Complete Forgiveness, Col 2:13-14

(13) When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, (14) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. (2:13-14)

Paul continues in verse 13 and 14 where he left off in verses 11 and 12. Where he emphasized salvation in the two preceding verses, he now emphasizes our forgiveness completely apart from any human work. [1]

These two verses should always remind us of the immense love, grace and mercy that Jesus showed mankind by sacrificing Himself on the Cross. It was and will always be the ultimate act of forgiveness. God sent His own Son to die on a Cross for us long before any of us were even born, to cancel the debt of sin for all mankind. This act of forgiveness highlights the mercy and compassion of Christ, as well as the depth of His love for us. It should cause us to reflect on the importance of Jesus’ sacrifice and how it has impacted our lives as believers. It should prompt us to consider the weight of our sins and the freedom that comes from being completely forgiven. It should cause us to appreciate the depth of that forgiveness and cause us to live lives of gratefulness for the grace we have received. [2]

‘When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,’ (2:13) –

‘When you were dead in your transgressions’ –

• Definition: ‘transgression’ (‘sin’ - KJV and NIV) – The Greek word, paraptoma { par-ap’-to-mah } means a lapse or deviation from truth, uprightness, your sin or misdeeds. Louw and Nida added, “what a person has done in transgressing the will and law of God by some false step or failure—‘transgression, sin.’” [3]
• Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology says the following:

Sin is a riddle, a mystery, a reality that eludes definition and comprehension. Perhaps we most often think of sin as wrongdoing or transgression of God’s law. Sin includes a failure to do what is right. But sin also offends people; it is violence and lovelessness toward other people, and ultimately, rebellion against God. Further, the Bible teaches that sin involves a condition in which the heart is corrupted and inclined toward evil. [4]

• Without Christ, mankind is morally dead, meaning that they are separated from God, with a destiny to be physically separated from God for all eternity. John Gill states that mankind had lost the image of God, but that would be inconsistent with what is stated throughout Scripture. A better way to understand it is that mankind had tainted that image by his sin. He still has a knowledge of God (Rom 1:20), but now has a tainted or a corrupted knowledge of Him. He only partially understands what righteousness is, even so, he cannot bring himself to do good, not even partially. Nor does he now have the capacity to act righteously, even partially, on his own. A man or woman may do good things once and a while or even most of the time, but 'once a while' and 'most of the time' is not good enough for God. Mankind is dead to a true understanding of what is good, so mankind is only capable of doing that which he perceives to be good in his own eyes. In his current state mankind is incapable of changing himself, he is completely destitute of spiritual life. Quite frankly, he deserves the eternal death that his sin has brought upon himself.
• If anyone has had any problems believing that mankind exists in a state of total depravity without Christ, this verse (and Eph 2:1) should settle the issue. Spiritually, mankind is like a dead man. A corpse does not see, it does not hear, and it does not feel. Physically, mankind sees, hears and feels, but the spiritual part of mankind cannot. Unless He is aroused by God, mankind cannot hear God speaking through others, he cannot see God working in his life or in others, and he cannot feel the presence of God, though God is everywhere all of the time.
• Paraphrasing MacArthur, mankind lacks the ability to respond to any holy or Godly spiritual stimuli. This means that mankind is so locked in the grasp of sin that he is unable to respond to God. In this state, the Bible cannot make sense to him, nor does it have the power to change him. In this state he is under the control of the world, the flesh and the devil. This does not mean that he will not do good things, or that the actions he does will never appear to be Christian or Godly. What it means is that anything he does in this state is for prideful and/or selfish gain. His motivation cannot be called Godly, when the Holy Spirit does not reside in an unbeliever. Ghandi was called a 'great man', and many saw his 'good works', and the 'selfless service' of his actions. His motivation was not Christ, but Hinduism and the human's potential to change himself from the inside out. It was Ghandi's self-willed power to perform good deeds in the name of mankind, thus bringing the glory of his action upon himself, and thus demonstrating the power of mankind's abilities to change himself. Ghandi saw the works of Jesus as works that any man could do (excluding the miracles of course), works that brought righteousness to mankind. But anything that is not done for Christ is by default done for self, for it is self that gets the glory, not God. Self glory is pride in one's self (actions or abilities), and self pride is sin. (Self-esteem is essentially making one's self proud of one's accomplishments.)

‘and the uncircumcision of your flesh’ –

• Definition: ‘flesh’ – As used here, the Greek word, sarx { sarx } means the sensuous nature of man, “the animal nature” with its cravings which provoke to sin; the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence, and therefore prone to sin and opposed to God.
• John Calvin called uncircumcision the “badge of alienation from God.” Man is wholly corrupt and estranged from God because his very nature craves what he should not have or what he should not do, and these cravings provoke him to fulfill these desires by any means possible or necessary, which causes him to sin to fulfill them. His desire is unrestrained indulgence in whatever he craves. (Rom 8:7; 1 Tim 5:6) And for the Gentile, he doesn't even have the law to help define what is right and what is wrong. But having the law, as Paul shows in Romans, is no advantage either since it only demonstrates that it cannot be kept.
• Using the word 'uncircumcision' was also a way of pointing out that they were outside of the covenant God had made with Abraham and Moses. As was shown above, it did not matter whether they were Jews or Gentiles, to be uncircumcised of the heart meant that they were not committed to God, and not obedient in following Him to their fullest.
• One commentator sees this phrase saying that the Gentiles were in a far worse state than the unbelieving Jew because at least the Jew was part of the covenant community that possessed the law of God, which was referring back to the Holy Spirit's statement through Paul in Eph 2:12 that the Gentile had no hope and was without God in the world. But for this to be true, one must see this as saying that the Jew would at least have access to the law that could possibly make him realize his lack of faith and spur him into a saving faith. Since the Gentile has nothing, he has nothing to spur him to turn from unbelief to belief. But the OT unbelieving Jew would be more like the unbelieving American “christian” who grew up in the church, but never embraced a saving faith. He would have the tendency to think that he knows what Christianity is, while having no idea whatsoever. He would even have the same tendency to think that he was good, he knows Jesus died for him. But that is not embracing a true faith. At least a Gentile would have ignorance on his side as an excuse (but not even that as is a valid excuse as is seen in Rom 1), where the unbelieving Jew would have no excuse at all. The same is true for the American “christian”.

‘He made you alive together with Him’ –

• The first thing that should be noticed concerning this phrase is who is saying what and to whom. It is God that has made a person alive in Christ, because it is God who initiates salvation, not mankind. (Eph 2:1; John 5:21; Rom 4:17) The second thing that should be noticed is that this phrase stresses the believer's union with Christ. When a believer was without Christ, he was hopelessly separated and estranged from God, but now is united with Him. It is a hope that should bring believers a sense of security in God's love and acceptance for them.
• Without His working in us, we cannot see the full extent of our sin against Jesus (Eph 2:5). If we cannot fully comprehend the effects of our sin upon ourselves and how it separates us from God, we cannot understand why we would need a Savior. It is only when we realize that we are spiritually and morally dead in our sin that we can be made alive in Christ and with Christ. It is death that produces life. (1 Cor 15:36)
• As was discussed in verse 12, for the Christian, baptism is the sign of both death and life. The old self must be put to death to become a Christian. That does not mean that everyone must be perfect to become a Christian, or to have perfect understanding of theology and doctrine. But that unbelievers must have a conscious knowledge that their old self, with its habits, lusts and evil desires must die, and they must desire to rid themselves of their old self, otherwise, what are they being saved from, and into? Nor is it about someone working up the effort to rid themselves of this old nature, for even that is quickened by God. But once they have this knowledge and the willingness to want this change in their lives, God brings them into the fold and makes them His children. Baptism, then, becomes that outward sign as well as a confession of their faith, for the inward change that takes place in them because of His working in them. The believer is first buried under the water, to put the old self to death, so that they can be raised up from the water, made alive again (a new self and new creature), but this time, made alive with Christ. (Eph 4:17-24; 1 Cor 15:22)

‘having forgiven us all our transgressions’ –

• Definition: ‘forgiven’ – The Greek word, charizomai { khar-id’-zom-ahee } means to show one’s self gracious, kind, benevolent; to grant forgiveness, to pardon; to give graciously, give freely, bestow; graciously to restore one to another; to preserve for one a person in peril.
• Definition: ‘transgressions’ (‘transpasses’ – KJV, ‘sins’ – NIV) – The Greek word, paraptoma { par-ap’-to-mah } means to fall beside or near something; lapses or deviations from truth and uprightness; sins, misdeeds.
• All sin is ultimately against God, and is therefore subject to a punishment whose penalty is death. It is a penalty that mankind cannot bear on his own. He has no way out from under its weight and judgment. Without God stepping in and paying the penalty for sin, mankind cannot be forgiven and therefore cannot escape its consequences. As one commentator put it, a sinner cannot be given spiritual life and be kept under the penalty of sin because the gift of life is canceled out by the penalty of death.
• There are two aspects of forgiveness made clear in the Scriptures. First, on the basis of Jesus' sacrifice, God ceases to hold believers guilty of sin. (Heb 10:11-17). In addition, God sovereignly chooses to remove any sense of a believer's guilt for sin from His mind. When God looks at a believer, He does not see their sin, but sees His Son and the payment for sin. The second aspect is that the guilty ones are released and set free from their guilt. (Act 26:18; Ps 103:2-13; 1 John 2:12) Forgiveness is an all-embracing pardon. All Christians are forgiven their sins; there are no exceptions. (Ps 32:1; Isa 1:18, 55:7; Jer 31:34; Act 13:38-39; 2 Cor 5:19; Heb 8:10-12; 1 John 1:7-9; 2:12)
• Mankind's forgiveness is only made possible by the willing sacrifice that Jesus Christ provided as a free gift to all that would believe in Him, put their faith in Him, and serve only Him as God. All throughout the OT, God the Father called Israel to Himself, to love and serve only Him. That desire on God's part did not change in the NT; it stayed the same. (Isa 1:18; 55:7; Jer 31:34; 50:20; Heb 8:10-12; 1 John 2:27)
• God has graciously forgiven all of our past, present and future sins against Him and others if only we choose to put our faith, hope and trust in Him. For the Christian forgiveness is a single act which has already been completed. God's forgiveness is not parsed out piecemeal, as if there are sins for which we could possibly forget about, or die before asking forgiveness for.
• Although Jesus' death on the Cross was a perfect sacrifice that pays for all sin for all time, and has the ability to provide forgiveness to everyone that has ever lived, in effect, only those individuals that repent and embrace Christ as Savior and Lord have that payment for sin applied to their lives. (Isa 53:6; Mt 26:28; Act 10:43; Eph 1:7; Heb 9:15) Everyone has the potential to be saved, but only a fraction embrace that provided salvation.
• All of our sins: past, present and future, have been forgiven in the one sacrifice made by Christ and a believer's single act of repentance and placing their faith in Christ is all that is required to become a believer. (John 10:29; Rom 8:31-39; John 5:24; 6:37)
• One commentary sums it up this way:

There must be a removal of the cause of deadness before there can be a quickening to new life. That cause was sin, which cannot be cancelled as guilt by any self-denial, however great, nor even by the impartation of a new life from God for the future. A gospel which only enjoined dying to self would be as inadequate as a gospel which only provided for a higher life in the future. The stained and faultful past must be cared for. Christ must bring pardon for it, as well as a new spirit for the future. So the condition prior to our being quickened together with Him is God’s forgiveness, free and universal, covering all our sins, and given to us without anything on our part. That condition is satisfied. Christ’s death brings to us God’s pardon, and when the great barrier of unforgiven sin is cleared away, Christ’s life pours into our hearts … [5]

• And one last quote: “Just as Christ’s resurrection proved that He was delivered from the sin laid on Him, so our spiritual quickening proves that we have been forgiven our sins.” [6]
• There are at least six characteristics of God's forgiveness: [7]

1. Gracious – Salvation is something that cannot be earned; it is something that is freely given to a person, and given to someone that does not deserve it. Rom 3:24 says that we are “being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Tit 3:4-7 says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Eph 2:5 says, “by grace you have been saved.” Eph 2:8, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God”. (Exod 34:6; Ps 86:15;103:8-13)
2. Complete – We do not have a partial forgiveness, but a complete and total forgiveness. Rom 5:20 says, “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” 1 John 2:12 says, “your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.” Ps 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” Isa 43:25 says, “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for my own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”
3. Eager – Not only is His forgiveness gracious and complete, He is also eager for us to repent and receive His forgiveness, which is free for any to take hold of. It is God that has sought out mankind and provided a way for him to be saved from God's righteous wrath. He says in Eze 18:23 that He doesn't take pleasure in the death of the sinners. (“Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”) And 2 Pet 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” We see here that God has gone out of His way to put off the righteous punishment that sin deserves and waits patiently for His creations to return to Him. (Eze 18:23; 33:11; 1 Tim 2:4)
4. Certain – As can be seen from many of the above verses, God has promised to forgive mankind if he will only return to His maker. Because it is God that has initiated salvation, mankind can be certain that God will follow through with His promise. (Num 23:19 - “God is not a man, that He should lie”)
5. Unequalled – No other religion comes close to matching the promised forgiveness that is offered by the Bible. Every other religion has a list of requirements which must be performed to procure forgiveness from its god. Mic 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” Nothing matches the forgiveness offered by the God of the Bible (Mic 7:18-19).
6. Motivating – Knowing what God has done for us and provided for us, should motivate every believer to love Him wholeheartedly, and forgive others the same way God has forgiven us. Eph 4:32 says, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

‘having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.’ (2:14) –

‘having canceled out the certificate of debt’ –

• Definition: ‘canceled out’ (‘blotting out’ - KJV) – The Greek word, exaleipho { ex-al-i’-fo } means to wipe off, wipe away; to obliterate, erase, wipe out, blot out. It was a common word for complete removal of writing. Louw and Nida defined it as, “to cause something to cease by obliterating any evidence—‘to eliminate, to do away with, to wipe out.” [8] It was used in a similar sense in the following verses: Rev 3:5; Act 3:19; De 9:14; Rev 7:17; 21:4.
• Definition: ‘certificate of debt’ (‘handwriting’ - KJV; ‘written’ - NIV) – The Greek word, cheirographon { khi-rog’-raf-on } means what one has written by his own hand; a note of hand or writing in which one acknowledges that money has either been deposited with him or lent to him by another, to be returned at an appointed time. Its usage is usually in the sense of a written obligation. Albert Barnes noted that, “The word rendered handwriting (in the KJV) means something written by the hand, a manuscript; and here, probably, the writings of the Mosaic law, or the law appointing many ordinances or observances in religion.” [9]
• The ‘certificate of debt’ was an acknowledgment by the one in debt, in their own handwriting acknowledging that they did indeed have a debt that they owed. Paul used this example as an analogy to symbolize the debt that each of us owes God because we have violated His law.
• There are a number of speculations about what written code was being referenced in this passage. Some have suggested God's covenant with Adam (Gen 2:17), others have suggested the agreement which the Israelites made with God at Mount Sinai (Ex 24:7), and still others God’s book of remembrance of the sins of men. The most likely, however, and the one that most commentators agree upon, was the ceremonial law, with its ordinances and commandments, which would have made it the Law of Moses. What makes this suggestion so compelling is what John Gill penned,

... it signifies the ceremonial law, which lay in divers ordinances and commands, and is what, the apostle afterwards speaks of more clearly and particularly; and may be called so, because submission to it was an acknowledgment both of the faith and guilt of sin; every washing was saying, that a man was polluted and unclean; and every sacrifice was signing a man’s own guilt and condemnation, and testifying that he deserved to die as the creature did, which was offered in sacrifice: or rather the whole law of Moses is intended, which was the handwriting of God, and obliged to obedience to it, and to punishment in case of disobedience; and this the Jews call [...] "the writing of the debt," and is the very phrase the Syriac version uses here: now this was as a debt book, which showed and testified the debts of men; that is, their sins, how many they are guilty of, and what punishment is due unto them. [10]

• And if that wasn't enough to convince us, again here is Albert Barnes stating it very eloquently,

The allusion is probably to a written contract, in which we bind ourselves to do any work, or to make a payment, and which remains in force against us until the bond is [canceled]. That might be done either by blotting out the names, or by drawing lines through it, or, as appears to have been [practiced] in the east, by driving a nail through it. The Jewish ceremonial law is here represented as such a contract, binding those under it to its observance, until it was nailed to the cross. The meaning here is, that the burdensome requirements of the Mosaic law are abolished, and that its necessity is superseded by the death of Christ. His death had the same effect, in reference to those ordinances, as if they had been blotted from the statute-book. This it did by fulfilling them, by introducing a more perfect system and by rendering their observance no longer necessary, since all that they were designed to typify had been now accomplished in a better way. [11]

• So, why did God remove the ceremonial law and our requirement to follow it? The ceremonial law brings with it an acknowledgment of guilt, and following it only reinforced that guilt. If God had not done away with it, then people would still relate the removal of their sin induced debt to the fulfillment of the law's requirements. Consciences are difficult to appease and too many people would revert to trying to work their way to forgiveness, as is done by so many Christians even today. But mankind's works are unable to deliver him from the debt he owes. So by removing the obligation of following the law, and mankind's feeble attempts to fulfill it, mankind can no longer hope to rely upon his own efforts and abilities to save himself. Only that action by God could pacify mankind's conscience; that and God sending Jesus to die in our place.

‘certificate of debt’ –

• In scripture, sin is often referred to as a debt that must be repaid in full. It is also a debt that the debtor is obliged to completely repay (Deut 27:26; Jer 11:3; Gal 3:10; Jas 2:10). The debt can be completely forgiven, but only by the one to whom the debt is owed. Or it can be completely repaid by either the one that owes the debt, or someone that steps in to completely repay it. And this is exactly what Jesus did with His death on the cross. As unbelievers, mankind owed a debt that could never be repaid. The law is completely inflexible on this point. When mankind violates the law, it's as if they signed an affidavit against themselves stating that they know that they are guilty of violating the law, and that they agree that they have a debt to be repaid in full, and that they also know that they are responsible for the entire debt. God holds them to their declaration of guilt. As Calvin put it, as long as the debt exists, its obligation for repayment is required. What this verse says then, is that because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, when a person acknowledges his guilt and need for a Savior, repents and embraces Christ, God takes that affidavit and erases it, completely, so that there is no trace left of it to indicate in any way that he had ever signed it, no trace that there was ever anything against him. (Isa 43:25; 44:22; Act 3:19; Mt 6:12; Luke 11:4)
• An unbeliever can act like or pretend that they don't owe the debt, but because of their God-given internal and external knowledge of God (Rom 1) they know they still owe a debt. They continually seek any and every method to alleviate this debt, or the guilt associated with this debt (Hinduism, Islam, JW, Mormonism, Wicca, suicide, etc.). But nothing removes it until they embrace Christ, and then it is the faith that God gives them (Eph 2:8) that is responsible for actually removing the guilt associated with that debt.
• Some say that since Jesus' death has already taken away the sins of the world, no one is currently in a state of sin; a sort of universal salvation. But from the above language, mankind has already acknowledged that his sin has produced debt, and until he requests that his sin be removed by embracing mankind's only Savior, Jesus Christ, that debt is still his to bear. And because of the law, God will hold him to the debt he has already acknowledged he owes. Therefore, embracing Jesus Christ as one's Savior and Lord is required to move the debt one owes from one's self to Jesus to bear, which, by the way, He has already done.

‘consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us;’ –

• Definition: ‘consisting of decrees’ (‘ordinances’ - KJV; ‘regulations’ - NIV; ‘decrees’ - ESV) – The Greek word, dogma { dog’-mah } means doctrine, decree, ordinance; the rules and requirements of the law of Moses; carrying a suggestion of severity and of threatened judgment. Louw and Nida defined it as follows, “a formalized rule (or set of rules) prescribing what people must do—‘law, ordinance, rule.’” [12]
• The decrees or ordinances against us was the ceremonial law, and as Paul pointed out in Romans, it was the law that brought about mankind's knowledge of sin (Rom 7:5-9; Rom 3:20; 1 Cor 15:56). The law lays before mankind penalties for breaking God's commandments, which is why one commentator said that “God’s law presents itself before us as an enemy.” [13] That is exactly why Paul said in this verse that the law was hostile to us, and then at the end of the verse identifies the Cross as the destroyer of the law's power over believers.
• It is not that the law was evil, the law in itself was and still is holy and just. But it was the law that brought mankind a knowledge of sin, and that knowledge brought with it the responsibility to perfectly follow God's law. By doing so, the law had set itself against man, his happiness, and his comfort. It had become an oppressive burden, which mankind cannot bear. Not only is there a debt against the unbeliever, but the law has already found him guilty of violating it, and even more, there is nothing he can do to defend himself. As John Gill said, the law has cursed him, convicted him, condemned him and executed him.
• For the Colossians, this seemed to be even more the case, as the Jewish Christian attempted to force the new Gentile believers to follow the ceremonial law. It may be difficult for modern day Christians to understand, but for many in the 1st century church, it was blasphemy for a Gentile to become a Christian without observing the rite of circumcision. It may be a settled matter for believers today, but it wasn't in the 1st century. For the Jew, the law was the embodiment of what religion was, and Paul was once again, shattering its false foundation. Paul was here attempting to demolish this supposed obligation by reminding them all that it was Christ's death on the Cross that had annulled it.
• ‘hostile to us’ – Paul is acknowledging that even though the law is holy, just and good, it is nevertheless an obstacle to us because it comes with a threat of punishment if we violate it. If followed perfectly, it is our friend and ally, but if violated, it condemns us before God. Even though the law is what introduces us to the Gospel, it is still the law that condemns us and stands in our way, thus preventing us from following God.
• For one commentator, Rom 3:19 says that, “... the Law was given to Israel to make the whole world silent and guilty before God. The Law of Sinai proves that all men are under the anger of God. For it awakens the law written within, and through that inner law pronounces sentence even upon those who have never heard of the God of Israel.” [14]

‘and He has taken it out of the way’ –

• Definition: ‘has taken’ (‘took’ - KJV and NIV) – The Greek word, airo { ah’-ee-ro } means to raise up, elevate, lift up; to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised up, to bear; to bear away what has been raised, to carry off.
• Paul is reminding the believers that the certificate of debt that mankind owed had been completely canceled out, completely erased, and torn to pieces so that there would be no evidence that any debt had ever been owed. Jesus' death on the cross had completely removed the barrier that had hindered mankind from experiencing the one thing he had always sought, forgiveness of sin. Mankind was always trying to invent a better way to alleviate the guilt he felt for the sins he had committed. With the guilt removed and the forgiveness applied, he now had the right to have a true and meaningful relationship with God of the universe.

‘having nailed it to the cross.’ –

• There is a strong allusion to the ancient practice of how a debt or an obligation was canceled. The debt had been repaid or forgiven, the certificate of the debt would have a nail driven through it to signify that the certificate of debt or obligation was no longer valid. This same practice was in effect up until the recent past. When you would go to a restaurant and hand the bill and your money to the clerk, as part of the payment process, the bill would be driven through a spike next to the cash register, and stacked up along with all of the other bills for the day. Banks used to do much the same thing.
• And this is the same exact thing for which Paul is reminding us, that Jesus' death on the Cross does for us. Jesus was crucified – pierced – for our sins – our debts. His death canceled out that debt. As Albert Barnes wrote, it is “... as if He had taken them and nailed them to His own cross, in the manner in which a bond was canceled.” [15] The nails driven through His hands and feet were the very same nails that drove holes through each and every certificate of debt against us, canceling its power to keep us bound to that debt.
• And Paul is also reminding us that that certificate was the law and its sacrificial requirements. Jesus had also canceled out it’s power to condemn us (Rom 7:4; Gal 3:13). Matthew Poole said it this way,

Christ by his plenary satisfaction did not only discharge from the condemnation of the law (Rom 8:1,34), but he did effectually, with the nails with which he himself was crucified, by interpretation, fasten the handwriting of ordinances to his cross, and abolished the ceremonial law in every regard, since the substance of it was come, and that which it tended to was accomplished, in giving himself a ransom for all (1 Tim 2:6), to the putting away of sin (Heb 9:26), and obtaining eternal redemption (Heb 9:12). [16]

• Paul is asserting that the Cross of Christ Jesus destroys the law's power to condemn us and punish us. Both the burden and the penalty of sin had been removed from us and laid upon Jesus as He was beaten and hung on the Cross.
• The Expositor's Bible Commentary sums this passage all up with the following,

The weakness of all law is that it merely commands, but has no power to get its commandments obeyed. Like a discrowned king, it posts its proclamations, but has no army at its back to execute them. But Christ puts His own power within us, and His love in our hearts; and so we pass from under the dominion of an external commandment into the liberty of an inward spirit. He is to His followers both "law and impulse." He gives not the "law of a carnal commandment, but the power of an endless life." The long schism between inclination and duty is at an end, in so far as we are under the influence of Christ’s cross. The great promise is fulfilled, "I will put My law into their minds and write it in their hearts" [(Heb 10:16-18; 2 Cor 3:3; Eze 36:25-27)]; and so, glad obedience with the whole power of the new life, for the sake of the love of the dear Lord who has bought us by His death, supersedes the constrained submission to outward precept. A higher morality ought to [characterize] the partakers of the life of Christ, who have His example for their code, and His love for their motive. The tender voice that says, "If ye love Me, keep My commandments," wins us to purer and more self-sacrificing goodness than the stern accents that can only say, "Thou shalt—or else!" can ever enforce. He came "not to destroy, but to [fulfill]."[Mat 5:17; John 14:15] The [fulfillment] was destruction in order to reconstruct in higher form. Law died with Christ on the cross in order that it might rise and reign with Him in our inmost hearts. [17]

(13) When you were dead in your transgressions (your departure from truth, your sins) and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuous, animal or carnal nature prone to sin), God made you alive together with Christ, having (freely) forgiven us all our sins, (14) having canceled out and blotted out and wiped away the certificate of debt consisting of legal decrees and demands (which were in force) against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed and cleared out of our way and by nailing it to the cross. (Col 2:13-14)

Footnotes

1. Condensed from John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992) p. 109.
2. Summarized from What does Colossians 2:13-14 really mean? - God's Blessing
3. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 773.
4. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
5. Expositor's Bible Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
6. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown Commentary on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
7. Condensed from John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992) p. 111.
8. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 159.
9. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Notes on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
10. John Gill’s Expository Notes on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
11. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Notes on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
12. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 425.
13. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
14. Beet’s Bible Commentary on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
15. Albert Barnes’ New Testament Notes on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
16. Matthew Poole’s Commentary on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.
17. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary on Colossians, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.

The primary sources for this study use J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, from bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2020 Bible.org, (Col 1:1 through 2:10), and all attributions are reprinted with permission granted by bible.org; and John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992). I drew heavily upon his chapter and division headings.

This study uses many of the commentaries, dictionaries and the Greek Lexicon which are all part of 'The Online Bible', Computer Program, © 2023, Larry Pierce, http://www.onlinebible.net/, unless otherwise referenced. See Colossians Bible Study for full attribution. All word definitions are from either Strong's and/or part of the Online Bible Program.

Where noted, Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), p/o Logos Bible Software, Faithlife, LLC, © 2023.

All Scriptures quotes are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Revision, unless otherwise noted. Verse links from Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/