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SELAH! Pause - reflect- just think of that!

Selah Alphabetical Index

You in Me, and I in You

Jesus said to His disciples, “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (John 14:19-20).

Jesus was speaking of His resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 1-3). God the Father sent the Spirit so that the members of the body would be joined to their Head in a living union. The indwelling Holy Spirit today unites believers to Christ.

The greatest possible incentive to live the Christian life is to realize that you have a perfect standing with God in Christ Jesus. We no longer strive vainly to make ourselves acceptable to God. We have been “made acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” We are already “accepted in the Beloved” because of His death for us on the cross. We are now made the righteousness of God in Christ, and that right relationship with God will abide without change throughout eternity. Relying upon that great Biblical truth gives peace that is beyond all comprehension.

Jesus said, “You in Me, and I in you.” The believer is “in Christ.” The equivalent expression in the letters of the apostle Paul is “in Him.” It is the picture of an organic union with Christ; formed through the power of God the moment a person puts his faith in Christ for salvation. It is the work of the Holy Spirit when we are born spiritually. The Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ.

The apostle Paul uses the figure of a limb in the body being joined into a human body (1 Cor. 12:13). Before a person believes on Christ for salvation he is without Christ, and a time comes when he puts his faith in Christ and he is then “in Christ.” “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” In this beautiful organism, the Holy Spirit joins all believers to Christ the Head of the body. This is the spiritual Body of Christ, and it is not to be confused with any outward, visible organization.

When the sinner trusts Christ, he is born again, and the Spirit immediately enters his body and bears witness that he is a child of God. The Spirit is a resident and will not depart from the believer. Every Christian at the moment he believers on Christ is perfectly and eternally joined by the baptism of the Holy Spirit to the Body of Christ.

It is equally important to keep in mind that because we are “in Christ” we have a new standing before God that is “the infinite righteousness of God” in Christ. God reckons the righteousness of Christ to the person who believes on Him (Rom. 3:22). This righteousness of Christ gives the believer a perfect standing before God. This we receive when we are vitally joined to Christ in the new birth. This new standing with God is nothing less than the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). It is “made” unto the believer by God (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 10:2-4; Phil. 3:8-9; Rom. 3:21-22; 4:3-6, 22-25; Gal. 3:13; Eph. 1:6; Rom. 1:16-17). “We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” God makes us the very righteousness of God in Christ. We are made righteous in His sight. He clothes us with the robes of Christ’s righteousness and justifies us forever. Christ, who is the very righteousness of God, is made the righteousness of God unto us when we are found “in Him.” This is now our standing before God. We are now made the righteousness of God, and it is so related to Christ in vital union with Him that it can and will abide without change for all eternity. This is our perfect standing in Christ. It is also perfectly illustrated by the allegory of the vine (John 15).

Not only does Jesus say we are “in Him,” but He says, “I am in you.” Yes, we are “in Christ,” and Christ is in the believer. Jesus Christ is the current possession of all believers. “He that believes on the Son has everlasting life.” “He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life” (1 John 5:12). “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:17). “Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). The new divine imparted life, eternal life, is the indwelling Son of God.

When we put our faith in Christ, we receive Him. Jesus said, “I am come that they might have life, and might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). The Holy Spirit has imparted a new life to us. Only the born again believer has this new divine life. It is “Christ in you” (2 Cor. 13:5).

Our experience with God ought to go deeper and deeper, and it will as we yield to the Spirit of Truth and permit Him to teach us and guide us. If we love God and obey Him, He will manifest His love to us in a deeper way each day.

Because of our vital union with Christ, our Head we receive from Him a constant supply of energy and resources for our every need. As we make ourselves available to Him we receive His wisdom, grace and power to live the abundant life. The life of the Head and the Vine flows into the members of His body. The life that I now live is “Christ in me,” and I in Christ.

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006