[metmom]

Wonderful verses.

Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

[ealgeone]

Paul understood the Roman penal system. In that time period a released prisoner had a sheet with him that declared his debts/time served, had been completed and the he was no longer guilty.

He could not be charged with that crime again from the state's viewpoint.

Motivated by the Spirit, Paul drew on this when he wrote Colossians.