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Colossians 2 · a question people ask

"wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us" (2:14). What was the handwriting?

In the text

The verse doesn't say. Here it is whole: "wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." (2:14). The letter doesn't name the handwriting or the ordinances, and these notes don't name them either. They say nothing about whether any law or rule binds anyone today.

The verses

“wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.”
Colossians 2:14 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Colossians 2

Colossians 2: Rooted in him

Colossians 2 says knit together twice, one Greek verb both times: of those "knit together in love" (2:2), and of "all the body", which from the Head "grows with God’s growth" (2:19). Between them comes "walk in him, rooted and built up in him" (2:6-7).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions