How can we, as members of the Church, enjoy fullness or perfection?

First: Fellowship in Christ. St. Augustine says, “God is full; every man is empty; if he will be filled, let him come to Him That is full. Come unto Him, and be enlightened [see Ps. 34:5]. Moreover, if a man is empty, in that he is a liar, and he seeks to be filled, and with haste and eagerness runs to the fountain, he wishes to be filled.”³²⁴

St. John Chrysostom says, “He dwells in those hearts that are faithful, in those that are ‘rooted’ in His love, those that remain firm and unshaken. ‘That you may be’ thoroughly

322 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans 17 (NPNF I/11:471–477).

323 St. Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies 2.9 (ANF 2:357).

324 St. Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 83.6 (NPNF I/6:509).

‘strong,’ he says; so that there is great strength needed. ‘That you may be filled unto all the fulness of God.’ What he means is this. Although the love of Christ lies above the reach of all human knowledge, yet you shall know it, if you shall have Christ dwelling in you, yes, not only shall know from Him this, but shall even ‘be filled unto all the fulness of God.’”³²⁵

St. Ephrem the Syrian comments on the passage, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:9–10), saying, “He supplied then the deficiency, and gave life to mortality, that we may know that from the body in which fulness dwelt, the deficiency of them that lacked was supplied; and from the body in which life dwelt, life was given to mortals.”³²⁶

Second: Accepting the work of the Spirit within us. This means enjoying His power that is at work within the soul. In his book on the Holy Spirit, St. Basil speaks of this fullness, saying that the Spirit is given to each person according to the capability of that person. Therefore, the Spirit does not stop giving so long as the person does not stop opening his heart to His work and cooperates with Him.

Third: The unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God. The apostle says, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). After discussing the variety of gifts, the apostle emphasizes that all of them have but a single goal: to bring us to “the unity of the faith.” The apostle avoids confusing the gifts with faith, for the gifts are diverse but the faith is one. Thus, St. John Chrysostom says, “That is, until we shall be shown to have all one faith: for this is unity of faith, when we all are one, when we shall all alike acknowledge the common bond. Till then you must labor to this end. If for this you have received a gift, that you might edify others, look well that you do not overturn yourself, by envying another. God has honored you, and ordained you, that you should build up another. Yes, for about this was the Apostle also engaged; and for this was the prophet prophesying and persuading, and the Evangelist preaching the Gospel, and for this was the pastor and teacher; all had undertaken one common work. For do not tell me of the difference of the spiritual gifts; but that all had one work. Now when we shall all believe alike then shall there be unity; for that this is what he calls ‘a perfect man.’”³²⁷

In this way the variety of gifts are in harmony in the Church — the one body of Christ — in the unity of faith as everyone works together, every person with his own gift. The unity of the Church lies in a diversity of gifts that are one in purpose and faith. This unity advances the faithful from a phase of spiritual childhood to spiritual maturity, as everyone advances together from a spiritual, experiential, and living knowledge to a deeper knowledge, perhaps until they reach the “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

325 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Ephesians 7 (NPNF I/13:81–82) amended.

326 St. Ephrem the Syrian, Three Homilies 1.11 (NPNF II/13:310).

327 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Ephesians 11 (NPNF I/13:105) amended.

St. John Chrysostom says, “By ‘stature’ here he means perfect ‘knowledge’; for as a man will stand firmly, whereas children are carried about and waver in mind, so is it also with believers.”³²⁸

We are now in the phase of childhood but growing towards full maturity. That is why elsewhere, the apostle calls us “children” (1 Cor. 13:11), and when he compares the spiritual knowledge we now have to that which we shall in future attain, he says, “For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Cor. 13:9–12). Therefore, so long as we continue to strive faithfully, we work together with one purpose in the unity of faith, ever growing from the state of childhood to a state of maturity, that we may attain the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”