“He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (vv.13-14)
In Colossians 1, Paul wrote to people who had come to know Jesus Christ and whose lives showed evidence of their faith, but whom he had never seen. After assuring them of his prayers for them, to know God’s will, and to please Him (vv.3-12), Paul used a powerful word picture to describe what God had done for them all: “He has delivered you (us) from the power of darkness and conveyed you (us) into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (vv.13-14).
Meaning, in Christ, we have been rescued! He has taken us from danger to safety; from one power and destiny (Satan and the pit), to another (Jesus and heaven); from death to life. But is that deliverance permanent? Does this mean, “once saved, always saved?” Can one now do whatever they want and be assured of salvation?
Paul speaking of being reconciled in Christ states, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister” (vv.21-23).
Wow, that’s a pretty big “if” to consider. While each of us has been rescued from darkness, and would never consider open rebellion against God, there were (and are) false teachers/doctrines that slowly took (and still take) many off course, away from the hope of the gospel and faith in Jesus. So Paul warns them here of such heresies that were sprouting up concerning the nature of Jesus, that they might remain steadfast and continue in the faith.
We are all justified through the blood of Christ once we have accepted Him as LORD. From there we are all responsible for our own santification of becoming more Christ like.
But what happens if we stumble, drift away or be lead from the faith? Let's look at Peter. Peter, during the arrest and questioning of Jesus, denied Him, and walked away from his ministry and went back to fishing - Did he loose his salvation? No! But he was not where he was called to be. He was called to be a fisher of men.
So, sometime during the weeks after Jesus' Resurrection our LORD showed Himself to Peter and the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1) and ate with them. During their time together He restored Peter through a series of questions. Three times Jesus posed the question to Peter,"Do you love Me?" Most likely to parallel the Apostle's three earlier denials (John 21:15-17). All three times Peter answered "Yes LORD." And three times Jesus responded with the command, "Feed My Sheep." By this Jesus made him the rock upon which the church was built. He did not have to recieve Christ again, nor did he need to be baptised again, he just needed to get back into the game.
So many people today need to do just that. But they are decieved into thinking they have lost their salvation. Not so. You are still His child. Repent and come home, just like Peter.
The Truth: "All we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his ouw way; but the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:6)
