PART 1 I AM

A Chapter by rondo

What Does It Mean to Say That You Are in Christ?

Introduction

I wonder how many Christians don’t know who they are in Christ. Did you know that God sees you in an entirely new way at salvation? Unfortunately, the newly converted Christians and some of those who’ve been saved for a while are still thinking, speaking, and acting steadily according to their former lives. Conversely, when we start attending church, whenever and wherever that might be, we’re usually presented with a format for worship and accountability. This might consist of learning about the doctrines of the faith, becoming aware of the prescribed protocol for giving financially, being asked to participate in various functions such as corporate prayer, Bible study, men’s or women’s breakfast, teaching workshops, etc., or volunteering when needed.

Sadly, in some instances, we’re unaware of all the spiritual blessings that have taken place in our lives at salvation. Instead of learning about these spiritual declarations and embracing them, we’re asked to get busy and do good works for God. Therefore, our acceptance from leadership and the brethren becomes performance based. In contrast, our approval from God is based on grace through faith (repentance of our sins to God the Father and belief in His Son, Jesus Christ, as to who He is and what He has accomplished).

Likewise, shouldn’t our walk that’s in accordance with the teachings of those in church leadership be founded on grace through faith?

This study will bring awareness of who we are in Christ to our attention, which is another way of saying that this is how God sees us and, conversely, how we should see ourselves. When we realize who we’ve become and how precious we are in God’s eyes, striving to please Him, church authority, or our spiritual peers that’s based on achievement will be questioned. And hopefully, we’ll be guided to serve because our motivation is founded on the correct perception of ourselves and others as revealed by God’s Word.

Are you ready to discover the many truths about yourself that can’t be undone by anything you think, say, or do?

This doesn’t mean that grace is a license to sin. It simply means that what grace provides, sin can’t undo or affect. Grace remains grace. The new you will stay the new you.

In most of the following chapters, I’ll present one established irrevocable fact about your new standing in Christ. Are you ready to learn about each one of them? I am. Along with this, certain questions will be asked in some chapters so that you’ll fully understand the certainty of your salvation. Are you ready to begin? Let’s go.

What Does It Mean to Say That You Are in Christ?

Please turn in your Bibles to the book of 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1:30

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Did you know that it’s of God the Father that you have a spiritual existence? Concerning such [you were] born again by the grace of God in Christ¹ (by living in union with Him²). Furthermore, Christ is the source of the following spiritual blessings. Who was made unto us wisdom from God - both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.³

So, what does it mean when Scripture declares that we’re in Christ?

It means that when we believed the gospel, we were placed in union with Him. And because of such we have received the blessings of righteousness (put right with God), sanctification (set apart to belong to God), and redemption (free from the ramifications of sin owed to satisfy the justice of God).

By the way, did you know that all of these blessings and much more have been produced in you through another special member of the Trinity? Do you know the name of who this might be? Well, the following verse will not only tell us so but will reveal to us the purpose of these blessings.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

God the Father has blessed (benefitted) us with all spiritual blessings (Spirit-produced blessings; every spiritual enrichment needed for the spiritual life,⁴ since these benefits have already been bestowed on believers, they [shouldn’t] ask for them but rather appropriate them by faith⁵) in heavenly (in the heavenlies; to prepare for heaven⁶) places (not in the original manuscripts) in Christ.

By the way, when we take a closer look at the words of the verb hath blessed, which is in the form of an aorist active participle in Koine Greek, the language by which most of the New Testament was written, here’s what else they reveal to you. The tense tells us what kind of action is expressed by the verb. There are seven tenses: aorist, present, future, perfect, imperfect, future perfect, and pluperfect. Of these, the most common occurrences will be the present tense which denotes continuous action in the present; the perfect tense, which expresses action completed in the past with present results; and the aorist tense, which denotes action occurring at a point in time. In this instance, the tense is aorist which declares that you were blessed at a point in time, i.e., when you believed the gospel.

Something else to keep in mind is the voice. The voice tells us how the subject is related to the action of the verb. There are three voices: active, middle, and passive. The active voice tells us that the subject produces the action. The middle voice indicates that the subject both produces and receives the action. And the passive voice points out that the subject receives the action. In this instance, you received the action of being blessed by God the Father.

Another thing about a verb, even though it’s not mentioned here, is the mood. The mood is how the action of the verb is conceived regarding reality, which can either be actual or possible. There are four moods: indicative, subjunctive, imperative, and optative. The moods that are most often used are the indicative, which tells us that the action of the verb is of certainty or fact, and the subjunctive, which denotes possible action of the verb if certain existing facts take place.

And finally, what we have here is what is called a participle. A participle is a verbal adjective that tells us why someone is doing something or why something is being done. We can surmise why God the Father has blessed you. This is because you responded to the gospel of Christ and have received the originator of these blessings, i.e., the indwelling Spirit.

With that said, we’re almost ready to take a look at the blessings that are Spirit-originated. But before we do, you should be aware of the view of some who proclaim that salvation can be lost. If this is true, then the blessing of the indwelling Spirit, along with additional ones, are conditional. Could this be true? There are three views that espouse this perception. Let’s begin by looking at the first one in the following chapter that has to do with the Mosaic Law.

Endnotes

¹Calvin’s CommentariesPc Study Bible version 5, 2006. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 15 September 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.

²Jamieson, Faucet, and Brown Commentary Pc Study Bible version 5, 2005. BIBLESOFT.

WEB. 15 September 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.

³The Pulpit Commentary Pc Study Bible version 5, 2006. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 13 November 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.

⁵Bible Knowledge Commentary/New Testament.

⁶Barnes’ Notes. Pc Study Bible version 5, 2006. BIBLESOFT. WEB. 29 September 2022

˂http://www.biblesoft.com>.