It’s a pleasure to hear devotional thoughts from Autumn Pearson this week! You can learn more about her on the contributors page.
I am a consumer of words—podcasts, lectures, books. I listen often and quickly. I rarely listen to music; however, occasionally, a song will resonate so deeply with me that I listen to it on repeat for days. One such song is “Complete in Thee.”
Aaron R. Wolfe wrote the verses in 1851 (just as he was leaving seminary!). According to one source, he based the hymn on Colossians 2:9-10, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
Wolfe begins the completeness found in Christ through his work on the cross. The first stanza reminds us that our salvation is sola fide (“by faith alone”) and “not by works of righteousness which we have done” (Titus 3:5).
Complete in Thee! no work of mine
May take, dear Lord, the place of Thine;
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And I am now complete in Thee.
The second stanza reminds us that we can find completeness even in our fallen world. Christ “makes a way to escape” from each temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). Again, our completeness in our sanctification comes the same way it comes in our salvation—through turning to Christ in our need.
Complete in Thee! no more shall sin,
Thy grace hath conquered, reign within;
Thy voice shall bid the tempter flee,
And I shall stand complete in Thee.
The third stanza speaks our need for thankfulness and contentment. In our pride, we might think that God has made a mistake in our circumstances. We question His promise to “work all things together for good to them that love [Him]” (Romans 8:28). This stanza alone gives us a directive in the final line—to ask no more. But Wolfe precedes this difficult directive with the answer: we do not need to ask from the Lord because we have the Lord!
Complete in Thee—each want supplied,
And no good thing to me denied;
Since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be,
I ask no more, complete in Thee.
The final stanza brings us to the promise of heaven. Our completeness takes us to stand before a holy God—without any concern. How is such a thing possible? We stand with Him.
Dear Saviour! when before Thy bar
All tribes and tongues assembled are,
Among Thy chosen will I be,
At Thy right hand, complete in Thee.
Apparently, the refrain was added later but offers up praise for the truths presented in each verse. The addition returns to the principle of first verse—completeness comes only from Christ’s work on the cross—and foreshadows the principle of the final verse—full completeness comes in our glorified bodies.
Yea, justified! O blessed thought!
And sanctified! Salvation wrought!
Thy blood hath pardon bought for me,
And glorified, I too, shall be!
Later in his life, Wolfe would be required to test his belief of his own song. After a few years of teaching after seminary, Wolfe decided to move from Florida to New York to seek a pastorate. When he arrived in New York, he learned that all the books and papers he had curated for his future work as a pastor had been lost when the ship caring them had been struck by lightning. Believing that God was redirecting his path, Wolfe continued working with young people instead of going into the pastorate. While he once thought he needed his books and papers to serve the Lord, Wolfe realized that all he needed was God. He indeed was complete with his Savior.
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