having effaced the handwriting in ordinances which [stood out] against us, which was contrary to us, he has taken it also out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;
Teachers at Colossae were urging Christians to take up religious rules. Paul answers them from the cross, where God dealt with a written record that stood against us.
Older translations call that record "the handwriting of ordinances." One commentator explains the two key words:
The word translated "blotted out" is one "used for annulling a decree of law." "Handwriting" carries the idea of an "obligation to which a man is subject by his signature." Paul used a very graphic figure. We had bound ourselves by our signature to Jewish ordinances. Christ's death has cancelled that document. As far as we are concerned it was nailed to the cross when He was nailed to the cross.
The document was not forged by an enemy. The people bound by it had signed it themselves:
All the ordinances were blotted out too. They belonged to the basic principles of this world and applied to man in the flesh. They weighed on the Jews as an unbearable yoke, and the Jews tried to bring others under it as well. They kept the conscience always under the burden of a service man had never completed, and a righteousness that never satisfied God. In them the Jew had put his signature, so to speak, to his own guilt. But God destroyed that obligation and nailed it to the cross of Christ. We receive liberty as well as life and pardon.
Another writer traces the signing back to a specific moment in Israel's history:
"The handwriting of requirements that was against us" points to a legal document that binds a person by his own signature. Israel fully committed themselves to keep the law in Exodus 19:8: "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Every honest conscience knows it should obey some standard of conduct, such as the ordinances of the law of Moses. But we find the law is against us because of our disobedience.
Commentators are careful here. The verse does not say God erased His own law. He cancelled its claim on us:
So the "handwriting in ordinances" stood against us and was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way. Paul is not speaking of the law itself, but of our obligation to it. That is what the "handwriting" means, and that is what the cross wipes out for us, since it was nailed there. The law is not dead, as we have seen in Romans, but we have died to it.
The cross did not push the law aside as worthless:
The cross blotted out our sins truly, but it did more than this: it also blotted out the whole system of legal ordinances which had been against us. The law was not blotted out — far from it, for it was vindicated and magnified in the death of Christ. We died from under the law in His death, and we are now under grace.
The change of pronoun matters. Paul had just told the Colossians what God had done for them. Now he speaks as one of a people who had lived under those rules:
He does not say "against you," because the Colossian believers had never been under the law and its ordinances. They had been Gentiles. He had said, "that you, being dead," were now raised; so now he says, "blotting it out against us." All that we, poor Jews, could boast in — the ordinances — were against us instead of being for us. And they are gone now.
The benefit is not locked inside one nation:
Their sins are discharged, like an account settled for ever. Christ has taken that record out of the way, "nailing it to His cross" (Col. 2:14). This is true of the Jew. It is just as true of every man who has put himself under law and then turned to Christ to have his debt to God discharged.
One writer points to the nail itself:
"Taken out of the way," with the nail run through it, so that it can never appear again against the believer.
Paul's aim is not history but freedom. One writer applies that to religious acts:
Christ has taken ordinances out of the way; it is the flesh that performs them. Let it be penance — it is the flesh that does it. But the flesh is dead. The same thing that put away sin put away ordinances. The man who had the sin and was to keep the ordinances is dead, because Christ has died. I do not need to gain a standing before God through any ordinance. Suppose I had to perform the smallest act to be complete before God. That would deny the perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Signed — the "handwriting" is a written obligation that binds a person by his own signature. Israel signed it when they promised to do all the Lord had spoken.
- Against — that same signature became a record of guilt. It kept the conscience under a service never finished and a righteousness never satisfied.
- Cancelled — God did not blot out His law but our obligation to it. The law stands, and we have died to it.
- Nailed — the record was not filed away. The nail went through it, so it can never appear against the believer again.
- Free — the result is liberty along with life and pardon. Adding any religious act to complete your standing denies the perfection of Christ's work.
having spoiled principalities and authorities, he made a show of them publicly, leading them in triumph by it.
The cross looked like Christ's defeat, yet Paul calls it the moment He stripped unseen enemies and paraded them as beaten. Two questions follow: who are these rulers and authorities, and who watched the shaming?
Note: the writers below use an older translation. Where the ESV says Christ "disarmed the rulers and authorities," it says He "spoiled principalities and powers" and "made a show of them openly."
How the cross looked to onlookers and what it actually did are two different things.
Whatever these spiritual powers may be, from Satan downwards, in the cross the divine triumph has been shown. On the surface it looked like the triumph of the powers of evil. Really it was their undoing. Since this is so, we can see what verse 10 meant when it called the Lord Jesus "the Head of all principality and power." That was true not only on the ground of creation, but also on the ground of what He accomplished at the cross.
The words behind "rulers and authorities" have more than one use.
The word can describe those who hold the first place, as rulers among men (Titus 3:1). But it especially refers to the spiritual high powers in the unseen world, whether good or bad. They were created by the Lord, and He is head of them all. Col. 1:16; Col. 2:10. Some fell from the position of trust given them: they did not keep their first estate or principality. Jude 6. Others contend against the heavenly position of the saints. Eph. 6:12.
"Spoiled" means to plunder — to take from a strong man what he was holding.
One stronger than Satan spoiled his kingdom. The Lord Jesus did it when He cast demons out of the people they held, and above all when He brought Satan's power to nothing on the cross. Matt. 12:29; Mark 3:27; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14. The Colossians were warned in case anyone should spoil them — make a prey of them — through philosophy (Col. 2:8), a caution surely needed today.
The display had an audience, though not a human one.
It was a far greater sight when the seemingly defeated Man rose from the dead, not only rebuking but scattering His spiritual foes... It was all done in the open. The triumph was over opposing evil spiritual powers, and it was public in the sight of all the holy spiritual powers.
The loss goes back to the first man, Adam. The "Second Adam" below is Christ.
When Satan defeated the first Adam, he became master of Adam's possessions and of his inheritance: "the creation was subjected to futility." Then the Second Adam defeated Satan and spoiled him of all that he had taken from the first Adam.
Kelly compares the cross with what Ephesians 4 says about Christ going up on high.
Here we have the effect of the work of Christ upon these powers — He led them in triumph on the cross. It is not so high a tone of triumph as in Ephesians 4, where it says that Christ "led a host of captives." The powers that led believers into captivity were themselves defeated... Here we hear of what was done on the cross, the power of the cross. There it is the public showing of the victory, in His going up on high. The great battle was won.
The verse is not a detour. It arms the reader against the error named a few lines later in verse 18.
We come in verse 18 to what we may call the ritualistic snare. We shall easily see that it is a snare if we go back to the truth of the cross as it was presented to us in verse 15. The only angels that desire to have our homage are evil ones. The holy angels always refuse human worship, ascribing all worship to God... Now the evil angels have been stripped and defeated at the cross. Who then would wish to worship them?
This defeat reaches daily life: accusation, temptation and death.
Does Satan come and accuse me? It is all true, but my sins are gone. God has said He will remember them no more. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Why flee? Because he has already met Christ. Is it temptation through the agreeable things of the world, or the sorrows and trials of life, or the power of death? He has been "spoiled," and as far as faith is concerned his power is gone. Death, to the believer, is only a departing to be with Christ.
- Undoing — What looked on the surface like the triumph of evil powers was in fact their undoing.
- Spoiled — The word means plundered. The stronger One took back what Satan had seized from the first Adam.
- Openly — Men saw nothing of the parade; it was public in the sight of all the holy spiritual powers.
- Therefore no angels — The evil angels were beaten at the cross, so none of them deserve our worship.
- Therefore no fear — Accusation, temptation and death lose their grip. The one behind them has already met Christ.
Let none therefore judge you in meat or in drink, or in matter of feast, or new moon, or sabbaths,
Paul has just said that the cross cancelled the record of debt that stood against us. Now he draws the practical result: rules about food and holy days, once given by God Himself, have no hold on a believer's conscience.
Three times in this chapter Paul puts up a caution sign, and each one points at a different danger.
The Apostle's warnings seem to fall under three headings. Look at verses 8, 16 and 18. Each opens with a word of caution about the activities of men. Those activities run in different directions, but all are hostile to the truth. The first danger comes from philosophy, the second from Judaism, the third from superstition.
The word "therefore" points back to what the cross did to the whole system of legal rules.
The cross blotted out our sins truly, but it did more: it also blotted out the whole system of legal ordinances that stood against us. The law itself was not blotted out. Far from it — the death of Christ vindicated and magnified the law. On the other hand, we died out from under the law in His death. We are now under grace, and all the old legal ordinances no longer stand. Verse 16 gives samples of them. The word translated "blotted out" is one "used for annulling a decree of law."
The rules ended at the cross, so anyone who presses them now has no claim on you.
Do not allow anyone to put you again under these legal ordinances, for the death of Christ has ended them.
The items named cover the year, the month and the week. Each one was a picture of something still to come.
Take eating and drinking, or ordinances about the year, month, and week. The Apostle takes particular care to speak not merely of feast or new moon but of sabbaths. Remember that these things are only pictures of the body — the real good found only in Christ. In fact, these times and seasons point mainly to what God will give His people later on. The new moon was a striking picture of Israel renewed after fading away. The sabbath pictured the rest of God, which He will yet enjoy and share.
A festival was a day set above other days. Bringing such days back is no small matter.
A "holy-day" — it is worth calling it that, since the name shows its meaning — was a day God had made to be regarded above another. That day, and the foods, drinks, various washings, and outward ordinances of Judaism, all had their time and use. "The body is of Christ." In Him we have what they were designed to picture. If I take them up now, I take up the shadow and not the substance; it is a mere shadow, but by setting it up again, I make it the real thing and deny Christ.
The shadows were accurate as far as they went. But they could not show the whole.
It was true that the instructions about new moons and sabbaths, and the rules about food and drink, came from God. They really were shadows of things to come. The body, however, of which they were true shadows, is of Christ. As shadows they were correct, outlining truth about the One who has come. But they could not even hint at all that He is… Why turn to the shadow after the substance has appeared?
Freedom from another's judgment is real, and it comes with a responsibility.
We have everything in Christ, and nothing outside of Him: completeness in the presence of God, and perfect deliverance from all that we are in ourselves, and from everything that is or could be used against us. What perfect liberty! We need to see that we use it in a holy way, but it is a perfect liberty.
The pressure Paul described has not disappeared; it has changed clothes.
Someone may ask what these things have to say to us today, since no active Judaizing party is at work in the church now. The answer is that they are still very much to the point. There is not much active Judaizing because the professing church itself has been so largely Judaized for centuries… The word here is not exactly "sabbath days," but "sabbaths" — covering sabbaths of all kinds, whether of days or of years.
The sabbath named here is not the day Christians gather.
They prove that the Lord's day occupies a place that is quite unique, quite heavenly, quite divine. But they equally prove that the Jewish Sabbath and the Lord's day are entirely distinct. The New Testament keeps the two days as distinct as we keep Saturday and Sunday.
- Cross — The cross annulled the decree of legal ordinances. That work is finished, so no one may put it back on you.
- Shadow — Food, drink, festival, new moon and sabbath were God-given outlines of what was coming. "Sabbaths" here covers every kind, days or years.
- Substance — Shadows could sketch Christ, but never show all He is. Taking one up again makes the shadow the real thing and denies Him.
- Liberty — Completeness in Christ brings perfect liberty. Use it in a holy way.
- Today — The same pressure survives in a church long since Judaized. The Lord's day stands apart from the Jewish sabbath, as distinct as Sunday from Saturday.
which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ.
Some people were pressing Jewish food rules and sacred days on the believers at Colossae. Paul does not call these things worthless — he calls them a shadow, an outline cast ahead of a Person who has now arrived.
The rules about food, new moons and sabbaths were not human inventions. They came from God, and they really did sketch what was coming.
It was true that the instructions about new moons and sabbaths, and the rules about food and drink, came from God. They really were shadows of things to come. But the body, of which they were true shadows, is of Christ. As shadows they were correct, and they outlined truth about the One who has come. Yet they could not even foreshadow all that He is. Judaism could never give those raised in it the full truth about Christ.
Older translations read "the body is of Christ," where the ESV has "the substance belongs to Christ." The word does not mean a physical body. It means the solid reality that casts the shadow.
"Body" here is plainly substance in contrast to shadow — that is, "All that was shadowed had its origin as well as its fulfilment in Him," as has been well said.
One writer pictures it from daily life. The shadow arrives first; then the person does.
I am standing at a street corner, waiting for a friend. The sun is shining behind him as he comes round the corner. The first thing I see is his shadow. I have the body, the Person, and I am occupied with Him. What a Person! Where is there room for food and drink, and the sabbath?
Israel's calendar was prophetic. The monthly and weekly cycles pointed to blessings God still intends to give, and one writer marks off the Lord's day from all of it.
The new moon was a remarkable type of Israel being renewed after fading away. The sabbath was the type of the rest of God which He will yet enjoy and share... The Jew had the shadow, and by God's grace he will have the things to come under the new covenant by and by. We are given the substance of Christ now. It is a question here of Jewish days. The Lord's day has nothing to do with Judaism; it is not only separate from that system, but in contrast with it.
These ordinances had their time and use. So what happens if someone takes them up again now?
The food, the drink, the various washings, and the outward ordinances of Judaism had their time and use. "The body is of Christ." In Him we have what they were designed to picture. If I take them up now, I take up the shadow and not the substance. It is a mere shadow, but by setting it up again I make it the real thing and deny Christ.
This is not only an ancient problem. Writers trace the same mistake in religion today.
The Colossian believers faced this snare, and it has developed into the ritualism of our day... Sadly, Christendom has fallen into this snare. In turning back to the shadows it has lost much of the Substance.
Refusing to live under the shadows does not mean throwing them away. Once a believer knows Christ, the old ceremonies start to speak.
Now that the body, Christ, had appeared, the shadow received a meaning and an interest. By itself it had been uninteresting and unbearable. We can now use the shadows with profit to show the reality: the many riches of the graces of Christ. This is so because "the body is of Christ." But to impose them again as duties would deny Christ.
Commentators differ here. Some take "body" in the wider Colossian sense of the body joined to Christ as Head, stressing that it did not grow out of the old system at all.
The body is not a development of the shadows. Neither is it a product of man's philosophy — "the body is of Christ." The body is derived from Christ...
- Shadow given. The food rules, new moons and sabbaths came from God. They outlined what was coming, but an outline cannot show all that Christ is.
- Shadow explained. "Body" means substance, not shadow. Everything the old system pictured has its origin and its fulfilment in Christ.
- Substance owned. The shadows pointed to blessings still to come for Israel. Believers have the substance, Christ Himself, now.
- Shadow refused. Setting the ordinances up again treats the outline as the reality, and so denies the One who has come. Commentators trace today's ritualism to this step.
- Shadow reread. Kept in its place, the old picture displays the riches of Christ. Use it to show the reality; never impose it as a duty.