What does it mean to believe in the sufficiency of Christ?

But what is to maintain us in such a pathway? The Lord Jesus Christ as our Head. Let us read a wonderful verse: "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power" (Col. 2:9-10). See what is said: "are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power." But who is it that is the Head of all principality and power and in whom we are complete? The One in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. There is a Man upon the throne of God in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. All the mighty resources of God are in Him for us; we are complete in Him. That means there is no necessity to go outside Him for anything we need. We do not need philosophy, the wisdom of man, religious organizations, or anything men can produce. We are complete in Christ. We have everything we need in Him, for in Him are all the resources of God.

This being true, then in Him believers find all fullness. They are complete or filled full in Him. This is not experience, but a fact which all believers have title to enjoy. Further, Christ is the Head of all principality and power, that is, the highest dignities and authorities are subject to Him and dependent on Him. We therefore are not dependent on them , but on Him.

We now come to the other key word, ‘complete’: ‘and ye are complete in him’. The word used here is ‘pleroo’, meaning brought to fulness, and it links wonderfully with the preceding verse telling us that ‘in him dwells all the fulness (Gr. ‘pleroma’) of the Godhead bodily’. The fulness of the Godhead dwells in Him only, but we are brought to fulness in Him: because we have Him, the one in whom all the fulness dwells, we are filled, we are complete, we lack nothing.

And we are complete in Him. All the completeness of the Godhead is presented to us in Jesus, and in Him we are presented complete before God. We require no additions to the revelation of God in Jesus, neither do we require any additions from the creature to complete our acceptance before the face of God. In every way He is enough for the need of our souls. And therefore, as we have received Him, so are we to walk in Him; “rooted” in Him, drawing from no other source the nourishment that we need for our growth in the true knowledge of God.

Two things have operated together to make us fruit-bearing branches. The sovereign grace of the Lord that chose us and ordained us that we should go and bear fruit, and FAITH in us that responded to that grace. To abide in Christ is to continue where grace has set us. We have spoken of the Colossian snare; they were in danger of falling into it because they did not realize the greatness and all-sufficiency of Christ. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6-7). When we came to Jesus as needy, helpless sinners we found Him enough for our salvation. We did not look for anyone or thing to aid Him in this great work, and we were helpless ourselves in the matter. He did it all. As we began so we must continue; as we were then wholly dependent upon Him, so are we now and shall be, for as the branch is a dead stick without the vine, so we have no life apart from Christ. To abide in Him, is to continue in this complete dependence upon Him with which we began. He will not fail or disappoint us. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, and we are complete in Him, we have no need to go outside of Him for anything. He is the one and only Source of all supplies of spiritual life and sap and vigour.

The Lord Jesus was sufficient for your soul's salvation. You knew it was no use for any one else to put their hands to that great work. You were satisfied to let the Lord Jesus do it. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him. Let Him be sufficient for you all along the Christian pathway, as He was sufficient at the start of it. Be just as simple in your faith in Him today as you were then. Every difficulty will then disappear, for as you cleave to Him that grace will flow unhindered to you, and it is that grace which will carry you forward, and in the power of that grace you will be known as a Christian.

With wholesome zeal the apostle writes, “Beware!”—Yes, for it is easier to behold the danger of others than to be awake to our own—“BEWARE!!” therefore be says, “lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit” (Col. 2.8). And then, as if he were anxious that we should not dwell unduly on the evil, he at once points us to the Divine Source of all good—to the infinite plenitude which resides in the One who is the Head of the assembly, as well as the Head of all authority, and in one magnificent Spirit-given statement of fact, which might well bow our hearts in adoration and worship—he sweeps aside all rivals, and places us in the presence of Christ, the all-sufficient One, as he says—“IN HIM DWELLS ALL THE FULNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY. AND YE ARE COMPLETE IN HIM WHO IS THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER” (Col. 2:9-10). Here then is the grand antidote! The fullness of the Infinite One dwells in Him in whom we are complete—in Him who came down beneath all for our salvation, who is now above all in exaltation—in the glorified Man who glorified God on earth, who is now crowned on high: in Him the Godhead fullness dwells bodily, and we, too, are filled full in Him. The Plērōma (fullness) of the Godhead is there, and we too are Plēeroō (filled full) there also.

Such is the doctrine as to the Church's place with Christ — a doctrine replete with the richest privileges for the Church, and each member thereof. Everything, in short, is involved: the perfect remission of sin, divine righteousness, complete acceptance, everlasting security, full fellowship with Christ in all His glory. "Ye are complete in him." This, surely, comprehends everything. What could be added to one who is "complete?" Could "philosophy, "the tradition of men," "the rudiments of the world," "meats, drinks, holy days, new moons," "Sabbaths" "Touch not" this, "taste not that, "handle not" the other, "the commandments and doctrines of men," "days and months, and times, and years," could any of these things, or all of them put together, add a single jot or tittle to one whom God has pronounced "complete?" We might just as well enquire, if man could have gone forth upon the fair creation of God, at the close of the six days' work, to give the finishing touch to that which God had pronounced "very good?"

The word is from πληρόω, 'to fill full.' The believer is complete in Christ, or filled full, referring to all fulness dwelling in Christ: the fulness of the Godhead is in Christ, as towards the believer, and the believer, as toward God, is complete in Him. Col. 2:10. The Colossians are prayed for that they might be 'complete in all the will of God,' or 'fully assured' in all the will of God, as most Editors read it. Col. 4:12.

Verse 10. "Ye are complete in him." Notice: far from having anyone between us and Christ, we are in Him who is the Head of all principality and power. We lose our standing, if, for example, we allow an angel to come between Christ and us, although as a creature an angel is far superior to us. There is no mediator between us and Christ; there is between us and God, this very mediator being Christ Himself.