Note 31 at Col. 1:13: "Who hath delivered" us, is in the Greek aorist tense. This means that the action spoken of is to be viewed as complete, as a whole, or as a one-time action. The Christian life is walking by faith in accordance with that which God's grace has already freely given. Romans 6:11 states, "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." We don't reckon ourselves as becoming dead to sin. We "reckon" ourselves already dead because we are dead through Jesus Christ our Lord. We are not headed towards victory. We are coming from a victory - the victory of Christ over the devil which has already taken place.

Since we are already delivered "from the power of darkness," Satan does not have any real power over us. His only weapon is deception and intimidation. Those who know the truth this verse is presenting have nothing to fear.

Note 32 at Col. 1:13: The word "translated" (Gk. METHISTEMI) means to "remove from one place to another and is used of a change of situation or place" (Thayer). It is used of a steward being "put out" of his stewardship (Lk. 16:4), of Saul being "removed" from his kingdom (Acts 13:22), of Paul "turning away" people from idols (Acts 19:26), of faith "removing" mountains (1 Cor. 13:2), and of being "translated" from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13). This verb is relating the fact of the believer being totally removed from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God's dear Son.