BY PASTOR FAWOLE ANTHONY
Due to its attendant benefits, many has desired be united with Christ and wished so much to be “in Christ” just as the Bible had taught. But I will like you to know what it actually means to be “in Christ” just as it is taught in the Bible, by the beloved apostle Paul. Therefore, I will try to inform you of what Paul meant whenever he talked of being in Christ and this is because he appears to be the only NT writer who taught extensively about the topic.
Pauline Concept of Being “in Christ”: Reactive Spirituality and not Proactive Mysticism
In a chapter “Mysticism and Morality,” contained in his book A Man in Christ, Scottish preacher and Professor James S. Stewart (1896-1990) pointed out that Gustav Adolf Deissmann categorized mysticism to be of two types: acting, and reacting. The two different models have been called proactive mysticism, and reactive spirituality. Reactive spirituality is of grace, an “experience in which the action of God . . . produces a reaction towards God.”
In this kind of mysticism God initiates and man responds. On the other hand, proactive mysticism is of works, a mystic communion resulting from the mystic’s “own action, from which a reaction follows on the part of Deity.” In other words, by engaging intentional mystical practices, man initiates, then God responds. Though disagreeing with labeling the apostle’s theology of the spiritual life “Christian mysticism,” Stewart’s distinction helps differentiate between Paul’s reactive spirituality, and proactive mysticism. Of this distinction Professor Stewart wrote:
Much religion has been made of the latter kind [i.e., proactive mysticism]. Man’s action has been regarded as the primary thing. The soul has endeavoured to ascend towards God. Spiritual exercises [e.g., spiritual disciplines] have been made the ladder for the ascent. But all this savours of the religion of works as contrasted with the religion of grace. Paul’s attitude was different. His mysticism was essentially of the reacting kind. Christ, not Paul, held the initiative. Union with the eternal was not a human achievement: it was the gift of God. It came, not by any spiritual exercises [e.g., spiritual disciplines], but by God’s self-revelation, God’s self-impartation. The words “It pleased God to reveal His Son in me,” which remind us that the Damascus experience itself was the foundation of the apostle’s mysticism, are Paul’s emphatic way of saying that God’s action always holds priority: His servant simply reacts to the action of God.
Stewart then concludes by stating that Paul’s spirituality was “all of grace; and it is well to be reminded by the apostle that union with Christ is not something we have to achieve by effort, but something we have to accept by faith.” The heart of Paul's Christ mysticism is linked with a secret union which we experience as believers in identifying with our Saviour. This preposition "in", which emphasizes the believer's commitment to Jesus, also appears in the individual expressions "in Jesus", "in Christ", "in him", "in the blood of Jesus", "in the Holy Spirit", "in the Spirit" or, for example, "in the love of Christ".
If one follows these phrases on the computer, one notes that they appear over one hundred and fifty times in Paul's letters. Jews too speak a lot of the concept "dveiqut" or "bond" -- the believer is, as it were, "davuq" or "glued" or "joined" to the will of God. Faith engenders such "intimacy". Already in his Areopagus sermon (Acts 17:28) Paul had said that "in him we live and move and have our being."
Paul writes, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1). To Andronichus and Junias in Rome, his relatives and companions in prison, who had been "in Christ" before him, he sends his greetings (Rom. 16:7). "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). "Do you not realise that Jesus Christ is in you?" (2 Cor. 13:5). "Now in Christ ... you have been brought near in the blood of Christ" (Eph. 2:13). "In him we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:14 and Eph. 1:7). "Rejoice in the Lord always " (Phil. 4:4). "I can do all things in him who gives me strength" (Phil. 4:13). And "the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17).
Paul's union with Christ was reflected in his letters as images taken from life: He spoke of believers as "God's building", the "temple" of the Holy Spirit and "the body of Christ", in which we "are built as God's dwelling in the Spirit." "We are God's fellow-workers; you are God's field, God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9). "You are fellow-citizens with the saints and God's family, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief corner-stone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built as God's dwelling in the Spirit"(Eph. 2:19-22). "Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple"(1 Cor. 3:16-17). "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body"(1 Cor. 6:19-20). "We who are many are one body in Christ, and each member belongs to all the others"(Rom. 12:5). "You are the body of Christ and each one of you his members" (1 Cor. 12:27; 6:15; Eph. 1:23; 5:30; etc.). It was on these concepts that Paul based his message to the churches.
The Essenes spoke at that time of the "deceitful" and "fleshly impulse" (yetzer remiya and yetzer basar); Paul too used similar terms. "Our old man" is crucified through Christ; "the natural man" does not receive what is of God's Spirit; "in our inner man" we agree with God's Law; God lets us be strengthened "in our inner man"; "although our outer man dies, yet the inner one is being renewed day by day"; you must put off "your old man" and "be renewed in your minds from the Spirit and put on the "new man"; you "have taken off the old man"; "God's man" should flee from sin, so that "God's man might be perfect, ready for all good works." All this is possible only in Christ. "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17). Therefore Paul exhorts believers, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed (in Greek "metamorphousthe") by the renewing of your mind"(Rom. 12:2).
Although then Paul taught pessimistically that there is nothing good in man himself, he assumed, however, that through his Holy Spirit God changes those who believe in him. This "metamorphosis" or "change of shape" is entirely God's work. In 2 Cor. 3:18 he says that "we" who look at the Lord's glory "are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Paul used of "repentance" a word which describes its nature -"metanoia" or "change of mind". Man is indeed "at the same time a sinner and justified" and only in eternity is our essential wretchedness stripped away. Man's earthen make-up does not change. "Our old man" lives side by side with "the new man", as once famous Siamese twins had to suffer each other: one of them had an inclination towards alcohol, the other enjoyed more spiritual interests.
The Essenes (and also many Christians today) believed they could conquer the evil dwelling in them by ever stricter fasting and good works. Paul did not trust in his own strength. However, he was "confident of this, that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). It was this change of mind, being in Christ, walking in the Spirit and firm trust in God's grace that represented Paul's spiritual realism and his Christ mysticism. In Colossians 1 he speaks of "the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations"; and "the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col.1:26-27). Here there are perhaps, as Peter said, some things difficult to understand, yet it is real and it works (cf. 2 Pet. 3:16).
When Paul used the expressions "building", "dwelling" and "temple", it leads one to ask whether the Old Testament supports these ideas. In the book of Isaiah there are two verses which are often connected with the same "family". Isaiah 28:16 says, "Thus says the Sovereign LORD: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed' " (Heb. "yahish", "hurry"). The most highly recognized Jewish scholar RaSHI says, "He is the Messiah-King, who will be the touchstone of Zion." RaSHI also says that the rejected "corner-stone" in Psalm 118 is the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. MalbiM's extensive expository work Biur ha-inyan says of the expression "musad mussad" or "strongly founded" corner-stone that it is "strong and tested" and it will be laid "as the main stone" (Ps. 118:22). "It will be the foundation of the foundations, because it supports the whole building; and the fact that it does not need to hurry means that "this will not happen immediately, but first much suffering is ahead." Isaiah 8:14 says, "And he will be a sanctuary, a stone of offence and stumbling-block to both houses of Israel." The New Testament regards this as a prophecy of Christ (Matt. 21:44, Luke 2:34 and 20:18). Similarly, the Talmud too thinks that it refers to "the Messiah, the Son of David." Again the Biur ha-inyan explains: "And he will be a sanctuary; as he is sanctified, he will be a sanctuary."
The original Greek expression, "en Khristo einai" or "to be in Christ", is associated with this mystical union. The Messiah is "the Holy One of Israel". This expression, which occurs fourteen times in the book of Isaiah, refers in some contexts in a concealed way to the Messiah. Isaiah 55:3 says, "Come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, I will give the sure mercies of David." And we further read, "Surely you will summon nations (or Gentiles) you know not, and nations (or Gentiles) that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he will glorify you."
Rabbi David Kimhi or RaDaK, "without whom there is no right Bible exposition," says that "'the sure mercies of David' mean the Messiah, for of him is used the name of David; and it is written that my servant David will be their prince for ever (Ezek. 37:25) ... and he will be teacher of the peoples."
The New Testament also supports this idea. Peter says to Jesus, "You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (Jn. 6:68-69). Similarly, Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles, "You will not let your Holy One see decay" and "You disowned the Holy and Righteous One" (Acts 2:27 and 3:14). Mark and Luke also use of Jesus the expression "the Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24 and Luke 4:34). If this is so, then the exposition of the Biur ha-inyan is set in the right light. Because Jesus is the Holy One of God and because he is sanctified, in this sense "he will become a sanctuary." Thus are also realized Paul's words that in Jesus Christ "the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord" (Eph. 2:21).
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are also connected with this mystery. Of baptism Paul writes that we "who have been baptised into Christ Jesus, have been baptised into his death." "So we have then together with him been buried through baptism into death" (Rom. 6:3-4). And from this he concludes that when we have "died with Christ," we may also "live" with him, and thus we can walk "in new life." On the other hand, "we were all in one Spirit baptised into one body -- whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free" (1 Cor. 12:13). Perhaps the most beautiful picture of baptism is in Galatians 3:27-28: "All of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." In quite a similar way, just as the majority of Jewish scholars emphasise that the Gentile who has received proselyte baptism and the native-born Jew have the same rights to the old covenant, in the New Covenant too there is no distinction among the baptised. In this respect too there are no legal differences between man and woman when they have put on Christ.
The Lord's Supper is the meal of the New Covenant. It is also a love-meal and fellowship meal. One day we will eat it "new" in the Kingdom of God. We have already stated in connection with Paul's third missionary journey that the night-time meal at Troas might have been the so-called "melaveh malkah", which is also popularly called "the Messiah's meal". The Midrash on Ruth links this term with the Suffering Servant of the Lord in Isaiah chapter 53. And it repeats four times: "He who eats the Messiah's meal in this world will eat it in the life to come." Furthermore, in sacrificial language the expression "guf ha-Pesah" or the Passover "body" is used of the Passover lamb. Also in Psalms 22 and 23 include the idea of this Messianic meal. To Paul this "communion", or literally "fellowship", meant fellowship between the church and Christ. We are the body of Christ. The communion wine is participation in "the blood of Christ" and the bread that we break is participation in "the body of Christ." And "because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread"(1 Cor. 10:16-17). This mystery too is part of Paul's Christ mysticism.
Benefits of Being “in Christ”
It is evident from the foregoing discourse that being in Christ is characteristically Pauline and we see, in Eph. 1: 3-14, our standing in the Lord Jesus Christ:
1. We are chosen in Christ (v. 4)
2. We are sanctified in Christ (v. 4)
3. We are foreordained in Christ (v. 5)
4. We are adopted in Christ (v. 5)
5. We are accepted in Christ (vv. 4-5)
6. We are redeemed in Christ (v. 7)
7. We are forgiven in Christ (v. 7)
8. We are enriched in Christ (vv. 3, 8)
9. We are united in Christ (v. 10)
10. We are enlightened in Christ, the Light of the world (cf. Jn. 1:4ff.; 9:5)
11. Our inheritance is in Christ (v. 14)
12. We are sealed until the day of redemption in Christ (v. 14; cf. Eph. 4:30)
The only way a man can please God is in Christ Jesus, therefore God saves us for Christ’s sake (Eph. 4:32). If anyone wants eternal life, it is only in Christ (Jn. 3:16; 14:6). If anyone wants to live a fulfilled life here on earth, it is made possible in Christ.
Conclusion
The finished work of salvation is in Christ and man has nothing to add to it, otherwise he is demeaning the sufficiency of Jesus’ death. Faith in Jesus is sufficient for man’s salvation and even this faith is not man’s for it is a gift from God (Eph. 2:8). We are not saved by works, not by faith plus works, not by a faith that works, but by a faith that leads to works (Eph. 2: 9-10). All that man needs to live for God in this present world has been made available in Christ. God’s desire to save men of all kinds is revealed in Christ.
There is nothing a man can do with respect to his salvation except he has been chosen in Christ (Acts 4:12). Also, everything that man needs to take him to eternal life with God in heaven are available in Christ. Appropriation of divine supplies cannot be done except one is in Christ. Therefore, religious pluralism is detrimental to the Christian faith and it should thus be discarded notwithstanding its appeal to reason or experience. Jesus is not just the way, He is the only way for no one can come to the Father εἰ μὴ δι᾽ ἐμοῦ, i.e. except through Him (Jn. 14:6).
In addition, all that man needs to live a fulfilled life here and now, in anticipation for the coming kingdom, are made available in Christ. All that man needs to live his life for God’s glory is provided in Christ. No one can become God’s child unless He is in Christ. No one can receive redemption from his sins and deliverance from the power of sin unless such a person is in Christ. No one can receive the future inheritance promised for men except he is in Christ.
In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes it clear that neither good works nor even faith but the gracious plan of God “in Christ” from eternity determines man’s final destiny (1:3ff.). All things in the heavens and on the earth are brought together in Christ. For the believers to attain to the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” they need to strive to do this in Christ (4:13). In the struggle against “the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”, the church can make effective use of the whole armour provided by God when she appropriates them in Christ (6:11ff.). In short, all that Paul is saying is that all we need is Christ and Him alone. And, I want you, my dear reader, to admit this in order to live a victorious life in Him who has called us according to His good pleasure
