The Constant Church of God presents clear answers to your questions, directly from the Bible!

Traditional Christianity regards Colossians chapter 2 and verse 14 as solid scriptural evidence that we no longer have to keep God’s Ten Commandments because Jesus Christ nailed God’s law to His cross.

Is that what the Bible says?

Let’s find out.

Please open your Bible and turn to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 14.

14 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;

If Paul was referring to the Ten Commandments, why did he use such an unusual expression as “handwriting of ordinances?”

Why did he not simply say “The Ten Commandments were nailed to the cross?”

Because Paul was not talking about the Ten Commandments at all!

The Ten Commandments and the handwriting of ordinances are NOT the same thing!

The Ten Commandments are God’s law.

They are SPIRITUAL (Romans 7:14).

They are eternal.

They endure forever (Psalms 111:7-8).

They cannot be blotted out, erased, wiped out or done away with.

So what did Paul mean by “handwriting of ordinances”?

The original Greek word for “handwriting” means “a handwritten note or bond of indebtedness.”

In our modern English, it means a promissory note or an IOU.

The Greek word for “ordinances” means “decrees or commandments.”

The whole expression in English would be better translated as “the note of indebtedness in the decrees or commandments.”

As a result, some have falsely concluded that ORDINANCES are the same as God’s law, the Ten Commandments!

Since they are not the Ten Commandments, exactly what ordinances was Paul talking about?

The answer is in verse 20 of Colossians chapter 2.

20 Wherefore if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances,

21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;

22 Which all are to perish with the using) after the commandments and doctrines of men?

These ordinances or decrees were nothing more than traditions mandated by men but not commanded by God.

Before they were converted, the Colossians had kept these pagan ordinances, such as idol worship; immoral rituals; sacrificial ceremonies.

Which God condemned as abominations.

And so, the Colossians broke God’s commandments.

They sinned!

And Paul was concerned that the Colossian Church was going back to its former pagan ways.

“You were dead in Christ to the rudiments or regulations of the world.

To those pagan ordinances and practices which were contrary to God’s commandments and decrees.

You’ve come out of all that.

You’re free from all of that.

You know the truth now.

So don’t bind yourselves once again to those ordinances of touch not, taste not and handle not.”

There was a time when we, too, followed in the same ordinances and decrees Christ condemned as the commandments and doctrines of men (Matthew 15:9; Mark 7:7; Titus 1:14).

Commandments such as keeping man’s days instead of God’s holy days.

Unbiblical doctrines such as the trinity, the immortal soul and the secret rapture.

By breaking God’s commandments, we sinned.

We incurred the death penalty.

So death now had a claim on our lives.

We owed God a debt!

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ blotted out, wiped away, erased the handwriting of ordinances.

Which was our note of indebtedness.

Upon sincere and wholehearted repentance, we acknowledged and accepted Christ’s payment for our sins.
And God forgave us.

The penalty of death was removed.

We are now at peace with God.

THAT note of OUR indebtedness —— our IOU, that promissory note we owed God because of our sins —— was nailed to the cross.

Not the Ten Commandments!

From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible clearly lays out proof after indisputable proof that the Ten Commandments remain in force today.

Notice Romans chapter 7.

Paul made the definition of sin clear and straightforward.

Verse 7 of Romans chapter 7.

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

WHAT law is Paul talking about here?

Clearly, the law that includes “Thou shalt not covet.”

God’s TEN COMMANDMENTS!

Paul’s letter to God’s Church in Rome was written around 56AD, about 25 years after the crucifixion!

If the 10 Commandments were abolished and nailed to the cross, Paul would not have mentioned the tenth commandment against coveting in his letter.

The inescapable conclusion, directly from the Bible, clearly says the apostles understood the Ten Commandments remained in effect after the crucifixion.

They understood God’s Ten Commandments were not “nailed to the cross” at all.

What was actually nailed to the cross were:

One, the body of Jesus Christ.

Two, the title “The King of the Jews.”

And three, the handwriting of ordinances or the note of indebtedness.

Lawlessness —— violating God’s law —— is the cause of all of the problems plaguing mankind for nearly 6 thousand years now!

This world is in its final days.

God will send Jesus Christ back to the earth to replace Satan’s world with a better world.

God’s world.

The wonderful world tomorrow.

And it won’t be too long now!

This is Ross Abasolo with the Constant Church of God.

Join us again next time to hear more about what the Bible actually says!