“In Christ”—Comparing “Position” and “Condition”

© C. O. Bishop

Introduction

Last week we began examining the difference between our “Position” in Christ, and our “Condition” as His people. In the process, we spoke briefly about the difference between being born into the family of God through the new birth, and being “adopted.”

I tried to point out that human adoption, as we know it, always means taking someone who is not your offspring (the Greek word is “teknon”, meaning “born-ones”) and declaring them to be your child. It means legally taking responsibility for their well-being. This is true whether the overall experience is wonderful, good, bad, or terrible; and, regardless of the motives involved.

Good and Bad

There are wonderful examples (and we have personally known many of them) of people who adopted and reared numerous children, with wonderful results. The children grew up considering the couple who cared enough to shelter and provide for them and loved them unconditionally to be their “real” parents, because, as one woman told her son, “anyone can plant seeds: it takes a farmer to raise a crop.”

On the other hand, I have personally known families who deliberately adopted large numbers of children, to use as labor on their farm, or for other nefarious motives. The same is true for those who have biologically produced lots of children for similarly bad motives. The real issue becomes the question of “parenting” at that point, not whether one human is the biological source of another human’s genetic makeup.

I have known people whose only memories of their father (sometimes multiple “fathers,”) were bad…terrible. Their experiences were so negative, and the abuse had been so horrific, that when they hear the words, “Heavenly Father” they are repulsed. All their experiences were terrible, at the hands of those who claimed that position, so they cannot think of God in those terms. They are emotionally damaged, and only the Lord can heal their hearts.

He is the perfect parent and caregiver, and our very best example.

Identification

Sometimes agencies government attempting to solve a crime, or, perhaps trying to verify a claim upon an estate, use genetic mapping to determine family relations. When people insist that they are the offspring of some rich celebrity who recently died, DNA sampling may be the only way to defend against a false claim or to prove a legitimate claim to an inheritance.

In the case of solving a crime, however, police agencies often have a DNA sample from a crime scene, and they hope to find the person to whom it belonged. In recent years, they have used computer databases to find family connections, and then find those families and investigate whether some relative of theirs could have been in the area where the crime was committed at the time it happened. Occasionally, that method results in positive identification of the perpetrator, and justice may be served.

Spiritual Identification

In John 3:7 Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be Born Again!” 1^st Peter 1:23 says that we have been “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” And, in Revelation 19:13, we see Jesus identified as The Word of God.

In 1^st John 3:9, God says that the implanted Word has another effect: we cannot remain in the same old patterns of sin. He says we cannot continue to practice sin, because His seed remains in us. The Prodigal Son, while feeding the pigs in a far country, had been a Son, all the time, but he reached his limit, realized that he did not belong there, and he chose to return to his father’s house. The fact that he was a Son is what eventually turned him away from his foolish behavior.

How are the Children of God Identified?

In 2^nd Corinthians 5:17, God specifically points out that we are a New Creation in Him!

The only sure identification we have as God’s Children is the one that God can see: He sees us as his offspring from the moment we are born again. Lot was of God’s offspring, by faith, just as his uncle, Abraham was. But, Abraham lived his faith, as a rule: Lot did not.

If we only had Genesis chapters 13-19 to work from, I would have guessed that Lot was probably not a believer. But 2^nd Peter 2:7, 8 says that he was! God said Lot was a “Just man”…a Righteous man! God only declares sinners righteous through faith. Abraham believed God’s promise and God credited it to him as Righteousness. That is the only way anyone has ever been declared righteous by God. So, we conclude that Lot must also have placed his faith in God, though it had very little outworking in ways that we can observe.

It Depends on Who is Looking

Other humans identify us by our appearance…the things we do and say, and how we treat other people. God sees the heart. Other humans may refuse to admit that a person who commits some specific sin could be a believer. Scripture teaches us that, while the implanted Word does make some changes, it does not make the same change in every individual, and the outward appearance is not a reliable proof of a person’s spiritual identity, either way.

There are “good people” who are “as lost as a ball in tall weeds,” and people like Lot, and like Samson, whose lives do NOT reflect the Grace of God, nor His righteousness, but whom God has claimed as his own.

How Does God See Us?

God identifies us through His implanted Word. He speaks. We either believe His Word, or we don’t. When you first took God at His Word and believed that Jesus’s Blood was the full payment for your sins, He implanted His Word in you, and you were born again. At that same moment, the Holy Spirit placed you into the Body of Christ. You are now in Christ. And He is now in you! You have been permanently identified with Him. You have his spiritual “Genetic code” planted in you, if you want to use that illustration. (Be careful with that idea: I only mean it as an illustration.)

The credentials God requires, however, for us to enter His eternal presence include having been born again into His family.

But, What about Adoption?

As we taught, last week, the New Testament concept of Adoption is that “God takes all those who through the new birth are already His offspring, and declares them to be His heirs.

Romans 8:23 tells us when that will happen. Romans 8:15 says we already have the Spirit of Adoption. But the Adoption itself…the “placement of Sons, ” as we read verse 23, will come when we get our new bodies.

Moving On With Ephesians Chapter 1

Ephesians 1:8-14

⁸ Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

God says he has abounded his Grace toward us in all wisdom and prudence. We may try to “do our best,” perhaps, but the fact is, we cannot say this of ourselves regarding how we raise our children—we may try to abound toward them in Grace, love, wisdom, and prudence, but each of us who is honest looks back and says, “There are some things I wish I had done differently.”

God will never have to say that—His character is so completely perfect that he never has to struggle over a decision—he does what his character demands that he does, and it is always exactly right—full of His Grace, Love, and Wisdom. God never blesses indiscriminately—He blesses to produce more blessings and more righteousness.

⁹ Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

This may refer to the mystery God is going to reveal through Paul, in chapter 3—or it may simply be the fact that in all the Word of God, he has revealed the mystery of His will at one level or another. No one ever got the whole picture—they all got pieces of the picture. Even though we have the completed Bible, we still don’t know the meanings of many of the prophecies yet to be fulfilled. So, although it could be in reference to the general revelation, I suspect it refers to the specific revelation coming about two pages later… a foreshadowing, if you will. This is borne out in verse 10:

¹⁰ That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Verse ten says, as a continuation of verse 9, that the mystery is the fact that God intends to join together in one, things previously kept separate, namely, as we will see in Chapter 3, the Jewish and Gentile believers.

A Secure Inheritance

¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

¹² That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

According to verses 11 and 12, the things that follow are guaranteed to be eventually true in us, because of our position in Christ. The inheritance is ours, period. We will be to the praise of His Glory. Who will? Those who have trusted in Christ. Not just the believers of the first century—all of us!

How Does it Work?

¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

How did we get saved? We heard the word of truth, the Gospel, and we believed—then, he says, the immediate result was that we were sealed, by the Holy Spirit—where? It says we were sealed in Christ! If the Holy Spirit has sealed you in Christ, you are saved! You are secure!

¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Paul concludes by saying that the “Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance…” the “down payment.” if you will. He is with us for the duration, to give us the confidence to know that our inheritance is secure in Him, and the guidance to know how to live for God.

For how long? Until we sin too much? Nope! It is “…until the redemption of the purchased possession.” In other words, we are sealed in him, and The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance until Jesus comes to take us to Himself.

Conclusion

So, what have we found to be true of us, based on our position in Christ? Let’s review: If you have placed your dependence upon Jesus Christ as your Savior, then:

The book of Ephesians is written to you! (verse 1)
You are one of the faithful in Christ Jesus. (verse 1)
God has already blessed you with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ. (v, 3)
You were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. (v. 4)
You are holy and blameless before him, in His Love. (v. 4)
You are predestined to be recognized as a full heir of God. (v. 5)
You are predestined to fulfill the good pleasure of His will. (v. 5)
You are predestined to be to the praise of the Glory of His Grace. (v. 6)
You are already accepted in the beloved (Christ.) (v. 6)
You already have been redeemed through His blood. (v. 7)
You already have full forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His Grace. (v. 7)
God has already abundantly blessed you in His wisdom and prudence. (v. 8)
He has made known unto you the mystery of His will…one piece at a time. (v. 9)
Your inheritance in Him is secure. (v. 11)
You will eternally be to his glory and praise. (v. 12)
Your position in Him is sealed by the Holy Spirit. (v. 13)
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the “down payment” of the rest of the glorious inheritance promised to you. You are absolutely secure in Christ because He says so, and because the Holy Spirit is your guide, and your guard; and He seals you in Christ until the redemption of the purchased possession. (v. 14)

The Foundation is Laid

These precious promises are the basis…the foundation…of all that follows in the book of Ephesians. All the instructions to believers are based upon the security of our position in Christ. In the coming weeks, we will continue to learn from Ephesians what God would have us to know about our relationship with Him.

Please take the time this week to read back over these truths, in Ephesians chapter one, and reflect on what it means to be in Christ. We will talk about it more in the coming weeks. Next week there will be several baptisms, here: We will see how both Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are testimonies of the Gospel.

Lord Jesus, please awaken in us the heartfelt desire to know You for who You truly are, and to rest in You as our final refuge. Give us a heart to obey You and to honor You with our lives.

In Christ—Comparing “Position” and “Condition:” Part Two