Christ in you and you in Christ
When I was growing up as a Christian, I do remember from time to time hearing about Jesus dwelling in me and that Christianity was about a relationship with Him rather than religion. However, because much of the focus was on drawing closer to Jesus through religious activity, the message I came away with was much different.
For much of my life, the picture I had in my mind was that Jesus was up there, I was down here, and my job was to close the gap between that distance. The more I went to church, had a quiet time, served, and evangelized, the closer I would get to Jesus.
I also knew that it wasn’t all up to me. I was told that Jesus was my helper. He would help me do all of those things and get closer to Him.
That was my Christian life. I focused on what I was supposed to be doing, and Jesus helped me to do it.
But then Jesus began to illuminate passages and phrases like, “Christ in you,” “In Christ,” “Christ lives in me,” “For to me to live is Christ,” and “Christ is your life.”
As He turned the lights on for me to see these truths, He began to radically change the way I understood and lived the Christian life.
CHRIST IN YOU
The moment you put your faith and trust in Jesus for salvation, you are completely forgiven and Jesus comes to dwell in you.
When Paul was writing to the church in Galatia, he said this in Galatians 2:20…
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
(Galatians 2:20)
Not only does Paul say that Jesus lived in him, but he also claims that his old self had been crucified. He was no longer who he once was. With Jesus coming to live in him, that meant he didn’t need to be changed into a different person; he had already become a different person.
“Christ in you” seems like a pretty big deal.
Galatians wasn’t the only place that Paul talked about “Christ in you.” When he was writing to the church at Colossae, Paul wrote this in Colossians 1:27…
27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
(Colossians 1:27)
A mystery is a truth that lay hidden in the pages of the Old Testament, and its explanation awaited another day. The day of understanding came with the death and resurrection of Christ, and the mystery of “Christ in you” was revealed.
Notice that the mystery wasn’t, “Here are all the religious things that you were missing out on and that you need to do to get closer to God. “
The mystery wasn’t, “Here are the kinds of spiritual experiences (spiritual highs) you need to have to truly encounter God and get closer to Him.”
No, the complete truth that has been revealed through Jesus and His death, resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Spirit is “Christ in you.” Not Jesus up there and you down here, but rather Jesus in you. You will always be close to Him and have everything you need in Him, regardless of your feelings, situations, or circumstances.
YOU IN CHRIST
Not only is Christ in you though. You are in Christ. One of Paul’s favorite phrases to use in the New Testament was “in Christ.”
To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ
(Colossians 1:2)
… in Christ you have been brought to fullness.
(Colossians 2:10)
It is because of him (God) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
(1 Corinthians 1:30)
When Christ came to dwell in you, you became spiritually united to Him.
You are in an eternal union with the Son of God.
You are in Christ and that has changed you into someone who is righteous, holy, and complete (not lacking in any way).
Christ is in you, and you are in Christ, which impacts everything.
CHARLES TRUMBULL
In his book, Victory in Christ, Charles Trumbull tells the story of his journey to understanding and experiencing Christ as his life through Christ being in him and him being in Christ.
Here is how he describes the changes in his perception and relationship with Christ:
I have always known that Christ is my Savior, but I had looked upon Him as an external Savior; one who did a saving work for me from outside, as it were one who was ready to come close alongside and stay by me, helping me in all that I needed, giving me power and strength and salvation.
But now I know something better than that. At last, I realized that Jesus Christ was actually and literally within me; and even more than that, that He had constituted Himself my very life, taking me into union with Himself – my body, mind, and spirit – while I still had my own identity and free will, and full moral responsibility.
Was not this better than having Him as my helper, or even than having Him as an external Savior; to have Him, Jesus Christ, the son of God as my very own life? It meant that I need never again ask Him to help me as though He were one and I another; but simply to do His work, His will, in me and with me, and through me. My body was His, my mind His, my will His, my spirit His; and not merely His, but literally part of Him; what He asked me to recognize was, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.” Jesus Christ had constituted Himself my life…
Do you wonder that Paul could say with tingling joy and exultation, “To me to live is Christ”? He did not say, as I had mistakenly been supposing I must say, “To me to live is to be Christ-like,” nor “to me to live is to have Christ’s help,” nor “to me to live is to serve Christ.” No, he plunged through and beyond all that in the bold, glorious, mysterious claim, “To me to live is Christ!” I had never understood that verse before. Now thanks to His gift of Himself, I am beginning to enter into a glimpse of its wonderful meaning.
Charles Trumbull was beginning to see and experience the truth of Christ in him and him in Christ. It changes everything.
CHRIST IN YOU AND YOU IN CHRIST
Union with Christ is often one of the most underrated aspects of the Christian life and the least talked about in the Church. That is a shame because without understanding this biblical truth and reality, we will settle for mostly behavior modification over and above the abundant life of Christ in us and through us.
If you have placed your faith in Jesus for salvation, Christ is in you and you are in Christ. You are holy, righteous, blameless, and complete in Him. You are a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). You are one in spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17).
You can stop trying to live for Jesus and start living from Jesus.
May you experience what Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “For me to live is Christ!”
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting our ministry through the book purchases you make through this site
