God has been dealing with me about the FULLNESS of Christ being able to dwell in us for some time…. “that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10
Read these first three verses top to bottom….. then read them in reverse order……
1.) Ephesians 4:11-13-
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; UNTIL WE ATTAIN to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, TO THE MEASURE OF THE STATURE WHICH BELONGS TO THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST.” (See John 1:14)
2.) Colossians 1:19-
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for ALL HIS FULLNESS TO DWELL IN HIM….
3.) John 1:14
And THE WORD BECAME FLESH, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, THE FULLNESS OF GRACE AND TRUTH.
…… When read in reverse order, the Scripture seems to point to the pleasure and will of God being to grow the church’s appointed leaders into the FULLNESS of Christ, who is the the head of the church, in some very specific and comprehensive ways…. in GRACE AND TRUTH….
Let us not be like Pilot, mockingly rolling our eyes and asking in a rhetorical manner, “What is truth?”…… as if no man can know truth which is found by means of the Spirit of Truth which brings us the Mind of Christ.
John16:12-15-
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.But when he, the Spirit of truth,comes, he will guide you into all the truth.He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine.That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Or like Paul incredibly asking “Are we to continue in sin that grace may increase??” in Romans 5:20-6:6-
“The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin”
(but shall ATTAIN to the FULLNESS OF GRACE AND TRUTH!)
….It seems that some have applied GRACE only in the context of justification, imputing grace in larger and larger measure, quantitatively, in only covering over sin that continues to flourish instead of in the context of sanctification, imparting the qualitative aspect of GRACE as righteousness for which it is truly and fully sufficient in Christ to sanctify us wholly…. spirit , soul, and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
…. and some have also chosen to define TRUTH individually, relatively, by the standard of the world, according to one’s own self-interest ethic……
There was a time when God first impressed me with John 1:14. I had embraced it and been referencing it as our goal in spiritual growth, but misspeaking it as “fullness of truth and grace.” About the third time I did it, God pointedly spoke in my mind and said, “Go re-read that verse.” When I did, I realized my error. Grace has to precede truth…. but he has also shown me that we have to understand the sufficiency of His grace…. all its fullness…. qualitatively as in sanctification as well as quantitatively, as in justification. Grace must be sufficient and amazing enough to not only cover sin, but it must also sufficient in righteous quality to transform our very souls so that in mind, heart, will, personality, and conscience, Christ rules over us!
Hebrews 10:29-
“How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”
This seems to speak of the sanctifying work of Christ, his atoning sacrifice of blood, to be deemed of no value if considered cheap and plentiful, as merely trampled underfoot, instead of precious and pure, capable of cleansing through a mere drop upon our spirit, soul, and body…
In the same way that many of us as Wesleyan Methodists might ask, “How much water does one believe is necessary for baptism?”, we might also ask, “How much value does the blood of Christ hold for us… how much poured forth will be required to wholly save?”
If grace is the coin of the Kingdom……what is it worth?
If grace is gold and truth is silver…. many will embrace any degree of gold- gold plated, 10k, 14k, 18k or 24k (pure gold). The process of alloying—mixing other metals with pure 24 carat gold—gives malleable gold more durability, but can also be used to change its colour. So the quantity of gold in a crafted piece determines the brightness and purity of its color as well as other properties.
Silver, because of how soft it is, is usually mixed with other types of metals to toughen it up so it can be worn regularly. When this happens, the silver is no longer going to be considered pure because it is no longer just the silver.
Pure silver has a real silver content of 99.9%. This is where the name pure is derived from. The silver content is almost completely what makes up the chemical composition of this type of silver.
Another term that you may hear for pure silver jewelry is “fine silver jewelry.”
When you are dealing with a real pure silver piece of jewelry, it will be marked with some variation of 99.9%. This may look like 999, 99.9, .999, or otherwise. The number is used to indicate the purity of the piece and is the maker’s mark of purity.
Something else to note about pure silver is that it does not tarnish when you expose it to air or to moisture like other metals may. It is a little bit more expensive than sterling silver simply because it is a more pure and high-quality type of item.
Sterling silver is created when pure silver is combined with copper or zinc to make it a more durable option. Most of the silver jewelry is going to be made of sterling silver – unless it is cheaper costume jewelry.
In order to be considered sterling silver, it will need to be 92.5% silver and 7.5% of another metal. Just like pure silver is marked with a variation of 999, sterling silver will be marked with a variation of 925. This is important to remember when buying silver jewelry.
It is also important to note that sterling silver can be a higher percentage than 92.5% silver, but it can’t be lower than that percentage.
The beauty of a piece depends on the skill of the creator/ artist and on the quality of purity in the metal from which it is made. Higher quality, more beauty and value of the finished piece… better one fine piece of quality than many pieces of counterfeit beauty.