Colossians 2:14

having canceled the debt ascribed to us in the decrees that stood against us. He took it away, nailing it to the cross!

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Paul writes to the Colossian church, pressing the point that Christ's death has fully settled the account between God and believers, countering teachers who still demanded observance of the law's requirements.

The words — ἐξαλεὶψας (exaleipsas) is a commercial term for erasing a written entry, and χειρογραφον (cheirographon) refers to a handwritten promissory note — together they render the law's demands as a debt instrument that has been physically erased and destroyed.

The thread — The same verb appears in Isaiah 43:25 and 44:22, where God blots out transgressions; Ephesians 2:14 develops the parallel image of tearing down the dividing wall of commandments.

Why it lands — If the debt is canceled and nailed to the cross, then any continued attempt to enforce it as an obligation is a denial of what Christ accomplished; the reader is called to live from the fact of cancellation, not from the fear of the debt.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

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;

Cross-references

Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility
Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
Hebrews 8:13 By speaking of a new covenant, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
1 Peter 2:24 He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
Colossians 2:20 If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
Hebrews 7:18 So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless
Hebrews 10:8 In the passage above He says, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor did You delight in them” (although they are offered according to the law).
Hebrews 9:9 It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.
Isaiah 57:14 And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”