Part
1 – In Christ
“Therefore
if any man be IN
CHRIST, he
is a NEW CREATURE: old
things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Understanding
what it means to be a “new
creature in Christ” is absolutely essential for enjoying the
abundant life of freedom that Jesus Christ has provided for every
believer.
We
learn how to avoid the common traps of poor self-image and
self-condemnation as we begin to view ourselves from God’s perspective
rather than from man’s perspective. Assurance, confidence, and
consistency will characterize our daily lives as we grow in an
understanding of what God has provided for us in Christ.
We
need to begin at the beginning: What does it mean to be a “new
creature” and what impact does it have on our lives?
In
Christ:
While
dispensationally it is possible to be
“in Christ” either according to the prophetic
program (Gen 22:18, Isa 45:25) for
Israel
or the mystery program (Eph
2:13; 3:6) of the Gentiles, the term itself is actually a redemptive term,
as 1Cor 15:22 demonstrates.
“For
as in Adam all die, even so IN
CHRIST shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:22)
In
the current “dispensation of the grace of God” (Eph 3:2), when we
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, the Holy Spirit instantly
baptizes is “into Christ”
and thus into His “one body.”
Being “in Christ” is often
referred to as positional truth.
The baptism of 1Cor 12:13 is thus rightly viewed as the mechanics of the positional
truth of being placed “into
Christ.”
“For
by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body,
whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be
bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one
Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 12:13)
Much
religious confusion surrounds the topic of baptism, but in Scripture the
main issue behind baptism is “total
Identification.” This is something that happens to every individual
believer the moment we trust in Christ: We actually are totally
identified with Christ in His
life, death, and resurrection. This is so much so that Paul writes:
“Know
ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death? 4 Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)
It
is “in Christ” that we are
immediately “blessed with all
spiritual blessings” (Eph 1:3). It is “in
Christ” that we are made “complete”
(
Col
2:10). It is “in Christ”
that “in everything ye are
enriched by Him” (1Cor 1:5). Thus it is “in
Christ” that we are made “new
creatures.”