Colossians 2:10
Within Jesus Christ is all of God’s nature complete (Colossians 2:9), and you and I dwell in Christ, and He in us. Because Christ is complete then we are complete in Him, meaning that there is nothing lacking in the believer. When we grow in Christ, we are not adding to who we already are, we are simply shedding the old habits and ways and allowing who He is to shine forth from our life.
When Paul told the church at Rome how to avoid looking and acting like the world, he told them to be transformed, by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). The transformation of the believer has nothing to do with adding more works to their lives, but rather it is in the stripping away of the way that we used to think and respond. We cannot do this without the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, but with Him, we are slowly but surely changed into the very image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
If Paul says that we are complete, what more can we add that has not been placed in us by Christ? Even the things in our lives that we know are not right and that need fixed are simply remnants of the old man which is constantly being put off as we grow in Christ. Just as a sculptor will look at a chunk of marble and see a beautiful masterpiece trapped inside, God looks at us with all of our problems and idiosyncrasies and sees a wonderful finished product, fashioned in the very image of His Son Jesus.
Paul writes that part of our completion is accomplished through the fact that we “are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). We know that the circumcision of Christ cannot mean His physical circumcision, for how could that make a difference in our sinful flesh? This circumcision of Christ is the cutting off of Jesus from the Father, causing Jesus to cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
When we accept Christ, we are taking part in the cutting off of Jesus, having our sinful flesh cut away. We are no longer a slave to its nature and passions, though our old mindsets remain. These mindsets are constantly being dealt with by the believer, as we change our mind to reflect our new nature. Nothing needs to be added to us in order to take away sin, for Jesus has already taken it away, instead, let us take away the old mentality that makes us see ourselves as fallen and sinful.
Jesus bore all that He did at the cross so that you would not have to. Rejoice in all that He did for you and dwell on it everyday. Because He took it, you get the blessings! Memorize what He did and meditate on these:
Jesus was made poor, so that I could be made rich; He was made naked so that I could be clothed in the garments of salvation and the robes of righteousness; He became the curse so that I could have the blessing; He was rejected so that I would be accepted; He was made to be sin so that I could be made the righteousness of God; His body was broken so that mine could be whole and healthy; He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, so that I could cry, “Daddy, daddy, why are you so good to me?”
He is good and you are complete in Him!
Within Jesus Christ is all of God’s nature complete (Colossians 2:9), and you and I dwell in Christ, and He in us. Because Christ is complete then we are complete in Him, meaning that there is nothing lacking in the believer. When we grow in Christ, we are not adding to who we already are, we are simply shedding the old habits and ways and allowing who He is to shine forth from our life.
When Paul told the church at Rome how to avoid looking and acting like the world, he told them to be transformed, by the renewing of their minds (Romans 12:2). The transformation of the believer has nothing to do with adding more works to their lives, but rather it is in the stripping away of the way that we used to think and respond. We cannot do this without the transformative power of the Holy Spirit, but with Him, we are slowly but surely changed into the very image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).
If Paul says that we are complete, what more can we add that has not been placed in us by Christ? Even the things in our lives that we know are not right and that need fixed are simply remnants of the old man which is constantly being put off as we grow in Christ. Just as a sculptor will look at a chunk of marble and see a beautiful masterpiece trapped inside, God looks at us with all of our problems and idiosyncrasies and sees a wonderful finished product, fashioned in the very image of His Son Jesus.
Paul writes that part of our completion is accomplished through the fact that we “are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ” (Colossians 2:11). We know that the circumcision of Christ cannot mean His physical circumcision, for how could that make a difference in our sinful flesh? This circumcision of Christ is the cutting off of Jesus from the Father, causing Jesus to cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
When we accept Christ, we are taking part in the cutting off of Jesus, having our sinful flesh cut away. We are no longer a slave to its nature and passions, though our old mindsets remain. These mindsets are constantly being dealt with by the believer, as we change our mind to reflect our new nature. Nothing needs to be added to us in order to take away sin, for Jesus has already taken it away, instead, let us take away the old mentality that makes us see ourselves as fallen and sinful.
Jesus bore all that He did at the cross so that you would not have to. Rejoice in all that He did for you and dwell on it everyday. Because He took it, you get the blessings! Memorize what He did and meditate on these:
Jesus was made poor, so that I could be made rich; He was made naked so that I could be clothed in the garments of salvation and the robes of righteousness; He became the curse so that I could have the blessing; He was rejected so that I would be accepted; He was made to be sin so that I could be made the righteousness of God; His body was broken so that mine could be whole and healthy; He cried “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, so that I could cry, “Daddy, daddy, why are you so good to me?”
He is good and you are complete in Him!
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