One of my favorite verses in Colossians Chapter 2 is verse 14. Christ Jesus “wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” [NKJV]
The Holman Christian Standard says it this way. “He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it out of the way by nailing it to the cross.”
Jesus canceled not just our debt, He canceled the record of our debt. Hallelujah!
There was an ancient practice in Paul’s day of nailing the written evidence of a canceled debt in a public place. That served notice to everyone that the creditor (God’s law in our case) had no more claim on the debtor.
Paul’s original readers would have understood that a person’s debt, as well as any legal consequences, was erased. They no longer had to live under the threat of punishment or enslavement for a debt they could not pay. And neither do we!
Christ took our sin and its debt to the cross. There, He publicly posted freedom for all who come to Him. When we enter the presence of God, our sin, our punishment, and every evidence of it, will never follow us.
Glory to God!
