The Fullness of the Godhead Bodily

 Colossians 2:9, the One God, Jesus Christ, and the Indwelling Spirit

A Scripture Study • King James Version (KJV)

Colossians 2:9

“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Colossians 2:9 is one of the clearest New Testament statements concerning the deity present in Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated “Godhead” is theotēs (θεότης), referring to deity or the divine nature. Paul does not say that a portion of deity dwelt in Christ. His language is emphatic: all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily.

The Force of Paul's Language

Four expressions deserve particular attention: “all,” “fulness,” “Godhead,” and “bodily.” Taken together, they present Christ not merely as a man unusually blessed by God, but as the bodily dwelling of the fullness of deity.

Colossians 1:19

“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.”

Colossians 2:9 then identifies the character of that fullness: the fullness of the Godhead. This statement should be read alongside the Old Testament's uncompromising declaration that there is only one God.

The One God of Isaiah

Isaiah 44:6

“I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”

Isaiah 44:8

“Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”

Isaiah 45:5

“I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me.”

Isaiah 45:22

“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

If Scripture insists that there is no God beside the LORD, Colossians 2:9 cannot reasonably be read as introducing a second God alongside Him. Rather, the New Testament presents the fullness of deity as dwelling bodily in Jesus Christ.

God Manifest in Flesh

John 1:1

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:14

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us...”

John's language and Paul's language complement one another: the Word was God and became flesh; the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ. In a Oneness understanding, Jesus is therefore not another God beside the Creator, but the manifestation of the one Creator God in genuine humanity.

1 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)

“God was manifest in the flesh...”

A textual variant exists at 1 Timothy 3:16, so the doctrine need not rest upon this verse alone. Nevertheless, the KJV wording expresses succinctly the concept found more broadly in John and Colossians.

The Creator and Christ

Isaiah 44:24

“I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.”

Colossians 1:16–17

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible... all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Isaiah identifies the LORD as the sole Creator, while Colossians identifies Christ with the work of creation. For Oneness theology, these are not two competing creators. They point to the identity of the one Creator revealed in Christ.

The Holy Spirit and the Indwelling of God

The Oneness understanding does not deny the Father, Son, or Holy Ghost. It understands these biblical revelations within the identity of the one God rather than as three separate divine individuals.

John 4:24

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

2 Corinthians 3:17

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

Romans 8:9

“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Colossians 1:27

“Christ in you, the hope of glory:”

Romans 8 is especially notable because Paul speaks in close succession of “the Spirit,” “the Spirit of God,” “the Spirit of Christ,” and “Christ” dwelling in the believer. Within this understanding, the Holy Spirit in the believer is not another God, but the Spirit of the one God.

Christ's Redemptive Work and the Promised Spirit

It is more precise to say that Christ's death, resurrection, and glorification opened the way for the promised New Covenant indwelling of the Spirit, rather than that God's Spirit did not exist or work among people before Calvary.

John 7:38–39

“He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”

John 14:16–18

Jesus promises the Comforter, “the Spirit of truth,” and then says, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

Acts 2:32–33

Peter connects the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus with the outpouring witnessed at Pentecost: “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted... he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”

A Concise Statement of the Doctrine

There is one Creator God, who is Spirit. The fullness of that one God's deity was manifested bodily in Jesus Christ. Through Christ's death, resurrection, and glorification, the way was opened for the promised New Covenant indwelling of God's Spirit. Thus the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers is not another God entering them, but the Spirit of the same one God, whom the New Testament also calls the Spirit of Christ and describes as “Christ in you.”

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Belief in the oneness of God is not a denial of the Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost. All three designations are explicitly biblical. The disagreement between Oneness and Trinitarian theology concerns how those distinctions are understood within the identity of the one God.

A Oneness formulation is: We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost because Scripture explicitly reveals all three. We do not understand them as three separate divine persons or individual beings. We understand Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as distinctions within the revelation and work of the one God: the Father as God in His transcendent deity, the Son as the one God manifested genuinely in human flesh, and the Holy Spirit as God's own Spirit dwelling and working in His people.

Classical Trinitarian theology also rejects three Gods. It describes the one God as three distinct persons, using “person” as a specialized theological term. The central disagreement, therefore, is not whether Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are biblical, but whether Scripture requires three eternally distinct divine persons within the one God or supports understanding these distinctions as the revelation and work of the one God.

Unity, Humility, and Christian Conduct

Doctrinal conviction does not remove the biblical obligation to love other believers. Christians may believe theological precision matters while also recognizing that pride, contempt, bitterness, and needless division violate the very Scriptures they seek to defend.

Ephesians 4:3–6

“Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit... One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all...”

John 17:21

“That they all may be one... that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Micah 6:8

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

The pursuit of truth and the pursuit of unity need not be enemies. Scripture calls believers to hold conviction together with humility, mercy, peace, and love. The manner in which Christians disagree is itself part of their obedience to God.

Conclusion

Colossians 2:9 stands at the center of this study: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Read alongside the Old Testament insistence that there is only one God, the New Testament's identification of Christ with the Creator, and its language concerning the indwelling Spirit, the verse provides a powerful foundation for understanding Jesus Christ as the bodily manifestation of the one God. At the same time, Scripture calls those who seek to understand these mysteries to walk humbly, preserve the unity of the Spirit, and love one another.

Lessons from the Gadarene

The Adult Bible Class lesson last Sunday was about the lunatic living among the tombs. This is a fascinating story because it contains so much detail about the man and what happened to him. I’ve read it many times and heard many people teach on it. 

During the lesson, I’m afraid I got a bit off track. The teacher, who is an excellent teacher, went one way, but I followed the voice in my head down a different path. I don't do this deliberately, it just happens and I can't predict when it will happen. I take notes during teaching and preaching. I noted the scriptures used and the subject of the lesson. That’s when I lost him. 

The story revolves around a man compelled by the townspeople to live in the cemetery amid the tombs. He inflicts violence on others and cuts himself using sharp rocks. Despite their efforts to restrain him, he exhibits extraordinary power, allowing him to break the chains and shatter the shackles used to restrain him. Mark states he has an unclean spirit.

I’m including the text of the story here if you want to read it. Pay particular attention to the details about his condition, his behavior, and the nature of the spirit.

(Mar 5:1-20) They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.  When he had come out of the boat, immediately a man with an unclean spirit met him out of the tombs.

He lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him any more, not even with chains, because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the fetters broken in pieces. Nobody had the strength to tame him. Always, night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out, and cutting himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and bowed down to him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have I to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, don’t torment me.”

For he said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” He asked him, “What is your name?”

He said to him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” He begged him much that he would not send them away out of the country.

Now on the mountainside there was a great herd of pigs feeding. All the demons begged him, saying, “Send us into the pigs, that we may enter into them.”

At once Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered into the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and they were drowned in the sea.

Those who fed them fled, and told it in the city and in the country. The people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus, and saw him who had been possessed by demons sitting, clothed, and in his right mind, even him who had the legion; and they were afraid.

Those who saw it declared to them what happened to him who was possessed by demons, and about the pigs. They began to beg him to depart from their region.

As he was entering into the boat, he who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. He didn’t allow him, but said to him, “Go to your house, to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.”

He went his way, and began to proclaim in Decapolis how Jesus had done great things for him, and everyone marveled.

If you know anyone with teenage children, you may know someone with a child who has cut themselves. This behavior is not recognized as a mental disorder but an “emotional illness”. About17% of teenagers engage in self-harm at least once, according to the American Psychological Association.1 Furthermore, about 50% of those who do self-harm commit suicide. This behavior usually begins between the ages of 12 and 14.

Based on the citation, we can tell the Gadarenes lunatic was in a dire condition. We’re not told how long he’d been there, but based on the narrative, it had been a long time. He had survived, but not by much. He spent his days roaming the graveyard, crying out and harming himself. 

By comparing the Biblical narrative to modern medicine, we can conclude that this spirit continues to exist. Mark called it an unclean spirit and maybe that was all the disciples knew at first. Until the lunatic ran to Jesus and he revealed the problem. 

They learned several things in the encounter:

1. There wasn’t just one spirit. In the Roman Empire, a legion fluctuated between 3,000 and 6,000 soldiers. The term “many” didn’t describe what lived inside this man.

2. He possessed superhuman strength and could break chains and smash iron shackles in pieces.

3. He used sharp rocks to cut himself. He harmed his own body.

4. He went about crying aloud. People heard him and knew him.

5. The legion did not want to be separated. And Jesus allowed their request!

I found it most interesting that the demons were begging not to separate them or randomly send them into the countryside. Why? What impact would it have if he sent the demons randomly into the countryside? They’d find other hosts, perhaps a clean house of sorts. Or they’d find multiple hosts. Why did they beg to be sent into pigs, who, as far as we know, wouldn’t know a demon from a cold? They were the ones who suggested pigs. Obviously, they didn’t know the pigs would commit suicide before they’d live with demons inside them. And what happens to the host if they die with those things in them? 

I have so many questions, but here are my thoughts on it. 

Separation reduced the demonic power by thousands. So, demons are rather weak. They aren’t as effective alone as they are in mass. Therefore, someone under attack by a demon is likely being attacked on several fronts by multiple demons just like the Gadarene. If demons are that weak, no wonder they fear a single, righteous person. They require reinforcements to make any impact. 

Why not send them into the countryside? Logistics. Sending them into the countryside would force them to find new, multiple hosts and with weakened control. With Jesus in the neighborhood, that might be difficult. 

Why the pigs? Jews considered pigs unclean and neither ate nor handled them. In theory, they’d be safe there. And aberrant behavior in an animal might not draw as much attention. There were 2,000 pigs in the field. Based on the common size of a legion, that must have been just enough.  

Jesus granted the request of demons! Back the truck. What in the world? Jesus answered the prayer/pleading of demons. WHY? Well, what happened to the demons when the pigs threw themselves off the cliff and died?

Death releases the spirit to return to the Creator for judgement. There is no refund, no reboot. Every single body, whether it's a human or an animal, is basically a container. Death opens the door to a new existence with an entry fee. That those pigs had no desire to live with evil creatures inside them is astounding. Those demons could not predict that reaction. I suspect that the death of the pigs sent that legion back to the pit. Their decision to stay together and maintain their power became their ticket home. 

For the Children Who Do Not Know Me

I had to stop by the pharmacy today. When I returned to my car, I glanced at the elementary school playground across the street. At least two dozen children scampered about, climbing, running, swinging over equipment, while laughing and shouting at one another. For several minutes, I sat in my car and watched them: a playground filled with joy. And suddenly, an urge to pray for these children swept over me.

What is going to happen to them? What will these children have to endure? The world that is forming will not be kind to them. In this fleeting moment, the playground is a vibrant hub of happiness, but what lies ahead for them once they leave? Because we know it won’t be joy or happiness. 

And so I prayed for a playground of school children I did not know and whose parents I didn’t know. I prayed for protection, and peace, and provision in their lives. I prayed for someone to be placed in their life to lead them to salvation. 

I don’t know why this happened today. I pass that school often, going in one direction or another. So what was different about today? I’m clueless. I was looking for some medication. Nothing more. I drove away, still praying until I reached the next street. 

It’s impossible to determine the potential impact of that prayer on those children. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not acquainted with any of them or their relatives. I'll never have the answer. I only know someone prompted me to pray for that group of children. Why that group? Not everyone in the school was present. 

I think I’m satisfied with not knowing. Part of me wonders, but I trust God. And I know, if it weren’t important, I wouldn’t have felt the need to pray for them. It isn’t something I normally do. 

But I wonder how often we’re prompted this way, and we ignore it. What would be the effects of ignoring it? Again, we’ll never know. But the potential difference is profound given the events that are happening in our schools across our nation. 

The problem with our nation, with our world, is no one is praying. Not even the best Christians. Oh, we pray for our acquaintances, our church families, our own families. And yet, the most memorable story Jesus told was of none of these. Instead, he talked about the Good Samaritan taking care of someone he did not know, and who wouldn’t give him the time of day. 

I hope He continues to prompt me to pray for a school, or a home where there is a need, or a person on the street. For people I do not know and who will never know me. 

He Said So!

I always try to take notes during church services when the subject is one I may want to study more or in case I want to come back to it later. 

Sometimes I "get" something unrelated to the message when they're reading the Biblical texts, too. I often read the entire chapter if they're not moving on to another section.

I'm inherently curious about the setting and context of the scriptures used, so reading additional verses before and after can provide both. Having read the Bible more than twice and reading daily means I'm no neophyte. And more than once, I'll get a thought I want to look up in later. 

This past Sunday, the 15th of January, 2023, I was taking notes on the Adult Bible class lesson "Buy the Field" one of our members taught. I noted scriptures and took brief notes regarding the pearl of great price and how the person bought the field just to insure he'd have the pearl buried there. He was referencing John 21:9-20, where Jesus was telling Peter to feed his sheep and to follow him. I, as usual, was reading beyond verse 20. As I read verses 20-22, I realized I had something important and noted it. 

I'm sharing it today. 

If you read the preceding verses, you may recognize this story as taking place after Jesus' resurrection. He made a meal for the apostles and now they're taking a walk. He's talking with Peter as they walk. The end of the conversation, and my "message" are as follows:

(John 21:20)  Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”

(John 21:21)  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

(John 21:22)  Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

Do you remember many verses where Jesus talked roughly to his apostles? This passage is quite stern. I can hear the parental tone in Jesus' words. "You don't need to worry about what other people do or what happens to them. You keep following me."

How many times have you said this to your kids? "I don't care what their parents let them do. You do what I tell you." "It doesn't matter what Johnny does. I said NO." 

I raised two sons. Believe me, I've said this more than once. Probably over 100 times. Yet, I never realized Jesus said the same thing to Peter. And to me. 

Listen, I've had conversations with adults who make those same arguments. The "well, they do it" arguments. The "I don't see why I can't do that" complaints. We ALL say it and think it. 

As I read that during class, it felt like the principal stepped up to my desk and tapped me on the shoulder. He said, "It doesn't matter what anyone else does, says, or thinks. You keep your eyes on me and keep walking with me."

I reckon that's pretty good advice because He said so.

 

This Isn't Jesus

 Today I went looking for Jesus. I found this.

This isn't Jesus. 

So, I looked some more. There are a lot of places to look and practically everyone knows where to find him. This is a nice doll. 

But it isn't Jesus. 

I found this statue. It is so lovely and really makes me smile. It reminds me of Jesus and how he loved children.

But this isn't Jesus. 

So, I kept looking.

I found this photo. He's kind of dark. Well, he was a Jew. I know he wasn't white, and he wasn't black. He wasn't Chinese or Russian. He wasn't Nordic, either. Just a simple Jewish carpenter. 

But this isn't Jesus. 

I felt tired after searching so much. My neck hurt. My back hurt. But I needed to settle this argument about Jesus and what he looked like. 

So, I kept looking. 

This one. Wow, this could be him, I think. But he looks so tired and careworn. There're deep lines in his face, as if all the stress in the world is pressing in. The shoulders are bent beneath some burden I can't see or understand. And he's all alone. I think he might look very much like this right now.

But this isn't Jesus.

You won't find Jesus in a photo, a painting, a sculpture, or a stained glass window. You won't find him on a crucifix. He isn't in a greeting card or on a Christmas tree. 

I've traveled a lot in my life, and I've seen Jesus many times, in many places. Sometimes, he was there ahead of me. Sometimes, I lose him, but he always finds me.

I've seen him here. Every time I attend a worship service, he's there with me. 

You might try that.

If you're looking for Jesus.

You can find him here or someone who needs him.

I'm sure you can find him here, too. You may have to look very hard because they're not thinking about him or talking about him. But he's there, even though he may not be welcome.

I'm sure many of these guys talked to Jesus more than once. 

If you ask this person, they may know him! And if they don't, and you do, you could introduce them. I suspect they could use friends right now. Maybe a hot meal, too.

And I'm sure you'll find him here! He loves to feed the hungry. There is not a single bread line, food kitchen, or shelter where you can't find Jesus. Those feeding the hungry are his best friends. They're his people. The destitute, homeless, hungry, lonely, sad, depressed, desperate. They are all his people, too. 

So why doesn't he help them? Because that's the job he gave you. 

If you don't know what Jesus looks like by now, you haven't been looking. And you're the one who needs him the most.