12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Paul lists four things for which we should be thankful:
We are made partakers of the inheritance of the saints (v.12)
We are delivered from the power of darkness (v.13)
We are translated into the kingdom of the Son (v.13)
We are redeemed (v.14)
qualified (v.12) = fit, sufficient, competent — In ourselves, we have no fitness to be partakers of the inheritance. The tense indicates a one-time event, not a process.
inheritance (v.12) — and, therefore, not earned or merited but conferred upon us based on a relationship
light (v.12) — heavenly, contrasted with darkness (v.13)
delivered (v.13) = rescued, liberated
power (v.13) = authority, right to act
darkness (v.13) — ignorance, falsehood, sin — with the idea of tyranny
conveyed (v.13) = translated, removed from one country and established as a colonist and citizen of another country — again, a one-time event
kingdom (v.13) = Christ’s sovereign rule
the Son of His love (v.13) — Christ partakes of and manifests the Father’s love
in whom (v.14) — Our redemption and forgiveness are due to our union with Christ.
redemption (v.14) = release from captivity or slavery by the payment of a price, ransom
forgiveness (v.14) = a sending away — the removal of our sins — the central feature of our redemption
through His blood (v.14) — not in the best manuscripts, but the idea is included in Ephesians 1:7
