All Doves:

I'm going to a close this study of what it means to be "In Christ" and I trust that it will answer questions for you, as well as aid you in your growth.  Many struggle, "fall off the wagon" is one common term in their walk of faith and allowing God to transform one from the carnal and unto the spiritual.  We have addressed the basics in our understanding of what it means to be "In Christ".

With the gracious privilege of having Christ Jesus in our lives, there come certain obligations - "we are debtors".  There is danger if we live according to the flesh after what God has done for us.  It is to court disaster.  I believe every born-again believer wants to avoid becoming a "back-slider". 

Romans 8:13 notes that to allow the things of the world to completely dominate one's life is spiritual suicide.  This verse is perhaps the clearest, most concise statement of the way a person one in grace can lose his salvation.  The death referred to must be understood in its broadest scope and does not stop short of death in its ultimate manifestation, eternal separation from God.  The believer finds his victory in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Nothing is owed to the flesh. It is to have no more control.  He is to mortify the deeds of the body.  "Thanatoo" means to "put to death, destroy, render extinct".

To be led of the Spirit is to live a normal Christian life.  By following the Spirit's leading we realize and prove our sonship.  It is God's purpose that all New Testament saints are to be the "sons of God".  But some turn "Again to the weak and beggerly elements, whereunto (they) desire again to be in bondage"  -(Galatians 4:9).  Romans 8:14,15 speaks to be led of the Spirit is to live a normal Christian life.  Servants obey because they are subject to rules; sons of God obey because they are led by the Spirit into a clear realization that the Father's will is the best possible way.  Like their Elder brother they delight to do God's will.  Jesus did not come to give us a system by which we could live; He came to be our life.  The point is Jesus did not die to make bad men good.  He came to give dead men life!  The Holy Spirit bears unmistakable witness to our spirit that we are children of God.  The new birth -(John 3:3-6) gives us the spiritual; the adoption as sons guarantees privileges of sonship.  If we are to live a victorious life, there must be a definite assurance of our standing in grace and of our relationship to God.  Unbelievers may call on God in times of calamity, but only a son of can truly pray, "Our Father".

My responsibility in light of these facts, by faith I must possess my possessions and enjoy (claim) my riches!   These become practical matters of being "In Christ":

    I walk and live -(Colossians 2:6).
    I stand fast and firm -(Philippians 4:1).
    I have constant victory -(2nd Corinthians 2:14).
    I am fruitful -(1st Corinthians 15:58; Ephesians 2:10).
    I can do all things -(Philippians 4:13).
    I can draw near to God -(Ephesians 2:13,18).
    I have all that I need; every need is supplied -(Philippians 4:19 "by" = "in").
    I can rejoice always -(Philippians 4:4; 1st Peter 1:8).
    I am a purifying hope -(1st John 3:3).
    I am strong -(2nd Timothy 2:1; Ephesians 6:10).
    I am faithful -((Ephesians 1:1).
    I have faith and love -(1st Timothy 1:13)
    I can be mature -(Colossians 1:28).

Romans 8:16 points out that not all men are children of God.  The liberals' teaching of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God is a doctrine from the pit of hell, and is foreign to Scripture -(John 8:44; 1st John 3:10).  On the contrary, how wonderful is sonship.  By and through Christ Jesus is the only way to be brought into the family of God. 

The knowledge of sonship comes through the witness of the Holy Spirit.  It is not necessary for us to tell people they are saved; that is the Spirit's prerogative.  The Spirit makes our position as sons (literally, "adult sons") real to us as believers.  The word "tekna" is used here, while "huioi" appears in verse 14.  "Tekna" refers to children; "huioi" to sons.  The words are often used interchangeably.  The King James translation, "the Spirit itself", is better rendered "the Spirit Himself", for He is a person.

The Apostle Paul in verse 17 points out another great privilege.  Because believers are children of God, they are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ".  The saints are called "joint-heirs with Christ" because God "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things" -(Hebrews 1:2).   The words "inheritance, inherit, heir, and joint-heir" are all from the same root word in Greek.  The believers' joint-heirship with Christ begins at once and includes suffering with Him in this present time, as well as glory with Him
at His return.  If we are to enter into our "adoption" or rights and privileges, we must accept the whole inheritance, suffering as well as glory -(John 15:19,20).  All that belongs to Christ Jesus as the Firstborn, belongs to His brethren as well, and this includes both a dark and a bright side.  It was necessary for Him to suffer to enter into His glory -(Luke 24:26; Acts 17:3).  We are joint-heirs, "if so be that we suffer with him".  To wear the crown, we must share the Cross.

When God's sons are unveiled, the whole creation, now groaning under the bondage of sin, will be redeemed.  Paul addressed this in verses 19-23 .  Dominion over a renewed creation, lost in Adam, will be restored to the redeemed human race.  It's not common understanding today within Christianity that all of nature is under the curse as well.  All of the earth came under the curse because man relinquished his God-given dominion to Satan.  The creation was thus made subject to pain and futility "not willingly".  Animals and plant life did not sin, but God "subjected" them "in hope" that man will learn that all sin exacts too great a price.  The entire human family awaits the lifting of the curse.  When that comes all creation will be delivered.

"Delivered" and "liberty" are from the same root word in Greek.  The whole creation will gain the glorious freedom of God's children when His children are glorified.  Creation will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay. We don't think about the fact that the whole world of nature sighs for release from the agony of the ages, convulsing in birth pangs and awaiting deliverance.  As a woman in travail has the hope of bearing her child, creation groans in hope.  The groaning is not that of death throes, but of birth.  That gives meaning to the cry of travail which nature now endures.  I have seen interesting studies that connects music with plant growth and plant communication that provide us an amazing insight to God's creation.  When the present distress gives way to future glory, when the curse is lifted, God' people are His sons.  They have the Spirit of Sonship and Spirit.  The Sons of God have the Holy Spirit, and that possession is a promise of the harvest yet to come as stated concerning those who await the resurrection:  "Christ the firstfruits; afterwards they that are Christ's at His coming" -(1st Corinthians 15:23).

The secret is to remain "in Christ".  Eternal security is provided, but it is only available as long as we remain "in Christ".  By the decision of our will we came into the relationship of being "in Christ".  By a decision of our will we can chose to terminate that relationship.  If we do that we lose our security.  In summary; there is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of Christ outside of ourselves.  The only thing that can effect that separation is human will.  Paul said in Romans 8:39, "Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creatures, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."


As I close out this series of what it means to be "in Christ" I would like you to remember that it was one of Paul's major points in his epistles.  Just look at where it is found and how often:

    Romans 42X
    1st Corinthians 30X
    2nd Corinthians 32X
    Galatians 16X
    Ephesians 43X
    Philippians 27X
    Colossians 28X
    1st Thessalonians 8X
    2nd Thessalonians 7X
    1st Timothy 3X
    2nd Timothy 11X
    Titus 1X
    Philemon 1X
    Hebrews 16X

While this is not related to my focus here, note how many times it is found in Hebrews.  Hebrews does not have an author's named attached to the epistle, and yet is clearly written by the Apostle Paul.  This is revealed several ways, and the use of the phrase "in Christ" is one of those ways, that we know Paul is the human writer of Hebrews.

Paul referenced this relationship no fewer than 264X times.  As Christians we are are no longer bound by the law of the Old covenant but rather live within God's state of grace by faith under the New Covenant.  To Paul, the message of our union with Christ Jesus was the center of everything he preached.  His phraseology "In Christ" was his sum total of everything that God had envisioned for us from the beginning and the use of the particular phrase is what he uses to define the new creation Christian.

There is nothing more important for us to be doing these days than to be "In Christ".  I encourage you to consider this as being the most important task before you.

God bless,

Pastor Bob