Colossians / Question
Colossians says God forgave trespasses by canceling the "record of debt" that stood against people with its legal demands Colossians 2:13–14. It says he set it aside by nailing it to the cross Colossians 2:14.
In Colossians 2:11–15, Paul explains what believers share in because they are “in” Christ. He uses bodily and social images—circumcision, burial, resurrection, cancellation of a hostile record, and a public victory parade—to describe a decisive change of state. This paragraph continues the claim that believers are made “full” in Christ and therefore do not need add-ons supplied by other authorities or practices (Colossians 2:9–10). Immediately before, Paul stresses Christ’s completeness and believers’ shared connection to him.
Paul explains Christ’s work as something believers share in because they are united with him (repeatedly: “with him”).
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with Colossians 2:13-14, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
13You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses;
14having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he has taken it out that way, nailing it to the cross;