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I just now read on a closed thread where a poster denied the sufficiency of Christ's atonement and the need for Mary's mediation for us by citing - out of context - Colossians 1:24. "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ." I've been on message boards since 2002 and this is the most distressing thing that I've ever read another person say - I am grieved. This isn't a contest to see who can recite Bible history, or copy and paste the most of other people's work, or give a recitation on the canon of scripture. This is about salvation - heaven and hell - for eternity. Here is what Colossians 1 actually says. Verses 21-23 give the sufficiency of what Christ did in his body for us. "And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight; if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister." Take note: Jesus Christ "reconciled" us in his body through death. "It is FINISHED" - that's what he said on the cross. We are reconciled Paul says - through the death of Christ. That's all. No more is needed. He is all sufficient. We are presented "holy, blameless, and above reproach" in His sight. There is no more sacrifice - no more reconciliation - no more reparations - no need for a different or new mediator. Then what is Paul talking about in verse 24 and on in to verse 25? "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of the His body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship of God....." Is Paul saying that Jesus' death on the cross was NOT sufficient? No, he just said it WAS. Is Paul saying that we need another mediator to "complete" the salvation of Jesus Christ? No. Then what IS he saying? He is talking about his own "sufferings" as a "minister to the church according to the calling of God". He was writing, yet again, from prison. And Paul suffered many, many things. Prison on several occasions, being stoned and left for dead, being snake-bit, shipwrecked, and more. He is not comparing his worldly sufferings to the suffering Jesus had on the cross. He is saying that the sufferings for the "ministers" here on this earth "for the sake of the body of Jesus, which is the church" are part of the same things Jesus suffered for three years in HIS ministry and he is adding to the sufferings that all who ministry to the "body" will suffer. He is NOT associating his or any other person's sufferings to the REDEMPTIVE work of Christ on the cross. There is no person who has lived, who is living, or who will live - man, woman, boy, or girl - who can add to the REDEMPTIVE work of Christ. Paul is talking about sufferings of those in the true ministry - no any redemptive work. There is nothing lacking in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. He, alone, completed it all.