"In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Messiah, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of Elohim, who raised Him from the dead. 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 (written document, cheirographon) 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" (Col 2:11-14, NKJV).
According to the interpretation of most Evengelical Christians, Paul is telling us in this passage that Yah'shua (Jesus) wiped out or eradicated the Law of Torah by "nailing it to the cross".
The theme of this passage is the full redemption from sin that Messiah, who possesses "the fullness of deity" (v.9), provides for the believer. There is no contrasting here of the Old and New Covenants but rather the apostle gives an affirmation of the benefits of Yah'shua's death and resurrection using the imageries of circumcision and baptism. These he uses to correct a local Gnostic heresey of the Colossians who believed in falsely worshipping angels (Col.2:18) along with the "elements of the world" (2:8). Paul's sole interest is in affirming the sufficiency of Christ for salvation.
What then is the "written document" or "handwriting" that was nailed to the cross? Was it the Mosaic Law with its festivals, new moons, dietary laws and sabbaths? Are these what were "against us" as orthodox Christians claim?
I have to ask this serious question to those who believe the Torah was "against us": Would Yahweh create something that would be against His people? Do you as a father invent house rules to be 'against' your children with a view to having them abolished at some time in the future because they are so bad? What sort of a father would you be to do anything against your children! If the antinomians really believe this, then they are accusing Yahweh of establishing a covenant against His own children. Could a gracious, loving and redeeming Elohim even do such a thing? Judging by the beliefs of some 'Christians', yes.
The trouble is, this notion is a completely false and heretical doctrine. What was "against" the people was neither the Covenant nor the law - which is Yahweh's commitment to save - but their SINS which the Torah exposed! And the reason that there is "no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yah'shua" (Rom.8:1) is not because Messiah abolished the Torah by supposedly nailing it to the cross and so "the ability of the law to condemn", thus leaving mankind without moral principles or a divinely sanction lifestyle, but because Yahweh sent "His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh...in order that the just requirement of the Torah (Law) might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Ruach (Spirit)" (Rom.8:3-4). In other words, what has been nailed to the cross is not the Law but the condemnation that we bear because of our sinful behaviour. In other words, those who turn to Yah'shua the Messiah have their debts to Yahweh cancelled by His spilled blood at Calvary.
The Greek word for "written document" or "handwriting" or cheirographon only appears once in the New Testament in the passage we are examining today. It is a word that finds common usage in the apocalpyptic and rabbinical literature of the time and simply means a "record book of sins" or "certificate of sin-indebtedness" but never the moral or ceremonial Torah or Law.
Furthermore, the phrase "He has taken it out of the way (mesos)" is literally rendered "He has removed out of the middle". "The middle" was the position occupied at the centre of the court or assembly by the accusing witness, who here is, of course, Satan, who, as "accuser of our brethren" (Rev.12:10), accuses us before Yahweh when we break the commandments. This record Paul herein says is the "record book of sins" which Elohim in Messiah has erased and moved out of the court of judgment. We are no longer under condemnation when we repent and cling to our Redeemer!
By means of this bold metaphor, Paul affirms the completeness of Yahweh's forgiveness. Through Messiah, Yahweh-Elohim has "cancelled" or "set aside" and "nailed to the cross" "the written record of our sins which because of the regulations of Torah was against". The legal basis of the record of sins was "the binding statutes" or "regulations" or "requirements" (tois dogmasin) but what Yahweh destroyed on the cross was not the legal ground (Law) for out entanglement into sin, but the written record of our sins. How absurd it would be to suggest anything else!
By destroying the evidence of our sins, Yahweh also "disarmed the principalities and powers", for without the cheirographon, how could Satan accuse those who have been forgiven through the blood of Christ any longer? Paul's point: there is no need to seek other mediators like angels or human beings since Messiah Yah'shua has provided a complete redemption and forgiveness.
No, the Torah has not been nailed to the cross but the legal document showing our debt because of transgression has.
Acknowledgements
[1] Samuele Bacchiocchi, The Sabbath Under Crossfire (Biblical Perspectives, Berrien Springs, Michigan:1998), pp.240-244.
