Colossians 2:14-15 “Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it”

I recently heard a news report about some people who had been convicted of a crime and sentenced to go to jail. Then at the last moment, they received a pardon! Automatic freedom without spending a day in prison. “O happy day, when Jesus washed our sins away” as the song goes. One day you’re preparing for years in prison, and the next day you’re free!

In Colossians 2:14 the same thing happened for ALL mankind. The old arrest warrant naming and shaming us as miserable sinners was nailed to the cross and is no longer in force. Yes, we were guilty and deserved death according to the law, but Jesus took our place and paid for our sin with His own blood. Jesus not only dealt with our sin but our accusers too. They have been disarmed and defeated. Jesus wiped away the old arrest warrant against us and all the demands of the law, praise God! In verse 15 Jesus literally “stripped demonic principalities and powers” of all power to condemn and to kill, steal and destroy. He paraded the defeated devil in front of all his cohorts in hell, declaring full victory over sin and the power of sin, sickness and death over you and me. We’re free! O happy day!