His argument is flawed. We are complete in <\/strong>Christ, no doubt, but how do we get in <\/strong>Christ, where this completeness is found? The same text explains that we were “buried with Him in baptism<\/em>” (Colossians 2:12). So, Paul is not writing to unbelievers. He is writing to believers who came from outside to inside. Paul says faith leads us to be “baptized into <\/strong>Christ<\/em>” (Galatians 3:26-27). So, when we were baptized into Him, we became complete<\/em> in Him.<\/p>\n But notice that the context shows that Paul had to remind the brethren that they don’t need the doctrines and philosophies of men, which could spoil or cheat<\/em> them (Colossians 2:8 ). He has to remind them that they do not need what the world is peddling, and that their attention should be focused on what they have in Christ. Everything that pertains to life and godliness is found in Christ (II Peter 1:3f). We must focus our attention on the things already provided in Christ, but the fact that all things needed are in Christ does not mean that we have no danger of drifting away from those provisions.<\/p>\n Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit (Colossians 2:8). The preacher misusing Colossians 2:10 is someone who can cheat you through his empty deceit. He doesn’t even seem to realize that he is using a text written to already baptized people and using it to suggest that you can be complete before and without being first baptized into <\/strong>Christ. If you are not baptized into Christ, you are still on the outside, still alienated from the spiritual blessings in Christ. Through faith in Jesus, be baptized into Him, so that you can be complete with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3,7f).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Daily Points of Light from Heaven A denominational preacher wrote: “Paul says: ‘And ye are complete in him…’ (Colossians 2:10). Think about that. Complete. Not almost complete. Not complete after water baptism. Complete in Christ.” His argument is flawed. We are complete in Christ, no doubt, but how do we get…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[52,1700],"class_list":["post-97653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-baptism","tag-complete"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23716,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-proper-thing-to-say-as-you-are-baptizing-someone\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":0},"title":"What is the proper thing to say as you are baptizing someone?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Jeff, I read an article that asks what does someone says before they baptize someone else. It almost answered my question but not completely. I have always been taught that it is not a proper baptism unless the proper things were said. After taking their confession and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7433,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-the-purpose-of-johns-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":1},"title":"What was the purpose of John’s baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 13, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As part of our mid-week bible study, we have been discussing John the Baptist and how he prepared the way for Christ. I understand John's mission and the importance of baptism, but was it also used to prepare the people for the conversion (burial) into Christ? What was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/three-questions-about-church-of-christ-teachings-on-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":2},"title":"Three questions about Church of Christ teachings on baptism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, I have three questions that are about the teachings of the Church of Christ. Why does the COC dismiss the case of the thief on the cross by saying that it happened \"under the Old Testament\" when in fact the thief was saved after the blood of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90850,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/you-are-complete-in-him\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":3},"title":"You Are Complete in Him","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"And in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority\" (Colossians 2:10). The book of Colossians says that nothing is missing or lacking in Christ. In Him we have all we need for assurance, forgiveness, direction, wisdom and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14284,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-was-johns-baptism-different-from-jesus-baptism\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":4},"title":"How was John’s baptism different from Jesus’ baptism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have some questions about John's baptism. I've read about how it was a fulfillment of prophecy to prepare the way, but I'm really confused about what that really means and what the point of John's baptism was. I am curious about a few things: What does \"preparing the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49055,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-fullness-of-christ-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":97653,"position":5},"title":"What does “the fullness of Christ” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I thank you for the website. I've gotten a better understanding of some things. I am writing you because I don't quite understand when the Scriptures say \"the fullness of God\" or \"the fullness of Christ\" in Colossians 2:9; Ephesians 4:13; Colossians 1:19; Romans 15:29 and John 1:16. Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97653"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97656,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97653\/revisions\/97656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}