WHAT WAS NAILED?
There are many who misapply this passage of scripture to try to prove that Jesus abolished or “nailed” His Ten Commandments to the cross including the seventh-day Sabbath. Let’s look at this and get Biblical clarity.
Colossians 2:14, 16 - “14Blotting 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; 16Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.”
It is clear that a law was “nailed to the cross” or abolished at the death of Jesus but it was not God’s Ten Commandments. Think about it, if Jesus did not come to destroy the law, He also did not “nail” His holy Ten Commandments to the cross. So what law was “nailed”?
1 John 5:2, 3
2 “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
God’s Ten Commandments are not against us, they are for us. Remember they teach us how to practically love God and others. What is truly “against us” is sin! The payment for sin is eternal death!
Referring to the “handwriting of ordinances,” Colossians 2:17 says, “Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” “Ordinances” in Greek is “dogma” which means a civil, ceremonial, or ecclesiastical laws or degrees according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary. The “handwriting of ordinances” in Colossians 2:17 is referring to the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament that pointed to the ministry of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
In Exodus 25:8, God instructed Moses to build a sanctuary in the wilderness for the Israelites on their way to the Canaan land. God gave Moses specific instructions on how to build the sanctuary and what specific services and feast days that were to be associated with the sanctuary which is found in Exodus chapters 25-30 and the book of Leviticus. Because these instructions were written by the hand of Moses they were known as the law of Moses. They were also known as the ceremonial laws, or the law of ordinances.
In summary, the building, furniture, and many items in the sanctuary and its ceremonial services, including the feast days, were symbolic lessons of the plan of salvation that pointed to the ministry of Jesus Christ on earth and in Heaven. According to Hebrews 8:5, this earthly sanctuary that Moses built was a miniature model of the Heavenly sanctuary. Hebrews 10:1 refers to these ceremonial laws as “a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” This is in perfect harmony with Colossians 2:17.
For example, the ceremonial laws instructed those who wanted forgiveness of sin to bring a sin offering to the sanctuary such as a lamb without blemish. Each time that sin offering was made on the altar in the sanctuary, it pointed to the prophecy and ministry of Jesus who would die for the sins of the world. John the Baptist revealed that Jesus is the fulfillment of the sin offering that was made in the sanctuary. He says in John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Also, 1 Peter 1:18, 19 says,
1⁸“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; 1⁹But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” Hebrews chapter 9 confirms that all the animal sacrifices that were associated with the earthly sanctuary were fulfilled through Jesus when he spilled His blood on the cross of Calvary. This is why we don’t have to do animal sacrifices today. They were fulfilled, or “nailed to the cross.”
But why were the handwriting of ordinances “against us”? Think about it. Every time an animal sin offering was killed it was a witness or evidence against the offender that it was his or her sins that killed an innocent animal. This was the “handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us” according to Colossians 2:14. But praise God, these sacrificial ordinances were blotted out and “nailed to the cross” of Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 make it clear that it was not the animal sacrifices associated with the sanctuary that cleansed man from sin. Hebrews 10:4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Think about it. If Jesus Christ did not die for our sins, the killing of lambs in the sanctuary service would have been worthless. The innocent blood of the animals would still be a witness against the offender. They would still be in sin and would suffer the penalty of eternal death as a result.
Now, let’s briefly look at Colossians 2:16. It says, 1⁶“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days.” Since this is within the same context of Colossians 2:14, this is also referring to the law of ordinances “nailed to the cross.” The holy days and the sabbaths days mentioned in verse 16 are not referring to the weekly holy seventh-day Sabbath that God established at Creation. Remember, the Hebrew word “sabbath” simply means rest. The “sabbath days” spoken of in Colossians 2:16, were ceremonial rest days or sabbaths for the people to rest and not work on those days. The ceremonial holy days or feast days did not necessarily fall on the seventh day of the week for each ceremony or celebration. For example, the Day of Atonement was on the s