Biblion Bible Commentary
Read the introduction to Colossians · About this commentary
Transferred into the Kingdom
Colossians 1:13-14
13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, · WEB
Two verbs describe conversion as a change of jurisdiction — rescued out of one power, moved into another.
He delivered us out of the power of darkness. The first verb is a rescue word, used of dragging someone out of danger, and what they are rescued from is called an authority — a domain with the right to command.
And translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love. The second verb is administrative. It was used of relocating populations, moving a body of people from one territory into another where different laws applied. Conversion is described here as a transfer of citizenship rather than an improvement of character.
Both verbs are past and both are God's. Nothing in the sentence is something the readers did.
The Son of his love is an unusual phrase — not the beloved Son but the Son who is the object and expression of the Father's love, which prepares the hymn that follows.
Verse 14 names what the transfer cost and what it secured: in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. Redemption is a purchase out of bondage, matching the rescue of verse 13, and the definition given for it is forgiveness. No process is described and no stage is left outstanding.
settled What this mark means