“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.”
(Colossians 2:14)
In this passage in Colossians, Paul presents our guilt of sin using the image of a written bond acknowledging an unpaid debt. The “handwriting that was against us” is a lawful testimony that an obligation remained and satisfaction was required. This testimony could neither be ignored nor dismissed, for the holiness and justice of God demanded that every claim be answered.
And so it was. Christ satisfied the claim in full. Through His sacrifice at Calvary He blotted it out, took it out of the way, and nailed it to His cross. These repeated expressions declare the completeness and finality of His work. By His obedience and atoning death, He paid the debt owed by His people and removed every charge that could condemn them before God.
The ceremonial ordinances that God required from His people in the Old Testament bore continual witness to guilt and uncleanness. Their sacrifices, washings, and distinctions reminded them that sin separated man from God and that cleansing was necessary. Yet those shadows could never themselves make satisfaction. Instead, they pointed beyond themselves to Christ, whose single sacrifice accomplished what they could only signify.[1]
The whole law—demanding perfect obedience from fallen man—stood against every sinner. Its commandments were holy, and man had broken them all. Its sentence was righteous and just, and man could not escape it through any obedience of his own. Christ, however, fulfilled the law and endured its curse in the place of His people. The condemning bond of the law has therefore been cancelled through His cross.
Those who are justified by faith are once for all delivered from condemnation because their standing before God rests on the perfect righteousness of Christ. Current and future sins still require repentance and forgiveness, but they cannot revert the justified believer to a state of condemnation for Christ has answered the law’s accusation fully and completely.
Thus, accusation of the law has been removed and access to God has been opened through the blood of Christ. The cancelled bond of our sin debt remains an everlasting testimony that redemption has been accomplished completely through the work of Christ.
Contemplations:
- Thanking God For The Debt Christ Paid. I thank You that the debt I could never satisfy has been fully paid by Jesus Christ. Your law testified against me, and I possessed nothing sufficient to answer its demands. Yet Your Son obeyed in my place and endured the curse that my sins deserved. I bless You that salvation rests upon His complete satisfaction and not on any payment I could offer.
- Thanking God For A Cancelled Accusation. Thank You that the handwriting against me has been blotted out and taken away. The charges were true, but Christ answered them all at His cross. And no accusation can overturn the righteousness You have imputed to me through faith. When conscience recalls my guilt, teach me to remember with gratitude that my condemnation has already been borne by my Redeemer.
- Thanking God For Complete Justification. You clothe Your people with the perfect righteousness of Christ and grant them a secure title to eternal life. Though I must still confess and forsake my sins, I am grateful that they cannot return me to the condemnation from which Christ has delivered me.
- Thanking God For Access Through Christ. I give You thanks that every barrier separating Your people from Your presence has been removed. Christ fulfilled the shadows, satisfied the law, and opened the way to God. I no longer approach Your throne as one seeking to earn acceptance, but as one already welcomed through the merits of another. I bless You for free access, settled peace, and fellowship secured by the cross.
Prayer (Thanksgiving):
Gracious Father, thank You for blotting out the handwriting that stood against me. My guilt was real, Your law was just, and the debt was beyond my ability to pay. Yet in unfathomable mercy You appointed Your own Son to become my Surety and to answer every demand in my place.
Thank You that Jesus Christ fulfilled all righteousness and bore the curse of the law on His cross. By His finished work, the condemning bond has been cancelled, removed, and nailed to the cross.
I praise You for the completeness of justification. My acceptance before You does not rest on my changing obedience but on the perfect righteousness of Christ. Though I still require daily repentance and Your forgiveness, I am grateful that there is no condemnation to those who are in Him.
Thank You for removing every barrier and granting free access into Your presence. Let the assurance of this pardon produce humility, holiness, obedience, and continual gratitude. Keep me from treating lightly the sins for which Christ suffered, and cause me to live as one whose debt has been fully discharged.
May my heart continually praise You for the cross, my conscience rest in the sufficiency of Christ, and my life bear witness to the freedom purchased by His blood.
Through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
1 Peter 2:24; Eph. 2:14-15; Col. 2:20; Acts 3:19
[1] Herman Witsius, Sacred Dissertations, on What Is Commonly Called the Apostles’ Creed, vol. 2 (London: Khull, Blackie & Co., 1823), 571-573.
