Colossians chapter 1 verse 24?

[BOBKAT]

I am looking for some insight on this verse. I have an idea as to what I think it means. I love this verse for the reason I believe what it says so I just want to make sure that I am understanding it. I do not have my bible with me so I will paraphrase it for you. It is Paul stating that his suffering when offered is part of what is lacking in Christ afflictions. I used this verse to prove a point to a OSAS family member in that we have a participation in the crucifixion. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks
Kathleen

 

[awalt]

****The last six verses of chapter 1 describe Paul’s ministry. First of all, it was carried out in an atmosphere of suffering. Writing from prison, Paul can say that he **now **rejoices **in **his sufferings for the saints, that is, on their account. As a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, he was called upon to endure untold hardships, persecutions, and afflictions. These to him were a privilege—the privilege of filling up that which was left behind of the afflictions of Christ. What does the apostle mean by this? First of all, this cannot refer to the atoning sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Those were finished once and for all, and no man could ever share in them. But there is a sense in which the Lord Jesus still suffers. When Saul of Tarsus was struck to the ground on the road to Damascus, he heard a voice from heaven saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Saul had not been consciously persecuting the Lord—he had only been persecuting the Christians. He learned, however, that in persecuting believers, he was persecuting their Savior. The Head in heaven feels the sufferings of His Body on earth.

Thus, the Apostle Paul looks on all the suffering that Christians are required to go through for the sake of the Lord Jesus as being part of the sufferings of Christ which still remain. They include suffering for righteousness’ sake, suffering for His sake (bearing His reproach), and for the gospel’s sake.

But the afflictions of Christ refer not only to sufferings for Christ. They also describe the same kind of sufferings that the Savior endured when He was here, though far less in degree.

The afflictions endured by the apostle in his flesh were **for the sake of **Christ’s body, namely, the church. The sufferings of unsaved people are, in a sense, purposeless. There is no high dignity attached to them. They are only a foretaste of the pangs of hell to be endured forever. But not so the sufferings of Christians. When they suffer for Christ, Christ in a very real way suffers with them.

 

[Singinbeauty]

Here is the verse for ya!

Colossians 1:20-30 (New Living Translation)

24I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am completing what remains of Christ’s sufferings for his body, the church.

See, I don’t see it as him saying that there is no OSAS… Here, Paul says that HE is completing what remains of Christ’s suffering for His body, the church. He didn’t say WE are completing it but HE is. And it says that he is COMPLETING it. Which, to me, means HE took it on and completed it leaving nothing for us. Read the rest of the passage below…

25God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his message in all its fullness to you Gentiles. 26This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to his own holy people. 27For it has pleased God to tell his people that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. For this is the secret: Christ lives in you, and this is your ASSURANCE that you WILL share in his glory.
28So everywhere we go, we tell everyone about Christ. We warn them and teach them with all the wisdom God has given us, for we want to present them to God, perfect[a] in their relationship to Christ. 29I work very hard at this, as I depend on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.

Now I am not saying that I am a firm believer in OSAS. That doesn’t jive with me. But I don’t think that that verse proves anything either way. But what an awesome passage!!!

 

[Fidelis]

Hi Kathleen:

I think you’re on the right track here, since this verse is one of the clearest in the Scriptures, along with Christ’s admonition to “take up our own cross,” pointing to the reality and value of the role we play in redemptive suffering. This concept is key to a lot of other Catholic teachings, so if you can explain this to someone, you can give them insight on other things, including the million dollar question “Why must we suffer?”. No other religion has such a coherent and well thought-out theology on this subject.

From Navarre Bible Commentary on Colossians:

Colossians 1:24
Now I (Paul) rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my
flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake
of His body, that is, the Church…

Commentary:

1. Jesus Christ our Lord perfectly accomplished the work the Father
   gave Him to do (cf. John 17:4); as He said Himself when He was about to
   die, “It is finished”, it is accomplished (John 19:30).

From the point onwards objective redemption is an accomplished fact.
All men have been saved by the redemptive death of Christ. However,
St. Paul says that he completes in his flesh “what is lacking in
Christ’s afflictions”; what does he mean by this? The most common
explanation of this statement is summarized by St. Alphonsus as
follows: “Can it be that Christ’s passion alone was insufficient to
save us? It left nothing more to be done, it was entirely sufficient
to save all men. **However, for the merits of the Passion to be applied
to us, according to St. Thomas (“Summa Theologiae”, III, q. 49, a. 3),
we need to cooperate (subjective redemption) by patiently bearing the
trials God sends us, so as to become like our Head, Christ” ** (St.
Alphonsus, “Thoughts on the Passion”, 10).

St. Paul is applying this truth to himself. Jesus Christ worked and
strove in all kinds of ways to communicate His message of salvation,
and then He accomplished the redemption by dying on the Cross. The
Apostle is mindful of the Master’s teaching and so he follows in His
footsteps (cf. 1 Peter 2:21), takes up his cross (cf. Matthew 10:38)
and continues the task of bringing Christ’s teaching to all men.

Faith in the fact that we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ,
[Pope] John Paul II says, gives a person “the certainty that in the
spiritual dimension of the work of Redemption he is serving, like
Christ, the salvation of his brothers and sisters. Therefore he is
carrying out an irreplaceable service. In the Body of Christ, which is
ceaselessly born of the Cross of the Redeemer, it is precisely
suffering permeated by the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice that is the irreplaceable mediator and author of the good things which are
indispensable for the world’s salvation. **It is suffering, more than
anything else, which clears the way for the grace which transforms
human souls. Suffering, more than anything else, makes present in the
history of humanity the force of the Redemption” ** (“Salvifici Doloris”,
27).

 

[BOBKAT]

That is precisely what I wanted to say and I am hoping that was how it was taken. On another note in our same conversation I mentioned that people today are praying for the souls of this world in hopes that they would be saved and my SIL said that she doesn’t need to be saved by anyone because Christ died for her sins. I than said that we have to participate in this salvation and that is why people are praying so that we take up our cross and walk with the Lord. It seems so easy in the eyes of OSAS and I find that rather frightening. It was than that I used that verse. Anyhow I so appreciate you insight.

God Bless
Kathleen

 

[Dan-Man916]

We are members of the Body of Christ.
That is not just a symbolid membership.
It is a real mystical one.
Therefore, Christ suffered, and because we are a part of his body, we will also share in his suffering for the redemption of the world.

The Sacrifice on the Cross is complete, hwoever, it is eternally offered to the Father. Our sufferings offered in union with Christ to the Father is what this verse deals with since we are part of Christ’s Body.