Complete or Not?
One time after I preached about becoming complete in Christ from Colossians 1:28 bibrefcolossians1 bibrefcolossians1v28, an older lady gave me some feedback. She didn’t quite say that what I had said was completely wrong, but that’s what she meant. She said that all the work, the struggling and laboring mentioned at the end of chapter 1 wasn’t necessary since Colossians 2:10 bibrefcolossians2 bibrefcolossians2v10 states that it’s already finished.
She was actually working from the NASB which translates it Colossians 2:10 bibrefcolossians2 bibrefcolossians2v10, “in Him you have been made complete.” So which is it? Is complete done, or is complete incomplete (1:28)?
They are actually different ideas.
- Colossians 1:28 bibrefcolossians1 bibrefcolossians1v28 is the telos, the final form (τέλειον ἐν Χριστῷ).
- Colossians 2:10 bibrefcolossians2 bibrefcolossians2v10 is the presence, the filling (ἐστὲ ἐν αὐτῷ πεπληρωμένοι).
It is more accurately translated: “you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”
We are united with Christ, and we will be perfected in Christ, Christlikeness. You do not have only part of Christ, you have all of Him. All the material, so to speak, is now there, even as you are forged in time into Christ’s form.
I bring it up now for sake of your faith. Christ does not need to die again, it is finished, your sins are covered. The Spirit does not need to overcome your spiritual death again, He has caused you to be born again and He indwells you as a seal of your eternal inheritance.
In such confidence we eat and drink as His table. In such confidence we worship with thanks and praise and joy. In such confidence we share together in this salvation, in the glory of Jesus whose name is above every other name, and we await His return and our glorification.