News and Announcements

📌 Introducing: 'The Big Picture (Ask)', where I answer questions that people often find confusing or contradictory, if not understood, and answered, in a dispensational way.
🎬 Bible Study on YouTube: Latest video on YouTube here.

 

Q-A: What does it REALLY mean to be 'In Christ'?

-

Q-A: What does it REALLY mean to be 'In Christ'?



Read the shaded verses below slowly and carefully and then compare the first two verses to the last three. There is a HUGE difference in how Paul describes the believers at Corinth.

1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

1 Cor 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God —and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

1 Cor 3:3 ...for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

1 Cor 5:1 It is actually reported that there is fornication among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father's wife!

1 Cor 5:2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.

Do you notice a difference? Paul is writing to the Christians at Corinth, a city infamous for its immorality. The last three verses reveal the low spiritual condition of the Corinthians, the fact that they were still carnal Christians, full of pride and still babes in the understanding of spiritual things. BUT, Paul calls them 'saints' in the first verse! Did you get that!

People talk about Saint Peter or Saint John or Saint Paul, but Paul said that the carnal, proud, envious, argumentative, immoral Corinthians were saints too.  How can this be?

The first two verses listed above explains that it was in Christ that they were righteous and sanctified (made saints). Positionally they were saints; conditionally they had many unholy characteristics.

It is imperative to recognize the difference between the believer's position and condition. There is a lot of ignorance about this in the Church today, resulting in a lot of confusion. Our position in Christ is perfect and unchangeable; Christ's own righteousness having been imputed to us. Our condition is quite another matter; our behaviour is often far from perfect. God accepts us on the basis of our position in Christ, but He patiently, relentlessly, works in us (Phil.2:13) to bring our condition into conformance with our position.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Q-A: When did the Grace Dispensation Begin?

-
Image
The dispensation of grace has less to do with it starting at a specific moment in time, and more to do with the proclamation of a new salvation message from God. It's not so much linked to the event of Pentecost in Acts 2 , or the conversion of Paul in Acts 9 , or him turning to the Gentiles in Acts 28 , and more to do with receiving a message of God's abundant grace without the need of works and endurance. I'm not declining any reasoning that the message of grace started being proclaimed somewhere in the transitional book of ACTS, but I also hold true the point that grace started in each person individually when they hear, and received the good news that God declares them justified through the absolute and completed cross work of His Son, Jesus Christ. So, for me, grace started with a change in gospel. Consider this, —before the message of grace went out, that is, before the news that God is not saving by a covenant of works, but rather through th...
Read more

Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences (Part 1)

-
Image
Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences  (Part 1 --- Introduction) In the previous study we discussed how Paul, during the first half of his ministry, — that is, his missionary ministry represented in ACTS , —preached two gospels. The general trend that Paul would follow is; He would preach the gospel of God to those Jews and Gentiles (friends of the Jews) who came together, typically, but not exclusively, in the Jewish synagogues. The gospel of God in summary was, believe in Jesus' resurrection and 2nd coming, repent, be water baptized, receive the Holy Spirit, obey the law, prove your faith with works, and endure to the end. Then, to those who believed Paul's preaching of the above gospel, he would introduce them to the 'mystery' gospel of Christ . that Jesus died for their sins and that they could trust in nothing else but the all-sufficient cross-work of Christ (death , burial, resurrection) for sal...
Read more

Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences (Part 5)

-
Image
Understanding the New Testament Gospel Differences  (Part 5 --- A Future Salvation) We continue with the comparison of the gospel of God and the gospel of Christ by looking at key elements that distinguish them from each other. I recommend to start at the beginning of this comparison to gain the necessary context of this series of posts. Salvation was Future A simple fact that does not need much proof is that in the gospel of the Kingdom, and the gospel of God, the hope of salvation lay out in the future. This of course is very different to the gospel of Christ (or the Grace gospel), where salvation is not a hope out in the future based on one's works and the conditional requirement to endure to the end, but rather a factual and unconditional sealing of one's salvation by the Holy Spirit because of the cross work of Christ.
Read more