“And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who
became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
Our union in Christ is much more than an association with Jesus. We may consider our spiritual relationship “in” him a bit distant since His work on the cross was such a long time ago. The courtroom scene often illustrating our “position” in Christ conveys our legal standing without connecting us on a personal level in His life.
The translators of the Greek New Testament sometimes interpret the Greek preposition εν (in) with our English preposition “by”, as in the case of 2 Timothy 2:1 which we quoted last week:
2 Timothy 2:1 You then, my child, be strengthened by (εν) the grace that is in (εν) Christ Jesus,
Another example we use, because of its importance, is Romans 5:9 and 10; “we shall be saved by his life.” Paul is writing we are being saved “in” His life. This simple preposition fundamentally changes the way we see who we are “in Christ.”
The Lord’s prayer in John 14 also conveys a spiritual relationship more hands on than legal: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” In this same passage Jesus says: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20ff).
The union we have by being “in” Jesus is also implied by the above verse we are quoting. We have previously referenced our spiritual joining by His Spirit helping us in our need through His intercession. It is in this context we are told that all things work together for good to those loving God. It is God working in us according to His will and good pleasure, according Philippians 2:13, because we are “in” Christ. This is part of the Father loving us and making His home with Jesus in us. It is Christ Himself who becomes our wisdom because we are “in” Him.
Being in Christ is another way of saying we are justified. In other words, if we are justified, we have to be in Christ, the perfect man. It is also a way of expressing Romans 8:1, “there is no condemnation to them who are in Christ.” Justification is “no condemnation”. The reason there is no condemnation is because we are justified and grace reigns in our life rather than the law of sin and condemnation. Wisdom and justification are two examples of the reign of grace because we are in Christ.
Grace describes spiritual attributes flowing to and in us because we are in Him. This is how spiritual character and knowledge becomes expressed as a physical reality to others. We actually have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and the ministry of Jesus becomes visible because Jesus is in us.
Two things we need to stress here. First, being in Christ is only half of the equation. The other half is, Christ is also in us. This is the mystery Paul expresses in Colossians 1:27 and gives personal testimony by concluding with: “struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works in me”. Which leads us to the second point, grace is a relationship, us in Christ and Christ in us.
Our spiritual provisions include our will to respond. Our choice and judgment is respected by God who gave us aspects of Himself. His love provisions us with the capacity to love Him back. Our growth, our knowledge and our maturity are linked to our choices soaked in love. It is by grace our relationship itself becomes a relationship. Grace is a relationship because we are loved by God and provided with the grace to love Him back. We may find love through reason but love is paramount to reason and makes it stronger.
There is a reason Paul concludes 1 Corinthians 13 with “So now faith, hope and love abide, these three: but the greatest of these is love.” On the surface grace would seem not to be a relationship but love makes it so. Grace is a relationship anchored in love. Grace undeservedly given to us as a capacity to enter into a relationship with our heavenly Father through love in His son Jesus, who is in us, because we are in Him.
How glorious is this relationship … given to us freely … because of His great love … expressed in His grace … to us!
Being in Christ implies fundamental principles we should explore like justification. This is what John has in mind when he says in John 20:31, that we have “life in His name”. Having “life” in scripture means a vital, living experience in God. It is living water flowing out from God Himself being expressed through a life He Himself created. Life as we know it, is a creation of God including His participation. We are made in his image, which means we are intended to be part of His experience. Because of God, our scripture reminds us, Jesus has become to us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Since this is whom we have become in Christ, it behooves us then, to look at least in summary, these attributes defining who we are in Christ. This short list does not cover it all but creates a launch platform to explore who we are because we are in Christ if we are a 2 Corinthians 5:17 believer.
Take wisdom for example. How does wisdom “from God” help us since we are living temporal lives? We are living in worldly conditions and need to make choices prudent for worldly circumstances. Not so? If we think this way, it is a mind set spiritually hindering us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption are already ours to possess. Believing it with our mind is only the first step. Faith is the actual doing what we say we believe. A significant part of wisdom comes from the act of doing what God has revealed is true.
Another part of the wisdom equation is making judgments upon knowledge we possess. The scripture uses the word “discernment.” We have powers of discernment that need constant exercise (Hebrews 5:14). Our soul needs constant exposure to the righteousness of God because it is our habit to depend upon the wisdom of man. Our ability to discern God’s will as opposed to our best reason comes through constant practice in Christ. It is a process of exposing our heart and mind within situational circumstances so that our soul and body becomes who we are in Christ.
Israel was given their land but they had to possess it even though it was already theirs. This was Israel’s task under the leadership of Joshua. It is our task to possess not only wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption but all the fullness of God because we are in Christ. In an effort to possess “our land” we will use Grace Notes to look at spiritual principles describing 2 Corinthians 5:17 believers.
Next week Grace Notes will introduce the first of several grace vocabulary terms we use as references in The Language of Grace. These are core Biblical words listed with definitions, Greeks references, and scriptural examples of usage. Add your own notes, references and observations.