In Christ Jesus
Eph.1:1
Paul begins his letter to the Ephesians by telling them who he is, an apostle of Jesus Christ, then tells that the letter is to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus. In this lesson we will study what it means to be in Christ Jesus.
Being in Christ is the spiritual condition of your soul after salvation. Any attempt to make it physical you will never understand. Seek to understand the spiritual condition that your soul is now in because of your salvation, you will truly enjoy the “spiritual blessings” that we will study in future lessons. So, now let’s study what it means to be in Christ.
[Gal.3:26] You became a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, plus nothing [Eph.2:8-9]So, what happened when you became a child of God? Most folks just know that now they won’t go to hell when they die, and that they get to go to heaven. But very important spiritual things took place.
- Your soul was separated from your flesh [Col.2:11-13], a spiritual circumcision. Now the sins of your flesh have no effect on the condition of your soul. Paul also mentions a baptism, not physical but spiritual.
- You are baptized into Christ [Gal.3:27], This is a spiritual, not physical baptism. It is the one baptism that saves you, [Eph.4:5]. This spiritual baptism makes you in Christ. [1Cor.12:12-27] Paul expounds on this body and its many members. [Rom.6:3-6], Paul speaks of this spiritual baptism into Jesus Christ.
- You are complete in Christ, [Col.2:9-10] We are all one in Jesus Christ, [Gal.3:28], [Jn.17:20-23]
Here is an interesting application, [Gal.3:27], the phrase “put on Christ”. In your Bible the phrase “put on” refers to garments, raiment, etc., things that you cover yourself with. But, when this phrase is not garments etc., look at a few examples of what we should put on:
[Job29:14] righteousness [Isa.51:9] strength [1Cor.15:53] incorruption, put on immortality [Eph.4:24] the new man [Eph.6:11] the whole armor of God [Col.3:12] bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering [Col.3:14] charityAll of these are the qualities of Jesus Christ! If you are in Christ, then you have covered yourself with Christ. When God now looks at your righteousness as it concerns your salvation, He sees Jesus! But does the world see Jesus when it looks at your outside? It should if you have put on Christ.