Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 1:13

"who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;" — Colossians 1:13 (ASV)

The proof that God has qualified us for a share of the inheritance of the saints is that he has “rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” “Rescued” (GK 4861) means to liberate, save, or deliver someone from something; that from which Christians have been rescued is a “dominion of darkness” (Jesus used the same phrase at the time of his arrest in Gethsemane). “Darkness” in Scripture is symbolic of ignorance, falsehood, and sin (cf. Jn 3:19; Romans 13:12). But Paul probably had the Colossian heresy in mind, because the principalities and powers to which the false teachers urged Christians to pay homage are designated by him “the powers of this dark world” (Ephesians 6:12).

God’s action in behalf of his people does not stop with deliverance from the authority of darkness. He has also “brought [them] into the kingdom of the Son he loves.” “Brought” (GK 3496) was a word used in reference to removing persons from one country and settling them as colonists and citizens in another country. This took place at the time of the Colossians’ conversion. The “kingdom” (GK 993; see comment on Mk 1:15) is not to be interpreted as a future realm; it was for the Colossians a present reality (cf. Jn 3:3-5). Nor is the kingdom to be interpreted as an area designated on a map; it is the sovereign rule of the Lord Christ over human hearts. The expression “the Son he loves” is reminiscent of the words of the Father at the baptism and the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 3:17; Matthew 17:5).