Colossians 2:14
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.
Colossians 2:14 (NKJV)
Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 (NIV)
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.
Colossians 2:14 (KJV)
He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 (NLT)
By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 (ESV)
Having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
Colossians 2:14 (NASB)Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
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.
Colossians 2:14 (AMP)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross.
Colossians 2:14 (AMPC)Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org
Think of it this way: when sins are forgiven, isn't that the end of the matter? Wasn't that the whole point of earlier Christian teaching about our sins being nailed to the cross?
Colossians 2:14 (MSG)Scripture quotations from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
New Covenant Meaning
Cheirographon: The Certificate of Debt Is the Exact Image
The Greek cheirographon (from cheir, hand, and grapho, to write) was the technical term in the ancient world for a handwritten IOU, a personal acknowledgment of debt written in the debtor's own hand. Paul uses this word deliberately: the record of our moral and legal debt to God, the full ledger of every command broken and every standard missed, was a cheirographon. It stood against us and was contrary to us: it was the evidence for the prosecution. Paul says this specific document was wiped out, removed, and nailed to the cross.
Three Verbs, One Complete Cancellation
Paul uses three actions to describe what God did with the debt record: exaleipsas (wiped out, erased completely), erken (has taken it out of the way, removed it from the path), and proselosas (nailed it to the cross). Each verb intensifies the picture. Wiped out: the writing itself is gone. Taken out of the way: it no longer stands in your path as an obstacle. Nailed to the cross: it was pinned to the place of Christ's death where it died with Him. The debt is not simply forgiven and filed away. It is canceled, cleared, and permanently fixed to the instrument of its own destruction.
In ancient Roman practice, when a prisoner was crucified, the charge against them, the titulus, was nailed above their head. For Jesus, the charge read "King of the Jews." Paul is almost certainly drawing on this practice: the cheirographon of our debt was treated as the titulus nailed to the cross of Christ. He bore the charge against us. The document that condemned us was what was displayed at His crucifixion. And when He died, the debt died with it. John 19:30, tetelestai, "it is finished," was the Greek word stamped on paid receipts in the ancient world. The cross is both the display of the debt and the receipt of its payment.
Application for Your Life
The Record No Longer Stands Against You
The cheirographon was "against us" and "contrary to us." These two phrases describe something actively working against your standing. When you stood before God with the law as the standard, the record of every failure was a document working against you. Colossians 2:14 says that document has been wiped out, removed, and nailed to the cross. It is not in the active file. It is not retrievable. The record that stood against you no longer stands. No accusation from that document has standing, because the document itself has been permanently removed.
Guilt Is Holding a Receipt for a Bill Already Paid
Guilt that persists after genuine forgiveness functions as though the debt is still outstanding. But if the cheirographon has been wiped out and nailed to the cross, then the bill no longer exists. Carrying guilt for what Christ's cross has canceled is like insisting on paying a debt after the creditor has publicly destroyed the IOU. The cross was the destruction of the document. The debt was paid, the record was wiped, and the certificate was nailed away. Living from that reality means receiving what the cross accomplished, not continuing to carry what it took.
Prayer Based on This Verse
Father, I receive what You accomplished at the cross. The cheirographon, the full record of my debt, has been wiped out. Completely erased. Taken out of my way. Nailed to the cross. It does not stand against me anymore. Every law broken, every standard missed, every failure recorded: the document no longer exists as evidence against me. You canceled it and fixed it to the cross of Christ. I choose to live from the reality of a wiped debt, not from the feeling of one still owed. The receipt of that payment is the word "finished" that Jesus spoke. I receive it. In His name. Amen.