38 - Do We Fill Up Something Lacking in the Cross?

In Colossians 1:24 Paul says, "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church." Does this mean, as Rome and others teach, that there is something lacking in the sufferings of Christ on the cross? Must we add our sufferings to His in order to be saved?

For twenty-three verses, Paul has been proclaiming the glorious truth that Jesus Christ has provided a perfect salvation. Why, then, is Paul saying that there is something "lacking" in the afflictions of Christ? Is he now contradicting himself?

Someone who looks at Paul's statement in isolation from the rest of God's Word can completely misconstrue the way of salvation and the imperative for godly living. That is the fatal error of Roman Catholicism, which uses Colossians 1:24 as a proof-text for the false gospel of justification by faith plus works.

But when we understand the meaning of the Greek word translated "afflictions," and compare this passage with other Scriptures, we find that Paul is speaking of something very different -- not further suffering in payment for sin, but the afflictions of the righteous who are living in a world where we are now aliens.

That's our focus this week as we continue our series, Christ Above All: Studies in Colossians.