Delivered From the Powers of Darkness
April 2026
“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.”—Colossians 1:13
In Colossians 1:12, Paul informs us that because of salvation, we have been granted an inheritance that is guaranteed because of Calvary and our faith being placed in Him.
The opening phrase of verse 13 declares “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness.”The term, “power of darkness,” of course refers to Satan and the power of sin that grips the majority of mankind. This power of darkness cannot be overcome by man and all of man’s schemes to improve self and overcome the many addictions found in humanity. Man cannot deliver man; it takes a power stronger than the power of darkness.
When Paul said, “Who hath delivered us,” he was referring to the only power that is greater thanthe power of Satan. To be delivered means to be rescued and comes from a Greek word that means to “liberate, save, or deliver something or someone.” In this case, the deliverance is from the dominion of darkness. In Scripture, “darkness” is symbolic of ignorance, falsehood, and sin(John 3:19).
There are two Greek words used to convey the idea of rescue or deliverance from Satan’skingdom.
The first word is sozo, which is used 111 times in the New Testament and is translated as “save” or “salvation.”
The other word is rhyomai. It occurs eighteen times in the New Testament and means “to deliver or rescue.”
The word deliver paints us a picture—a picture of a specific action being entered into in order for us to be rescued and delivered.
That specific action was the cross—the death of Christ on the cross where He took the punishment we deserved, and He paid such a price there that no debt, no way, would be left outstanding.
On the cross, Christ became our substitute, taking upon Himself the punishment we deserved. As it was man who sinned, man must pay the price. But man couldn’t because all men are sinful. Therefore, Christ became a man—very God and very man—in order to deliver us from Satan’s hold, which is sin. As our representative man, Jesus died as a sinner, even though He was not a sinner. This means that He took the full penalty of man’s sin, which was death. Because He had never sinned, He could be a perfect sacrifice—the only sacrifice God the Father could and would accept when He died that glorious day. He atoned for all sin—past, present, and future—for those who will believe.
So our salvation is a glorious salvation; it is a great salvation; it is a powerful salvation thereby granting deliverance to all who will believe.
Satan’s kingdom of darkness is a kingdom of hate, murder, deceit, sickness, hatred, and depravity. It is a kingdom of disorder, division, perversion, and confusion, and there is only one power that can break this grip of sin and bondage, and that is Christ and Him crucified. Jesus said, “How can one enter into a strong man's house [the house of Satan], and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house” (Matt. 12:29).
Never forget our salvation is a great salvation—a salvation of power over the world, the flesh and the devil.
The result of this deliverance is not only salvation, but also Paul added, “and hath translated us into the kingdom of is dear Son.” This means that the moment believing sinners accept Christ, they are removed from Satan’s kingdom of sin, sickness, and bondage and brought into the government of the Son of God.
In the Greek, the word translated is methistemi, and it means “to transpose, transfer, remove from one place to another.” And the remainder of the verse actually says in the Greek, “unto thekingdom of the Son of His love.”
One moment we are sinners bound for hell, but in a moment, we are transformed into a brand-new creation, translated from the kingdom of death into the kingdom of life and light. One moment we are guilty and damned, and the next moment we are washed, sanctified, and justified (I Cor. 6:11).
We have a great salvation because a great price was paid.