To utilize the power of God, to live the more abundant life Jesus Christ made available, we must confess and act on God’s Word. This includes believing the truth that we are complete in Christ. Since God has made each born-again believer complete in Christ, then we are complete—we don’t let anyone talk us out of it.
I had a warehouseman that was doing good work for me at a furniture store. I gave him extra access in our computer system to do things above his normal responsibilities, allowing him to price clearance items, and I taught him how to do so. A week later, I discovered he was getting a senior associate to set the prices for him. When I asked him why, he replied that a veteran salesperson had told him he could get in trouble if he made a mistake. Even though I as his supervisor gave him everything he needed to do the work—the access, the authority, and the training—he got talked out of doing it.
The same thing can happen to Christians in their walk with God, their heavenly Father. We have full authority and access to God; we have everything we need to live the more abundant life He has called us to live. But if someone gets talked out of it—perhaps gets convinced they’re not good enough or becomes afraid to fail—that person will fall short of living the “more-than-a-conqueror” life to which God has called them (Romans 8:37). Again, since God has made us complete in Christ, we are complete—we don’t let anyone talk us out of it.
The Word of God emphatically declares our completeness in Christ.
Colossians 2:9,10:
For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.
That says it pretty plainly. But the English word “complete” in verse 10 barely begins to communicate the depth of this truth. Aramaic conveys the meaning much more clearly. There are four different grammatical forms to express the intensity of a verb in the Aramaic language. English has no form equivalent to the fourth level. Even in Aramaic, the fourth-level conjugation is rare.
The first conjugation is called peal in Estrangelo Aramaic and equates to a simple form in English. The next level of intensity is pael in Estrangelo Aramaic, or what would be an intensive form in English. Third is aphel in Estrangelo Aramaic, or what would be an extensive form in English. To show some sort of comparison with English, we will use the passive verb “to be complete.” The intensive form would show a more intense completion—“to be completely complete.” The extensive form indicates even more intensity—“completely and absolutely complete.” The fourth and most intense form in Aramaic—shaphel—occurs only a handful of times in the Bible. This would be an extra extensive form in English. One way to indicate in English the level of intensity for the completeness we have would be to say that “we are completely, completely, absolutely complete.”
So, God is telling us in the most emphatic, rarely used grammatical form just how complete we are in Christ. We’re not just complete. We’re not just completely complete. We’re not even completely, completely complete. No, God says we are completely, completely, absolutely complete in Christ. There is no category in our lives for which God has not provided everything we need. Forgiveness? We’re complete (I John 1:9). Authority? We’re complete (Ephesians 3:12). Health? We’re complete (I Peter 2:24).
I Corinthians 1:30:
But of him [God] are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
You name it, God has covered it through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Let’s look back at the warehouseman who worked for me. He had every resource necessary to do his job. Access, training, and my permission were all his. But someone talked him out of it. He forgot that I had given him the freedom and authority to do that task. He was very happy to get to it when I reminded him.
We can believe that we have what the Word of God says we have and manifest that which legally and rightfully belongs to us as sons of God. For example, God has given us complete access to His heart. We have complete authority to speak His Word of deliverance. We have all the power we need to carry out our calling as His children and ambassadors (II Corinthians 5:20). God tells this to us in no uncertain terms. We lack nothing.
Colossians 2:9,10:
For in him [Christ] dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.
Let’s profess and confess the truth that our heavenly Father has indeed given us the freedom, power, resources, and authority to live the more abundant life to which He has called us (John 10:10). We are without a doubt completely, completely, absolutely complete in Christ.