It will be noticed that while it is the handwriting of ordinances that was cancelled at

the cross, it is principalities and powers that are stripped and led in triumph. What is the

connection between these two things?

We have already read in verse 10: "And ye are complete in Him, Which is the

Head of all principality and power." Moreover, in chapter 1: 16-22, "principalities and

powers" are closely associated with the Lord's headship, and with the church's

reconciliation and completeness in Him. The epistle to the Ephesians reveals that

there are some principalities and powers that are definitely antagonistic to the church,

and describes them as the "world-holders of this darkness, spiritual wickednesses"

(Eph. 6: 12). And Col. 1: 13 speaks of our being delivered from "the authority of

An examination of Dan. 10: will show that these angelic rulers seek at every turn to

frustrate the purpose of God, and to keep His children in blindness and bondage. We are

assured by the testimony of the epistles that their activities are not limited to the

prophetic earth, but that the church and its holy doctrines are also objects of attack. It is a

blessed fact, that cannot be kept too clearly before the mind, that we have been delivered

from the authority of darkness (Col. 1: 13). This, however, does not mean that, while we

are in this sphere, we need have no concern about the activities of evil spiritual powers.

The wiles of the devil (Eph. 6: 11), and the cunning craftiness whereby men lie in wait to

deceive (Eph. 4: 14) must be considered together, for the same word is used in the

original of both. The saint is warned, moreover, in Eph. 4: 27 not to give place to the

If we examine the contexts of these passages we shall discover that the one great

remedy of Col. 2: is to be found there also. For the wiles of the devil the remedy is to

"put on the whole armour of God". For the cunning craftiness of men, the remedy is "the

fullness of Christ". Instead of giving place to the devil, the believer is enjoined to "put

on the new man" and to "put away the lie"; in other words, to stand in the completeness

that is his in Christ (Col. 2: 10). The principalities and powers of Col. 1: 16-20 are

included in the reconciliation effected by "the blood of His cross"; the principalities and

powers of Col. 2: 15 are excluded from reconciliation by the same cross. They are

stripped and repudiated.

The Colossian church had yielded to a false system of worship, that included "the

worshipping of angels" (Col. 2: 18), just as the heathen, who bowed down to idols, really

offered worship to demons (I Cor. 10: 19, 20).  This false system made much of

ceremonial (see Gal. 4:-6:), including the observance of special days and feasts. These

the apostle sweeps aside, even the sabbaths, saying that they are all, like the ordinances

that were against us, cancelled by the cross of Christ, and that they are all but "shadows

of things to come", as Heb. 10: 1 says of the sacrifices of the law. They have no place

with the church of this dispensation; it is the body of Christ, and for this church, shadows

have no place. "The body (i.e. the substance) is of Christ."