Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

There are two common types of Christians out there, and two schools of thought when it comes to Christ.

One of which is that we can have everything, be anything, and do whatever we want, because of grace. That is the grace-type of Christian.

Then there is another crowd, and that is the crowd of the law-type of Christian. They believe that we are wicked sinners, and that nothing we can ever do would ever make us right with God. The only way that we can really come close to God is by following the Law to a tee.

Something that you’ll notice is that these crowds are on two complete opposite sides of the spectrum. Neither side is one that Christ himself would recommend or share in. Which is why I think that our topic today is so important.

Today, we will be discussing what it means to be “in Christ” and why that is the one way that we should be living.

Crucified With Christ

Presumably, we all know about Jesus Christ. He is the begotten son of God, that was formed in the womb of a virgin, to bring upon salvation to all of mankind. God sent his son to us, to be crucified for our sins, that we may be forgiven. Isaiah 53:5 tells us this about Jesus,

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”

That is the bad part that we all know. I’d also presume that we all know about his resurrection. Jesus, as he prophesied to his disciples before, was resurrected three days after his crucifixion. In his mortal body, Jesus Christ died, along with every sickness and sin mankind has ever had. This is what the majority of us know, and the sacrifice of Christ is both the most tragic and most perfect of all time. Take a moment right now to praise Jesus for that.

There is, however, an important fact that we tend to overlook as followers of Christ. That is, that we are not only forgiven of our sins, but our old selves were actually crucified with Christ. Yes, our old selves died on the cross with Jesus. How great is that!

It is by this crucifixion, that we able to have eternal life and have access to the Holy Spirit. But the beauty of this fact doesn’t have to stop there.

No Longer I Who Live

Let’s take a look at what scripture tells us.

“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” (Galatians 2:20).

We were crucified with Christ, so the old us is gone. Therefore, it is no longer us that live in us anymore, but Christ. So, whatever we do, we do in Christ, and that should not be taken lightly.

Paul tells us that the life he lives, which we also ought to live, he lives in by faith in Jesus. Not by faith in himself, I might add.

Therefore, the life that we live right now, today, we live in Christ, and with that, comes more.

God and Balance

One of the biggest issues in Christian living, or living in Christ, is the one we discussed at the beginning of our discussion. Oftentimes, we try to do things rights, in our own eyes. We forsake scripture and the Spirit for our own opinions and won’t let God come in between ourselves and our ideologies. When in fact, it should be from scripture and the Holy Spirit that we get our ideologies. But that’s not common.

Instead, we try to make sense of salvation in our own heads, resulting in the common two groups. Grace and the law. Both parties are indefinitely wrong in their ideologies, and we’ll get into why.

God loves balance. I believe that is seen in scripture very well. Proverbs 11:1 tells us that.

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”

Balance is clearly important to the heart of God. He even has balance himself. He is both the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end. The lion and the lamb. He even gives us a rest day, so we aren’t working too much. Work, so we don’t rest too much. God loves balance. How much more does he want balance for our lives in Christ?

The grace crowd is often full of sin and ignore it because they have been forgiven and justified. That is clearly not what Christ wanted. “It is for freedom that we have been set free”, Galatians tells us. We are not to live in sin, simply because we are forgiven in Christ.

The law crowd simply ignores their “in Christ” selves, following the law instead. That is not right either.

There must be balance in Christ.

Christ Natured

I believe that battling the imbalance that we our flesh is drawn to is the biggest roadblock we face in finding identity and living in Christ. The next thing we must look at now, is finding out who are in Christ, so that we can live by faith. We can’t live by faith, if we don’t know what it is that we have faith in. Therefore, we must know who Christ is, and who we are in him.

Lucky for us, “in Christ” seems to be one of the most popular sayings in the New Testament. That saying, along with others like “through Christ” are so common and it’s awesome!

Our “Christ-natured” selves are like Christ. They are not any different. In our spirit, which is where we can find that part of ourselves, we have the same Spirit as Christ. How cool is that!

So, think of some traits of Jesus. I think of righteous, loving, and perfect, when I think of Jesus. Well, in our Spirit, we are righteous, loving, and perfect as well. There are even scriptures for all of these as well. We are these things in Christ.

In him, we are righteous (Romans 3:22).

In him, we are loving (Galatians 5:22).

And, in him, we are perfect (Matthew 5:48).

But it is only in him, that we are any of those things. We can’t be righteous apart from Jesus. We cannot be truly loving apart from him. In fact, we can’t even do good, though that’s what we were made for, apart from Jesus Christ.

That is why we must have balance as believers. It’s easy to believe all these things. But we must live by faith, so that through Christ, we might become what we were called to be, and live like Jesus.

Living by Faith

Living by faith is a very popular theme amongst Christians. Many believe that they do it, but many don’t understand what it means. I, for one, am someone that didn’t, for a while, understand the true meaning of it.

Living by faith doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a perfect Christian, as they don’t exist. It does not mean that you are the most sinless human to walk the earth, or even that you don’t sin necessarily.

From Galatians, we can find a great definition for what living by faith means.

“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” (Galatians 3:11-14).

No one is justified by the law; thus, it is not by the law, that we can receive life. Therefore, to live by the law would not result in righteousness, nor life, but death. No one can keep the whole law, so we shouldn’t live by it either. Instead, we have a free gift of righteous placed upon us once we believe.

So, living by faith would not relate to our ability to not sin, or to living by the law, but living in righteous out of faith in the Lord, and out of belief in one’s righteousness.

Righteousness of Christ

Let me explain. A man that obeys the law because he has to, is way less likely to keep it and be happy and good, than a man that obeys the law because he truly believes that it is the best thing to do.

A kid is going to be way less happy to do a chore, if they are asked to do it, than if they do it by their own will, though it’s the same chore.

We are less likely to live as Christ wants, if we do it because we have to. Or because we think we need to. However, when we recognize that we are already the righteousness of Christ, we can live like Christ, because we have faith that Christ lives in us. That fact alone stirs up the common man to want to pursue Christ-likeness.

As believers in Christ, it is pivotal to exercise our faith. It doesn’t necessarily need to be in healing others or believing for a new car or something. Though, those are good things. It just starts with believing who you are in Christ and desiring to live like it. When you set your mind on your Christ-likeness and you desire to change, the Lord will bring it.

2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that we are called to be saved “through sanctification by the Spirit, and belief of the truth”. I encourage you, believe in the truth, and let the Holy Spirit sanctify and transform you.

Practical Application

Something that we can all take away from this is that there is a definite practical application. The application is this clear as well. To change, and become who you are in Christ, you must know who you are, in Christ.

So, my application for you is this:

Read scripture, learn who you are in Christ, and believe it.

The word of God can truly transform your life, you just have to let it. So do it! Believe and live by every word in that book, not by your own senses, and not by the law, but by faith in the word, and the Lord.

Another resource that could help you is a book by Andrew Wommack called Effortless Change. It is a great book, that shows the reader that you can change effortlessly, but by the word of God. You can find it here!

Final Thoughts

Finally, if there is any doubt in you, that you are saved, and have the Holy Spirit of Christ living on the inside of you, the Bible says this.

“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9-10).

I encourage all, if you believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins and that he rose again so that you could be saved, confess it. From the heart, the mouth speaks, so believe it, and speak it.

“Lord, I admit I am a sinner. I need and want Your forgiveness. I accept Your death as the penalty for my sin, and recognize that Your mercy and grace is a gift You offer to me because of Your great love, not based on anything I have done. Cleanse me and make me Your child. By faith I receive You into my heart as the Son of God and as Savior and Lord of my life. From now on, help me live for You, with You in control.
In Your precious name, Amen”

If you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you, you truly are, in Christ, so much more than you think. Learn about your Christ-likeness and let the scriptures transform your mind and your heart.

But remember, it is only by Christ, that we have anything of worth. Only through him, can we be righteous or have eternal life at all. So, give him all praise, and all remembrance.

Have a great week!