We should explore another traditional teaching of the churches that is not quite correct.

Col. 2:14 –

“ 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; (KJV)

“having blotted out the handwriting in the ordinances that is against us, that was contrary to us, and he hath taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;”  (YLT)

“having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.”   (RSV)

“He wiped away the bill of charges against us. Because of the regulations, it stood as a testimony against us; but he removed it by nailing it to the execution-stake.“ (CJB)

“having blotted out the handwriting against us in the decrees which was adverse to us and it He has taken out of the way having nailed it to the cross” Interlinear

The word translated as “handwriting” is Strong’s Gr 5498, “cheirographon” which is defined as a document, legal note or bond. (https://biblehub.com/greek/5498.htm)   The document is described in parenthesis as a handwritten document, thus handwriting, or bond.  It was used specifically for writing out by hand a legal note, or IOU for money lent to someone, or deposited with someone to be returned at an appointed time.

It was the accepted practice, and is sometimes still the accepted practice in law courts to verify and authenticate legal charges brought before a judge, or judgments written out by a judge for defendants brought into court upon charges of crimes they had committed. At the time the English translations of the Bible were being written by hand the term “handwriting” was known to apply to a document of charges against a person who was being brought up before magistrates for laws or decrees they had violated.  The “handwriting” was the list of their violations, not the law itself.

The “handwriting of ordinances” does not refer to the decree or to the law. Therefore, Col.2:14 does not refer to the law being cancelled. Rather, it means that our sins, our violations are nailed to the cross. The old practice of showing that a debt was paid was to put a nail through the handwritten document, or cut the bond / note / debt with a knife.  Today, a bank note or other debt instrument is stamped PAID in heavy red ink.

Col. 2:14 has been misused, or misconstrued for many generations by traditional church teachings, and I grew up hearing it from the pulpits most of my life.  It was only in recent years that I investigated this teaching because other verses of scripture brought more to consider.

As all scripture must harmonize, and as any one scripture cannot be used to contradict any other scripture, then we test the concept against other scripture to prove that it was not the law being nailed to the cross.

“¹⁷ If, then, with me thou hast fellowship, receive him as me, ¹⁸ and if he did hurt to thee, or doth owe anything, this to me be reckoning;

¹⁹ I, Paul did write with my hand, I — I will repay; that I may not say that also thyself, besides, to me thou dost owe. (Philemon 1:19, YLT)

This was the accepted practice of verifying a debt owed, or the truth of a document being submitted to anyone. Writing it out by hand was attesting and affirming a true statement. However, our sins were not brought into a court of man, but before God. Those lists of our sins were written on our heart by the Holy Spirit.

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, With the point of a diamond, Graven on the tablet of their heart, And on the horns of your altars, (Jer. 17:1, YLT)

The correlation then to Col. 2:14 is that the handwriting was the sins written by God on the hearts of men.

Christ had told His disciples that not one jot or tittle would pass from the law until “heaven and earth” had passed away (Matt. 5:18).  As has already been explored at this site, we know that “heaven and earth” was used as an idiom for both the old covenant and the temple in Jerusalem. (See my post Heaven and Earth Has Passed Away from Aug. 2015.)

The curse of the Law was death (Rom. 8:2; 1 Cor. 15:56; Gal. 3:10,13)

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Ezek. 18:4,20, KJV)

Col. 2:14 spoke of wiping out our debt, not the law. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross paid the price for our sins, offering us salvation if we will answer that call to be immersed into His death, burial and resurrection (Mark 16:16). His blood was the payment, the sacrifice that wiped away the sins of those that will believe and be baptized.  But, it was not yet complete fulfillment of the Law. His sacrifice at Passover on Nissan 14 was the first feast prophecy which He fulfilled.

Christ fulfilled the feasts of the spring harvests – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost – in the year He was crucified (AD 30-31). However, the fall harvest feasts of Feast of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and Feast of Booths/Tabernacles still had to be fulfilled in order that ALL of the law be fulfilled.

“ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”  (Matt. 5:18. KJV)

“for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass.” (Matt. 5:18. YLT)

This is why the future tense verbs we find in the books of the New Testament are so confusing to many people as they are studying.  Christ’s death on the Cross was the beginning of the fulfillment of the Law, not the end of it.  There was still more to be fulfilled. And, that future tense promise is seen throughout the Acts and epistles to the assemblies and in Revelation.  ALL of the law and the prophets had to be fulfilled.

The time of transition from the old to the new took about 40 years, and was the antitype of the Exodus wandering for the spread of the gospel throughout the inhabited lands of the old Roman empire.  Remember what Jesus told them in Matt. 24:14.

“and this good news of the reign shall be proclaimed in all the world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then shall the end arrive.”  (YLT)

We have discussed the phrase “all the world” in previous posts which used the Greek word “oikoumene” (http://biblehub.com/greek/oikoumene_n_3625.htm) for the inhabited land of that fourth beast kingdom of that 1^st century AD.  (See my post Frequent Mistakes-Part IV: Where Was All The World from Feb 2018).

God was allowing time for the spread of the gospel of Christ to be made known to the world, just as a probate judge allows time for a will of the testator to be read to the public for settlement of all debts before the estate could be settled and the inheritors could inherit.  Everyone living at that time had to be read the will of the testator (the gospel of Christ), to be offered the terms and conditions for inheritance – believe and be baptized – for complying with the will so that all the debts could be paid before the old covenant could be abolished. Then, the end of that old Mosaic Law, that old dead covenant was about to be annulled (Heb. 7:18).

“for a disannulling indeed doth come of the command going before because of its weakness, and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ (for nothing did the law perfect) and the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw nigh to God.” (Heb 7:18-19, YLT)

Strong’s Gr. 115, “athetesis” defined as setting aside, disannulling, a putting away. (https://biblehub.com/greek/athete_sis_115.htm)

“In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” (Heb. 8:13, KJV)

Strong’s Gr. 854, “aphanismos” defined as a vanishing; used as disappearing, disappearance, obliteration. (https://biblehub.com/greek/854.htm)

Both “athetesis” and “aphanismos” are only used once in the NT. The words “doth come” and “waxeth old” indicate a still to come event.  These verses in Hebrews tell us that the law was in the process of being set aside, that it was about to disappear.  Hebrews was written about AD 65-66 before the temple was destroyed.  These scriptures prove that the Mosaic law had not yet passed.  It was about to, but the time had not yet come that the new covenant would completely replace it.

Therefore, we cannot say that the Law was nailed to the cross.  The commentaries that misinterpret Col. 2:14 as referring to the end of the Mosaic Law are incorrect. Col. 2:14 is part of the sentence that begins in Col. 2:13.

“And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;” (KJV)

So, having forgiven our sins which Christ nailed to the cross, our debt, or the bond under the Law was paid.

It was the beginning of the end of the law, but not the complete end.  Those who had been immersed into Christ no longer had any obligation to the Law. But, the Mosaic Law did not fully pass away until that old temple in Jerusalem fell in AD 70. So, we cannot say that the Law passed at the cross. 

We must always keep the scriptures in the proper context and balance them with the rest of God’s word.