In the death of Christ, One who never violated the Law in any respect offered His life in sacrifice for those guilty under its demands.
Because of His terminating the Law, Paul then cautioned them that they should permit no one to judge (condemn) them in regarding various parts of the Law (meat, drink, feast day, new moon, or sabbaths), none of which remained part of God’s covenant under Jesus Christ (Col. 2:16). While it is possible that “drink” identifies some vague Gentile regulations, it is also possible that Paul refers here to part of the Mosaic Law. The other specific aspects mentioned in verse sixteen belong to the Law. Paul points to the Law when he classifies such ordinances as being a “shadow of the things to come.” The Hebrew letter classifies the ordinances of the Law as shadow compared to substance/body/reality under the New Covenant. No Gentile system ever was thus classified; only the Mosaic Law. Accordingly, there should be no doubt that Colossians 2:14 declares that Jesus’ death abrogated/ended the Law of Moses. This verse is a poor one for teaching that the debt of sin was ended at the cross, though other verses do affirm such.
Author Bio: Bobby actively participates in fill-in preaching, Belize trips, teaching an hour each day at Athens Bible School, and in gospel meeting work. He and his wife, Karen, have three children: Richard, Mary Katherine Winland (Darren), and Laura Paschall (Jeremy). He can be reached at bobbylgraham@pclnet.net.
