Have you ever been asked if you’re a “cup half full” or a “cup half empty” type of person? As born-again believers our answer should be, “I’m a cup runneth over” type of person. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then the Holy Spirit indwells within you and you have the fullness of Christ:

    “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17)

When you look Jesus’ life, you see completeness in grace and truth. Jesus is our example of how to give unmerited favor to those in our lives from whom we would rather withhold it. We prefer that those who hurt us would get the justice due them.

We feel justified in holding grudges and not forgiving others. Our flesh and Satan our accuser are good at making us feel that way. Satan is the accuser of the brethren and to keep us from forgiving our offending brother or sister, he will whisper in our ears a reminder of all that is wrong with that person.

However, we have received the great gift of grace from our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our example of how we are to live our lives. We do not deserve any of the blessings we have received. Christ did not deserve any of the punishment He received when He was scourged and then brutally crucified for our sins.

    “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9)

The Greek word for “fullness” is pleroma and it denotes something that is full, literally meaning that if you poured anymore into that thing, it would overflow. In Christ, we see grace and truth fulfilled to completeness. There can be no more grace or truth found anywhere or in anyone else. He is the full measure of both:

    “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” (Colossians 2:9-10)

As Christians we are often fond of saying, “God’s not done with me yet.” While there is a measure of truth in that because we are constantly being discipled, too often we use that as an excuse for our sins. Paul taught the Colossian church that we have all we need in Christ Jesus. Completeness means perfection; it means we do not need any more knowledge or power than what we have already.

Does this mean I don’t need to study my Bible anymore? No, it means that you need to study you Bible even more. It means that through God’s Word I can learn all I need to know about how to live a complete life in Christ.

Do you realize that is expected of you and me? The Bible clearly teaches that we are to be complete in Christ and live like Christ:

    “…Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)

Go back and read all of Ephesians 4 and you will see that Paul exhorts us to live full lives in Christ Jesus. He teaches that we are to use our spiritual gifts for God’s glory and the edification of the church. Paul teaches that we can no longer use the excuse that “God’s not done with me yet.” The Apostle teaches us that we grieve the Holy Spirit when we live incomplete lives.

If I am to become a man of God, a man of prayer, then I must allow the fullness of Christ to have its way in me. I must forsake all others for Jesus Christ. I must live my life as though I have all the power I need, because I do.

That means living a life full of grace and truth.

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2014 David Jeffers

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