Articles
Is Christ in You?
Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2.20, ESV).
When Paul said that he had been crucified with Christ, he was simply echoing the language of Romans chapter 6. There Paul had written, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Rom. 6.3-8, ESV). Therefore, Paul was acknowledging his baptism into Christ for the washing away of his sins in Galatians 2.20 (cf. Acts 22.16).
Since Paul had crucified the old self, it was no longer he who lived, but Christ living in him. This was due to his obedient faith to Christ and his maintaining of fellowship thereof.
This was essentially how Christ came to reign in the lives of the Gentiles. Peter wrote, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2.9-10, ESV). The Jews had always been God’s people, but since they chose to commit spiritual adultery by practicing idolatry, God prophesied that those who were not His people would become His people (see Hosea).
Therefore, it was always a mystery to the Jews that God would fellowship with those who were not originally called by Him. Paul wrote, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1.27, ESV). This is further evident in Ephesians chapter 3 where Paul taught, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (4-6, ESV). Thanks be to God that we who were not a people of God can now be called God’s people. Glory to Him that we can now say through our faith in Christ that “Christ is living in me”!
However, if we are to enjoy the wonderful blessings of Christ dwelling in our hearts (Eph. 3.17), we are obligated to remain faithful to God at all times. The Holy Spirit through Paul said, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test” (2 Cor. 13.5, ESV)!
We must always be aware of the spiritual battle we are involved in and to always be on guard against sin. One way to accomplish this is to keep our minds on spiritual things. Paul wrote, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God….” (Rom. 8.5-14, ESV)
Another way to keep Christ in us is to always strive to have Christ forming in us (Gal. 4.19). We must seek to “be created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4.24), to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col. 3.10), and to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8.29). How are we doing with that? Are our thoughts, actions, speech, and conduct in keeping with holiness?
Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14.23, ESV). Jesus will be in loving fellowship with all those who obey His word. Is Christ in you? BG
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