What does St. Paul mean here?

Question

Colossians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is LACKING in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church." (emphasis mine.)
I came across this during my daily Bible read. Is something really lacking in Christ's afflictions? I thought Jesus did it all so we only have to believe in Him. Your thoughts please?

Answer 1

John 6:29
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

James 2:
14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless[d]? 21Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,"[e] and he was called God's friend. 24You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Matt 25

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

Answer 2

It is WE who are lacking in the afflictions of Christ. We are never anywhere near to suffering as Christ did.WE will always be lacking in our full potential in God's economy, nevertheless, we are still a work in progress and should rejoice when we are tested by the world because that is when we can sit back and watch the miraculous way that God works.

Answer 3

Yeah, I see how you're confused. I had to read it several times over. I believe he's saying that he's putting his body through what Christ has gone through. His specific flesh is lacking in affliction, not Christ's.

Answer 4

HEBREWS SAYS WE MUST SHED "OUR" BLOOD. SUFFERING PURGES ANGER
AND RESENTMENT FROM OUR SPIRITS.
TAKES A WHILE, WITH OUR HARD HEADS.
SEE HOW SO MANY MEN HAVE TO END UP IN JAIL BEFORE THEY BREAK DOWN
AND CALL OUT TO THE LORD?
AMEN!

Answer 5

sometimes it helps to read a different translation. It is difficult to translate and exact meaning. try www.blueletterbibe.org you can switch between translations and it sometimes helps to understand