Introduction
One very crucial feature of the letters of the apostle Paul is his prayers for the believers to whom he wrote. The prayers are usually centered on the believers being enabled by God to enter into the full understanding of the redemption through Christ and its far reaching implications on their living.
Such is the prayer in Ephesians 3:16-19. Paul prayed that the believers would be strengthened by God’s Spirit in their inward part, that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that they would comprehend the immeasurable dimensions of Christ’s love. The final petition in verse 19 is the focus of this study.
Paul prayed:
“…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Naturally, the petition raises some serious question. What did Paul mean by the believers being filled with the fullness of God? Is it possible for finite humans to be filled with the fullness of the infinite God? Does the fullness of God mean all of God’s attributes? Many questions that must be answered.
To grasp the expression “the fullness of God” correctly, Scripture must be allowed to interpret itself. Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:19 must be read alongside other passages that speak of the fullness of God, particularly those that belong to the Pauline epistles. Only then can we appreciate the beauty and the richness of that prayer of Paul for believers.
This is precisely what this article seeks to do. It will examine the expression “the fullness of God in the believer,” not only from Ephesians 3:19, but also from other biblical texts where it occurs. It will also examine whether finite humans can be filled with the fullness of God, and what the fullness of God in the believer entails.
Understanding “The Fullness Of God”
Defining The Fullness of God
The Greek term translated fullness, plerōma, conveys the idea of totality, completeness, and the sum total of all that belongs to a person or thing. When applied to God, fullness describes the totality of the divine nature, character, power, and perfections that exist inherently and eternally within the Godhead.
The fullness of God is not an abstract force or influence; it is a substance—albeit a spiritual substance. It consists of divine attributes such as His eternal life, holiness, wisdom, glory, love, power, righteousness, truth, and other plethora of attributes of God that make Him God.
Christ the Embodiment of the Fullness of God
The apostle Paul also used the same expression in relation to Christ. He mentioned the “fullness of Christ”, using the same Greek term plerōma. In Ephesians 4:13, Paul, explaining the ultimate goal of spiritual growth, wrote:
“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.”
So far, we have two expressions: “fullness of God” and “fullness of Christ”. However, the two refers to one thing. The fullness of Christ describes the totality of the divine nature, character, power, and perfections which resides in the incarnate Christ.
Paul explains this in Colossians 1:19:
“For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.”
And, in Colossians 2:9:
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
These scriptures are among the strongest affirmations of Christ’s deity. They speak of His incarnate state. In the incarnation, Christ remained truly God. He wasn’t just a human on whom the power of God rested. He is God, with all the fullness of deity resident in Him.
Christ didn’t possess portions of divine attributes, nor did He merely temporarily manifest them. Instead, all the qualities that define God resides permanently in Him. Hebrews 1:3 calls Him the brightness of the glory of God and the express image of His person.
Then the apostle John says:
“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16).
This is profound. Of the fullness which indwells Christ, we who belong to Him have received. We don’t possess any fullness independently. Naturally, we are deficient. But through Christ, what was lacking in us was added to make us complete.
Paul explicitly states this truth in Colossians 2:10:
“And you are complete in Him…”
Paul had said that all of God’s fullness is in Christ (verse 9). Then, he quickly added that in Him, believers are complete. The believer’s completeness is not in ourselves, but in Christ. Because we are united to Him, we lack nothing necessary for the life in God.
There is no completeness apart from Christ. In Him, every spiritual blessing is found (Ephesians 1:3), and every promise of God is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 1:20).
What the Fullness of God in the Believer Doesn’t Mean
This truth is sometimes twisted as meaning that the fullness of God in the believer makes believers gods. This has given rise to some believers calling themselves gods. Scripture, however, teaches no such thing. The believer’s fullness is one of participation in God’s life, character, and power, not equality with God. We are adopted as God’s children, not absorbed into His deity.
Being filled with God’s fullness doesn’t mean that we become omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, or incapable of error. These are God’s exclusive attributes.
Suggested Post: Complete In Christ: Understanding The Believer’s Identity, Fullness, And Sufficiency In Christ
Believers’ Participation In God’s Fullness
We must examine in details, how believers come to share in God’s fullness. The answer lies in one of the New Testament’s most profound truths—union with Christ. Believers share in God’s fullness because we are united to Christ. This revelation is contained in the phrases “in Christ” and “in Him”.
Jesus said to His disciples:
“At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” (John 14:20)
This is one of the most profound realities of the Christian life: Christ lives in us and we live in Him. This mutual indwelling, made possible through the Spirit’s indwelling, is the basis for our participation in God’s fullness.
Through faith, we became spiritually united with Christ in His death, resurrection, and life, and partakers of God’s nature, character, and power (2 Peter 1:4).
Being “complete in Him” should not be confused with moral perfection. Instead, it means possessing everything necessary for the life in salvation. No believer is spiritually deficient, because we are united with the One in whom every divine resource resides.
A Present, Progressive Experience
This sharing in God’s fullness is both a present reality and a progressive experience.
Paul didn’t pray for the Ephesian Christians to be filled with God’s fullness as though it is his prayer that will impart the fullness. They, like Christians everywhere, already possessed God’s fullness and were complete. The thrust of Paul’s prayer was that they would increasingly become aware of what is already theirs.
Believers possess God’s fullness from the point of conversion. There is no partial indwelling of God. Yet we grow in our appreciation and manifestation of what we already possess. The fullness is complete in Christ, but our experience of that fullness deepens as we grow in faith, obedience, and communion with Christ.
Therefore, to be filled with the fullness of God is to participate, through union with Christ, in the divine life, grace, and transforming power, and grow increasingly in the appreciation and manifestation of the fullness.
Expressions Of The Fullness Of God In The Believer
This fullness of God in the believer is a living truth that transforms living. If Christ truly dwells in us, it should become evident in our lives. While it does not make us gods, it increasingly conforms us to the image of the divine Son and empowers us to live the supernatural life. The fullness of God in us enables us to be fruitful in our Christian living and ministry, such as healing the sick, casting out the devils.
The Fullness Of God’s Presence
The first expression of the fullness of God in the believer is His full presence. This is so foundational to Christian living. Unlike the Old Covenant where God’s presence was primarily associated with the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, under the New Covenant, God dwells in His people through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16).
Individual believers must live with the consciousness that we carry God’s presence permanently. Experiencing His presence is no longer tied to special occasions or places. God wants us to enjoy fellowship with Him everywhere and every time. This truth serves to fill us with boldness, knowing that the great God is permanently resident in us, and also to fill us with caution concerning how we live and what we do with our bodies. The apostles consistently base their charge for believers to live holy on this truth that God indwells them.
The Fullness Of Divine Life
Another manifestation of the fullness of God in believers is the fullness of His life. The fullness of God in the believer includes the very life of Christ indwelling believers’ spirit. Yes, we possess the very life of God in our regenerated spirit. The New Testament speaks so emphatically and glowingly of believers possessing eternal life—the very life of God (1 John 5:11-13). Believers do not possess only the natural life. We also possess a higher life—the same life in Christ. This divine life permeates and affects our whole being—spirit, soul, and body.
The Fullness Of God’s Character
Another vital expression of the fullness of God in the believer is the fullness of His character. In Romans 5:5, the apostle Paul says that the love of God—God’s kind of love—has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to dwell within us. And, this love is the foundation for every godly character (Galatians 5:22–24).
This indwelling love is a divine empowerment for godliness. It took care of the matter of the ability for godliness. The implication of this is that believers are able to live and conduct ourselves in this world just as God would. What is left is the matter of willingness to live godly life on the believer’s part.
The Fullness Of Spiritual Power
Another crucial expression of the fullness of God in the believer is the fullness of His power. Power accompanies God’s presence (Ecclesiastes 8:4). And, God’s Spirit is the agent of God’s power (Acts 1:8).
The power is not for self-exaltation. It is primarily to enable believers bear witness to Christ, persevere in obedience, overcome sin, and serve effectively. The power that flows from God’s fullness is always directed toward God’s glory.
Together, these truths show that the fullness of God is defined by the presence, life, character, power, and love of God in believers. The increasing manifestation of these things is the true evidence that the fullness of God is increasing in a believer.
Being Filled Versus Growing Into Fullness
A question naturally arises at this point: If believers already possess God’s fullness, then why did Paul pray that we may be “filled with all the fullness of God”? The answer is straightforward. The New Testament distinguishes between believers’ positional realities and the necessity of growing into the full experience of what is already ours in Christ.
At the moment of conversion, every believer is made complete. No one receives only a portion of salvation. We all stand accepted before God, forgiven, indwelt by the Spirit, and made a participant in the New Covenant blessings. All these are objective realities.
Yet Scripture also teaches that we must grow into the fullness of Christ. Paul, explaining why Christ gave ministry gifts to the church, wrote:
“…for the edifying of the body of Christ… 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.” (Ephesians 4:11–13)
The fullness of Christ is the goal of Christian maturity. The fullness itself doesn’t increase—Christ is already full—but our conformity to Him can, and should, increase. As we grow in knowledge, faith, and obedience, we increasingly reflect the fullness that we already possess positionally.
Paul describes this process in 2 Corinthians 3:18:
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory…”
The transformation is progressive. Believers don’t mature suddenly. God, through His Word, His Spirit, fellowship with other believers, and discipline, steadily shapes us into Christ’s likeness.
Paul himself confessed:
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected…” (Philippians 3:12)
There are two grave errors that believers must avoid. One, thinking that we are incomplete because of our failures, so requiring some higher spiritual experiences for completeness. Two, assuming that because we are complete in Christ, there is no further need for growth. Scripture rejects both errors.
In Christ we already possess everything necessary for godliness, yet we still have to grow into the full measure of what is already ours. The Christian life is one of continual growth toward experientially becoming what we already are positionally
To be filled with all the fullness of God, then, is not a static condition but an ongoing work of divine grace. Believers move from spiritual infancy to maturity, increasingly displaying in daily life the fullness that has been ours in Christ from the very beginning.
The Ultimate Fulfillment Of God’s Fullness
Our present experience of the fullness of God is glorious, but it is not yet complete. We truly participate in God’s fullness now through union with Christ, but we do so in anticipation of its perfection at Christ’s return.
The Christian life is both an already and not yet life. We already receive salvation through Christ, yet we await the day when our salvation will become full—when every sin, weakness, and mortality will be removed.
John points us to that hope:
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John 3:2)
This is the climax of God’s saving purpose. What is now experienced progressively will then be enjoyed perfectly. We will not evolve to deity but will be fully conformed to Christ (Romans 8:29). Sin will be gone, we will be wholly without blemish, and our fellowship with God will be unhindered.
God’s purpose is not merely to forgive sinners but to transform them into Christ’s likeness. The process begins at justification, continues through sanctification, and reaches its fullness in glorification.
Our present participation in God’s fullness is in mortal bodies that are still subject to weakness and decay. But at Christ’s return, even our bodies will be changed to become like Christ’s glorious body (Philippians 3:21). We will be perfectly fitted for eternal fellowship with the Father (Revelation 21:3).
The fellowship that first began in Eden, continued through the tabernacle/temple, and is now lived through the indwelling Spirit, will reach its fullest expression. Believers will dwell in God’s immediate presence forever, in a world without sin or evil.
This future hope provides present encouragement. Every growth, victory over sin, and deeper experience of God’s grace is a foretaste of what is yet to come. The believer’s journey is thus one of confident expectation, knowing that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
Conclusion
Paul’s prayer that believers may be “filled with all the fullness of God” is not a mystical experience reserved for super Christians. It is a profound description of God’s gracious purpose for everyone who is united to Christ by faith.
In this study, we have seen that the fullness of God belongs inherently and eternally to Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9). Believers don’t possess this fullness by nature. Rather, we receive from Christ’s fullness because we are united to Him through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
This fullness is not measured by extraordinary, mystical experiences, but by the increasing manifestation of Christ’s own life within us. As we grow spiritually, we are able to increasingly express God’s presence, life, character, and power.
The doctrine of the fullness of God in the believer, thus, calls us to both confidence and pursuit. It gives us confidence because, in Christ, God has withheld nothing necessary for our spiritual life. We are complete in Him. From His inexhaustible fullness we continually receive grace upon grace.
At the same time, it calls us to pursue spiritual growth, not by seeking something beyond Christ, but by knowing Him more deeply, abiding in Him more faithfully, and yielding ourselves more completely to the transforming work of His Spirit.
Therefore, may Paul’s prayer become our own:
“…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith… to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17–19)
To be filled with all the fullness of God is, ultimately, to have Christ increasingly formed in us until the day we stand before Him in perfect holiness. That is the glorious hope toward which every believer is moving.
