Colossians 2:14 – Three Minute Bible

… which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Cross with small notes (representing sins) nailed to it.

Summary: The concept of having our sins nailed to the cross is hard to understand. Looked at through the lens of the Old Testament, it begins to make more sense.

Paul is working very hard to explain Jesus to us. He begins with Jesus is the “fullness of the Deity … in bodily form” (v 9). Theologians have a lot of fancy words to describe what this means, but they know less than Paul did because Paul had actually met Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9).

Notice Paul’s careful wording: “For in Christ all the fulness of the Deity lives …” Jesus describes it this way: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). We are not supposed to understand how this works. Instead, we are expected to believe Jesus and Paul and take them at their word.

So, God himself becomes man in the form of Jesus. What then?

… having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness …

Court order reading "Eternity in Hell" and stamped "Canceled"

Summary: Understanding what it means to have our “legal indebtedness” canceled requires an understanding of the law.

We know from previous passages that Paul often mixes metaphors with reality. We also know it can be hard to tell the difference. This passage presents us with the same question: Is Paul speaking literally or metaphorically?

The concept of “legal indebtedness” depends on the existence of law. Without laws, nothing is illegal.

God’s law is like that. God doesn’t need a legislature to confirm his laws or a police force to enforce them. All God has to do is speak, and his words become law.

Tag: Colossians 2:14

Colossians 2:14b – Fixing a Boo-Boo

Colossians 2:14a – Legally Dead