When People Realize Jesus is Enough

Some ministries can only function the way they do if people remain convinced they still need something beyond what Jesus accomplished.

If people believe there is always another door that needs to be closed, another curse that needs to be broken, another ritual that needs to be performed, another level they need to reach, another sin they need to deal with before God will accept them, or another thing they need to do to finally become free, they will remain dependent on the system that promises to get them there.

But what happens when people realize Jesus is enough?

What happens when they understand that through faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, they truly have been forgiven, delivered, reconciled, made righteous, brought near, made holy, accepted in Him, and given everything pertaining to life and godliness?

What happens when they realize they aren't trying to get something Jesus failed to accomplish?

Then they don’t need endless rituals, repeated deliverance, constant striving, or continual attempts to improve their performance in order to be okay with God. They can begin living from what Jesus has already accomplished rather than continually trying to accomplish something for themselves.

This is why understanding the all-sufficiency of Jesus matters so much.

Colossians tells us that in Christ “dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” and that “you are complete in Him” (Colossians 2:9–10). A few verses later, Paul says that God made us alive with Christ, “having forgiven you all trespasses,” wiped out what stood against us, and disarmed principalities and powers (Colossians 2:13–15).

Hebrews says Jesus “obtained eternal redemption” for us (Hebrews 9:12), that we have been sanctified “once for all” through His offering (Hebrews 10:10), and that “by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

Paul says God “has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Colossians 1:13).

These are not descriptions of people waiting for someone to complete what Jesus started.

They are descriptions of people learning to understand and live from what Jesus finished.

If people truly understood what Christ accomplished for them and who they now are in Him, many ministries built around keeping Christians perpetually afraid, deficient, bound, or dependent would lose the very thing that keeps those systems functioning.

Because you cannot convince someone who knows they are complete in Christ that they need your special protocol to become complete.

You cannot continually sell freedom to someone who understands that Christ has already delivered them from the authority of darkness.

You cannot keep someone endlessly working for acceptance when they know they are already accepted in Christ.

You cannot keep someone trying to earn righteousness when they understand righteousness is a gift.

And you cannot keep someone dependent upon you when they have become confident in the sufficiency of Jesus.

That doesn't mean Christians don't need teaching, discipleship, pastoral care, prayer, encouragement, correction, or one another. The issue isn't whether ministry is necessary. The issue is what ministry is supposed to produce.

Biblical ministry should increasingly establish people in Christ not increasingly establish their dependence upon the minister.

True ministry doesn’t scare Christians into dependence. It points them to Jesus and helps them become secure and confident in Him. It doesn't leave them perpetually doubting what Jesus accomplished, uncertain about who they now are, or terrified about where they stand with God.

It doesn't continually create new reasons for Christians to believe they are deficient.

It doesn't keep moving the finish line.

It doesn't keep people searching for the next thing that will finally make them free, accepted, righteous, secure, or complete.

It teaches them to live from what they have already received in Christ.

The goal isn't to make people need us more.

The goal is to help people see Jesus more clearly.

And when people really begin to understand the finished work of Christ, something changes. Their attention shifts away from themselves, their performance, their failures, their ability to follow every protocol, and becomes fixed on Jesus and His sufficiency.

They stop asking, “What am I still missing?”

And they begin realizing:

“In Christ, I have been given what I could never produce for myself.”

That kind of revelation may threaten ministries that depend upon insecurity.

But it produces something much better:

Christians who are secure in Jesus, confident in what He accomplished, established in their identity, and free to live from His finished work rather than continually trying to add something to it.

Jesus is not the beginning of salvation with the rest left up to us. He is sufficient. And healthy ministry will continually point people back to Him.