Reasons for Thanksgiving (Col. 1:12b-14)

21/02/2007

In the beginning of verse 12, Paul prayed that the the knowledge of His will would lead them into thanking the Father. Believers are to thank the Father because He 1) gave us an inheritance (1:12b), 2) rescued us from darkness (1:13a), and 3) brought us into the Kingdom of His Son (1:13b-14).

The Father has “qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.” In Ephesians, Paul says that no immoral person “has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (5:5; cf. 1:14). God the Father has provided a way into this Kingdom by sending His Son to die for our sins. His blood is the atonement for our sin which qualifies us for His Kingdom (Phil. 3:9). His Kingdom is one of Light because His faithful subjects love righteousness, holiness, and truth.

Not only has the Father qualified us, but “He has delivered us from the power of darkness” (1:13a). In this verse there is a contrast of light and darkness, and God’s Kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. Christ is our deliverer because He has given us salvation from sin and death, and invited us into a life of righteousness, peace and joy (Rom. 14:17). When we were helpless against the powers of darkness, He came and rescued us (Rom. 5:6-8).

Finally, after qualifying us and rescuing us, He has “transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (1:13b-14). This statement emphasizes that it is the work of Christ on the cross that has accomplished both our rescue and qualification. Two words are used to describe our salvation experience: salvation and redemption. “Redemption” is a term that conveys the idea that God paid for our sins and set us free from slavery. “Forgiveness” stresses the wonderful love and grace of God. They emphasize two natures of God’s character which are His love and His justice. His justice demanded punishment for the sin of mankind, and His love urged Him to save us from our sins. “The cross represents the interrelationship of two aspects of God’s nature. His forgiveness and justice go hand in hand” (Melick).

There are 7 comments in this article:

  1. 21/02/2007Justin say:

    Hey man, long time. I am sorry about leaving your wedding early, I just felt wierd cause I did not know anybody and knew that I would not get to spend time with you. I should have said goodbye though. 9 more weeks, that is awesome, what are your plans for after that. I graduate in April, dont know how many weeks that is. I just wanted to leave a comment on your last line. Paul definitley preaches that forgiveness is given by the cross, however, Jesus taught that one is forgiven when he forgives others. So, whose saying (Jesus or Paul) is more credible? I am not argueing that they both cannot be, but, can one be forgiven without looking to the cross, as Jesus said? I am sorry I dont know the verse where Jesus says this, but I am sure you do or someone around you does.
    Peace

  2. 21/02/2007Justin say:

    I am thinking that you may reply to my statement as follows: that Jesus told crowds that no one could get to the Father unless through him. If this is so, I would bring up that Jesus also said that good works gets one into heaven when he gave the parable about separating the sheep and the goats. By the actions of one, one was to go to heaven or hell. I am not saying that one does not need the cross. I just think there are different things that Jesus is saying in the new testament, not that they cant fit together, but it only makes me believe that one does not actually know the truth about forgiveness and many other things.

  3. 21/02/2007Ian say:

    Hey bro, I’ll e-mail you to catch up but I’ll jump into discussing the sayings of Jesus and Paul!

    I think you are referring to Matthew 6:14-15 where Jesus says, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

    I believe that we have emphasized justification by faith (which Luther restored), but we have not focussed too much on sanctification, or the process of being saved. The cross has absolutely given us forgiveness of sin by wiping away our past debts that we owed. Christ paid the debt. But accepting this free gift only gets us in the door. Once we are in the door, we must act like the children of God that we have become. I believe that this is what Jesus is talking about. If we are forgiven of our sins, but do not forgive others, then we have not truly received the free grace of God. The free grace of God should only impel us to forgive as we have been forgiven.

    Being saved is more than saying a prayer one night and your sins are gone forever. It takes a continual pressing into the cross for the power to do good works, and the continual forgiveness for when we fall. This is the tension that we live in as we are made new in Christ, yet we are seeking to free ourselves fully from sin. We will not be completely free until we are resurrected. Good works are absolutely apart of salvation, but they are not the basis of our salvation. We are saved into good works, not saved by good works (Eph. 2:8-10).

  4. 21/02/2007Justin say:

    But what does Jesus say about this, Paul definitely influenced the church in huge ways, but if what he is saying is not in line with what Jesus said, then what does one do?

  5. 21/02/2007Ian say:

    Well, if you are wondering what Jesus says on justification by faith, then here are a couple of Scriptures. You’ll probably want to read the full context to get the point. Also, check out Luke 15.

    Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

    Matt. 9:6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He *said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”

    “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk. 18:13-14)

    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (Jn 3.16-18)

  6. 22/02/2007Brandon say:

    Man, this is the good stuff here in this blog. I’m not really ready to go to bed, so I figured I might jump in on this little dialogue you guys got going on.

    First off, I woudl just like to say that I see where you are coming from Justin. I see the tension and wrestle you are presenting. And the quetions you have a totally legit.

    To start, I would just like to say the theology of Paul cannot, and will not, contradict the teachings of Jesus. This is in no way possible. The doctrine of Paul on the cross and works after salvation is very much in line with Jesus’ teaching. Also, personaly, I have yet to see and/or talk to anyone that has found the writings of the apostle conflicting with his Messiah.

    Along the lines of the cross, and Jesus being the only way to salvation, the gospels note Jesus saying things like, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn. 14:6) The Synoptics and John are riddled with Jesus declaring that He is the Messiah who has come into the world to make atonement for sin. That is not the issue we are addressing here though, is it?

    The good ‘ol works factor. Well, I think Jesus also made it clear that works are needed. I mean, first of all, what did he give all of the commandments for throughout His teaching (example – Matthew 5-7). Were they just guidelines, or was He actually expecting us to take up our cross (like he also commanded; Matt. 10:38), die to ourselves, and become bondservants unto holiness through the guidance and grace given to us through the Holy Spirit? The easy road would say that Jesus’ teaching on works is quite simple, when He told us to do something, He actually expected us to live a life that made the attempt to do it. Matt. 7:15-20 makes it clear that “Every good tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (21-27 scare me because of how clear it is that we are to build our lives on these truths set forth in the previous couple of chapters) And again He stated a few chapters later in 11:19 that, “wisdom is justified by her works.” Even the Matthew 25 parable about not burying the talents the Lord has given you, but rather sowing them into the kingdom through ministry, perseverance, obedience, and love. To not sow those talents is to be “wicked and lazy.” I will abruptly end here.

    I wish I could take the time to just really lay it all out and go through the teachings of Christ but I’ve got to be up in the mornining.

  7. 22/02/2007Ian say:

    Good points Brandon. It’s true that the teachings of Paul and Jesus cannot contradict each other. If they did, they the Bible wouldn’t be the Bible. You could say that this is possible, but no honest seeking believer has found this to be true.

    Salvation is a wrestle and a tension. Like I said earlier, we can stress forgiveness of sins, but we also need to stress active obedience. But the key to remember is that we are not saved by doing good works. It’s only when we come into union with Christ, through believing in Him, that we are able to do good works.

    I hope all of this is somewhat helpful and not confusing or not to the point.

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