Peter tells us the angels in heaven look at us in wonder because we have a salvation completed in Christ Jesus Himself (1 Peter 1:12). In fact, as we read the first chapter of 1 Peter, we cannot turn away without being awe struck by God’s grace, which we possess in Christ Jesus. We are the benefactors of God’s love in such an astounding way, a way we actually distort trying shape and size it into our inadequate capacity to understand.
Understanding the mystery of being in Christ, and becoming an effective minister in our “niche” capacities, is one of our challenges. Paul tells us through his letter to the Ephesians, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).
The three New Testament passages used for teaching spiritual gifts for believers are 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. The first two are more “list” focused and the Ephesians passage, which I prefer, is more “function” focused.
While it is important to express our “niche” capacities in spiritual ministry, our primary focus is to grow up into Christ who is the head of His body. Maturity in Christ gives us a far better yield of our fruit we bear and enables us to grow in faith.
The term “in Christ” is so commonly used in scripture, its significance seems neglected. We talk about 2 Corinthians 5:17 Christians and yet do we realize the focal point of this very verse is “in Christ”?
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.”
We use this verse to focus on being a new creation more than being in Christ. But we are not a new creation unless we are in Christ!
Paul writing to Timothy makes the same emphasis:
- 2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
- 2 Timothy 1:9 who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
- 2 Timothy 2:1 You then, my child, be strengthened by (εν) the grace that is in (εν) Christ Jesus,
- 2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
When you summarize the things designate in these few verses to Timothy, we find them to be of gigantic proportions:
- The promise of life is in Christ Jesus.
- Our grace comes out of Christ Jesus.
- Our salvation is in Christ Jesus.
- Our calling is in Christ Jesus.
- Our eternal glory is in Christ Jesus.
This is just a minute sampling. When Apostles referred to people who were Christians, they would frequently use the term “in Christ”, i.e., to the Philippians: “Greet every saint in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:13), “Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus” (1 Peter 5:14), “Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ.” (Romans 16:9), “To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae” (Colossians 1:2).
To be In Christ in those early days was to have the life of Jesus who had been crucified, buried and then resurrected. It was a sharing of Jesus’ resurrected life and this is the way Paul explained the gospel to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11. Some of those who Jesus appeared to after His resurrection, the passage tells us, were still alive. To be “in Christ” meant the resurrected Jesus. The term “in Christ” had much more impact in that culture, language and time.
But now we have the New Testament and the composite revelation of the new covenant which gives us a much more detailed understanding of God’s plan and purposes. Having God’s New Testament word is a sword in the hand of the Spirit of God Who takes great delight in using the “Word” to reveal truth to our hearts and minds. Being in Christ put us in the flow of God’s grace so that the Holy Spirit has access to nurture our heart and mind according to His truth.
Being in Christ is much more than a legal position we have acquired because God paid our sin penalty. This is an experiential reality a 2Corinthian 5:17 believer enters into. Being “in Christ” has become such a commonplace term in evangelical circles, it is like being in California, Iowa or Virginia. It is used more for identification for belief than a practical description of a living dynamic. We scarcely give it any notice when we read it in the scripture. Yet, it is one of the most stressed terms used in the New Testament. A term Paul goes to great lengths to use to explain our relationship to God through Jesus.
Paul uses the “in Christ” reality to arguing doctrine. In Romans 3 we have redemption that is in Christ Jesus. In Romans 8:2 we have the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freeing us from the law of sin and death. Later, in the same chapter, Paul tells us life actually flows into our mortal body or flesh from His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11) because we are literally in Christ spiritually. In 1 Corinthians we have the church sanctified in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:2). We would be remiss if we did not once again mention 2Corinthinas 5:17 where, not only has the new come, but the old has passed away because we are in Christ. And, my late wife’s favorite verse, Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” This verse actually describes what “in Christ” actually means.
You, I am sure, can add many more examples from your own list of precious truth. But the point we are emphasizing is that “IN Christ” is not a label for a structured belief system. It is not a religious form at all!
When Jesus uses the vine analogy in John 15, He is depicting His life nurturing the branches so that we, the branches, can produce fruit. This is an apt picture of being “in Christ”. It is the same organic function Paul refers to with the term “rooted” in Ephesians 3:17. Here “rooted” and “grounded” are two contrasted forms. Being “rooted” is organic while “grounded” is structural, engineered through reason. Paul uses the same idea in Colossians 2:6, “… walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.” Once again we have the organic life of the heart and love weighted against the mind of reason and things seen.
We relate very well to the idea of being built up because it something we are familiar with in daily life. We make a living and manage our temporal circumstances with reason. Being rooted, on the other hand, is like being in Christ. It is the mystery of grace flowing into life and soul by an unseen force, which is, in fact, the person of God moving us into Himself so that we might participate in His plans and purposes. This is what Paul is saying in Philippians 2:12-13 when says we need to “work out” our own salvation because it is God’s work going on within us if we are in Christ. In this same letter Paul tells us that what God has begun within us, He will continue to its completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Colossians 1:6).
God came into human existence to give humanity a love much greater than man’s own capacity to receive or understand. Then, He enabled mankind to receive His love, this is called grace. It is not the idea of a belief system but the actual reality of participating in Christ. We are talking about having evidence of what is not seen within our own selves. This is the mystery of grace and a practical experience provided to every believer, “he that hath an ear, let him hear”, (Matt 11:15).
Being in Christ is the subject of Paul great argument in Romans 1 through 8. We are moved from condemnation under the law to being justified by faith in Jesus Christ. It is being moved from reign of sin in Adam into the reign of grace provided by the second Adam, Jesus Christ Himself. The great 8th chapter says it in the first verse, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”.
This is just one of many promises that are ours because we are in Christ Jesus. We have one in the very next verse, “For the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” I like this one, “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” In Ephesians 2:10; “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that we should walk in them.” 1Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” One last one because we are in God through Jesus, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3-4).
I have just one question. Are you in Christ?