Getting the Fullness of God

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INTRODUCTION. The final step on the ladder to spiritual maturity is getting the fullness of God. There is nothing greater than God’s fullness, so getting it must be the ultimate experience a human being can have on earth (after salvation). Like most things in the Christian life, there are conditions that must be met for this fullness to be obtained, and these need to be examined. We want to learn what is required to receive this extraordinary blessing. The exact content and nature of the fullness of God will be reserved for a future study, but for now we want to understand the means for acquiring it. Whatever it is, it has to be grand.

All of the techniques and methods we have examined in the past play a significant part in this process, to which we will add some things that we have recently extrapolated from Scripture. We give the “old” concepts first, and then we will explore the new things which have been added. Both the old and the new are essential. Our objective is to understand what it takes to get the fullness of God.

Some of the studies which will come into play as part of the pathway to God’s fullness includes the following: the ineffectiveness of law-keeping to save us or make us right; the importance of faith for salvation and the Christian walk; how believers can deal with sin; the roles of mercy, grace, and love in our salvation and growth; the place of Christ and the Holy Spirit in our living the Christian life; and the existence and place of God’s unfailing love. Using these as foundations for understanding and causing our spiritual refinement, we will see what God has designed to enable us to get His fullness. Our goal is to get the “whole measure of all the fullness of God”.

THE FUTILITY OF EFFORTS TO KEEP THE LAW. Believers are people, too, which means that self-awareness, self-care, and some measure of self-trust is inevitable, even among the children of God. Customarily, we see ourselves as responsible for the direction and outcomes of our own lives, and assume that anything good that happens will need to come from our own efforts. This assumption is not entirely misplaced, except that it omits the most important component in our lives and ignores the ultimate power and reason for our existence: God. When our efforts are self-generated and self-propelled, they will have no significance on the divine, infinite scale of God. Yet we cannot shake the sense that WE can do it, and we even embrace the idea that we SHOULD do it. Thus it is that we operate within an illusion that we can please God with our achievements, and that His blessings will flow if we just follow legal guidelines and adhere to what we understand as godly standards. This is our biggest error.

We have written about the futility of our efforts to keep the “law” in virtually all of our writings, and have clearly delineated the folly of a finite being trying to perform acts aimed at impressing an infinite God. The odd thing is that the very actions we think are pleasing God have just the opposite effect. They cause God to be displeased with us, and He has stated this clearly in His Word. Perhaps the most poignant statement of God’s attitude toward “rule-keeping” is found in Gal. 3:1-5, which we quote here entirely:

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.”

Circumcision is a sign of commitment to the law. Committing to the law is all or none. If you are in, you are all in. There is no such thing as split commitment between law-keeping and other systems for godly living. At any given moment, we cannot be somewhat legalistic and somewhat spiritual. These are mutually exclusive. So if we are going to keep the law just “a little”, we have to keep it all. And if we are going to walk in the Spirit, WE CANNOT CLING TO ANY ASPECT OF “GOOD BEHAVING” AS A PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL CONNECTION AND OPERATION!! Put simply, human effort is disqualified and discarded as having any spiritual value whatsoever in God’s system of grace. This is why we are told to “stop trying” (see the earlier article by that name).

We look at life from the inside out, and what we see...all we see...is the world right there in front of us. And since all we see is the world, how can we not see ourselves in it and not think that we alone are the ones who must make good things happen, believing that the world will cooperate and reward us? Applied to the Christian life, we are influenced to assume that good things come from us, and therefore we seek to establish our own righteousness. Rom. 10:3-4 says this:

“Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

This verse reflects the tendency we have to see ourselves as the manufacturers of good. But our best is as “filthy rags”. We need God’s righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ comes at salvation when we initially believe in Him. Other righteousness comes after that time whenever we are living in the power of the Holy Spirit and He is producing His righteousness within us. But the point we are making presently from this verse is that we must not try to establish our own righteousness by attempting to keep the law. Even our best efforts will not enable us to fulfill the law, as per John 7:19a, where Jesus told the law-keepers of His day, “Yet not one of you keeps the law.” James explained why we can’t keep the law in James 2:8-10, where he said the following:

“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Even keeping the new “Law of Love” which Christ brought is impossible, because human beings cannot produce divine love. This means we can’t rely on the law as a system for making us righteous. Adherence to any set of “rules” will not contribute to our salvation or to our Christian lives. Gal. 2:15-16 says this:

“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

Eph. 2:8-9 adds, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Law-keeping cannot save us, and it cannot enable us to live righteously. It can make nothing perfect, according to Heb. 7:18-19a, which says, “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect).” The law has no power to give us the eternal perfection we receive at salvation, and makes no contribution to our growth and maturity after then.

The law also creates a kind of slavery for believers. Gal. 4:9 puts it like this:

“But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles [the law]? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again.”

We are enslaved by attempting to keep the law. We are buried by its avalanche, and will live “under” it. Gal. 4:21 challenged the Galatians with this question: “Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?” To be under the law is to be obligated to all it requires, and no one can do this. Yet being “under the law” means that the legal system of law-keeping is the way we have chosen to live our Christian lives. And we never give up, because we think that if we try long enough and hard enough, we can be successful, and then God will be pleased with us. The lesson we want to learn is that it is the grace system, and not the system of law-keeping, that gives us what we need, and ends up pleasing God. Paul, a former Pharisee, said in Phil. 3:6 that he had achieved a kind of “faultlessness” in the area of law-keeping, saying, “...as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.” Then in verse 9, he contrasts his own human righteousness with true righteousness, or the righteousness of Jesus Christ: “...and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.”

So under the law, we get slavery; under grace, we get the righteousness that comes from God. The law is used to make us aware of our weakness and failures. This has the effect of causing us to see our need for salvation before we believe in Christ, and then prompts us after we are saved to continually confess our sins. Rom. 3:19-20 makes it clear that righteousness will never be achieved through law-keeping, as follows:

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of sin.”

When we break the law, we sin, but the key to not sinning is not accomplished through efforts to keep the law. Rom. 2:12b says, “...and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.” We see that being “under the law” will result in judgment, rather than the achievement of righteousness. Rom. 4:13-15a confirms this, saying the following:

“It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath.”

When we see conformity to a system of do’s and don’ts as the way to achieve righteousness, we choose the law to save us or to make us right before God, and our faith is directed toward the very thing that will cause us to be judged. This will bring condemnation to unbelievers and discipline to believers. Law and faith are exclusive sets; there is no overlap whatsoever. If you are practicing rule-keeping, you are “under the law”; if you are exercising faith, you are out from under the law and under “grace”, or God’s system of righteousness. Gal. 5:4-5 addresses believers who are trying to live their lives under the law, saying this:

“You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from [or “failed”] grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.”

God does not bless us for keeping the law, even though we perpetually think that if we keep the rules by “not sinning”, we will get God’s best. This is backwards. God’s blessings do not come because we keep rules, but because we access his grace techniques and assets. Nothing good ever comes from trying to keep the law. We see this once more in Rom. 3:21-22, which concludes,

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Notice that righteousness comes AWAY FROM THE LAW. There is no righteousness anywhere near the law. When we depend on the law for “goodness”, we negate faith. But when we exercise faith, we give the law its place, which is to show our weakness and our need for God’s strength and righteousness.

Ironically, by rejecting the law as a system of righteousness, we “uphold it”. In Rom. 3:31, after a lengthy advisory about the dangers and pitfalls and uselessness of law-keeping, Paul asks an ironic question: “Do we then nullify the law by this faith?” He then answers: “Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” When we operate in the grace/faith system, the law is “upheld”. This means that it fulfills its purpose, which is to serve as a mirror to our inadequacy. Do you see what this is saying? By choosing faith as our means for pleasing God, we fulfill the law, or uphold it. On the other hand, trying to meet the requirements of the law, or “trying hard”, will have the effect of placing us under the law as its slaves, and we will perpetually fail to meet its standards.

Law-keeping is attractive, because it gives us something concrete that we can “do”, but this is not the way to the full life that God has in mind for us. This will come only through faith, as we shall see.

Rom. 3:27-28 gives an apt contrast between faith and law-keeping as the way to acquire and exhibit righteousness. This passage says the following:

“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”

A clear contrast is seen between “believing” and “following the rules” for justification and cleanliness. Rom. 9:30-32a adds this:

“What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.”

Neither salvation nor the Christian life involves “doing”. They involve “receiving”. We receive salvation through faith, and then we live the Christian life by faith. Faith enables us to receive what we cannot acquire by what we do.

Further contrast between faith and law-keeping is seen in Gal. 3:10-12, which says this:

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them’.”

The believer who lives by rules must live by them perfectly for them to be of value. This has not happened in all of human history, excluding Jesus Christ, of course. We are saved by faith, and we must live by faith. Gal. 2:17-21 gives affirmation to this truth, saying this:

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

The Christian life is not rule-keeping. It is the life of Christ! He lives through us; otherwise, the life we are living is not His, even though His Spirit indwells us. Believers can live and think independently of God, seek their own pathways in the world, and trust in the law, the world, and themselves for fullness in life. But the complete life, the life that is “real life”, will not be found, apart from the saving life of Christ operating through them. If we could do it on our own, Christ would not have died. He died because we CANNOT do it without Him. The key to His living through us is faith, and this faith is strengthened by using God’s grace techniques and assets, which we have seen many times before, and which we will review as we anticipate opening the pathway to the “fullness of God”.

CRUCIAL TECHNIQUE: DEALING WITH SIN. God does not condone sin, and will punish it in some way and to some degree, as long as it remains on the sin record of a believer. It is important to understand that sin must be cleared from our record for us to have fellowship with God and enjoy the benefits of His presence within us. The stain of sin on our ledger negates our peaceful walk with the Father, and truncates His power within us. We always remain His children, but we are not in His “good graces” when sin goes untended in our lives.

When we sin, we can anticipate God’s discipline. The purpose of discipline is to drive us back to grace, where we will find mercy and forgiveness in God’s grace. And when sin is great, grace stretches to match the kind and size of the sin, if we exercise our privilege of confessing them for forgiveness. So is this a ticket to sin freely without repercussion? Of course not! Paul said, in Rom. 6:1-2: “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” The purpose of “increased grace” is to show that no sin is too great for God to forgive, if we follow His method for availing divine mercy.

John indicated that his purpose for writing the first epistle of John was so that his audience would no longer sin. 1 John 2:1a says, “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will no sin.” But then he turns around in the second half of this verse and says, “But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” He had just said in 1 John 1:8 and 10 that we ALL sin, without exception, so the phrase, “if anybody does sin”, as seen in 2:1b, must mean, “if anybody sins, and we all will". And what happens when we do? Jesus Christ intercedes for us, and He has never lost a case yet, because He appeals to the Father with His finished work on the cross.

We will sin! John knew it. God knows it. And every believer should know it. We will never achieve sinless perfection. Knowing that we will sin leaves us with a need to address the sins we commit, which takes us to 1 John 1. This chapter talks about accessing God’s cleansing of our sins through confession, which restores fellowship with God. Verse 9 tells us that confession will expunge and remove the sins we commit, and completely clear our sin record. Then and only then will we be in communion with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and have His control and energy restored within our hearts. And only at that time will we have the benefit of increased strength to manage and reduce the practice of sin in our lives. This, as we have said many times, is the product of the control of the Spirit, complemented by a steady progression toward maturity.

Jer. 2:32b, with Jer. 2:35, tell us it is not good to say we have not sinned, which is a refusal to acknowledge our sins in honest confession. This passage says, “Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number....you say, ‘I am innocent; he is not angry with me.’ But I will pass judgment on you because you say, ‘I have not sinned’.” God will discipline the kind of pride that will not admit sin. What is it that God wants from us? Self-generated good deeds? No. He wants us to realize our inability to manage sin by ourselves, and He wants us to acknowledge His grace in forgiving our wrongdoings. He wants us to see that our imperfections are not as great or important as His love and forgiveness. Ironically, by admitting our sins, we are strengthened against sin by being restored to fellowship with God.

To confess our sins, we must recognize them. Fortunately, as we move toward maturity, we have a better discernment of good and evil. Heb. 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” Evil is often disguised as good, and can be hard to see, especially given the daunting urges of the sinful nature, which is blind to evil and its effects. But growth and maturity enlightenment us, so that we can see evil for what it is. And when we SEE evil within and without ourselves, we will be able to confess it and maintain our fellowship with God.

Discipline is designed to prompt us to see our mistakes and confess them, so that we can return to service to the Lord fully empowered by His Spirit to perform the work of His Kingdom of Light. But discipline is not our greatest motivator for confession; it is love. Rom. 2:4 says, “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” God’s love and mercy and kindness lead us...urge us...to confess our sins. And when we confess, forgiveness comes. Ps. 51:1-4 confirms the involvement of confession in forgiveness, saying the following:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”

1 Cor. 11:31-32 conveys the same concept, saying this:

“But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we [believers] are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.”

Our being cleansed and no longer “judged” is not a matter of “stopping” the sin, so much as it is acknowledging it, and seeing it as God sees it. Over time, sin will subside, when we use God’s method for dealing with it, and we will increasingly fulfill John’s goal, which is that we “not sin”.

When our focus is on God, sin will be reduced. If our focus is on “not sinning”, some changes might occur, but they will be spotty and inconsistent, and will probably just become more subtle, but no less deadly. The ultimate outcome of self-effort in trying to battle sin will be an eventual increase in sin, and when this happens, spiritual production will be minimized, or halted altogether.

When we sin, what should we do? Agonize at length, vow never to do the “thing” again, do penance, hide? No! We are to CONFESS our known sins to God with the assurance that He will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). And then we should RESUME OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES WITH CONFIDENCE AND COMMITMENT TO GROWTH AND A CLOSER WALK WITH GOD! Move on! When God forgives, we should accept this by faith and keep on going. We don’t have time to pine away in guilt over our failings...just confess and get up and go. 1 Sam.12:20 encapsulates this very well, saying, “’Do not be afraid,’ Samuel replied. ‘You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart’.” To hang on to guilt and remorse AFTER we have confessed is to discount the grace and power of God. It is fine to be ashamed before we have confessed, but to do so afterward is a repudiation of grace and a hindrance to service. The amount of time we should spend before returning to service after we confess...is NONE!

When Samuel indicated that we should not “turn away from the Lord”, but “serve”, he implied that something can happen when we do evil that can prevent us from entirely "walking away" from God. That something bridges the gap between “doing evil” and being qualified to “serve”. That something is forgiveness, and from what we see repeatedly in Scripture, this comes to believers only through confession of sins in some form. I believe the base condition seen in confession is humility, a sort of perpetual awareness of God’s greatness and bigness. This allows us to confess openly, and keeps us from “turning away”, even when we sin, because the attitude of confession is constantly present. The result is constant cleansing.

With constant cleansing comes the unbroken control and power of the Holy Spirit, without which no good can be accomplished. When the condition of our “being” reflects a connection with God, our “doing” will follow, because the Holy Spirit will be performing His work through us. Grace will correct our “being” when we operate in humility and faith. Only then will what we are “doing” have any impact. Correct being, then, precedes correct doing.

As we learn to walk in humility, and confess as often as we pray (non-stop), we will grow into greater maturity, and spirituality will become a constant in our lives. With greater growth and fellowship, even our choices will be shaped by the Word and the indwelling Spirit. God is the focal point of all growth and spiritual connection, and our attention to ourselves should be limited to an attitude of humility and an abiding thirst for Him. When we seek God because we know we have no life without Him, the rest will follow. When our eyes are on Him, we draw on His strength. When our eyes are on ourselves and our own needs and abilities, sin will easily dominate. To deal with sin, we do not look at the sin, for any longer that it takes to confess it; we look always toward the One who has the power to forgive it. (See Rom. 3:20, compared with 1 John 1:9.)

Gal. 5:16-17 (NET) says the following:

“But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want.”

When we confess our sins continually, and build our faith through study, prayer, and God’s training, we will be able to “live by the Spirit”, or “walk by the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25, NET). This is our singular goal: to walk by the power of the Holy Spirit, so His divine good can be produced in and through us. When we mature to the point that we can do this, sin will have no place or power in our lives. When we can walk in the infinite power of God, the character of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ will be formed within us, and God will be glorified. Gal. 4:19 says, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you...” When this happens, His character will displace ours, and we will shine with His light.

THE UNDERPINNING FOR RECEIVING GOD’S FULLNESS: GOD’S MERCY, GRACE, AND LOVE. We could go on and on about God’s divine essence, but we are currently reviewing principles that will help us understand how to receive the fullness of God, so we will look primarily at God’s mercy, grace, and love, since these divine qualities contribute most to the process of God dispensing His fullness.

GOD’S MERCY. God’s mercy is rich and full, as are His love and grace. We will look at each of these individually, and see how they contribute to our becoming eligible for the fullness of God. Without these qualities, we would not have a relationship with God, let alone be qualified for His fullness. Eph. 2:4-10 describes the operation of God’s mercy, in conjunction with the other qualities of God that we will note: grace and love. Here is what this passage says:

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

As a result of the qualities of God, and His perfect plan, we are able to have a relationship with Him by a simple act of believing that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He rose from the dead. God shows mercy and forgives us when we believe (salvation) or confess (Christian living), not because we deserve it, but because of His mercy—generated by love, enacted by grace.

God’s mercy is extolled throughout Scripture. For example, we see His mercy cited in the Psalms. Ps. 106:1 says, “Praise Jehovah! Give thanks to Jehovah, for He is good; for His mercy endures forever” (A Literal Translation of the Bible). Ps. 103:17 says, “But the mercy of Jehovah is from everlasting, even to everlasting, on those who fear Him...” (A Literal Translation of the Bible). James 5:11b adds, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

The word “mercy” is often translated “love” in Scripture, but we distinguish mercy from love, because we want to see the nuances of difference between them. God’s love is the underpinning for everything, and mercy is an extension of that love. The function of mercy is to spawn forgiveness. This is what we see in Acts 2:38-39, which says this:

“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

We have discussed in previous studies several topics embedded in this passage, and will not use space to review them here, except to say that “repent” is changing one’s mind about the gospel; “be baptized” means to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, which places us into union with Christ; the “gift of the Holy Spirit” is His coming to dwell within all believers; and the “calling” is the process of God recognizing those who have a desire to have a relationship with Him and getting the gospel message to them. The main point we want to glean from this passage is that the primary event at salvation is the “forgiveness of sins”. The work of Jesus Christ is completed, so He is now sitting at the right hand of His Father, while the Holy Spirit is completing the work of God’s plan on earth. All of it is a labor of love, and the product of mercy. And forgiveness is the outcome.

Rev. 1:5b (NET) gives the right perspective of the work now completed, which has enabled our salvation, saying, “To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood.” The labor is one of love, the product is forgiveness, and the outcome is freedom...or deliverance from condemnation. Matt. 26:28 fleshes this out further, declaring, “This is the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (See also Heb. 9:22 and 1 John 2:12.) Mercy brings forgiveness, and we are the beneficiaries of eternal life. This forgiveness is completed through the blood of Christ, a benefit we did not work for.

When forgiveness is completed it is absolute. There are no residual stains that remain after forgiveness is enacted. The removal of sins, once conditions are met, is unequivocal and eternal. This applies to forgiveness through salvation, and the forgiveness we receive when we confess our sins as believers. God will not remember our sins after they are forgiven. Jer. 31:34b says, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Heb. 10:17b echoes this declaration, saying, “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” And Rom. 4:7-8 adds, “Blessed  are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” There is no cleansing like God’s, and it comes to every penitent believer.

Forgiveness is crucial. We cannot count on being “good”...we will sin, even when we are generating “human good works”. This means we must count on being “forgiven”. Ironically, it is through our acknowledgement of our “not-goodness” that this forgiveness comes (1 John 1:9). God alone forgives (Ps. 85:2), and He alone causes “goodness”. He will never hold our failings against us, but WE MUST SEEK FORGIVENESS for His mercy to operate and bring this about.

God’s infinite mercy has us covered, regardless of the duration or intensity of a carnal state of either depravity or self-righteousness (both are equally bad). And He doesn’t groan when we come to Him for forgiveness, saying something like, “Oh, it’s you again. I’m beginning to think you are hopeless. But alright, I’ll overlook your mistakes this time, but my patience is running thin.” This is the typical view people have of God. But the thing we will learn is that God’s patience, mercy, grace, and love are tireless and endless, as long as we COME TO HIM for forgiveness. In fact, God LOVES to show us mercy. Micah 7:18-19 says the following about God’s mercy and forgiveness:

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot.”

Instead of perpetual anger, God shows consistent mercy, but what is more: God LOVES to show mercy. I believe this is because He is satisfied with His plan for mankind, and is greatly pleased (I might even use the term “proud”) of His Son’s completed work. So He delights in showing mercy to those who come to Him for forgiveness. Forgiveness features and highlights the work of Jesus Christ, because this is the primary effect of His sacrificial work.

Paul himself was a good example of the operation of God’s mercy. This is what we see in 1 Tim. 1:15-16, which gives us the following:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”

Paul was the “worst” of sinners, yet he found forgiveness. God shows mercy to the worst of us, so that the patience of Christ will be shown to those who believe in Him. “Eternal life” begins at that time, the first phase of which will be lived out here on earth. During this initial period of our eternal lives, we will be looking for God’s continued mercy, because we continue to sin, even though we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and are children of God. Because we sin, we need forgiveness, which is why God has supplied believers with confession as the means to receive it.

GRACE. Our job is not to keep the law, as expressed in both the Old and New Testaments, but to participate in the completed work of Jesus Christ, so that the law can be fulfilled by grace methods. As we learn how to operate in grace, we must be aware of how deficient we are to meet any of God’s standards, many of which are expressed in the old law. This awareness helps us see and cite our sins in confession to the Father, which amounts to confession. There are some who seem unaware of the sins they commit; they glide gleefully along with no concern that they are stained by their own sin. But as we refine our understanding of God’s character and methods, we will see more clearly the enormity of our errors, and the greatness of His grace.

God’s standards are pure and exact, and as we grow and see what sin is and where it comes from, we will refine our sin-filtering process to detect sin’s presence more readily. This will make us conscious of the stringency of God’s requirements and our own inability to meet them. We will be left with the distinct realization that more is required of grace than we have understood...grace must forgive and overcome the sins we continually commit.

Grace in the Christian life is accessed through humility. Humility is our response to a view of God as perfect, and ourselves as imperfect. It is a clear view of our inadequacy to meet God’s standards by ourselves. Humility is an accurate assessment of our abilities, which bakes down as unmitigated insufficiency. Humility reflects to God our own admission that we are inadequate to please Him in and of ourselves. This is the attitude that God looks for, because it is appropriate, for starters, but also because it venerates His superiority. Humility is the core of confession, and the essence of God’s condition for our forgiveness. Humility brings forgiveness. Forgiveness brings purity. And purity results in performance. James 4:4-10 describes this process very well, as follows:

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

With humility, we are in an attitude of surrender and confession to God. He looks at the heart and sees when we are sincere and contrite...when we acknowledge our helplessness to Him. He does not need our strength, ability, or beauty...and shallow words mean nothing to Him. He sees our motives. God needs us to see Him for what He is, and to recognize what worms we are by comparison. Yet He loves us, and when we acknowledge Him, He will purify us and lift us up. That is the grace of God at work.

There will be no greatness coming from us that does not come first from Him. The whole notion of how great we are, just because we are His children, is totally misleading. We are what we are ONLY by His grace (1 Cor. 15:10), and we can quit with all the bravado and breast-beating over what mighty warriors we are, and how Satan and the world and sin don’t stand a chance against us. This is exactly the attitude Satan wants us to have, because we are easy take-downs when we stand and fight with anything we have or are...apart from God’s grace and power.

Once we have reached a point of humility, we are ready to move forward in the grace system...through faith. Our participation in grace begins with “purity”, or being “cleansed”, as we have said. Then it is sustained by faith. Rom. 4:16a tells us, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace.” Faith is the key to accessing grace. Rom. 4:4-5 contrasts faith with other systems for accessing God’s favor, such as “works”. This passage says this:

“Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

This tells us we should stop trying and start believing. When we do this, we can expect “greater grace” to operate. Cleanliness restores fellowship; faith keeps it going. These work in tandem to keep us plugged in to the power of the Holy Spirit, Who will then provide instruction and impetus for growth. The Spirit will then strengthen us against sin. Grace alone can do this; not determination, resolve, or self-effort.

We are invited to come to the place where fellowship with God is readily available...which is at His throne of grace. Heb. 4:16 tells us what we will find there, saying, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Notice the sequence: Come to God, receive mercy and forgiveness, and walk away with the help of God’s grace, which will MEET OUR NEEDS. This “boldness” is not self-confidence, but confidence in God’s mercy and grace, assured that He will forgive us and restore us. And this is where grace is found: at the throne.

Several principles can be given concerning grace, as we see in the following:

1.      We are saved by grace. Eph. 2:8a—“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith...”

2.      Grace is the basis for production. 1 Cor. 3:10—“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.”

3.      Grace generates service. Rom. 15:15-16a—“I have written you quite boldly on some points, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles...”

4.      Grace leads to proper conduct. 2 Cor. 1:12—“Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.”

5.      Grace works through God’s power. Eph. 3:7—“I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.”

6.      We are what we are by God’s grace. 1 Cor. 15:10a—“But by the grace of God I am what I am...”

7.      God’s grace is sufficient, but we are not. 2 Cor. 12:9—“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in [your] weakness’.”

God’s power is aimed directly at us, and grace tempers it to make it operable in our lives. Grace gives benevolence to God’s power, because His strength is overshadowed by His love. Grace has designed an entire system of operations in which we must learn to operate in order to claim its benefits. This system is about relinquishing our will and our agenda to God, so He can do through us what we cannot do alone.

LOVE. We are aware of God’s righteousness and justice, and yet we see a different side of Him in His love, especially His love for us. God’s standards for His created beings will never change or diminish, yet we do not meet them, so how can God refrain from addressing us exclusively from the side of His character that reflects righteousness and justice? How can He love us, since we fall so far short of what He requires? The resolution between the polar states in God’s character has been studied and stated completely, and we know the story: God planned for resolution to take place through the cross. God satisfied His justice by letting His Son pay the penalty for our sins, and He placated His perfect righteousness by imparting to each believer the righteousness of His Son. When He looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ. This opens up God’s love, to make it the prevailing protocol for His dealings with His children. He loves all of mankind, but He does not “adopt” those who reject Him and His plan. We have special love from God.  

We are adopted...children of God...recipients of His fatherly love. This places us in a special position of privilege which enables us to associate directly with the Spirit of God, and draw directly on all the assets He makes available. Because God has provided a way for us to relate to Him, we have His unfailing love in our lives. Ps. 33:22 says, “May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Ps. 33:18 parrots this, saying, “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” There are twenty-six verses in Ps. 136, and every one of them ends with the phrase, “His love endures forever.” We are recipients of God’s boundless, unchanging, unflinching love. As unfitting as it seems, we have great value in the eyes of the infinite Creator of this universe. (There are reasons that God notices such infinitesimally small creatures on a tiny speck of a planet called “Earth”, but that is a topic for discussions seen elsewhere, especially those offered in the book, God’s Training Program for Believers: Preparation for Living; see especially the chapter titled, “The War Against God”.)

God loves us. And every doctrine or truth that we study and understand is based on this reality. When we understand God’s love, we have in hand the most important truth in all of Scripture. All of His plan and His dealings with us emanate from this love. Ps. 103:8 says, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” Ex. 34:6-7a adds this:

“And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”

Here’s the plan of God: He loves us, so He has found a way to forgive our “wickedness, rebellion and sin”. And because His love includes “faithfulness”, or a kind of immutability, nothing will ever separate His children from His love. Rom. 8:38-39 spells out the kinds of things that cannot remove God’s love from us, as follows:

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We are surrounded and kept safe and secure forever by God’s love. He has devised a way for our failings not to disrupt or block the flow of His love toward us, by providing forgiveness for our sins. Ps. 103:9-12 states it this way:

“He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”

We get a mere glimpse of the immensity of God’s love for us. The closest we can come is the love that a father has for his children. There is nothing like it, yet we can multiply this love by infinity; that’s how great God’s love is. Notice that God’s love is focused on His children, but also notice that some of His children receive extra-special favor; these are the ones who “fear God”. Fear is awe, respect, reverence, acknowledgement, and trust. When a believer matures to the point that these qualities occupy His attitude toward God, then a special love will be operating to sustain and bless that believer. Fear of the Lord, then, is desirable, and we want to highlight it briefly. We see this fear in many passages, a few of which are included here:

1.      Prov. 3:7-8—Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

2.      Job 28:28—And he said to man, “The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.”

3.      Ps. 34:7—The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.

4.      2 Cor. 7:1—Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

5.      Prov. 16:6—Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord a man avoids evil.

6.      Ex. 20:20—Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

7.      Prov. 3:6—In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

We participate in God’s love for Christians by “fearing” Him, or by trusting Him intently. The love we get from ongoing faith in God will not be experienced in any other way; it comes only from God. 1 John 4:7 tells us that “love comes from God”, which—according to Rom. 5:5—is “poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit”. In fact, love is said to be a “fruit” of the Spirit, as per Gal. 5:22a, which says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...” Fruit is something that grows and is produced, so this is the love that is “in us” and that is then generated “from us”. But the love is “from God”, and is always His...we can never duplicate it or imitate it. Only God can love with “God’s love”.

God’s love is unfailing and unchanging toward us, and we participate in and exhibit this love only when we have achieved spirituality and maturity. It is not a matter of self-will or self-effort. It comes from God alone. 2 Thess. 3:5 says, “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance [faithfulness].” We love effectively and correctly only to the degree that God is producing His love through us. 1 Thess. 3:12 says, “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” Who does the increasing? Us? No. Only God.

By staying in fellowship through confession, walking in the Spirit by faith, praying continually, and growing through study and training, we can experience and operate within God’s love. 1 John 2:5a says, “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.” When we follow the prescriptions of God’s Word, use His techniques, and access His grace assets, we will see God’s love “made complete” in us. This does not happen by itself, just because we are saved; we must receive it—God’s way—for it to take effect. 1 Pet. 1:22-23 tells us this: “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” Both the method and the outcome are cited in this verse: “purify yourselves” by God’s methods and sincere love will be forthcoming. The method for purification, which must be “obeyed” is confession. After confession, “sincere love” can occur.

Those who love, then, have all sins confessed, and are abiding continually in a state of fellowship with God. 1 John 4:16 frames it this way: “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us [because we are in fellowship]. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” The term “living” here is not eternal life, but temporal living in fellowship with God. When we are in fellowship, we are “living”, or “abiding” in Him, and that is when we are “living in love”. 2 John 1:3 tells us that Jesus Christ is “with us in truth and love”. Verse 6 tells us to “walk in love”, which is added to “walk in the truth”, “walk by faith”, and “walk in the Spirit”, which we have seen in previous studies. We are now told to “walk in love”. This is obviously an advanced stage of maturity, or the ultimate in meeting God’s requirements. Walking in love is the highest walking path of all.

Our general relationship with fellow believers should always be characterized by kindness, benevolence, compassion, and consideration. When we interact with each other, our attitude should be one of humility and graciousness. But there are specific ways in which we are to interact which comprise, I believe, our purpose for coming together and functioning as a team or as a “body”. These have to do with the operation of our gifts. The main conduit for love, and the greatest evidence for love’s presence, is seen in the “exchange of gifts” among believers. When believers mature and walk in the Spirit, and extend themselves to other believers through the operation of their gifts, God’s work gets done...correctly and in a timely manner.

1 Cor. 14:1a says, “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts...” Love is linked to the development and utilization of our gifts. Exercising our gifts in the service and edification of others is the highest expression of God’s love through us. He gives us specific gifts to edify each other, and we exhibit His love when we use these gifts to help and support and prepare each other. Eph. 4:11-16 describes this process very well, giving us the following:

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love [edifying each other], we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Emphasis mine)

The motivation for the operation of our gifts is love. The objective is greater maturity, so all members of the church can function with maximum efficiency in the operation of their gifts, thus strengthening the whole body and yielding the greatest results possible in support of the Kingdom of Light. By “growing up into Him”, we will be “built up in love” and “each part will do its work”. We will be “equipped for works of service”. This is how it is supposed to work. This is how the job gets done.

But notice again: the “gift”, its motivation and operation and outcome, all come from God. And notice what will come when the church machine operates efficiently and maturity is optimized: We will “attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”. This is the greatest manifestation of God’s love and the highest fulfillment of His will for us: the receipt of his “fullness”. Through the inter-operation of all our gifts, we can mature to the point that we can get this “fullness”. We will have more to say about this shortly.

We have looked for love in the right place, and know now that it comes from God, that it has a specific operational component in the operation of our gifts, and that the outcome of love goes beyond provision and privilege...extending to the acquisition of the very “fullness” of our Creator.

THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN GRACE OPERATIONS. The Holy Spirit is the key to all grace operations. The grace is His, since the Holy Spirit is none other than God. He provides the power for the unfolding of the Father’s plan. With the function of the Holy Spirit, we have the prospect of having the “life of Christ” lived out through us, and we have the freedom and impetus to behave and think correctly. All cleanliness and holiness comes to us through the Holy Spirit of Christ, and nothing we will ever accomplish will be done without His direction and energy. With the filling and control of the Holy Spirit, we have the strength to resist sin (coming at us from the devil, the world, and our own sinful nature), and we have the capacity to allow God to fulfill His will through us.

A quick side-note on the “filling of the Spirit”. Eph. 5:18 commands us to be “filled” with the Spirit rather than alcohol, the implication being that whatever fills us, controls us. To be filled, we must be cleansed, since the first chapter of John tells us that when we walk in darkness (sin), we have no fellowship with God. And the only way for believers to be cleansed is by the confession of their sins. It then follows that cleansing leads to fellowship, which leads to the filling of the Spirit, which we sustain according to the strength of our faith, and which we will enjoy until our next sin. As we mature, sin lessens, and fellowship will be sustained, so that we can grow more, and walk more-consistently in the strength of the Spirit. The filling of the Spirit is the pathway to maturity, and that is how we become a significant tool for God to use in the implementation of His plan on earth.

The question may arise as to how we can sin when we are filled and “controlled” by the Spirit. The answer is simple. We never, for as long as we are on the earth, lose our free will. We will always have the ability to choose evil over good. The control of the Spirit stops at the line of our freedom of choice, and when we choose evil, the control of the Spirit terminates until we confess. When we confess, we are restored, and the Spirit resumes control...and the beat goes on.

When we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, He provides spiritual energy for operating in God’s grace system. Gal. 5:16-25 makes this clear, saying the following:

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with [walk by] the Spirit.”

We will live by the Spirit...or by the flesh...at any given time. When we are controlled by the Spirit, He can produce His fruit in us. When we are not, our sinful nature will produce sin or self-righteousness.

We need the power of the Holy Spirit, because without it, we can never experience the “fullness of God”. Eph. 3:16-18a tells us about this power, saying this:

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people...”

This power is the missing ingredient in most Christian lives, and in most churches. Without this power, we will be helpless against sin, and will not be able to do God’s will. Only with the Holy Spirit teaching us, moving us, and strengthening us will we be able to learn truth, do what is right, and find out what pleases God. Eph. 5:10 tells us to “find out what pleases the Lord”. Verse 17 tells us to “not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” Part of reaching the pinnacle of maturity is coming to understand the will of God in all its aspects, and then we will know exactly how to please Him. In the meantime, we can pray, with David, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Want to know God’s will? Ask to be taught. At some point, you will know it. And by the time you know God’s will, you will also have learned how to harness and live in the power of the Holy Spirit, Who can then enable you to fulfill the will that you are increasingly understanding.

HOW TO BE FILLED TO THE MEASURE OF ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD. To prepare to receive the “fullness of God”, we must reach maturity through purity, study, training, and the operation of gifts from others around us. These all blend to become one package, composed of all the grace assets, techniques, promises, and operations that God makes available to us. We have been trained through these grace assets and techniques. They have brought us to this point. Now, to ensure that we have these clearly established in our hearts, we will conduct a brief overview of them, after which we will see the "new" principle, and present the final step in our preparation to receive God's best...His fullness. We will see at last, the open path to God Himself...all of Him.

We want everything God offers. We want His forgiveness, His provision, His strength, His guidance, His blessings, and His peace. But the thing we need the most is His love. After we have done it all: confessed regularly, studied faithfully, prayed continually, trained rigorously, and trusted extensively, we will reach the summit of the Christian life, which is to love deeply. This is not a gushing, doting kind of love, but a genuine and abiding caring for the spiritual condition of our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we love as God loves, we will also attend to and pray for other types of needs as God directs, including the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of Christians in our periphery. But our greatest concern will be for the growth and spiritual walk of fellow-believers...and the greatest contribution we can make to their status and progress will be through the exercise of our gifts.

We have discussed gifts in some detail. For a quick reference, see the article, “Gifted Service and Love”. The exercise of our gifts is the most direct and fruitful way that we can love those who share our union with Christ. We know that our gifts...those special qualities and abilities in each of us which God graciously designed and distributed so we can strengthen each other...operate in the power of the Holy Spirit, without which no meaningful service can be performed. When we mature sufficiently that our gifts are functioning in God’s strength, the fruit of the Spirit will be seen in the edification and advancing maturity of those it helps.

When we reach the point that we are wrapped in God’s love, and that love is being faithfully expressed through our gifts, then we will be nearing a level of maturity that qualifies us to be filled with “fullness”. To this advancing maturity, we can add a consistent walk in the Spirit, which is an outcropping of cleanliness and strong faith. The qualities needed to get “fullness” are coming together, and include these: maturity that reaches a sufficient level that God’s love is in evidence; spirituality that bears the fruit of the Spirit; and a complete understanding of God’s mercy, grace, and love...including full knowledge of how these operate in the lives of believers. It’s all beginning to crystallize.

Col. 2:9 says this: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form...” This tells us that, whatever the “fullness of God” is, it lived in Jesus Christ. He Himself did not retain His deity on earth, so the “fullness of the Deity” had to be in the form of the Holy Spirit. We are in union with Him, and can have the same resources He had to maintain God-consciousness and holiness. Verse 10, following the verse just quoted, says, “...and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” Fullness is available.

We want this fullness. This is why we search for ways to get it. So we want to break it down and walk it forward. We have these assets: cooperative interaction of our gifts, faithful study of the Word, and the function and power of the Holy Spirit within us. These provide the means to lead us to maturity and prepare us to receive God’s fullness.

One final word on gifts: Gifts facilitate our study and our walk in the Spirit, as we have discussed. Eph. 4:12-13 says this about gifts...that they achieve the following...which brings us to the brink of “fullness”:

“...to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

Complete maturity is the key to fullness, but notice what this requires: the unified operation of a large number of mature believers exchanging the benefits of their collective gifts. This results in greater refinement of each other...and of others who join us. Notice also that the attainment of maturity involves assimilating the knowledge of the Son. When we are loaded up with understanding of Scripture, and fully comprehend the operation of God’s grace among the human race, we will be qualified by His Spirit for “works of service”, and we will be nearing completion of our preparation to receive the fullness of God.

Col. 1:9-11a explains that the receiving of wisdom and understanding enables us to grow and to access the supernatural power that we need to take the final step into God’s fullness. This passage says this:

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father...”

We must emphasize again our need for the power of the Holy Spirit in order for us to proceed toward the ultimate level of spiritual growth and experience, and we must be clear that we will never see the fullness of God without a maximum assimilation of this power.

 Eph. 3:14-21 provides a full discussion of the process for getting the fullness of God. We quote here this entire passage. Read this carefully:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Paul’s first prayer in this passage is that we will have the strength of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (inner being), so that “Christ may dwell in our hearts”. When Christ is “dwelling” in our hearts, this means that He is comfortable, fully at-home, and completely in-charge within our hearts. He, by His Spirit, controls us, which means we are walking by means of His Spirit. The first prayer in this passage concludes the “blend” of operations that gets us ready for the main event...the filling. Only one more thing is needed.

Paul’s second prayer ushers in the “one more thing” that we need in order to get the “fullness” of God. The one thing is this: to have the power to “grasp”, or take possession of, the full scope of the love of Christ. Paul extends this, saying that we must “know” this love, which means we must have absolute knowledge of it. By the time we truly understand God’s love, including His mercy and grace, and have absolute knowledge of how it operates in our lives, we will have reached a level of maturity that will qualify us to be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Then God can express His love toward us in exceptional ways, far beyond what we can measure or ask for or imagine. There is no limit to what God can give us IN THIS LIFE, when we reach the point that we fully understand and receive His love, and arrive at the point where His power completely controls and directs us.

So here it is: To get God’s fullness, we must move beyond mere comprehension of, or even agreement with, concepts in the Word, even those that cite the workings and provisions of grace. We must move up to ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE of grace and love, which means being saturated with God’s view point and His methods and His power. We must become pre-occupied with God and His ways, and immerse ourselves into complete surrender to the requirements of His will and the ways of His love. Then we can become “rooted and established in love”, and be completely “filled” with God Himself. Then we will know what the “fullness of God” really is. When we reach the level of maturity that we are completely sold out to the grace of God, we will be filled with all the fullness of God. But not before.

SEQUENCE FOR BEING FILLED WITH THE FULLNESS OF GOD. This is a difficult study, because it is breaking new ground. To simplify, we offer a sequential listing of the steps leading up to receipt of the fullness of God. None of these can be omitted, and the time required for each step is variable. Being filled with God’s fullness involves the following:

1.      Confess all known sins for forgiveness and the filling of the Spirit.

2.      Pray for wisdom, as well as for the entire complement of things we have learned to pray about.

3.      Study the Bible meaningfully for spiritual nourishment and growth.

4.      Endure God’s training for refinement and maturity.

5.      Seek the interchange of gifts among mature believers for maximum mutual support and growth.

6.      Walk in the Spirit by faith for steady empowerment and spiritual production.

7.      Immerse yourself with singular concentration into the absolute understanding of God’s surpassing love, with focus on grace operations.

8.      Stand by to be filled with the whole measure of the fullness of God.

We believe that the attainment of the fullness of God is the time when God’s immeasurable benefits and blessings surge forward in ways that would never have been envisioned. It is a time when Satan finally “flees from us”, and a time when we experience the complete peace and joy that God makes available. This is the true “rest” which God offers, and the great deliverance He promises. And this can be done while we are still alive in these present bodies. This will not happen at the beginning of our Christian lives, nor can we expect it before we reach advanced maturity; but if we follow God’s plan for growth, we will see His fullness before we are through.