Colossians 1:11-15
 
Col 1:11 (KJB)
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
 
Strengthened - Endowed with strength
Patience - Endurance
Longsuffering - Forbearance or patient
Joyfulness - Joy which emanates from salvation and does not change with situation
 
Paul prays that these Christians will be endowed with the mighty strength of God, which is according to his power. It is interesting that the word “according to” is used because Paul is not praying that we are strong “out of the power” of God but according to His power. This means that God’s mighty power, through the indwelling Holy Spirit is available to the Christian. One of the characteristics of God is His longsuffering and that trait is available to the Christian through His power. Paul prays that we use this power when in situations which require endurance and longsuffering, especially when we are undergoing persecution or during a rough trial. When we have this power of endurance in our life it is coupled with joyfulness, which is according to our salvation. True joy does not fade with every situation. Happiness changes on a whim but not the true joy that God gives to a saved person.
 
Col 1:12 (KJB)
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
 
Meet - Make sufficient or qualified
Partakers - Part, portion, or share
 
Paul gives thanks to God that through the sacrifice of Christ, He has qualified us share in the inheritance of the Saints. (1 Pet 1:4 KJV) To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Peter describes the inheritance of the believer as incorruptible and undefiled in heaven. We may inherit things on this earth but they will eventually fade but our true inheritance is in Heaven forever with all the other Saints who bask in the light of the Gospel. (John 12:36 KJV) While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. The true children of light are the true believers.
 
The seven desires of every true believer:
1. To know God's will
2. Possess Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding
3. They will walk worthy
4. Fruitful
5. To grow in knowledge of God
6. Strengthened by might
7. To give thanks
 
Col 1:13 (KJB)
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
 
Hath delivered - Saved or rescued
Power - Authority
Hath translated - Transfer, remove, or change the place of
 
God, through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary, has delivered us from all the authority of the kingdom of darkness. Not only were we rescued from that kingdom but we were then translated into the Kingdom of Christ. This verse is a drastic example of what happens to the Elect of God. We are snatched out of the kingdom of darkness and placed into the Kingdom of God. (Mark 3:27 KJV) No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Satan was bound at the cross and could not keep anyone from becoming saved. This is the teaching of Mark 3:27 where Satan is the strong man and Christ is the one who bound him and spoils his house, that is, He plunders Satan’s kingdom and brings His Elect out of it and into His Kingdom.
 
Col 1:14 (KJB)
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
 
Redemption - Release or Deliverance
 
Paul closes this part of his prayer with the fact that we were redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. The idea of redemption is the buying back of something or someone who has been sold. The Elect of God was sold into sin and slavery to Satan when Adam had sinned, but through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we were not only redeemed from that life of sin and slavery, but through His blood we have the forgiveness of all our sins. (Eph 1:7 KJV) In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; As a result of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, that forgiveness of sins carries much more weight:
 
God forgets our sins and iniquities
(Isa 43:25 KJV) I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
 
(Heb 8:12 KJV) For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
 
(Heb 10:16-17 KJV) This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; {17} And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
 
God removes our sins
(Psa 103:12 KJV) As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
 
Cast all my sins away
(Isa 38:17 KJV) Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
 
(Micah 7:19 KJV) He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
 
(Rom 11:27 KJV) For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
 
Sins are blotted out
(Acts 3:19 KJV) Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
 
Our sins purged
(Heb 1:3 KJV) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
 
So we see that as a result of Calvary, the sins of the believer have not only been forgiven but they have been totally removed which means the soul of the Christian is totally clean before God and readied or qualified for Heaven.
 
Just a Note
In Colossians 1:14, if the phrase “Through his blood” is not in your Bible, then you are using a counterfeit version. For more information on this go to: www.scionofzion.com/kjcomparisons.html
 
Col 1:15 (KJB)
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
 
Image - Not only the image but the pattern of the original that sets forth the
likeness or resemblance which is found in the original.
 
(John 14:9 KJV) Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Paul now begins the main theme of the letter which deals with the supremacy of Christ. First Paul tells us that Christ is the image of the invisible God. Jesus told Philip that if he saw Him, then he saw the Father. The word “image” carries with it the meaning that Jesus was the exact expression of the invisible God. That is, He possessed every trait of the Father except the physical human body. (Heb 1:3 KJV) Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; If God the Father was to come to Earth in a physical body, He would be no different than His Son was. So in essence Jesus was the mirror image of the Father. Paul then goes on to state that Jesus was the firstborn of every creature, that is, He is sovereign over all creation. It actually denotes “chief or head” over creation. In Hebrew culture the firstborn was entitled to a double portion. In the Kingdom of God, there are both Gentile and Jewish believers over which Jesus is the Head.

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