Christian Conversion Is Not the Kingdom Now

In Colossians 1:13, Paul says that the Father “has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of the Son whom He loves.” The surrounding verses speak of forgiveness and reconciliation: believers who were once alienated from God have now been reconciled through His Son, the Messiah (Col. 1:12–14, 21–23). Our allegiance and standing before God have therefore changed. This fits the New Testament’s common description of conversion as a passage from darkness to light (Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9; Eph. 5:8). It does not, by itself, establish that the promised Kingdom has arrived and that Christians are living in it now.

Peter says God called believers “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet. 2:9). Paul was commissioned to turn people “from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God,” so that they might receive forgiveness and an inheritance (Acts 26:18). He tells the Ephesians, “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8). In each case, those who responded to the Gospel underwent a real change that must continue to shape how they live.

John uses the same language when he says that “the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining” (1 John 2:8). He then applies the contrast between light and darkness to those who love or hate their fellow believers (vv. 9–11). John’s Gospel likewise speaks of life and light in its opening verses and calls the light coming into the world “the true light” (John 1:4–9). Later, Jesus says that he came as light so that those who believe in him would not remain in darkness (John 12:46).

These passages help explain Colossians 1:13. Believers have been rescued from the domain of darkness and brought under the authority of God’s Son. But that does not mean Christians are already immortal and ruling over the nations with Christ on a restored earth. Paul speaks of their share in the light as an inheritance (Col. 1:12). He admonishes the church at Corinth: “You have begun to reign as kings without us! I wish indeed that you were really reigning as kings, so we would also be reigning as kings with you!” (1 Cor. 4:8). Elsewhere, he says, “If we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Jesus likewise promises authority over the nations to the one who remains faithful “until the end” (Rev. 2:26–27).

Simply put, Christians have left the darkness of this present evil age and been transferred into the Kingdom of God’s Son. They must live accordingly while awaiting the Kingdom God has promised. Paul still urges believers to persevere to enter that Kingdom (Acts 14:22), and Peter speaks of their future “entry into the eternal kingdom” (2 Pet. 1:11). Colossians 1:13 should therefore not be made to say that Christians are already living in the future Kingdom envisioned by the prophets, Jesus, and his apostles.