Paul’s Prayer for the Colossians, 1:12-14 - Pt 2

(12) giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (13) For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (14) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:12-14)

What we see in these three verses of Colossians is the final part of the prayer that started off the book of Colossians, and is another example for believers to follow in their prayers. As with many of Paul’s epistles, Paul begins with prayer, but also instructs on the importance of prayer, as we see in these examples,

• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Phil 4:6)
• First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, (1 Tim 2:1)
• First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. (Rom 1:8)

Part 2, completes the results of being filled with the knowledge of God’s will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding with: 6) inheritance, 7) deliverance, 8) transference, 9) redemption and 10) forgiveness.

Inheritance

giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. (1:12)

• ‘giving thanks to the Father’ (1:12a) –
• Definition: ‘giving thanks’ – is the Greek word, ‘eucharisteo’, is a present tense and active voice verb that means ‘to be grateful, feel thankful.’
• While Paul gave prayer a primary place in his life, far too many Christians relegate prayer to a secondary role in the practice of their faith. Giving thanks to God is all too often a secondary thought on the bottom of our prayer list. Too often prayer is about what the believer can ‘get’ from God. Believers are quick to ask and slow to thank. But thankfulness should be the crown of our Christian character. Thankfulness should merge into all of our thoughts and feelings. It should be the motive of all of our actions. (Ps 79:13; Eph 5:20, Col 3:5; 1 Th 5:18; Heb 13:15)
• Although thankfulness is commanded, it should also be a way of life for believers. Ps 50:14 says, ‘Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving’; Ps 107:21-22 says, ‘Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.’ Ps 79:13 says, ‘So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture Will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise’. Ps 92:1 says, ‘It is good to give thanks to the LORD And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High’. Eph 5:20 says, ‘always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father’. Col 3:17 says, ‘Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father’. As you can see, the Bible stresses the importance of giving thanks to God. (1 Th 5:18)
• So, what does the Bible say about a lack of thankfulness? Rom 1:21 says, ‘For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened’, and unthankfulness is tied to evil men in 2 Tim 3:2 and Luke 6:35.
• ‘to the Father’ – emphasizes the personal and relational aspect of our union with God.

• ‘who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.’ (1:12b) –
• Definition: ‘qualified’ – is the Greek word, ‘hikanoo’, means ‘to make sufficient, enable, to empower, to authorize, to render or make fit.’ It does not mean ‘to make deserving.’ As Scripture makes abundantly clear, no one deserves anything from God; it cannot be earned (Eph 2:5, 8; Rom 3:24; 4:16).
• ‘who has qualified us’ – This emphasizes that it is by God’s sovereign grace that He has enabled believers to have the privilege of a personal relationship with Him and empowered them to live a fruitful life in a fallen and sinful world. The word ‘qualified’ is past tense, meaning that we already have it.
• Definition: ‘share’ – is the Greek word, ‘meris’, means ‘a part as distinct from the whole, an assigned part, a portion, a share or a portion of that which has been divided or apportioned.’ The KJV uses ‘to be partakers’ which seems to capture the meaning a little better. Paul is referring to the Israel’s inheritance in Canaan, where all had a share and partook of the blessing. (cf. Num 26:52-56; 33:51-54; Josh 14:1-2)
• Definition: ‘inheritance’ – is the Greek word, ‘kleros’, means ‘an object used in casting or drawing lots, what is obtained by lot, an allotted portion.’ It is an unmerited and undeserved possession given by a father to his children.
• ‘to share in the inheritance’ – This is our first reason for thanksgiving to God – He has qualified us to be partakers in the inheritance. What is the believer’s inheritance? First, it consists of eternal life (Mat 19:29). Second, Matt 5:5 says that believers will inherit the earth, where we will rule with Jesus (Rev 20:6). Third, we inherit all of the promises of God (Heb 6:12). And the guarantee of our inheritance is the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14).

• ‘of the saints in Light’ –
• Definition: ‘saints’ – is the Greek word, ‘hagion’, which means ‘set apart for God, to be, as it were, exclusively his.’ According to Vines, ‘In the plural, as used of believers, it designates all such and is not applied merely to persons of exceptional holiness, or to those who, having died, were characterized by exceptional acts of saintliness.’ [1] According to Scripture, saints are you and me.
• As we saw earlier, the ‘saints’ are believers, the ones that God has separated from the world and set apart and consecrated to Himself. 
• ‘Light’ in this verse is to contrast with ‘darkness’ in the next verse. Light is used to symbolize three spiritual uses in Scripture.
• An operational use – Light is essential for life on earth. Light illuminates, it exposes, it explains, it guides and directs. (1 John 1:5; Eph 5:13; Ps 119:105; John 3:19-21; 8:12; 1 Tim 6:16)
• An intellectual use – Light is used to represent truth and reality (Ps 119:130), as opposed to error, distortion and perversion. (Eph 5:9-17; Mat 4:15-16)
• A moral use – Light represents purity, rightness, correctness, and order, as opposed to chaos, evil, confusion and disorder. (Eph 5:3-10; John 3:19-20; Gen 1:2-3)

Deliverance

• For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, (1:13a)
• Definition: ‘rescued’ – is the Greek word, 'rhuomai', which is translated ‘delivered’ in the KJV (Amplified and NET), and means ‘to draw to one’s self, to rescue, to deliver.’
• Definition: ‘domain’ – is the Greek word, 'exousia', which is translated ‘power’ in the KJV and ‘dominion’ in the NIV (both are better than the NAS), which means ‘the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege); the power of him whose will and commands must be submitted to by others and obeyed.’ This word can also be translated as power, authority or jurisdiction. It seems to imply a harsh and arbitrary dominion as opposed to the gracious and loving rule of God.
• This is our second reason for thanksgiving to God. We were not gradually or progressively rescued from Satan’s power, authority and rule. We were instantly delivered. As we saw above, darkness is the opposite of light, and symbolizes ignorance, delusion, sin and Satan. The ‘dominion of darkness’ refers to the supernatural forces of Satan that stand against God and hold unbelievers captive.
• Scripture characterizes man’s natural state without Christ as being in darkness (Luke 1:79; Act 26:18; Rom 13:12; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 John 2:8). Without Christ we are held captive, bound, blinded and controlled by sin and Satan (Luke 22:53; John 3:19-20; Eph. 2:1-3; 6:12; 2 Cor. 4:6; 1 Pet. 2:9; Eph. 1:18; 2:4-10).

Transference

• and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (1:13b)
• Definition: ‘transferred’ – is the Greek word, ‘methistemi’, and means ‘to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another.’ As William Barclay points out, it carries a special meaning,

… In the ancient world, when one empire won a victory over another, it was the custom to take the population of the defeated country and transfer it lock, stock and barrel to the conqueror’s land. Thus the people of the northern kingdom were taken away to Assyria, and the people of the southern kingdom were taken away to Babylon. So Paul says that God has transferred the Christian to his own kingdom. That was not only a transference but a rescue … [2]

• Definition: ‘kingdom’ – is the Greek word, ‘basileia’, means ‘royal power, kingship, dominion, rule; not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom.’
• ‘transferred us to the kingdom’ – We have been removed (past tense) from Satan’s kingdom and transplanted (past tense) into Christ’s kingdom. The ‘kingdom’ referred to here is more than the future millennial kingdom, or the general rule of God over His creation. It is also the special relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ in this current age (Rom 14:17). It is that state of grace, light, enlightenment and life that we are in now after being rescued from Satan’s control. It’s a kingdom that is started on earth and perfected in heaven.
• ‘of His beloved Son’ – The Son possesses the Father’s love and is the object of the Father’s affection. The same love that prompted the Father to give Jesus as the Savior is the same that exalts Him as head over all things. The kingdom belongs to Christ and He rules over it. We are transferred to the kingdom of Christ, implying that we have been adopted as sons in His kingdom. But Paul here rules out the whole system of aeons (intermediary beings, Emanations from the unknowable God) and angels that the Gnostics placed above Christ. It is Christ’s Kingdom in which he is King.

Redemption and Forgiveness

in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (1:14)

• ‘in whom we have redemption’ –
• Definition: ‘redemption’ – is the Greek word, ‘apolutrosis’, and means ‘a releasing affected by payment of ransom, liberation procured by the payment of a ransom.’ (Col 1:14; Eph 1:17) Our modern definition for ransom is usually related to kidnapping. It carries the idea of the payment made to a person or group for the release of someone who has been kidnapped. If applied to Christianity, that would mean the ransom would be paid to Satan, or so it has been attributed by some. This is not what is meant. The focus is not on who is being paid, but rather on the payment and its effect for us.
• Easton’s Bible Dictionary says, “The purchase back of something that had been lost, by the payment of a ransom.” It carries the idea of a debt that was cancelled because it was paid in full. (Lu 21:28; Rom 3:24; 8:23; 1Co 1:30; Eph 1:7, 14; 4:30; Col 1:14; Heb 9:15; 11:35)
• It was used to speak of freeing slaves from bondage. Our English word for this would be emancipation. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) used a related word to speak of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt.
• Jesus Christ paid that redemption price, as we see in Eph 1:7, with His own blood, which is meant to represent His death, that our sins might be cancelled. Jesus willingly laid down His life as both God and man, to deliver us from all sin for all time. His death on the cross has delivered us from the curse as well as the bondage of the law, because under the law we were held accountable for our sins. The divine justice of God demands that. Christ’s atoning death delivers us from the wrath of God, and completely satisfied God’s divine justice.
• The word ‘have’ is in the present tense, characterizing redemption as a continuous gift that we enjoy as members of the body of Christ. Although we still sin, Christ’s atoning sacrifice continually pays the price for that sin.

• ‘the forgiveness of sins.’ –
• Definition: ‘forgiveness’ – is the Greek word, 'aphesis', and means ‘release from bondage or imprisonment; forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if they had never been committed), remission of the penalty; release as from captivity, or pardon, cancellation of an obligation, a punishment, guilt.’
• The result of the redemption that Jesus procured is ‘the forgiveness of sins’. Because God accepts Christ’s death on the cross as the payment for our sin, God has literally sent away our sins (Ps 103:12, “… as far as the east is from the west …”). Christ’s death on our behalf completely pays the price to redeem us. And on that basis, God forgives our sins, delivers us from the power of darkness, grants us an inheritance, and makes us subjects in Christ’s kingdom.
• Forgiveness is an explanation of, as well as a natural consequence of, redemption. It is the only blessing that we receive immediately upon salvation. Believers are not required to be perfect to be forgiven. Forgiveness proceeds purity. God calls us while we are sinners, saves us and then changes us.
• Our forgiveness is complete. As John Gill put it, we are forgiven of all sin, ‘original and actual; of heart, lip and life, secret and open, past, present and to come.’ [3]

(12) Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light. (13) [The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, (14) In Whom we have our redemption through His blood, [which means] the forgiveness of our sins. (Col 1:12-14 AMP)

 

Footnotes

[1] Vines' Expository Dictionary of New testament Words, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), pp. 996-997.

[2] William Barclay, New Testament Words, Combining A New Testament Wordbook and More New Testament Words (SCM Press LTD, Bloomsbury Street, London, 1964), 133-134, as quoted in J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, p. 62.

[3] John Gill’s Commentary, p/o the Online Bible, Computer Program, © 1987-2005.

The primary sources for this study use J. Hampton Keathley III, Paul’s Letter to the Colossians: An Exegetical and Devotional Commentary, from bible.org, Copyright ©1996-2020 Bible.org, and all attributions are reprinted with permission granted by bible.org, and John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Colossians & Philemon, (Moody Bible Institute: ©1992).

This study uses many of the commentaries, dictionaries and the Greek Lexicon which are all part of 'The Online Bible', Computer Program, © 2023, Larry Pierce, http://www.onlinebible.net/, unless otherwise referenced. See Greetings and Thanksgiving, Colossians 1:1-4 for full attribution.

All Scriptures quotes are from the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Revision, unless otherwise noted. Verse links from Blue Letter Bible, https://www.blueletterbible.org/