Carlton G. McPeak
Guest Columnist
When one is established in their faith, then they are made complete in Christ. Paul gave several reasons for this conclusion (Colossians 2:9-13).
Paul began by saying that in Christ “all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form.” Jesus testified on the night before He was captured and eventually crucified that He represented the Father in every aspect. He presented the entirety of God’s message to the apostles. Jesus told Thomas, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father." Paul’s point was that Christ is not some false god.
Paul said Christ “is the head over all rule and authority,” which means Christ has supreme authority in earthly government and affairs. Earlier in the letter, Paul stated Christ is “head of the body, the church” (1:18). We must conclude Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth (cf. Matthew 28:18).
The Jews believed that to be in a covenant relationship with God, they had to be circumcised, a physical procedure. Paul pointed out that when a person has “been made complete” in Christ, they have been “circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.” He said this “procedure” occurred when a person had “been buried with [Christ] in baptism, in which [they] were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God.”
Paul’s final reason was that after being baptized, a person is no longer “dead in [their] transgressions and the uncircumcision of [their] flesh, [but Christ has] made [them] alive together with Him, having forgiven [them] all [their] trespasses.” Being made alive is the equivalent of someone being forgiven. Based upon this passage, forgiveness takes place after they have been “raised up with Him,” which means after they have been baptized.
These four reasons tell the Colossians, and us, why we should not turn to the “tradition of men,” but continue to be faithful to the gospel that Paul had preached and of which he was made a minister. If something is “complete,” then there is nothing to be added. By being made complete in Christ, there is nothing we need to do; we have done it all. Doing anything else, except continuous obedience to Christ, will not make us any more complete in Christ.
We must keep in mind that all of these things are the result of “the working of God.” None of us could have accomplished this based upon our own wisdom, knowledge and power. However, working with God and doing the things He has instructed us to do, then we can be made complete in Christ. Because we have been made complete and are alive with Him, then we will daily be living God’s way.
Carlton G. McPeak (carlton_mc@msn.com)
is an evangelist working in the Florida Gateway region.
Scriptural quotations from the NASB.