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In an article some years ago in the Tyndale Bulletin <\/em> , Andrew Perriman argues that Paul\u2019s statement in Colossians 1:24 about \u201cfilling up what is lacking in Christ\u2019s afflictions\u201d does not refer to eschatological \u201cMessianic woes\u201d nor to an inadequacy in Christ\u2019s personal sufferings that Paul has to complete. Rather, what is lacking is the fullness of Christ\u2019s afflictions in Paul\u2019s own personal experience. The gap is not between what Christ has suffered in Himself and what Christ suffers with Paul\u2019s help, but rather between \u201cthose \u2018afflictions of Christ\u2019 which he has already suffered and those which he expects or even hopes to suffer.\u201d In short, \u201cit is his own experience of the afflictions of Christ that is incomplete.\u201d <\/p>\n Perriman thinks that this has a very specific meaning. Christ\u2019s afflictions were fulfilled in His death; Paul has suffered as Christ did, but he has not yet suffered death on behalf of the churches. Therefore, he has not yet filled out the full extent of Christ\u2019s sufferings in his own ministry. But he is willing to, almost expecting to, complete those sufferings in martyrdom. <\/p>\n One of the implications of this interpretation is that Paul \u201cconsidered his sufferings to be defined by Christ\u2019s sufferings.\u201d His sufferings were not his own, but they, like everything else about Paul, belonged to Jesus. Commenting on Philippians 3, Perriman elaborates: <\/p>\n Paul\u2019s sufferings \u201cbrought benefit to the church because, on the one hand, they were a product of his apostolic ministry and concern, and on the other, because from affliction sprang comfort in Christ (2 Cor.l:4-7). He looked upon the possibility of dying not as a martyrdom, as death for its own sake, but as a fulfilment of the pattern of Christ\u2019s suffering and, especially if we allow the implications of our interpretation of Philippians 3:11 to run through to verse 14, as the means to attain the prize of resurrection.\u201d <\/p>\n Perriman\u2019s suggestion is helpful. It makes sense of Paul\u2019s language, valorizes Paul\u2019s sufferings as imitations of Christ\u2019s sufferings, but without speculation about Paul\u2019s notions of \u201csomatic or mystical participation\u201d and without undermining the New Testament\u2019s consistent affirmation that the death of Christ is sufficient as an atonement. <\/p>\n Still, there seems to be grounds in the New Testament for thinking of the sufferings of Christians, perhaps uniquely Christians of the apostolic age, as participating in and filling out Christ\u2019s sufferings, or at least of extending the effects of Christ\u2019s suffering. In a recent post, I noted the fact that the church, and the Spirit, begin to spread from Jerusalem after the death of Stephen. Jesus brings an end to the \u201celementary principles,\u201d Paul says, but in Revelation it\u2019s the blood of the saints that makes the harlot so drunk that she falls over forever. Changing the imagery, we can point to the fact that Jesus is the cornerstone of the temple, but that there are other foundational stones to the house of God (Ephesians 2; Revelation 21). Christ is in a sense the sole foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11), yet at the same time other passages show that some believers share this \u201cfoundational\u201d place with Him. <\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In an article some years ago in the Tyndale Bulletin , Andrew Perriman argues that Paul\u2019s statement in Colossians 1:24 about \u201cfilling up what is lacking in Christ\u2019s afflictions\u201d does not refer to eschatological \u201cMessianic woes\u201d nor to an inadequacy in Christ\u2019s personal sufferings that Paul has to complete. Rather, what is lacking is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-nt-colossians","category-theology-soteriology"],"yoast_head":"\n