“That Which Is Lacking” – Is Jesus Enough?

Source: Glory To God For All Things

October 30, 2025

    

Recent questions on the blog make this article worth re-visiting. I pray you find it of interest.

The average Christian, reading his Bible in happy devotion, stumbles across this passage:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church… (Col 1:24)

The passage is particularly disturbing for a certain strain of Protestant thought that emphasizes Christ’s sufficiency for all things. Christ has accomplished all things necessary to our salvation and we are thus able to “rest” in His completed work. For many, this is at the heart of grace. God has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. What remains is for us to trust that this is so. Christ declares, “It is finished.” There is nothing left for us but trust.

This sentiment recently came crashing into a discussion of the Russian novel, Laurus.

... Read the rest at Glory To God For All Things.

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Fr. Stephen Freeman

10/30/2025

See also
Salvation or Perdition? Salvation or Perdition?
On Graham Greene’s novels Salvation or Perdition? Salvation or Perdition?
On Graham Greene’s novels
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The uniqueness of this book is that it was written by a Catholic, but it offers a profoundly Orthodox understanding of sin and grace, holiness and pride. On the Inseparability of Faith and Works: An Orthodox Response to the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Fide On the Inseparability of Faith and Works: An Orthodox Response to the Protestant Doctrine of Sola Fide
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Many Protestants will acknowledge, of course, that works are important. But they insist that these are only signs—not preconditions—of salvation. The Maxims of Holy Orthodoxy The Maxims of Holy Orthodoxy
Metropolitan Serafim (Joanta) The Maxims of Holy Orthodoxy The Maxims of Holy Orthodoxy
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