OUR ARK: (the “in Christ” doctrine)
I believe what Paul said when he penned the words ""in Christ."" I also believe that we are placed ""in Christ"" by God. It is an operation of the Holy Spirit (God). See verses 21 and 22 below.
2 Cor 1:19-22
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us-- by me, Silvanus, and Timothy-- was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now He who establishes us with you ""in Christ"" and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
(NKJ)
I look at the words ""in Christ"" and think of them in reference to Noah and the flood.
Noah was told by God to build an Ark. It was built by human hands (Noah’s hands). The waters of God‘s wrath in the flood did not touch Noah and those with him. Noah, by his choice, obeyed God and went into the Ark he had built. --- The waters of the flood were the judgment of God on a sinful world full of sinful people. That does not mean that Noah was sinless. It means Noah believed what God told him.
Today there is another Ark. It is “”NOT”” built by human hands. It is built by the hands (will) of God. - Man can not go into the Ark that God has built by his own efforts (will). He must be placed in God’s Ark (Jesus) by God (the Holy Spirit). God places a person in the Ark (Jesus) He built when that person places their faith, trust and confidence in Jesus’ work on the cross to save him/her. -- This Ark that God has built carries those in it safely over the sins “THEY” commit in their flesh. Their sins can not touch them.
Jesus Christ is OUR ARK, and just as those in Noah's Ark were kept from the waters of the flood, we who are placed ""in Christ,"" by God, are kept from the judgment of the law. If we are not ""in Christ"" the law condemns us.
This is how I see it. Is this how you see it? If it is not, then why?
Scripture references:
Rom 8:1-2
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are ""in Christ"" Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life ""in Christ"" Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
(NKJ)
It is not that we no longer sin in the flesh, it is that since we are in Christ we are walking in the Spirit and have no confidence in our flesh. Walking in the Spirit is the same as walking in Christ.
Eph 1:10
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things ""in Christ,"" both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- ""in Him.""
(NKJ)
When we are placed “in Christ” we are holy and without blame because He loves us and covers our sins of the flesh with His blood shed on the cross.
Psalms 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
NKJV
In verse 4 the shadow of death is the condemnation of the Law. In verse 5 the enemy is Satan.
Philippians 3:3
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice ““in Christ“” Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
(NKJ)
Rom 12:5
5 so we, being many, are one body ""in Christ,"" and individually members of one another.
(NKJ)
Rom 16:7
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were ""in Christ"" before me.
(NKJ)
1 Cor 1:28-31
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are ""in Christ"" Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--
31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."
(NKJ)
1 Cor 3:1
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes ""in Christ.""
(NKJ)
1 Cor 15:21-23
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so ""in Christ"" all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
(NKJ)
2 Cor 5:16-18
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is ""in Christ,"" he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
(NKJ)
Gal 3:13-14
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles ""in Christ"" Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
(NKJ)
Gal 3:28
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one ""in Christ"" Jesus.
(NKJ)
Gal 5:5-6
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For ""in Christ"" Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. (God’s love, not ours)
(NKJ)
The love mentioned is God’s love for us. It is our faith working through God’s love.
Eph 1:3-4
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us ""in Him"" before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
(NKJ)
Colossians 2:9-11
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
(Not Legalism but Christ)
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision “””made without hands,””” by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
NKJV
Verse 11 does not mean the WE put off the sins of the body. God does that when He puts us “”in Christ”.
I believe what Paul said when he penned the words ""in Christ."" I also believe that we are placed ""in Christ"" by God. It is an operation of the Holy Spirit (God). See verses 21 and 22 below.
2 Cor 1:19-22
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us-- by me, Silvanus, and Timothy-- was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes.
20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
21 Now He who establishes us with you ""in Christ"" and has anointed us is God,
22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
(NKJ)
I look at the words ""in Christ"" and think of them in reference to Noah and the flood.
Noah was told by God to build an Ark. It was built by human hands (Noah’s hands). The waters of God‘s wrath in the flood did not touch Noah and those with him. Noah, by his choice, obeyed God and went into the Ark he had built. --- The waters of the flood were the judgment of God on a sinful world full of sinful people. That does not mean that Noah was sinless. It means Noah believed what God told him.
Today there is another Ark. It is “”NOT”” built by human hands. It is built by the hands (will) of God. - Man can not go into the Ark that God has built by his own efforts (will). He must be placed in God’s Ark (Jesus) by God (the Holy Spirit). God places a person in the Ark (Jesus) He built when that person places their faith, trust and confidence in Jesus’ work on the cross to save him/her. -- This Ark that God has built carries those in it safely over the sins “THEY” commit in their flesh. Their sins can not touch them.
Jesus Christ is OUR ARK, and just as those in Noah's Ark were kept from the waters of the flood, we who are placed ""in Christ,"" by God, are kept from the judgment of the law. If we are not ""in Christ"" the law condemns us.
This is how I see it. Is this how you see it? If it is not, then why?
Scripture references:
Rom 8:1-2
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are ""in Christ"" Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life ""in Christ"" Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
(NKJ)
It is not that we no longer sin in the flesh, it is that since we are in Christ we are walking in the Spirit and have no confidence in our flesh. Walking in the Spirit is the same as walking in Christ.
Eph 1:10
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things ""in Christ,"" both which are in heaven and which are on earth-- ""in Him.""
(NKJ)
When we are placed “in Christ” we are holy and without blame because He loves us and covers our sins of the flesh with His blood shed on the cross.
Psalms 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
NKJV
In verse 4 the shadow of death is the condemnation of the Law. In verse 5 the enemy is Satan.
Philippians 3:3
3 For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice ““in Christ“” Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,
(NKJ)
Rom 12:5
5 so we, being many, are one body ""in Christ,"" and individually members of one another.
(NKJ)
Rom 16:7
7 Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were ""in Christ"" before me.
(NKJ)
1 Cor 1:28-31
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
30 But of Him you are ""in Christ"" Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God-- and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--
31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the Lord."
(NKJ)
1 Cor 3:1
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes ""in Christ.""
(NKJ)
1 Cor 15:21-23
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so ""in Christ"" all shall be made alive.
23 But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming.
(NKJ)
2 Cor 5:16-18
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.
17 Therefore, if anyone is ""in Christ,"" he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
(NKJ)
Gal 3:13-14
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles ""in Christ"" Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
(NKJ)
Gal 3:28
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one ""in Christ"" Jesus.
(NKJ)
Gal 5:5-6
5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
6 For ""in Christ"" Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love. (God’s love, not ours)
(NKJ)
The love mentioned is God’s love for us. It is our faith working through God’s love.
Eph 1:3-4
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us ""in Him"" before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
(NKJ)
Colossians 2:9-11
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
(Not Legalism but Christ)
11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision “””made without hands,””” by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,
NKJV
Verse 11 does not mean the WE put off the sins of the body. God does that when He puts us “”in Christ”.
17)20 and par.; Lk. 15:22; Mt. 22:11; Rev. 15:6 etc. b. Mid. "to put on something," "to clothe oneself with something," "to draw on something," with accus. of object. From the time of Hom.; Jos. Ant., 8, 185, 362: σακκίον; 2:90; figur. ἐνδυόμενοι τόλμημα, Aristoph. Eccl., 288; Corp. Herm., X, 18: (τὸ πνεῦμα) … τὸν ἴδιον … ἐνεδύσατο χιτῶνα τὸν πύρινον. P. Lond., I, 125, v. 19: πάλιν θεὸς ἐνδύσεται τὸ ἑαυτῆς κάλλος ὅπερ ἐξεδύσατο. Aristot. An., I, 3, p. 407b, 23: ἐνδύεσθαι σῶμα (of the soul in the Pythagorean doctrine of transmigration); Sib., 8, 458: βροτέην ἐνεδύσατο μορφήν (of Jesus). Also with personal object: τὸν Ταρκύνιον ἐνδύεσθαι ("to play the role of Tarquin"), Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom., XI, 5; ῥίψας στρατιώτην ἐνέδυ τὸν σοφιστήν, Lib. Ep., 1048, …
