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Colossians 1 · a question people ask

"fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ" (1:24). What is lacking?

In the text

The letter doesn't explain what is lacking, and these notes don't either. Here is the verse whole: "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly," (1:24). These are the letter's own words, and these notes add nothing to them and choose nothing.

The verses

“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly,”
Colossians 1:24 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Colossians 1

Colossians 1: Bearing fruit

Colossians 1 speaks of "the word of the truth of the Good News" (1:5) "which has come to you, even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit" (1:6), and the prayer asks that the readers be "bearing fruit in every good work" (1:10): the same Greek verb both times. And the letter's I names itself once here: "of which I, Paul, was made a servant" (1:23).

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Last reviewed October 8, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions