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From the Pastors at Joy

How Do We Become "in Christ"?

Romans 8 begins and ends with reference to some of the wonderful blessings that come to those who are in Christ Jesus:

Verse 1: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Verses 38-39: "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So from start to finish, all the extraordinary blessings that are described in Romans 8 belong to those who are “in Christ”. The is an immense theme not only in Romans 8, but throughout the New Testament. Consider a sample of what the Scriptures say of those who are “in Christ”:

1. In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created: “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began” (2 Timothy 1:9)
2. In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation: “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4)
3. In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins:“In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).
4. In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed (i.e., credited) to you: “For our sake God made Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
5. In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
6. In Christ Jesus, you have become a son of God: “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 3:26).
7. In Christ Jesus you have been seated in the heavenly places even while he lived on earth: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6).
8. In Christ Jesus all the promises of God are Yes for you: “All the promises of God find their Yes in Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
9. In Christ Jesus you have been made holy, set apart for God: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
10. In Christ Jesus the peace of God will guard your heart and mind: “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
11. In Christ Jesus you have eternal life: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
12. And in Christ Jesus you will be raised from the dead at the coming of the Lord: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

There may not be, then, a more important question in the whole world than to ask, “How does a person become ‘in Christ Jesus’?" Here is what Paul has already said in Romans about how justification (receiving the verdict ‘No Condemnation’ in heaven’s courtroom):

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (Romans 3:23-25).

Here Paul indicates that the way we receive the blessings of justification and redemption which are in Christ is to receive the gifts by faith. Faith is what unites us with Jesus so that His blessings become ours. For confirmation, consider:

"Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" (Romans 6:3)

Here Paul says that we are baptized into Christ; does that mean that being in Christ comes about through the waters of baptism? No, because in Colossians 2 he writes to the church that they have been "buried with him in baptism (cf. Romans 6:3), in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead" (Colossians 2:12).

Finally, consider Philippians 3:8-9:

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…"

Here, perhaps more clearly than any other place, Paul says that the way we are found in Christ is through faith in Christ. The doctrine of union with Christ – being found in Him – depends on no effort or works of our own, but is the free gift of God, received by faith alone.

Which means that all the blessings of Romans 8, and indeed, all the promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20) are ours in Christ Jesus. Rest, and rejoice, in the wonder and glory of your union with Christ today, which is free and by faith.