What does the handwriting of ordinances mean in Col. 2:14?

A section devoted to expounding difficult, obscure or misunderstood passages of Scripture, and answering readers' queries. Questions are invited. Opportunity is also provided for discussion on readers' points of view. Views expressed are not necessarily those of the Editorial Committee.

Question:

What was the handwriting contained in ordinances in Colossians 2:14? Some say it was the ceremonial law of Israel. Is this correct?

Answer:

No. Israel had but one law of which the ceremonial was a part. Galations 3:10 refers to the book of the law: not laws. Paul’s treat­ment of the law always reflects his impression of it as a complete whole. Nowhere does it appear that he sections parts of it off. Galatians 3:13, 17-25 to Galatians 4:21. Romans 7:2-6; 10:4. Hebrews 7:19-28, 10:1. .

Our conclusion is confirmed by the fact that certain sections of the law have different func­tions and the part of the law that convicted the transgressor of sin is argued by Paul to be the ten commandments: not the ceremonial law. Yet that which was removed was against us. The former condemned Paul to death because it said, “Thou shalt not covet”. Consequently sin used this commandment to slay him. (Romans 7:7-8). Therefore the ten command­ments must mark this kind of law that was against us. But the ceremonial was the kind of law that provided for the forgiveness of sins. The ceremonies in the tabernacle and temple revealed the mercy of God in providing this covering or atonement. If it was only this cere­monial kind of law that was removed, then that part of the law which was most active against us remained. This does not accord with Col. 2:14-17 so we must seek a different ex­planation from that offered.

Recourse to the meaning of “ordinance” may help, as it was the handwriting contained in ordinances that was against us. The Greek term “dogmata” is found but three times in the New Testament. Its parallel passage in Ephesi-ans 2:15 and again, in Luke 2:1 where a decree was issued that all the world should be taxed. This is as far removed from ceremony as a prison sentence. The Septuagint version uses the term to refer to the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered. Here we have no reference to ceremonial rites but to rules regulating behaviour and ways of life. Here we have a parallel, not only to the ten com­mandments but to the whole law of God which issued edicts of behaviour and provided for an approach to God through the process of atone­ment in a complexity of ceremony and rites.

The fourth commandment to keep the Sab­bath holy unto God is included in the summary Paul uses to collectively express the effects of the renewal of the law. It is included in the Sabbaths (plural) concerning which no man should judge us. Yet under the law given to Moses it was punishable with immediate death. Col. 2:16, Exodus 31:14.

Why does Paul refer to it as being abolished if it still remains in force as a part of a penal system?

We must be careful, though, to preserve the principles of the law in Christ, as God changes not. Malachi 3:6. The law as a unit of legislation is gone forever, but Christ, the end of the law, remains. Not so much the end in the sense of disposal (though this is included), but of fulfillment. We see in Christ all that the law stood for. For to follow Christ is to accept and live the principles it taught. Herein the spirit of the Sabbath law, together with other facets, still lives on, having been metamorphosed at the death and burial of Jesus, into a new life in Christ. Here is real rest and peace whereof the former was but the shadow. This rest and peace will blossom into a millennial Sabbath for mortal man and endless sublimity for the faithful. Col. 2:17,-Matthew 24:30, Hebrews 4:6-11.