The Gospel Is Complete... So What’s Missing?

In this episode of the Q&A with Pastor Charlie podcast, we tackle one of the more difficult verses in the book of Colossians: what did Paul mean when he said he was “completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” in Colossians 1:24? Does this verse imply that Jesus’ death on the cross was somehow insufficient for salvation?

Pastor Charlie walks through the context of the passage and explains how Scripture consistently teaches that Christ’s sacrifice was fully sufficient and completely finished. Rather than pointing to something lacking in the power of the gospel, Paul is emphasizing the ongoing mission of delivering that gospel message to the world. This episode is a helpful reminder of both the completeness of Christ’s work and the responsibility believers have to proclaim it.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back to another episode of the QA with Pastor Charlie Podcast. This week we're answering a question from one of the ladies in our church, and she asked, Since we know that Christ's death on the cross is completely paid for our sins, what did Paul mean when he said in Colossians 1 24 that he that now I am rejoicing in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's affliction for his body? That is the church. So what do we mean by this verse?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

That's a great question. And this is one of those verses that when you kind of come across it, it does cause you to stop for a moment and question what does he mean here? Because it seems to not fit with other things that we know that Paul has said and other things that we see in the Bible. And I appreciate her exegesis of this passage because how she's posing the question is she said, All right, well, I know what other scripture says, that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient. He accomplished everything that was necessary. And so our natural inclination to interpret this verse where it seems that there is something lacking in what Christ has done, we know would not be not be right. It wouldn't be sufficient. And I think this is a great reminder for us when we're reading the Bible that when we come to places where it seems that there might be some contradiction in Scripture, we know that because Scripture is God breathed, it's an error and it's perfect, that it would then be our interpretation or attempt to interpret that that would be the issue, not what the Bible says. And so when she's looking at it, she is right that what Christ accomplished in his death and his resurrection was completely sufficient. And so, as far as in terms for our salvation, there's nothing lacking in that regard. We know that Jesus on the cross said it is finished, and then we know that the resurrection of Jesus is proof, that everything that was necessary to bring about our salvation was accomplished. We know that that's how the gospel writers spoke about uh salvation, that it was something that was complete, full. For instance, later in the book of Colossians, uh Paul's going to speak to the fact that the record of debt that was once ours because of our sin was canceled and it was nailed to the cross, it was finished. We know that Paul in Romans 8 says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And so the biblical narrative is clear that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient. So if that is true, then what does it mean here? What is Paul saying when he says, I am completing in my flesh or in my body what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for his body, that is the church. Now there's a couple things I think we want to do to understand this passage a little bit better, and I think this is a good way for us to think about any interpretation of Scripture, especially diff difficult or potentially seemingly contradictory passages, is we want to look at our, well, what is it saying around it? And so what context clues can we pick up from what Paul is saying that could help us better interpret this passage? And so we're gonna look at that first. And then another thing that we can do is go back and all right, well, where can we see similar ways that Paul maybe used some of these words before? The Bible uses these words, and so looking at how other contexts use the verse would then get maybe help us understand what Paul is saying. So the first thing I want us to do is go back to verse 23 and read through 29, and let's get a big picture about what Paul is speaking about, this ministry that he's talking about. And at the end of verse 23 it says this This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for his body, that is the church. I have become its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known. The mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to his saints, God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of his mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of his glory. We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me. And so the context of what Paul is speaking about here is this gospel ministry that he's been entrusted with. And that's what he begins by saying in verse 23 that this gospel is being proclaimed by God's divine plan throughout all creation, and he has been fortunate enough to become a servant of it. And so he sees himself as a servant of Christ and as such a servant of the gospel. And everything that he's talking about in this passage has to do with God commissioning him, calling him, sending him out to make sure the mystery of this gospel is known all over the world. And so, in that context, I think we can see that what Paul is talking about here in the lacking of Christ's afflictions isn't anything that has to do with the message of the gospel. There's nothing lacking there. There's nothing lacking in its ability to save. What's lacking is people hearing the message of the gospel. And so Paul says, I know, and he says this in other places, faith comes by hearing, hearing about the word about Christ. And so I think what he's speaking to is what's lacking is the delivery of the message, making sure that everyone has an opportunity to hear. Now, the reason I believe that isn't just because of what he says in here, but it's because how Paul uses this phrase in another place. And so if you go back to Philippians chapter 2 and look at verses 29 through 30, Paul is writing to this church in Philippi, whom he loves, whom loves him. I mean, there's just this great relationship that exists between them. And Paul, as he writes this letter, is in prison. And as you can imagine, this church that loves Paul has great care for him, concern for him, as we would anybody that we know and love who might be in prison or afflicted because of their service for the Lord. He's hundreds of miles away. And so the church in Philippi, we gather from this letter, has gathered up gifts to send to him. They want to make sure that he's cared for and taken care of. Well, one of the ways that these gifts are delivered to Paul is through a guy by the name of Epaphroditus. And so they've sent out one to him who has the responsibility to deliver the gift. And so he goes and he ministers to Paul. And what we see in Philippians chapter 2 is Paul speaking of the fact that he is now going to be sending Epaphroditus back to the church in Philippi. And this is what he says here in verses 28 and 29. He says, For this reason I am very eager to send him, that is Epaphroditus, so that you may rejoice again when you see him, and I may be less anxious. Therefore, welcome him in the Lord with great honor and joy, and behold him in honor, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up what was lacking in your ministry to me. So we see a similar phrase here, lacking in your ministry. And so it's the same word that he's using here. And so, what was lacking of their ministry or gift to Paul? Well, it wasn't lacking in the value or worth of it. They had given generously and loving to him. What was lacking is the delivery of the gift. And so Epaphroditus was accomplishing what was lacking. What was the only thing left that needed to happen in order for Paul to receive this gift? Somebody had to deliver it to him. And Epaphroditus was the one who delivered the gift in a way that completed what was lacking in the gift from the church in Philippi. Now, with that in mind, we go back again to what Paul says here about his ministry, him completing in his flesh what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for his body. There's nothing lacking in what Christ has done to accomplish it. What's lacking is the delivery of it. And so Paul says, I'm I thank God that I'm able to be a servant who gets entrusted with this message of proclaiming, sending, delivering the gospel message. And what I'm doing is finishing up what's lacking. What's the only thing left to do for God to bring salvation is to deliver it. Now I think the verse in understanding it puts a big impotence on our understanding that the gospel is complete in what it can accomplish. And in God's divine plan, he's calling us to send out, to deliver, to make this message known. And I think this verse gives us a great reminder and opportunity that each of us are called just like Paul. And in a similar sense, we're completing in our bodies what's lacking in Christ's message, his affliction. We're the deliverers, the agents that God's using. And so I think in understanding this verse, it delivers an importance for you and I to say, hey, we need to be just like Paul, excited, committed to delivering the message of the sufficiency of Jesus to bring salvation.

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah, that's good. Um thanks for tuning in to another episode of the QA with the Pastor Charlie podcast. If you have more questions like these, you can send them to questions at first or more, and we'll see you next Friday.