Colossians 2:13 - Meaning and Application

The apostle here shows the great privileges Christians have above the Jews. They are very great indeed.

Christ’s death is our life: “And you, being dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has made alive together with him” (Colossians 2:13). A life of sin is a state of spiritual death. Those who live in sin are dead in sin. Just as bodily death is the soul’s separation from the body, spiritual death is the soul’s separation from God and from his favor. And just as the body decays after death, sin is the soul’s corruption and ruin.

A dead person cannot help himself by his own strength, and in the same way, a person locked in sin is morally powerless. He may still have natural ability as a human being, but he has no spiritual power until God gives him new life. This is mainly speaking about the Gentile world, who lived in wickedness. They were dead in the uncircumcision of their flesh, strangers to the covenant of promise and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:11-12). Because of their uncircumcision, they were dead in their sins.

This may also point to the spiritual uncircumcision, that is, the corrupt state of human nature. In that sense, it shows that we are dead in the eyes of the law and dead in our condition. Dead in the eyes of the law means condemned, like a man already sentenced to death. Sinners, because of the guilt of sin, stand under the law’s sentence and are already condemned (John 3:18). Dead in our condition means we have an unsanctified heart, an uncircumcised heart. That is our state by nature.

Through Christ, we who were dead in sins are made alive. This means God has fully provided for the removal of sin’s guilt and for the breaking of its power and rule. We are made alive together with Christ because we are joined to him and made like him. Christ’s death is the death of our sins, and Christ’s resurrection is the life of our souls.

Through him, we also have the forgiveness of sins: “Having forgiven you all trespasses.” This forgiveness is part of our new life. The pardon of the crime is the criminal’s life. And this comes through Christ’s resurrection as well as his death, for he died for our sins and rose again for our justification, that is, for our being made right with God (Romans 4:25).

Everything that stood against us has been taken away. He has secured a legal release from the “handwriting of ordinances” that was against us (Colossians 2:14). This may mean the obligation to punishment that comes with the guilt of sin. The curse of the law is like a written charge against us, like the writing on Belshazzar’s wall. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in everything.” That was a record against us, and against us in the strongest way, because it threatened eternal ruin.

This burden was removed when Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). He took away the charge for all who repent and believe. When he was nailed to the cross, the curse was, as it were, nailed there with him. Our inward corruption is also crucified with Christ, through the power of his cross. When we remember the death of the Lord Jesus and see him nailed to the cross, we should see the record against us taken away.

Or this may refer to the ceremonial law, the “handwriting of ordinances,” meaning the law of rituals and commands set out in regulations (Ephesians 2:15). That law was a burden to the Jews and a dividing wall to the Gentiles. The Lord Jesus took it out of the way and nailed it to his cross, meaning he ended its binding force so that all could see it was no longer required. When the substance came, the shadows passed away. It is abolished, and what is growing old and wearing out is ready to disappear (Hebrews 8:13). These words refer to the old practice of canceling a bond, either by crossing out the writing or by driving a nail through it.

He has also won a glorious victory for us over the powers of darkness: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15). Just as the curse of the law was against us, so Satan’s power was against us. Christ dealt with God as Judge and redeemed us from the hands of justice by paying the price. But from the hands of Satan, the executioner, he redeemed us by power and with a strong hand. He led captivity captive.

The devil and all the powers of hell were conquered and stripped of their power by the dying Redeemer. The first promise pointed to this, for the bruising of Christ’s heel in his sufferings was the crushing of the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). These words are lofty and majestic. Let us pause and look at this great sight. The Redeemer conquered by dying. His crown of thorns became, as it were, a crown of victory.

He spoiled them, broke the devil’s power, and defeated and disabled him. He also made a public show of them, exposing them to shame before angels and men. Never had the devil’s kingdom received such a deadly blow as it did from the Lord Jesus. He tied them to his chariot wheels and rode out in triumph, conquering and to conquer, like a victorious Roman general returning from battle. He triumphed over them in it, meaning either in his cross and by his death, or, as some read it, in himself, by his own power. He trod the winepress alone, and no one from the people was with him.