Free Bible Commentary
“Colossians 2:14-15”
Categories: Colossians“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. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”
---End of Scripture Verses---
Most denominational preachers will insist that the “certificate of debt” that was cancelled out by Christ on His cross was the unpayable debt that we owed God because our sins and “transgressions” (verse 14). While it is true that Jesus paid the price to secure our forgiveness by His substitutionary death, what was taken “out of the way” and “nailed…to the cross” was the “certificate of debt consisting of decrees” or “ordinances”. This is a clear reference to the commands and statutes of the Law of Moses.
In a parallel passage Paul wrote about Christ abolishing the Law of Moses in order to bring Jews and Gentiles together in one body: “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.” (Ephesians 2:14-15) Tomorrow we will see that Paul went on to warn the Colossians against false teachers who attempted to enforce holy days associated with the now-defunct Mosaical Law (verse 16).
Paul said that those “decrees” were “against us” and “hostile to us.” The only way for a Jew or a Proselyte to be justified by the Law of Moses was for them to keep it perfectly. The Law only condemned the transgressor and offered no true means of atonement. That was only provided when the Savior lived a perfect life of sinlessness and offered himself as a propitiatory sacrifice. The Law also was an instrument of “hostility” toward the Gentiles in that it served as a “barrier” of separation and exclusion from God’s “covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12).
Not only did Christ nail these hostile decrees to His cross when He died for our sins, He also overthrew and “disarmed” the hostile spiritual forces that were arrayed adversely against Him and all humanity. He “triumphed” over Satan and his evil militia by His resurrection from the grave, in which He demonstrated His absolute authority over life and death, and declared himself to be “the Son of God with power” (Romans 1:4). Like a general returning home from a successful military campaign in a victory celebration, Jesus made a “public display of them, having triumphed over them.”
Jesus has done all the heavy lifting friends. Stay faithful to Him and you are guaranteed the final victory! “Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)!!!!!
Please read Colossians 2:16-19 for tomorrow.
Blessings!
- Louie Taylor
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