SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:13
que nos libr de la potestad de las tinieblas, y nos traspas en el Reino de su amado Hijo,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Colossians 1:13
Verse 13. Delivered us from the power of darkness] Darkness is here personified, and is represented as having exousia, power, authority, and sway; all Jews and Gentiles, which had not embraced the Gospel, being under this authority and power. And the apostle intimates here that nothing less than the power of God can redeem a man from this darkness, or prince of darkness, who, by means of sin and unbelief, keeps men in ignorance, vice, and misery. Translated us into the kingdom, &c.] He has thoroughly changed our state, brought us out of the dark region of vice and impiety, and placed us in the kingdom under the government of his dear Son, uiou thv agaphv autou, the Son of his love; the person whom, in his infinite love, he has given to make an atonement for the sin of the world.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness , etc.] That is, from the power of Satan; (see Acts 26:18), who, though once an angel of light, is now darkness itself, and is reserved in chains of darkness; he is a ruler of the darkness of this world; his kingdom is a kingdom of darkness; and he blinds the minds of them that believe not, keeps them in darkness, and increases the natural darkness of their minds; he delights in works of darkness, and tempts men to them; and his everlasting state and portion will be blackness of darkness: his power over men, in a state of unregeneracy, which he usurps, and is suffered to exercise, is very great; he works effectually in them, and leads them captive at his will; and nothing less than the power of God, who is stronger than the strong man armed, can deliver out of his hands; and which is at least one part of the mercy for which thanks are here given; (see Gill on Luke 22:53); with the Jews, one of the names of Satan is j , darkness f5 . Moreover, the darkness of sin, ignorance, and unbelief, with which God's elect, while in a state of nature, are surrounded, and, as it were shut up and imprisoned, so that they have not the least spark of true spiritual light and knowledge, may be also meant; under the power of which they are to such a degree, that they know nothing of God in Christ, of the way of salvation by him, or of the work of the Spirit on their souls, or of the doctrines of the Gospel in an experimental manner; and so they continue, till, by an almighty power, they are turned from darkness to light; when, by powerful grace, they are plucked as brands out of the burning, and delivered from wrath to come, and from that utter darkness of misery and destruction their ways of sin and darkness led and exposed them to. This deliverance is wrought out for them in the effectual calling, when they are internally called, and powerfully brought out of this darkness, by introducing light into them, revealing Christ in them, causing the prince of darkness to flee from them, and the scales of darkness and blindness to fall from their eyes; and which is both an instance or the wonderful grace of God, and of his almighty power, and in which lies in part the saints' meetness for the inheritance; for these words are, in some sort, explanative of the former; for so long as a person is under the power of darkness, he cannot be meet for an inheritance which is in light: it follows, as another branch of this mercy, for which thanks are given, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son ; not into the kingdom of glory; for though the saints are heirs of it, and rejoice in hope of it, they have not yet an entrance into it; which they will have abundantly when Christ shall introduce them into it, not only as his Father's, but as his own kingdom and glory: but the kingdom of grace is here meant, or that state of grace, light, and life, which such are brought into, when rescued out of Satan's hands, and recovered out of their former state of ignorance and infidelity; when they are by the drawings of the Father, by his powerful and efficacious grace, brought to Christ, and, in the day his power on their souls, are made willing to submit to his righteousness, and to embrace him as the alone Saviour and Redeemer, and be subject to him as King of saints, observing his commands, keeping his ordinances, and walking in his statutes and judgments with other saints, in a Gospel church state; which is Christ's kingdom here on earth, where he reigns as King over God's holy hill of Zion, being set there by his Father, from whom he has received this kingdom, and will deliver it to him, when it is complete and perfect. Now those whom Jehovah the Father snatches out of Satan's hands, and breaks in upon their souls with divine light and knowledge, he brings into such a state, and into this kingdom of Christ, who is called his dear Son: or the Son of his love; or his Son of love; who being his Son by nature, of the same nature with him, and equal to him, always was, is, and will be, the object of his love, complacency, and delight; as he cannot be otherwise, since he is the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person; and even as this Son of his is in an office capacity, as the Mediator between God and man, he is his elect, in whom his soul delights; and he is always well pleased with all the chosen ones in him, who are the sons of God through him, and always beloved in him. This clause is added, partly to distinguish the kingdom of Christ, into which the saints are brought in this life, from the kingdom of the Father, or the ultimate glory they shall possess hereafter; and partly to express the security of the saints, and their continuance in the love of God, being in the kingdom, and under the care and government of the Son of his love; and also to make way for what the apostle has further to discourse concerning the person, office, and grace of Christ, in the following verses.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 9-14 - The apostle was constant in prayer, that the believers might be fille with the knowledge of God's will, in all wisdom. Good words will not d without good works. He who undertakes to give strength to his people is a God of power, and of glorious power. The blessed Spirit is the author of this. In praying for spiritual strength, we are no straitened, or confined in the promises, and should not be so in ou hopes and desires. The grace of God in the hearts of believers is the power of God; and there is glory in this power. The special use of thi strength was for sufferings. There is work to be done, even when we ar suffering. Amidst all their trials they gave thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus, whose special grace fitted them to partake of the inheritance provided for the saints. To bring about this change, thos were made willing subjects of Christ, who were slaves of Satan. All wh are designed for heaven hereafter, are prepared for heaven now. Thos who have the inheritance of sons, have the education of sons, and the disposition of sons. By faith in Christ they enjoyed this redemption as the purchase of his atoning blood, whereby forgiveness of sins, an all other spiritual blessings were bestowed. Surely then we shall dee it a favour to be delivered from Satan's kingdom and brought into tha of Christ, knowing that all trials will soon end, and that ever believer will be found among those who come out of great tribulation.
Greek Textus Receptus
ος 3739 ερρυσατο 4506 5673 ημας 2248 εκ 1537 της 3588 εξουσιας 1849 του 3588 σκοτους 4655 και 2532 μετεστησεν 3179 5656 εις 1519 την 3588 βασιλειαν 932 του 3588 υιου 5207 της 3588 αγαπης 26 αυτου 846
Vincent's NT Word Studies
13. Power (exousiav). See on Mark ii. 10. 185 Translated (metesthsen). The word occurs five times in the New Testament: of putting out of the stewardship, Luke xvi. 4; of the removal of Saul from the kingdom, Acts xiii. 22; of Paul turning away much people, Acts xix. 26; and of removing mountains, 1 Cor. xiii. 2. A change of kingdoms is indicated.
Kingdom. Hence God's kingdom is in the present, no less than in heaven. See on Luke vi. 20.
Of His dear Son (tou uiou thv agaphv autou). Lit., of the Son of His love. So Rev. The Son who is the object of His love, and to whom, therefore, the kingdom is given. See Psalm ii. 7, 8; Heb. i. 3-9. It is true that love is the essence of the Son as of the Father; also, that the Son's mission is the revelation of the Father's love; but, as Meyer correctly says, "the language refers to the exalted Christ who rules."
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:13 {Delivered} (erusato). First aorist middle indicative of ruomai, old verb, to rescue. this appositional relative clause further describes God the Father's redemptive work and marks the transition to the wonderful picture of the person and work of Christ in nature and grace in verses #14-20, a full and final answer to the Gnostic depreciation of Jesus Christ by speculative philosophy and to all modern efforts after a "reduced" picture of Christ. God rescued us out from (ek) the power (exousias) of the kingdom of darkness (skotous) in which we were held as slaves. {Translated} (metestesen). First aorist active indicative of meqistemi and transitive (not intransitive like second aorist metest). Old word. See #1Co 13:2. Changed us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. {Of the Son of his love} (tou huiou tes agapes autou). Probably objective genitive (agapes), the Son who is the object of the Father's love like agapetos (beloved) in #Mt 3:17. Others would take it as describing love as the origin of the Son which is true, but hardly pertinent here. But Paul here rules out the whole system of aeons and angels that the Gnostics placed above Christ. It is Christ's Kingdom in which he is King. He has moral and spiritual sovereignty.
