Paul completed the word of God through his writings in his 14 Epistles, especially in the four epistles of Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Galatians (also called, the heart of the Bible). He was open to the Lord to receive a further revelation concerning the great mystery, Christ and the church.
In his writings we see that we as believers need to subjectively experience the all-inclusive Christ as the life-giving Spirit for the producing and building up of the church as the corporate expression of God. This is what Paul spoke, taught, and lived. This was not a doctrine to him – for Paul to live was Christ (Phil. 1:21), and Christ lived in him (Gal. 2:20).
Seeing the situation of the churches in his days, Paul was burdened to write to them concerning the need to experience Christ and know Christ in a subjective way for the church life, the expression of God. Today we need to ask ourselves,
Do I experience Christ daily in a subjective way? What is Christ to me in my experience? Am I one with all the saints in the church on the proper ground of oneness for the Body of Christ to be built up? Do I care about ministering Christ to others, or do I just do a general Christian work for the church?
We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and be brought back, recovered, and adjusted in our Christian life. We need to complete the word of God in our experience by ministering Christ as the life-giving Spirit to others and by standing with the church as the living expression of Christ on the proper ground of locality.
Who Among Christians Cares about Completing the Word of God?
Paul was commissioned by God to complete the word of God, and he did so both in his writings and in his living. He wrote extensively about matters like being headed up by Christ, allowing Christ to make His home in our hearts, becoming the foulness of God, having Christ revealed in us, Christ being formed in us, building up the Body of Christ, prophesying for the building up, drinking Christ as the living water, the local churches, the church of God, the Body of Christ, the one new man, the corporate warrior, the economy of God, and many other mysteries (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:17a; 1:22-23).
He also completed the word of God in his living, showing us that he considered Christ as the most precious and worthy One, he pursued Christ to gain Him, he lived Christ, for him to live was Christ, Christ was formed in him, he magnified Christ, etc.
But who today cares about completing the word of God? First of all: who sees the completing ministry of Paul, and who cares about ministering Christ as life to others for the building up of the Body of Christ? Also, who experiences Christ in a subjective way daily, taking Him as the living water, the bread of life, the overshadowing rock, the life-supply, and everything?
Who teaches about the way to live by Christ? Do they teach others how to experience Christ and minister Him as the life-giving Spirit into people in the theological schools and seminaries?
Today in the Lord’s recovery we need to be fully recovered back to the Word of God and specifically to the completing ministry of Paul, so that we ourselves may daily experience Christ in a subjective way for the church life on the ground of oneness.
Completing the Word of God in Our Experience
The Word of God has been completed, the Bible is in our hands, and the completing ministry of Paul is in front of us in all his epistles.
But consider your experience: is the word of God completed in your experience? Do you experience Christ daily? Do we enjoy Christ in all the routine, boring, tiring, and daily activities of our daily living? Is the result of our daily experience of Christ a proper church life where Christ is ministered and the life-giving Spirit is flowing among the saints?
We may do many things for the Lord; we may serve in different ways and capacities in the church, but do we see the Body, live in the Body, and keep every principle of the Body of Christ? Are we progressing with the Lord in the experience of life? Do we know the church as the new man?
We need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and receive His mercy to be poor in spirit and recognize that, although the word of God was completed and recorded in the Bible, it is still being completed in us.
We are still in the process of daily learning to subjectively experience Christ in all the details of our daily living so that there may be an issue: the proper church life on the ground of oneness. This is not a theory or a theology to us; the word of God needs to be completed in our experience to the extent that we have Christ revealed in us, living in us, being formed in us, being magnified in us, and being fully expressed through us.
We need to see a revelation of the completing ministry of Paul in the word of God and then abandon ourselves to the Spirit so that He may have a free way to work it out in our being. This is a burden that is on the Lord’s heart, this is the burden of the ministry of the age, and this is our warfare today.
Maybe not all Christians will do this, but at least some, those whose hearts are moved and enlightened by the Lord, would rise up and experience Christ, enjoy Christ, and minister Christ as the life-giving Spirit, standing with the church as the living expression of Christ on the proper ground of locality (1 Cor. 15:45b; 1:2; 12:12-13, 27).
Lord, unveil us to see the completing ministry of Paul in the Word of God and in his living. Save us from living a meaningless Christian life, and save us from not experiencing You and not enjoying You. We give ourselves to You today, Lord, to enjoy You and experience You even in the details of our daily living. We want to experience Christ for the church. May the word of God be completed in us through our daily progression in the experience of Christ as life for the church. We stand on the ground of the oneness with all the saints in our locality for the building up of the Body of Christ!
References and Further Reading
- This article is inspired from brother Ron Kangas’ sharing in this message and portions in, Life-study of Colossians (msgs. 13, 32) as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, “The Completing Ministry of Paul“, week 1 entitled, The Vision and the Commission.
- Sharing on this topic online:
# 4 Simple Ways to Grow in Christ (via holdingtotruth.com).
# Living Christ by Speaking with Him (via achristianoncampus). - Hymns on this topic:
# Life is full of opportunities / Ordered by our Father’s hand: we see / Everything’s the best that it could be, / So let’s gain Christ!
# Our life and all we are and do / Is Christ Himself, the substance true, / That every time we meet anew / We may exhibit Christ.
# It is God’s intent and pleasure / That His Christ may live in me; / Nothing as an outward practise, / But Christ working inwardly.
