worldview

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What Does it Mean to be “In Christ?”

What does it mean to be “in Christ”? Perhaps you have heard that term from a sermon or you may have even read it in a Christian book. Some would say that it’s just another way to say we are placed into Christ when we are born again, and that’s true. The moment we placed our faith and trust in the risen Savior, and His finished work on the cross, we are placed into Christ. But “being in Christ” means so much more. The very essence of our Christian faith is vested in the fact that we are “in Christ”. So it is vitally important to know the fuller meaning of what it means to be “in Christ”.

Space will not permit me to list all the elements of being “in Christ”, so I want to address three of the more obvious benefits of “being in Christ”.

You take on a new identity – The moment you trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you become someone you have never been before. That’s the reason Jesus told the Pharisee Nicodemus that you must be “born again”. (John 3:1-14) You have passed from death unto life. Before you were a pawn of Satan and now you are a child of God. ( Ephesians 2) The old person you once were is gone and you are now a new creation in Christ. ( 2 Corinthians 5:17) We now have a new nature occupied by the Spirit of the living Christ. ( Colossians 1:27)

Why is that important to know? Our identity in life is now settled. Having our fundamental identity in Christ frees us from trying to develop our identity from our occupation, achievements, our spouse or our financial statement. We no longer have to strive to measure up to some sort of religious standard to receive God’s love. God loves us because we are family.

People of every culture have asked these three questions.
1. Who am I?
2. Why am I here?
3. Where am I going?

These questions are all answered with our new identity. We know who we are, a child of the living God who is grafted into the family of God. We know why we are here, to glorify God by allowing the life of Christ in us to be manifested to the world. We know where we are going, our home is now heaven and this life is our journey till we get home. The Scriptures tell us that we are “strangers and pilgrims” in this world. A stranger is not familiar with the territory and a pilgrim is just passing through.

Your dependency changes – Before being in Christ, you depended upon your own strength. As a result, sometimes you felt like you measured up and sometimes you felt like a failure. Your sense of security was in your performance. If you performed well in your spiritual walk you felt secure, but if you stumbled you felt like a failure.

God knows our dilemma of trying to measure up, so He alleviated that struggle by allowing us to rest in Him as enough. He tells us to “cast all your care on him for he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7) God also tells us not to “worry about anything but bring it to Him in prayer with a thankful heart and he will give us peace that passes all comprehension” (Philippians 4:6-8 – my paraphrase)

We don’t have to bear the burden, because He will do it all for us. God wired us to depend on Him. The more we carry the weight of our own burdens, the more unrest and misery will be part of our daily life.

You have a shift in your worldview – “A worldview is the lens or glasses from which you view the world. Your worldview is the foundation for your values and your values are the foundation for your conduct. Your worldview is a collection of what you think about law, science, history, family, social issues, education, theology and ethics.” (Brannon Howse)

There are basically two worldview’s, a Biblical worldview and a secular worldview. Society gets their values from  one of two places, the culture or from Scripture. The secular worldview is driven by a “relative” mindset which believes that values change as the culture changes. The problem is that there are no absolutes, values are always changing, even to the point that wrong becomes right and right becomes wrong.

But for those who have been placed “in Christ” we have a different worldview. Our worldview is a Biblical worldview. A Biblical worldview is not based on the culture, or political correctness but on the absolutes of God’s Word. The lens we view life from is the Biblical perspective. If God said it, we believe and obey. Therefore, our worldview impacts our value system.

Bottom Line
Being “in Christ” is more than just another definition for being born again, it is much more. It gives us a new identity that is wrapped in God’s love and care. It allows us to never be alone in midst life’s problems. God not only knows all of our problems, but He is there to walk with us every step of the way. We have a stable worldview that gives us rest and peace. We never have to conform to societies values because we have a value system based on the absolute, never changing promises of God. He is not only our God, but He is also our “Abba/Papa” who draws us near. He cries and rejoices with us through every victory, and every trial, just because we are “IN CHRIST”.

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The Importance of Sound Doctrine

In this age of contemporary Christianity I am seeing a trend of minimizing the importance of doctrine. Sound doctrine is being replaced by social activism. This leaves the impression that our primary duty to society is to improve the quality of man’s life, while at the same time neglecting the proclamation of repentance unto salvation.

I call this trend spiritual drifting. We take something that is intrinsically good and allow it to keep us from focusing on the main thing which is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul. We drift toward a performance based Christianity rather than a dependence based relationship.

No committed follower of Christ would deny our need to be responsible citizens in our community. But when social change becomes our war cry rather than declaring the sufficiency of Christ then we have drifted from the main thing.

Despite man’s increased involvement in saving the planet through recycling and their continual role in helping the street people have food and shelter, the world continues to deteriorate at a rapid pace. It is estimated that over 500,000,000 people have been murdered through wars, Marxist governments and abortion in the last 80 years.

It’s all about living with a proper Biblical Worldview. Doctrine that keeps us centered in Christ is a key element in a Biblical Worldview. When we allow Scripture to be twisted and taken out of context to suit Christian pop culture, then we are guilty of changing our worldview from Biblical to secular. Let me give you an example.

One of the most quoted verses among Christians is Philippians 4:13. “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.” This verse has been used by many believers for circumstances where they would like to see a good outcome. This is especially popular with athletes. I read recently of high school cheerleaders who made this giant banner with Philippians 4:13 written in big letters. When the football players ran onto the football field they were to run through the banner indicating that they were claiming this verse for victory. I applaud the cheerleader’s boldness, but this verse was taken out of context.

We all know that God will help us in any task if we ask for His help and wisdom. I have even asked the Lord to help me when I played sports. I would ask Him to help me do my best and also to protect me from injury. But this verse is not about evoking God’s help in any task we undertake.

The context of the verse has to do with trusting God to help us through suffering, persecution, trial and tribulation. We see the context of the verse in the verses preceding verse 13. Paul was in prison enduring hardship, suffering and persecution and he was saying that in Christ’s sufficiency he can endure all things.

In a similar passage in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul speaks of his “thorn in the flesh.” He prayed earnestly for this hindrance to be removed but God told him that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore I will rather boast about my weakness, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” So like the passage in Philippians it’s about continuing to trust God in the midst of our weakness and suffering.

Why is it important to rightly divide the word of God? There are two primary reasons. First, when we take a text out of its proper context it becomes a pretext and loses its supernatural intention. In this particular verse, it causes us to miss the point that in the midst of suffering I can make it through because I know that ultimately this suffering will result in God getting the glory. It’s not about playing a great game and hopefully achieving a desired outcome.

Secondly, a lack of sound doctrine dilutes the Scripture to fit our situation, rather than allowing the truth of the Scripture to create spiritual change in us. Our ultimate goal is to bring God the glory in all that we do and believe. Our worldview is formed by our doctrine. Our Biblical worldview is what distinguishes us from the world. As we apply the Word of God to our life, may we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth in order that we may be a people of sound doctrine? (John 16)
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