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.
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