Paul Prays for the  Colossians—part 2 (1:12-14)

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

Paul’s prayer is a model or pattern for all believers to follow. Like his prayers here and elsewhere, our prayers should include praise as well as petitions. To the Philippians Paul wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). In 1 Timothy 2:1 he urged that “entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men.” Later he told the Colossians to “devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2). Paul constantly gave thanks in his prayers (cf. Acts 27:35; Rom. 1:8; 1 Tim. 1:12).

Giving thanks is too often demoted to a secondary place in the prayers of Christ’s people. Our attitude in approaching God is often reminiscent of the leech’s daughters: “Give, Give” (Prov. 30:15). We are quick to make our requests and slow to thank God for His answers. Because God so often answers our prayers, we come to expect it. We forget that it is only by His grace that we receive anything from Him.

The Bible repeatedly stresses the importance of giving thanks. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving” (Ps. 50:14). “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. 107:21-22). “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Thy name, O Most High” (Ps. 92:1). “Always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father” (Eph. 5:20). “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” (Col. 3:17). “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Heb. 13:15). Thanksgiving should permeate our speech, our songs, and our prayers.

Our Lord knew the importance of giving thanks. In Matthew 11:25 He said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes.” Before feeding the five thousand, Jesus “took the loaves; and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated” (John 6:11). Just before raising Lazarus from the dead, “Jesus raised His eyes, and said, ‘Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me’” (John 11:41).

Revelation 7:11 tells us that the angels give thanks: “All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’”

David (2 Sam. 22:50; Ps. 28:7), the Levites (1 Chron. 16:4; Neh. 12:24), Asaph and his relatives (1 Chron. 16:7), Daniel (Dan. 6:10), and the priests, Levites, and descendants of Asaph (Ezra 3:10-11) also gave thanks to God.

In addition to those positive examples, the Bible teaches that failing to give thanks characterizes the wicked. One indictment of unbelievers is that “even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks” (Rom. 1:21). Evil men are marked by ungratefulness (Luke 6:35; 2 Tim. 3:2).

Scripture instructs us to thank God for many things. We are to thank Him for who He is. Psalm 30:4 says, “Sing praise to the Lord, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name” (cf. Ps. 97:12). We should also thank God for His nearness. “We give thanks to Thee, O God, we give thanks, for Thy name is near” (Ps. 75:1). Paul gave thanks to God for his salvation and his opportunity to serve Him: “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service; even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:12-13).

The apostle also gave thanks for the spiritual growth of others: “We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater” (2 Thess. 1:3).

Even mundane things like food call for giving thanks (1 Tim. 4:3-4). First Thessalonians 5:18 sums it up: “In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

What makes Christians most thankful is the work of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 9:15, Paul exclaims, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” He gave thanks for the result of the work of Christ, which is our salvation (cf. 1 Cor. 1:4). That is also his theme in Colossians 1:12-14. Paul sums up the doctrine of salvation in three great truths: inheritance, deliverance, and transference. They are both a description of salvation and a cause for thanksgiving. He unfolds the specifics of his gratitude in those verses.

INHERITANCE

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

Father emphasizes the personal, relational aspect of our union with God. Before our salvation, God was our Judge. We stood condemned before Him for violating His holy, just laws. But when, through the grace of God, we placed our faith in Christ, God ceased being our sentencing Judge and became our gracious Father.

Not only has God adopted us as His sons, but He has also qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Qualified is from hikanoō, a word used only here and in 2 Corinthians 3:6 in the New Testament. It means “to make sufficient, to empower, to authorize, to make fit.” We are not qualified through our own efforts. God has qualified us through the finished work of Christ.

Before God saved us by His grace we were truly unqualified for our inheritance. Several passages in Ephesians describe our helpless condition:

Before our salvation, we were dominated by the evil world system; its wicked ruler, Satan; and our own fallen, sinful, human natures. We were Christless, stateless, covenantless, hopeless, godless. Our minds were given to futility; our understanding was darkened. We were cut off from the life of God, ignorant, hardhearted, callous, immoral, impure, and greedy. The only thing we were qualified to receive from God was His wrath. And that is what we would have received, if not for God’s mercy toward us.

God has by grace qualified the unqualified to share in the inheritance. The Greek text literally reads, “for the portion of the lot” (eis tēn merida tou klērou). The partitive genitive (tou klērou) means that we each receive our own individual allotment or portion of the total inheritance. Paul here alludes to the partitioning of Israel’s inheritance in Canaan (cf. Num. 26:52-56; 33:51-54; Josh. 14:1-2). Just as the Israelites received their inheritance in the Promised Land, so also do we receive our portion of the divine inheritance.

The Bible has much to say about our inheritance. It consists first of eternal life. Jesus said in Matthew 19:29, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life.” Eternal life is far more than endless existence. It is a quality of life; Christ’s life lived in the believer (Gal. 2:20; cf. 1 John 5:20). Second, our inheritance includes the earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord said that believers would inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). That focuses on the future aspect of our inheritance, when we will rule with Christ in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:6). The knowledge that we will inherit the restored earth should free us from the present pursuit of material possessions. Someday we will receive far more than we could ever gain in this life. Third, we inherit all the promises of God. The writer of Hebrews exhorts us to be “imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12).

When do we receive our inheritance? The present tense participle hikanōsanti (qualified) indicates we have it now (cf. Eph. 1:11). We have already been transferred from the domain of darkness into Christ’s kingdom (Col. 1:13). We are already fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:16-17). The full possession of that inheritance, however, is yet future. Peter refers to it as “an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4). It will be ours forever. Hebrews 9:15 depicts it as an eternal inheritance.

Paul further defines our inheritance as that of the saints in light. Hagiōn (saints) refers to those who have been separated from the world and set apart to God. The inheritance belongs to that group alone. First Corinthians 6:9-10 asks the rhetorical question, “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Ephesians 5:5 echoes that thought: “For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” And Galatians 5:21 adds that “those who practice such things [the deeds of the flesh in w. 19-21] shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The saints’ inheritance is in the light. Light represents two things biblically. Intellectually, it represents truth (Ps. 119:130). Morally, it represents purity (Eph. 5:8-14). In contrast to Israel’s earthly inheritance, the saints’ inheritance is in the light—the spiritual realm of truth and purity where God Himself dwells (1 Tim. 6:16). In his defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26, Paul spoke of the Lord’s commissioning him to preach to the Gentiles. The Lord told Paul that He was sending him “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me” (v. 18). Paul no doubt had that event in mind when he wrote Colossians 1:12-14. The saints are those who have turned from sinful darkness to righteous light (cf. Eph. 5:8; 1 John 1:7).

God has graciously given us a guarantee for our inheritance. That guarantee is the indwelling Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul writes, “You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance.” “Pledge” translates arrabōn, which is similar to the modern Greek word for engagement ring. Arrabōn could also be translated “guarantee,” or “down-payment.” God has given us the Holy Spirit as the first installment on our future inheritance. That is an objective fact, not dependent on our feelings. Studying “the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32) results in a greater richness and understanding of our glorious inheritance.

So He has given us the Spirit and the Word to give us confidence and understanding of that inheritance. No wonder Paul prayed “that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints” (Eph 1:18).

DELIVERANCE

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, (1:13a)

A second cause for thanksgiving is our spiritual liberation. Delivered is from ruomai, which means “to draw to oneself,” or “to rescue.” God drew us out of Satan’s kingdom to Himself. That event was the new birth. We are not gradually, progressively delivered from Satan’s power. When we placed our faith in Christ, we were instantly delivered. “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor. 5:17). Believers do not need deliverance from the dominion of sin and Satan; they need to act as those who have been delivered (cf. Rom. 6:2, 7, 11).

Those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ have been rescued from the domain of darkness. Exousias (domain) could be translated “power,” “jurisdiction,” or “authority.” Our Lord used the phrase domain of darkness (exousias tou skotous) to refer to the supernatural forces of Satan marshalled against Him at His arrest (Luke 22:53). The triumph of the domain of darkness was short-lived, however. A few hours later, Jesus forever shattered Satan’s power by His death on the cross. You need not fear that power, for “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Through His death, Jesus crushed Satan and delivered us from his dark kingdom.

TRANSFERENCE

and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (1:13b, 14)

Paul continues the litany of blessings that draw out his gratitude by describing our new domain. Methistēmi (transferred) means to remove or change. It is used in Acts 13:22 to speak of God’s removing Saul from being king. It was used in the ancient world to speak of the displacement of a conquered people to another land. The verb speaks here of our total removal from the domain of satanic darkness to the glorious light of the kingdom of Christ.

Kingdom refers to more than the future millennial kingdom, when Jesus will reign on earth for a thousand years. Nor does it speak merely of the general rule of God over His creation. The kingdom is a spiritual reality right now. Paul gives us a definition of it in Romans 14:17: “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The kingdom is the special relationship men in this age have with God through Jesus Christ. A kingdom in its most basic sense is a group of people ruled by a king. Christians have acknowledged Christ as their King and are subjects in His kingdom. They have been transferred … to the kingdom of His beloved Son. The Greek text literally reads, “the Son of His love” (tou huiou tēs agapēs autou). The Father gives the kingdom to the Son He loves, then to everyone who loves the Son (Luke 12:32).

Although Christ does not yet rule on earth, He is no less a king. In response to Pilate’s question, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “It is as you say” (Matt. 27:11). He reigns in eternity, rules now over His church, and one day will return to rule the earth as King of kings.

There is a tremendous responsibility that accompanies being part of Christ’s kingdom. As subjects of that kingdom, we must properly represent the King. Paul admonished the Thessalonians to “walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:12). Even their persecution was a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so they might be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed they were suffering (2 Thess. 1:5). The writer of Hebrews reminds us, “Since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (Heb. 12:28).

Before we could be fit subjects for Christ’s kingdom we needed redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Apolutrōsis (redemption) is one of the magnificent New Testament words expressing a blessed aspect of the work of Christ on our behalf. Alongside such terms as sacrifice, offering, propitiation, ransom, justification, adoption, and reconciliation, it attempts to describe the riches of our salvation. It means “to deliver by payment of a ransom,” and was used to speak of freeing slaves from bondage. The meaning of apolutrōsis is expressed in our English word emancipation. The Septuagint uses a related word to speak of Israel’s deliverance from bondage in Egypt. Apolutrōsis is used in several places in the New Testament to speak of Christ’s freeing us from slavery to sin. In Ephesians 1:7, Paul writes, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” To the Corinthians he wrote, “By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). In the midst of perhaps the most thorough soteriological passage in the New Testament, Paul writes that we are “justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:24).

Redemption results in the forgiveness of sins. Aphesin (forgiveness) refers to pardon, or remission of penalty. It is a composite of two Greek words, apo, “from,” and hiēmi, “to send.” Because Christ redeemed us, God has sent away our sins; they will never be found again. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:12). “He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19).

So Christ’s death on our behalf paid the price to redeem us. On that basis, God forgave our sins, granted us an inheritance, delivered us from the power of darkness, and made us subjects of Christ’s kingdom. Those wonderful truths should cause us to give thanks to God continually, as did Paul in his prayer. And when we contemplate all He has done for us, how can we do any less than pray to be filled with the knowledge of His will?