Fathers

Colossians 1

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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love which you have toward all the saints, because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth, even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on your behalf, who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him, and through him to reconcile all things to himself by him, whether things on the earth or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven, of which I, Paul, was made a servant. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly, of which I was made a servant according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

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What the Fathers say

Colossians 1:13

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Into the kingdom of the Son of His love." He said not simply, "the kingdom of heaven," but gave a grandeur to his discourse by saying, "The kingdom of the Son," for no praise can be greater than this, as he saith elsewhere also: "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him." He hath counted us worthy of the same things with the Son; and not only so, but what gives it greater force, with His Beloved Son. …

Homily on Colossians 2 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Not only is it important that He deemed us worthy of the Kingdom, but also what we were before this. For it is not the same thing to give something to the worthy and to the unworthy, as he also says in the Epistle to the Romans: "scarcely for a righteous man will one die" (Rom. 5:7). So then, He delivered us who were under the power of darkness, that is, of error and the tyranny of the devil. And he did not simply say "from darkness," but "from the power of darkness." For he had great power over us and ruled over us. …

Commentary on Colossians ↗

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"And he cast him into the abyss,"—i.e., cast the devil into the abyss. By the abyss is meant the countless multitude of the wicked whose hearts are unfathomably deep in malignity against the Church of God; not that the devil was not there before, but he is said to be cast in thither, because, when prevented from harming believers, he takes more complete possession of the ungodly. For that man is more abundantly possessed by the devil who is not only alienated from God, but also gratuitously hates those who serve God... …

The City of God, Book 20 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

First, he mentions this transference; and secondly, the way in which men are the slaves of sin before they receive grace. For since sin is a darkness, men before receiving grace are in the power of darkness, i.e., either of the evil spirits or of sins: "Against the world rulers of this present darkness" (Eph 6:12), "Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken" (Is 49:25). He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, i.e., that we might be the kingdom of God: "My kingdom is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). …

Commentary on Colossians ↗