Here is information from a Baptist source:
Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Sermon no. 2605 preached on 14 October 1883, entitled: Death and its Sentence Abolished: “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 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 2:13-14 (KJV)
First, Spurgeon deals with what the Lord has done for all of us who believe in Him – He has removed our inward spiritual death. Only the spiritual man knows what spiritual things are, for they have to be spiritually discerned. The great reason why men reject the Gospel (even learned professors) is because they are not born again, because they have not received the life of God into their souls. On page 4 he expands upon how God, by His grace, has made believers to live in Christ. Paul says that God has quickened us together with Christ, and by this he means, first, that we have been quickened mystically by Christ’s resurrection. Then Spurgeon deals with the removal of the handwriting that was against us. Here are a few quotes (emphasis mine):
Handwriting, especially in legal matters, is generally more accurate than mere speech. And there is, against every ungodly man, something written with the finger of God, which he cannot deny, for it is absolutely true. Handwriting also abides. The old Latin proverb says, “Litera scripta manet,” that which is written remains... There is, against every unconverted man, a handwriting which will remain and which will be brought up against him at the great Day of Judgment. It is not a mere baseless rumour floating about, but something tangible which will last and which cannot be removed except by the almighty power of God.
What is meant, in our text, by “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us”? I cannot give all the meaning in a word, but does it not mean, first, that the moral law, which we have broken, has written out a curse against us? Each of the Ten Commandments has, as it were, united with the rest to draw up an indictment against us. The first commandment says, “He has broken me.” The second cries, “He has broken me.” The third, “He has broken me,” and the whole ten together have laid the same charge against each one of us. That is the handwriting of the law condemning every man of woman born while he remains in a state of nature.
Conscience writes, “You have sinned. You have done the things which you ought not to have done and you have left undone the things which you ought to have done.” And if conscience be permitted to write in its own bold text-hand, it sets down this terrible message, “You are lost, ruined, and undone. The wrath of God has gone out against you.” This is “the handwriting of ordinances” which is in every part of God’s creation, though, alas, many are unable or unwilling to read it.
Spurgeon has identified the moral law, the Ten Commandments, as “the handwriting of ordinances that was against us” that was nailed to the cross. Moses was told to put the testimony in the ark (Exodus 25:21) and it was the finger of God that inscribed his covenant on the tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone (Exodus 31:18). God himself wrote out those words a second time, after Moses broke the first tablets (Exodus 34:1). We are no longer under the ordinances written by God on those stone tablets – they were nailed to the cross. Believers are now under the New Covenant, not the Old, a constant theme in Paul’s writings.
Then Spurgeon goes on to say “He nailed up all the sins of His people and all that could be laid to their charge.”
You have sinned against Him [God] and it is all down in black and white in the handwriting that is against you. First, He has taken that handwriting and He has blotted it out, as our text says, “blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.” The Greek original has the meaning of smearing over or expunging the handwriting, so as to make it illegible as a document to be produced against us. With His own atoning blood, the Lord Jesus Christ has discharged all our debt. As believers in Him, there is nothing whatever due from us to the justice of Almighty God, for Christ has paid it all... Just as Christ was fastened to the tree by those dreadful Roman nails, so has He nailed up all the sins of His people and all that could be laid to their charge. First, He blotted it out. Then He took it out of the way, and finally, He nailed it up to his cross, and there it is still, its accusing and condemning power forever gone... He has blotted out the handwriting that was against you and put it away, “nailing it to his cross.”
Source: https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs2605.pdf
It is true that for the believer who has been buried with Christ in his baptism, who is dead in their sins and who has been quickened together with him, all their trespasses have been forgiven. (Colossians 2:13). But to then translate Colossians 2:14 to say that “the record of debt” (ESV) or “the certificate of debt” (NAS) has been cancelled and nailed to the cross could be used by some to imply that the Mosaic Law and the Ten Commandments are still valid. Indeed, some denominations still insist on the keeping of the Law in one form or another. Perhaps those Bible translations that have changed “the handwriting of ordinances” to “cancelled the certificate of debt” use ‘Dynamic Equivalence’.
There is a subtle difference between saying the handwritten ordinance of God have been nailed to the cross and saying the record of our debts have been nailed to the cross. I wonder what else has been altered by those translations that use ‘Dynamic Equivalence’ techniques.
Source: https://biblehub.com/colossians/2-14.htm
