WWUTT 1420 Q&A James Coates, N.T. Wright, The Chosen, Ephesians 4:8, Colossians 1:24

Did N .T. Wright teach that you do not have to believe in the resurrection of Jesus to be a Christian? Is the TV show The Chosen biblical? And what does the Bible mean when it says Jesus led out a host of captives?

The answers when we understand the text.

Many of the Bible stories and verses we think we know, we don't. When we understand the text is an online ministry dedicated to teaching the Word of God in context, promoting sound doctrine while exposing the faulty.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, who is not on the program with me today. The pregnant lady needs her rest. But I thank you for staying tuned anyway. We had a baby appointment earlier this week, 19 weeks to the day.

That's how far along Becky, well, was. Now she's a little further along than 19 weeks. But I got the chance to see my son via ultrasound and we saw him yawn. This is our fifth child. I've never seen a baby yawn on an ultrasound before.

It was one of those straightforward shots, too, where you're looking at the image straight into his face. Not the profile, but just right at his face and he yawns at us. He hadn't even heard me preach a sermon yet.

He's already yawning. Anyway, the miracle of life. We are so blessed by God and cannot wait to meet our son in about 20 weeks, God willing. Thank you so much for your prayers and the kind words that you send to us via email.

The address is when we understand the text at gmail .com. We respond to questions from the listeners on the Friday edition of the broadcast. And today we're going to be talking about The Chosen, the TV show that's streaming on VidAngel about Jesus and his disciples.

I get asked about this show a lot, but usually the questions are just like, what's your opinion about it? I've never watched the show, but today a question is phrased a certain way. I think I can give a response.

We're also going to be looking at a recently published what video. I'm responding to a question about Colossians 124 and one about Ephesians 4, 8. But first, I want to mention once again, the Wokeness and the Gospel Conference.

That's coming June 11th and 12th to Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas. This is Tommy Nelson's church. I've been listening to Tommy Nelson for years, never met the man before. So I'm looking forward to meeting him and hearing him live, as well as Dr. Tom Buck, Daryl Harrison of the Just Thinking podcast, Dr. Owen Strand, and many others going to be there as well.

We hope you can make it as we look at some of these worldly philosophies like critical race theory, intersectionality, everything related to wokeness and how it snuck its way into the church. Looking at the true gospel according to scripture and rebuking those who contradict it.

So please join us for the Wokeness and the Gospel Conference coming up June 11th and 12th. Denton Bible Church in Denton, Texas. You can register by going to wokenessandgospel .com. I got an email from Doug and he sent me this link from Derek Sloan.

I don't know who Derek is, but he's apparently a conservative reporter on social media. He had the chance to catch up with Pastor James Coates of Grace Life Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. You've heard us talk about this before.

James Coates was the pastor who was thrown in jail because he chose to keep his church open despite the health mandates that had been made there in Edmonton. He went to jail because he kept his church open.

Then he was let out. And then the police erected barricades, a chain link fence around the church so that nobody could get in. And it was when that fence went up around the church that Derek Sloan had this interview with James Coates.

You're going to first hear Derek's voice and then James responds.

I'm here on the outskirts of Edmonton in front of Grace Life Church. Grace Life Church has been in the news quite a bit lately. In fact, they've been in international news because their preaching pastor, one of their head pastors here, James Coates, who's right beside me here, decided to carry on service even though the government wanted to shut it down because of COVID.

And because of his continuing to run the services, he was actually taken to jail and he was there for 35 days. And I don't know if you wanted to just give us a few comments about your overall experience and maybe just tell us what's going on today.

I see fences behind us. You could just tell us a little bit about what's going on today and what's happened to you over the last few months.

Well, today they have locked us out of our facility. And so until we indicate that we're willing to comply with AHS's health orders, we are not going to have access to our facility. And so we're going to have to figure out and determine how we're going to gather going forward.

And then as far as my time in jail, it was challenging in certain respects and yet a blessing in many other respects. I had ample opportunity to share the gospel. I was able to lead Bible studies with some of the men that were there and had many guys come into my door to speak with me and share their life with me.

And I was able to share the gospel with them and to kind of show you even some of the support and affection that I had while I was in jail. When I left the pod that I was on, you could already begin to hear the inmates in their cells beginning to bang on their doors as they anticipated me leaving.

And I turned around and I waved to the whole pod and the place began to shake as they demonstrated their solidarity, banging on their doors. And it was really an amazing moment. And so even in the remand center here in Edmonton, there's support from the inmates for what we're doing here at Grace Life Church.

So even the criminals who were there justly believe that you were there unjustly. Amen. Yes, sir.

How about that? Praise the Lord that the gospel is spreading in the jails as well as throughout Edmonton because of the courage of James Coates and his church. And may we continue to pray for them that they would stay strong in the midst of this tyranny.

The church has now gone underground, though they cannot get in their building. Chain link fences erected and 200 cops showed up to keep people out of the building. Yet the church still faithfully gathered this past Sunday.

And I pray there would be other pastors as brave as James Coates, other congregations as courageous as Grace Life Church that would stand for Christ even in the midst of this tyrannical persecution that's happening in North America.

Who would have thought? But I hope that you can see plainly this has nothing to do with a virus or keeping people safe. You can go to the grocery store. You can even go to an abortion clinic, but you're not allowed to go to church.

Galatians 416. Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Acts 529. We must obey God rather than men. Heavenly Father, I thank you for Pastor Coates and the courage that you have given to him and to his church.

May they continue to shine a light there in Edmonton and be an example internationally. As this particular reporter pointed out that we would all see the witness of this church and follow in like kind and fear of God and not of man.

In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. All right. This next question has to do with recently what video that I published about the resurrection. Let me go ahead and play the video first and then we'll get to the question.

The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus Is Essential to the Gospel

In 1 Corinthians 15, 3 through 4, the Apostle Paul proclaimed that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures.

Yet some objected and said there is no resurrection of the dead. On Good Friday, Professor Alice Roberts of the University of Birmingham said, just a little reminder today, dead people don't come back to life.

The Reverend N .T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, affirms Christ's resurrection, but has taught you don't need to believe it to be a Christian. I have friends who I am quite sure are Christians, he says, who do not believe in the bodily resurrection.

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. did not believe Jesus rose from the dead, nor did he believe that Christ's death on the cross was even necessary. And he preached this in a sermon in a church on Easter Sunday.

Paul went on to say, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

This is a prophesied, witnessed, and documented historical fact, and an essential doctrine of our Christian faith. Romans 10, 9 says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For all who believe, your sins are forgiven, and you too will rise again when we understand the text. So following that email, I got this question from Rich in England. He says, hey, Pastor Gabe and Becky, happy Easter.

I watched and liked your video posted on the What Facebook page yesterday and shared it on my page. I've had someone challenge the issue regarding Tom Wright's position on the resurrection. That's N .T. Wright.

I've checked the source you quoted, but I'm unclear as to how you've extrapolated the points you've listed as per the attached screenshot. I'd be very grateful if you'd guide me on this issue so that I can respond appropriately.

So I responded to Rich, and I asked him if he would explain what he means by extrapolated. And then he sent this response. He said, hey, Gabe, good to hear back from you so soon. And may I take this opportunity to say how much me and my wife, Debs, just love listening to your podcast, especially when Becky lends a hand because she sounds like the most amazing character.

So loving and caring and compassionate. Yep, you've got it, Rich. We love her little chuckle, too. You're probably well aware that you've been really blessed to have such a lovely, godly woman at your side here.

By the way, I trust your house move went well. We've been following you for years from a little village in the English Midlands, Earthling Borough, which is near Northampton. I know where Northampton is just from my studies on like John Bunyan.

I know where that where that is. He goes on and says, oh, before you think it's all about Becky, you are an extraordinary Bible teacher, too, which is why we love to listen to your teaching from across the pond.

I am truly touched, Rich. Thank you so much for this email. On to the task at hand, he says. What I meant by extrapolating is how have you managed to make the point that N .T. Wright has taught this? The statement that I make there in the video.

Have you drawn that conclusion because he has said that friends, I'm assuming one of them is likely Marcus Borg, who made that statement, are Christians. It's a subtle difference what we can infer from what was said versus what he has actually said or taught.

But perhaps you could expand a little so I can reassure my friend who happens to be a vicar in the local Church of England that I'm not hating N .T. Wright, which he said in response to my sharing your video, but rather through research by your good self via the video.

We're just stating the facts. Cheers, Rich. I love that you concluded that with cheers. Well, yeah, I mean, just very simply stated again. The statement in the video is this. Reverend N .T. Wright, former bishop of Durham, affirms Christ's resurrection, but is taught that you don't need to believe it to be a Christian.

And then the quote from him is this. I have friends who I am quite sure are Christians who do not believe in the bodily resurrection. That was taken from an interview that he did in the Australian April 13th, 2006.

Now, some would say that the statement that N .T. Wright made was regarding his friend Marcus Borg. So is he really teaching that a Christian doesn't have to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to be a Christian?

Or is he just responding to a question? And my answer would be that this is semantics, honestly, because he is the he was the bishop of Durham at the time that he answered this question. The reason why he was contacted and asked this question by the Australian is exactly because he is.

And incidentally, I miss I notice now that I misspelled the Australian on that particular slide. I'm just now catching that. Go me. But anyway, the reason why he was contacted and asked the question that he answered is exactly because he is the bishop of Durham.

So, no, he's not standing up in a formal lecture and giving, you know, making some sort of statement like Christians. You don't even need to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to be a Christian.

But he's still being sought after for his expertise to give a response to this particular subject at hand that's being covered in the newspaper. And N .T. Wright teaches, as the bishop of Durham, that you do not have to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to be a Christian.

And he said this not just about Marcus Borg. He said this about people that he knows. He has Christian friends, he said, who do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, but are still Christians.

Therefore, he would say that about anybody, that you can still call yourself a Christian, though you do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ. And what did Paul say about this in First Corinthians 15, 17?

If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. What did James say about a faith that has no works that affirm that faith? He said that such a faith is a dead faith. It's no faith at all. And that's the same as what Paul is saying regarding a belief in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.

If Christ has not been raised, you have a worthless faith and you are still in your sins. Yes, my friends, this is an essential doctrine. And to deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to is to teach heresy.

Now, N .T. Wright does go on in that interview to say that if a person denies the bodily resurrection of Christ, that they're in serious error. He does go on to say that. I would go even further than that, though.

I would say such a person is a heretic and they're not truly a follower of Christ. What is the point of believing in a savior who has died if he was not also raised? I mean, they're saying the Bible lied.

All four gospels lie when it says that Jesus bodily rose from the dead. His disciples never saw him. The women didn't ever see him. There was never the 500 witnesses or 500 or more brothers that saw him risen from the dead.

As Paul talks about there in First Corinthians 15. No, they're all liars. That's what a person would be saying who denies the bodily resurrection of Christ. Let alone the fact that they deny the justification that God has effected as a result of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection.

For as it says in Romans 4 25, he was raised for our justification. Not just his crucifixion was a propitiation for our sins, but his resurrection from the grave was even so that we would stand justified before a holy God.

Forgiven our sins and made fellow heirs of the eternal kingdom of Christ by faith in him. That's the gospel message. The good news that there is a solution to death. Everyone dies, but everyone who is in Christ will be raised just as Jesus is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep, meaning that he's the first to rise from the dead.

But there are many who there are many others who will come after him who, like him, will not die again. Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he would die again. Jesus was raised from the dead and he will never die again.

He is seated at the right hand of God. We will also die. But in Christ, we will all be raised. Paul goes on to argue there in First Corinthians 15. But that begins with the forgiveness of our sins by faith in Jesus Christ and the work that he did and accomplished his death on the cross.

His resurrection from the grave is ascension into heaven and seated at the right hand of God. The authority that's been given him his return to judge the living and the dead. All of these things one must believe in order to be saved.

So I fear for the man who denies the bodily resurrection of Christ. They call God a liar and they are still in their sins. Exactly what Paul says in First Corinthians 15, 17. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins.

That's why this is such a dire thing that N .T. Wright phrased this the way that he did in a newspaper that circulated worldwide. He taught falsely. It needed to be called out. And it was. Many teachers at that time, when the statement was made back in 2006, did call him out for this and did say that what N .T. Wright was putting forth was heresy.

I hope he corrected the error, but he's been wrong about many other things as well. I won't take up much more time, though, giving other examples. Maybe that'll be a question for another broadcast. But thank you for your question, Rich.

And feel free to share this episode with your friend. It will come up as a video on Facebook. And so you can share the video of the podcast. Not like I'm videoing myself, but the audio gets put into a video form and then you can share that on Facebook also.

The Chosen, Mormonism, and Whether Christians and Mormons Worship the Same Jesus

This next question comes from Ryan and he says, Hello, Pastor Gabe and Becky. What are your thoughts on The Chosen? This is the show that's streaming on vid angel about Jesus and his disciples. He says, I found out something that is disappointing.

Dallas Jenkins, the director of the show in an interview with a Mormon, sadly said that he believes that Christians and Mormons love the same Jesus. Now, when Ryan sent me this email and I saw that name, Dallas Jenkins, I was like, that sounds really familiar.

Where do I know that name from? So I looked it up on IMDB .com and I realized Dallas Jenkins is the director of the film, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. I did a review of that movie back in 2017. Somebody from the film studio contacted me and said, would you watch the movie and do a review?

And I I told the guy straight up, I said, I'm probably going to do a negative review on it, knowing what I knew about the movie. And he said, well, that's fine. We just want the press. We want somebody out there writing reviews of this film so people know about it.

So can you watch it and then do a review within like 48 hours or something like that? So I watched the movie, gave a very negative review of this film, even saying things like I don't know that the director or the writer and director of this movie even understood church, let alone the gospel.

They clearly didn't understand the gospel at all. Dallas Jenkins, who made that film, contacted me upset about my about my review. And we had a little bit of an exchange by email. I didn't change his mind.

He was just deeply offended by some of the things that I said, though. I pointed at scripture. I pointed at things in the film. I looked at scripture and I said, the gospel just isn't here in this movie.

No one is going to be changed because they saw this flick. So now to find Dallas Jenkins. Four years later is the director behind this series on Vid Angel called The Chosen. Here is the interview between Dallas Jenkins and David Snell on a program on YouTube called Saints Unscripted.

As Ryan pointed out, David is a Mormon and Dallas is an evangelical Christian. So I'm going to play portions of this interview and interrupt to correct Dallas's theology.

So you've been pretty open about your faith throughout this project. You're evangelical, evangelical Christian. You're living in Illinois, right? Yes. So what was your reaction or I guess was there a reaction when a bunch of Latter-day Saints from Vid Angel approached you and were like, let's make this happen, you know?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, it's funny. The Latter-day Saints at Vid Angel are fully aware and were fully aware when we first started meeting and talking about this project that that publicly speaking, it might not necessarily be the best thing for the show.

If people know that Latter-day Saints are behind at least the distribution of it. As you know full well in the evangelical community, I'm not necessarily proud to say Latter-day Saints don't have the best reputation.

To put it mildly, yes. And I grew up having certain beliefs about the Mormon or LDS community, whatever. I know you guys are, the terms change a lot or have changed recently. So forgive me if I don't use the proper terminology all the time.

But one of the most interesting things about this whole project has been my relationship with different denominational or faith traditions that I didn't have before. I've learned so much more about the LDS community than I thought I knew.

But that goes for like the Catholic Church as well. Like this show has been uniquely, I've never seen anything like it really, how much it has unified in response multiple faith traditions. Now, once they get together, like on our fan club, there's still a bunch of arguments and shade being thrown at each other.

So it's kind of funny that we're going from N .T. Wright, who was taking away from scripture, saying that you did not need to believe in the bodily resurrection of Christ in order to be a Christian. And now we're listening to Dallas Jenkins defend an entire religion that adds to the Bible.

The Book of Mormon, it says right there on the cover, is another testament of Jesus Christ. This is another gospel. And Galatians 1 8 and 9 says, if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preach to you, let him be accursed.

As we have said before. So now I say again, if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Why is it that Mormons do not have the best reputation among evangelicals, as Dallas said?

But he doesn't give the reason why. Why do Mormons not have a good reputation? Because they believe in another Jesus. This is a completely different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus of the Mormon faith is the literal offspring of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.

Heavenly Father, by the way, is an exalted man. He was a man exactly like you and me who achieved perfection and became a god. He had celestial sex with a goddess who achieved her status just as he did.

And their firstborn son is Jesus Christ. So, therefore, Christ is a created being. Jesus is the one who says that he's going to redeem mankind and become incarnate. So then Elohim, Heavenly Father, has sex with Mary to impregnate her with Jesus.

But she was still a virgin because she had sex with an exalted man and not a human man. That that's how Mormons justify that. And Jesus, by the way, is also the brother. He's the literal brother of Lucifer, Satan himself, who was also the offspring of Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother.

In fact, all of us are spirit children descended from Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. We've been given human bodies. And by believing in the false Jesus that Joseph Smith preached, only then can we achieve godhood.

And we will be given worlds of our own. And with the spouses that we marry in life, we will be populating these worlds with millions and millions of our own offspring, just as Elohim did. This is what Mormonism teaches.

It's completely false. It is an outright lie. This is heresy. And Dallas Jenkins, here he is defending this and saying that it's all OK because we worship the same Jesus. Here he is later on in the interview saying exactly that.

If you're in the LDS community watching the show or watching this interview right now and thinking, that's an evangelical. I'm not sure I can trust him. Or vice versa, that evangelical is being positive towards the LDS community.

I'm not sure I can trust him. I do hope that you'll judge the show on its own merits. But I do think that it's been a beautiful thing to see that we can agree on the stories of Christ. And I think that's what's been so beautiful about seeing the show grow like it has.

You've got Catholics and Jews and Mormons. Again, I'm sorry if I use the wrong term. And evangelicals. We're all loving the same show. And this show is about Jesus. And it's an accurate portrayal of Jesus, I believe.

So maybe, just maybe, we love the same Jesus. I know that may be controversial, but I think it's true. Completely false.

Not true at all. And I really hope Dallas Jenkins, somebody gets a hold of this guy and tells him the truth. I don't know that he's ever known the gospel, given the conversation I had with him four years ago.

And that he's still perpetuating this nonsense. Really troubles my spirit about this man. Now, as for the show itself. Because he says there, let's judge the show on its own merits and not who's funding the show and all this other kind of thing.

Okay, well, what about the show? Now, you might be saying, well, Gabe, you can't say anything about the show. Because you already said you've never watched it before. That's true. But here's what I can say about it, though I've never seen it.

There is no possible way to portray in film or television or anywhere else the holiness of Christ in his humanity. The perfection that Christ was, even in his incarnation. There would be no way to depict that.

And I know how every one of these shows and every one of these movies go. It's wanting to show Jesus as being just like us. Look at how human Jesus was. He was just like us. If that's what you're after, you're missing the point.

I think it's very, very important that we understand that Christ is God incarnate. He is God in human flesh. John says, if you deny that, this is 1 John 4, 3. If you deny that Jesus is God in human flesh, then you are an antichrist.

So this is another essential doctrine. It is necessary to believe that God put on flesh and dwelt among us. But film depictions like this or TV shows or whatever are never going to be able to capture the perfection of Christ.

You still must read the word of God and believe it. The Bible. And that's something I just am not convinced that Dallas Jenkins has ever done. Thank you so much for your question, Ryan. Let's do these last two very quickly.

The Meaning of Ephesians 4:8 and Christ Leading Captives in Triumph

They have to do with a couple of passages of scripture in context. This first one comes from Scott. Hey, Gabe, what does it mean in Ephesians 4, 8, where it says, therefore, when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.

Maybe you can bring clarity as to what this means. Host of captives. Well, let's back up a little bit. Ephesians 4. I'm going to start reading in verse four. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, it says when he ascended on high, he led a host of captives and he gave gifts to men.

That's verse eight. Verse nine says in saying he ascended. What does it mean? But that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth. He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things.

Now, verse eight is a quote from Psalm 68. And this psalm was a hymn of war after David had conquered Jerusalem and seized it from the Jebusites. And God ascended to Mount Zion. Now, whenever a king conquered a city, he would bring home the spoils of war.

And he would also bring back he would bring back prisoners from the war. Now, Psalm 68 mentions that God frees the prisoners of war. So it was those who of the people of God were in prison. They've been set free in Christ.

But the statement there in verse 18 is this is Psalm 68 18. You ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train and receiving gifts among men, even among the rebellious that the Lord God may dwell there.

So Christ, in his victory over Satan and death, has set free those who had previously belonged to Satan. He has brought he has brought those captives with him in his victory. Now, the gifts that Christ distributes are the gifts of the spirit.

This goes back to verse seven. But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. So as he appoints to us gifts that we receive through the giving of the Holy Spirit of God.

This is the way in which that Psalm has been fulfilled through Christ's victory and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that goes to everyone who has faith in Jesus. Take some time and read Psalm 68 and compare that with that passage there in Ephesians four.

And hopefully that as you see how Christ has fulfilled what said there in Psalm 68, it will look all the more glorious to you. This next question comes from Kat. This will be my last one here. She says, Hello, Pastor Gabe.

I hope and pray you and family are settling well in your new place. And congratulations on the news of the baby. Thank you so much. My question is about the word lacking in Colossians 124. What does the apostle Paul mean?

What would he add to Jesus afflictions? Let's go there and look. So Colossians chapter one, I'm going to start reading in verse 21. And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death.

In order to present you wholly and blameless and above reproach before him. If indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. And in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ afflictions for the sake of his body. That is the church of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known.

OK, let's stop there. So that gives a little more context to what we mean by what's lacking in Christ afflictions for the sake of his body. That is the church. Whenever the church is persecuted or whenever any Christian is persecuted, they are being persecuted by people who hate God.

Right. Think about what's going on at Grace Life Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, with James Coates and the Christians who are there. They are being persecuted by the state, by people who hate Jesus Christ.

And Jesus so identifies in fellowship with his followers that to persecute a disciple of Jesus is the same as if Jesus himself were being persecuted. Remember what Jesus said to the Apostle Paul at the time he was called Saul?

It was not yet an apostle. But when Saul was on his way to Damascus to round up Christians to persecute them, what did Jesus say when he appeared to Saul? He said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

In John 15, 18, Jesus said to his disciples, if the world hates you, know that it has it has hated me before it hated you. And in 1 John 3, 13, do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.

The world hates us because the world hates God. And so when we are being persecuted, we are experiencing what was lacking in Christ's afflictions, that there is a world out there that hates Christ and therefore is going to persecute his followers.

It doesn't mean that the work of Christ on the cross wasn't finished. Jesus said it was finished. Atonement had been made, propitiation for our sins by faith in Christ and his finished work on the cross and his resurrection from the grave.

Whoever believes in him, your sins are forgiven and you have everlasting life with God. But his church has not yet come to completion and the afflictions that would be upon Christ continue with the persecution of his church.

So this is this is what is filling up. This is filling up rather what was lacking in Christ's afflictions. And may we rejoice before God that we would be found worthy to suffer for his name. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, endure to the end.

Hold fast to the word of life that we have in the Bible. Thank you so much for listening today. You can submit your questions to when we understand the text at gmail .com. God bless. We'll be back with our teaching in First Corinthians on Monday.

God willing.

This is when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with a church family.

Find a good gospel teaching Christ-centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.