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Twice in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, the New American Standard Bible refers to the status of believers as “complete” because of Jesus. Here’s the first verse:
“We proclaim Him, admonishing every person and teaching every person with all wisdom, so that we may present every person complete in Christ.” – Colossians 1:28
He called the recipients of his ministry teleios, an adjective meaning finished, complete, perfect, or mature. This was the aim of Paul’s apostleship. By preaching the gospel and teaching God’s Word, he sought to develop the souls of Christians to the uttermost.
And what is that?
We are complete in Christ when we embody and express His character. God wants us to be like His Son. Paul believed this and dedicated himself to discipling people so that in every aspect of life, they’d obey and exemplify Jesus Christ. He would be so proud to present such people to the Lord. “Look, Father, at these followers of Jesus! They’re just like Him!”
Paul never gave up; to the end of his life, he taught the gospel to everyone he could, every time he had the chance.
And here’s the second passage:
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority” – Colossians 2:9-10
In verse 10, Paul used a verb, pleroo, to describe believers. It’s a common word, occurring 86 times in the Greek New Testament. (It’s also found 84 times in 83 verses in the Greek translation of the Old Testament.) This term has to do with fulfillment, realization, or completion.
Paul put this verb in the perfect tense, which means the completion of believers was a past event with ongoing effects.
When did this take place?
The apostle gives us a clue in verse 9 when he declares that God’s fullness dwells in Jesus Christ. The Greek word for “fullness” (pleroma) is a cognate of the verb in verse 10.
Let’s consider this for a moment. Jesus was divine in every way. He is God in the flesh, the Lord who became incarnate to save humanity from sin, death, and evil spiritual forces. It is in Him, in the incarnate Son of God, that we have received completion or fullness.
The moment someone trusts in Jesus for salvation, that person receives the fullness of the life of Christ through the Spirit. That Christian can look back to the past and say, “Yes, God filled me with Christ when I became a Christian.” Last week, last year, or ten years ago–it doesn’t matter. It’s a past event with ongoing impact. When Jesus comes to dwell within us, He begins a work of transformation that we still experience.
Completion in Christ is a past experience, a present reality, and a future hope. Through God’s Word and His Holy Spirit, we are filled with the presence of Jesus. We shouldn’t be surprised at the changes He’s brought about! We’re not who we once were, we’re changing daily, and we’ll continue to do so until we’re perfected in Him.
This is God’s work; we don’t need a checklist to track our progress. The grace that called us to Christ is the grace that makes us like Him.
And our Father won’t stop His good work until He’s satisfied.
People don’t like others telling them what to do; they prefer figuring things out for themselves.
Although it was many years ago, I still remember his comment about this topic. Dr. John Bosman, the leader of SpiritWind International, was a native South African but he’d also pastored a church in America, so he had ministry experience in both countries. He said that Americans don’t like being told what to do. Instead, you as a leader give them a suggestion and then they say, “I’ll think about it.”
That must have been his experience pastoring in the USA!
But it’s true, although it applies to everyone about the significant issues in their lives. We want to process matters and reach our own conclusions.
We see this in our spiritual disciplines, too. We listen to a sermon but we often have our own ideas about the meaning of the Bible.
Preachers can respond in one of two ways. They can get forceful and demand the congregation buy into everything they proclaim. Or else!
The alternative is to cave to people and preach little more than weak opinions. Pastors who adopt this approach give up taking a stand on biblical and spiritual matters. Rather than being decisive, they try to please everyone. They go with the flow, and if the flow moves in a different direction, they do, too.
This issue isn’t limited to preachers. Christians who share the gospel with others do so because they believe it’s true. Jesus the Son of God died on the cross for us. God raised Him from the dead. The Lord calls us to trust in the work of Christ on our behalf so we can find forgiveness and new life in Him. If we go wishy-washy on that, we lose the gospel.
And if we lose the gospel, we lose everything.
But we can experience something less dramatic when we read the Bible. Try the following as an experiment. Pick a chapter in Scripture and get a few friends to commit to reading it, too. Each of you should read it a few times over several days so you have time to reflect on it. Write down what impresses you, what you don’t understand, what touches your heart, etc.
Then, get together with everyone and share your insights. What did you all learn? What did God teach you? It would be interesting to discover how similar some of your insights are, and how unique others are.
This shouldn’t surprise us, because the Bible isn’t a dead letter. It’s a living Word!
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12
“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” – 1 Peter 1:23
Since God’s Word is alive, it can speak to our souls in dynamic and creative ways.
So with that in mind, I’d like to give you a suggestion about a passage.
I’ve been teaching a Sunday School class on 1 Peter which I’ve called, Excellence in Exile. I chose that title because Peter encourages Christians to stay loyal to Jesus even if their faith in Christ makes them outcasts in their own communities.
Some Bible scholars interpret this letter as an instruction to baptismal candidates. I can see why they’d make that argument. Baptism initiates believers into the life of the church and doing so can alienate them from family and neighbors. Baptism is a blessing, but it’s also a challenge!
Here’s the reference:
“In it [Noah’s ark] only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also–not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand–with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him.” – 1 Peter 3:20b-22
The letter mentions baptism in only one verse, so I don’t want to overstate the importance of the sacrament. I can’t say for sure that the whole of 1 Peter orients around baptism, but this passage shows the apostle respects its significance.
When I read the next section of the letter, 4:1-11, I began to wonder about something. I’m not saying that the Bible scholars are right that 1 Peter is all about baptism, but let’s accept the idea that it’s a big deal in this book! With that sacrament in the back of my mind, I began reading the first section of chapter 4 in light of another sacrament, the Lord’s Supper.
Where’d I get that idea?
Well, baptism brings people into the community of faith. Through this ritual, souls identify themselves with the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. They have a new loyalty to a new Authority, and this change can get them in trouble with the world.
Society will try to win them back to “the way things used to be,” when those who are now Christians drank, fooled around, and caused all kinds of trouble.
But if the temptations don’t work, the world gets hostile–and fast. Followers of Jesus find themselves kicked out of families, denied employment, jailed, or worse.
How are believers supposed to handle these difficulties?
We help each other!
The church is the people of God, the family to which we now belong. Read verses 1-11 in chapter 4 and you’ll see how God wants Christians to care for one another in the context of the trials we face in this world.
And the principal setting to give and receive such aid is the worship liturgy of the church. When we gather in the name of Jesus, we celebrate the Lord and we bless those who are suffering for His name. When we take the elements of Communion, we remember Christ’s passion because many of us are going through something similar. The Lord’s Supper sustains the faithful; it keeps us from surrendering to the pressures we endure.
I realize the passage in chapter 4 doesn’t mention the Eucharist, so I won’t insist this is what Peter meant when he penned his words.
But, I offer you a suggestion. If baptism plays a major role in 1 Peter, we should consider the Lord’s Supper, too.
A suggestion with potential and power for our spiritual lives!
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