Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoicing in the sufferings for you and I am filling up that which is lacking of the tribulation of Christ in the flesh of me the body of him which is the church. Colossians 1:24 I know what you mean by “the construct of the sentence”. I have found that when I have a “sense” about a verse or even sometimes question a typical interpretation or view it’s best to first go to the Greek and the understanding of phrases and words during that time. But then we also need to consider the rest of scripture as it may pertain to that subject. In this case we can dismiss out of hand the Catholic view since we know there is nothing lacking in Christ’s completeness.
Paul mentions the suffering several times in his writing and seems to identify with that suffering. Probably due in part to his own contributions to that suffering as he mentions how he was one of those who persecuted the Christians. In that respect he undoubtedly has a more intimate knowledge or awareness of the suffering. He identifies with the suffering servant in his writing as well. Paul keenly wanted to follow Christ’s example as Peter mentions.
1 Peter 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Paul always “gave it his all” whether he was persecuting Christians or whether he was evangelizing for Christ. It seems his personality was to go all out. So in this passage Paul repeats the root of to fill to stress that the aim of his personal sacrifice—I fill up [antanapleroo] in my flesh—is to complete his mission: to present to you the word of God in its fullness [plerosai].
Thank you. I actually look for errors and discrepancies in Scripture. First of all I know from experience that God’s Word will defend itself
If I find error or discrepancies it means (1) I am misreading the passage in question or (2) what I think I know about other sections of Scripture is incorrect or (3) there is a piece I’m missing that allows the apparent contradiction to be true or (4) there is a mystery at work that I have not become privy to.
I promise to dig into your analysis. I have read many a dissertation on that passage and have not once come away believing the author hit the mark.