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What Are the 'Ordinances' of Col 2:14

The word "ordinances" in Colossians 2:14 does not refer to YAHWEH's laws. It is translated from the Greek word dogma and refers generally to opinions, judgments, and decrees. Such ordinances could be public decrees by government officials or religious decrees by religious officials.

Col 2:14 should be seen in its context, specifically with the preceding verse: And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having 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. (verses 13-14) The New King James version has rendered dogma as "requirements," a perfectly justifiable translation.

The phrase "handwriting of requirements," however, begs an explanation. Its basic meaning is "a written statement of obligation," much like a traffic citation, which lists the laws that its recipient broke. Thus, it is a record of wrongdoing or guilt. We can verify this by seeing that the clause in which it appears restates the one just before it: "having forgiven you all trespasses." What Paul is telling these Colossians is that the sacrifice of Yahshua Messiah has "wiped out" all record of their guilt in breaking YAHWEH's law. That is good news!

Messiah came to pay the penalty for all our sins.
Accepting His sacrifice releases us from the penalty of death incurred through our sin and cleanses our conscience from all guilt (Eph 1:7; Heb 9:14; 1John 1:7; 2:2). YAHWEH says that when He forgives our sins, He removes it "as far as east is from the west" (Ps 103:12). This truly is "tak[ing] it out of the way"!

As Peter states:
1Pe 2:24 who "Himself carried up in His body our sins" onto the tree;
that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness, of whom "By His wounds you were healed."

Other translations:
(AFV) He has blotted out the note of debt against us with the decrees of our sins, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it away, having nailed it to the cross.

(AMP) having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of legal demands [which were in force] against us and which were hostile to us. And this certificate He has set aside and completely removed by nailing it to the cross.

(CEV)  God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross.

(ERV)  Because we broke God's laws, we owed a debt - a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross.

(HBR) Col 2:14 and, by his mandates, he canceled the legal contract† of our sins, which existed against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His torture stake.

(Remedy)  nullifying the pathology report that certified you as dead in sin; he made it clear that the written code, with its regulations, was only a diagnostic instrument designed to expose our terminal state and teach us the need for a true cure, and he nailed it to the cross.

(TPT)  He canceled out every legal violation we had on our record and the old arrest warrant that stood to indict us. He erased it all—our sins, our stained soul—he deleted it all and they cannot be retrieved! Everything we once were in Adam has been placed onto his cross and nailed permanently there as a public display of cancellation.

(TS2009)  having blotted out that which was written by hand against us – by the dogmas – which stood against us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the stake.

Colossians 2:14 Bible Notes
Hebraic Roots Bible
This word in both Aramaic and Greek is a legal contract that we owe YHWH for the penalty of our sins. When someone was crucified in ancient times they would literally carry the cross beam to the crucifixion site and it would be nailed above them to the tree that was being used. The penalty of what they were being crucified for was written on the beam for all to see (Joh_19:19-20). This scripture is stating that as we are buried with Him in our baptism, He is also taking the penalty for our sins and applying His sacrifice to our penalty, so when we come up from the water our sins are completely paid for by the shed blood of Yahshua Messiah..

John Wesley
Having blotted out - in consequence of his gracious decrees, that Christ should come into the world to save sinners, and that whosoever believeth on him should have everlasting life. The handwriting against us - Where a debt is contracted, it is usually testified by some handwriting; and when the debt is forgiven, the handwriting is destroyed, either by blotting it out, by taking it away, or by tearing it. The apostle expresses in all these three ways, God's destroying the handwriting which was contrary to us, or at enmity with us. This was not properly our sins themselves, (they were the debt,) but their guilt and cry before God. Rom 15:4 For whatever things were written before were written for our instruction, that through patience and encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

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