Joined To Christ
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Joined To Christ
1Cor. 6:17
But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
A Christian is Joined To Christ
This is one of the great truths of the Gospel. Christians do not have an independent standing with God. They are joined to Christ and by their union with Him they receive the blessings of redemption. We are joined to the Person of Christ and from this union flows the Life of Christ.
One Spirit With Christ
When we are born-again the Scripture teaches that we are born of God. There is an actual birth of a new person. The Spirit of Christ regenerates us and we become a new being. We may look the same but we are not the same person. For the person regenerated by Christ there is a qualitative change in his person, a change of kind has taken place.
2Co 5:17
Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.
This is difficult for us to accept because we tend to see ourselves with human understanding, we see with our eyes rather than God's eyes. He says we are a new being; He says we are one spirit with Christ. Our challenge is to believe what God says and begin to see ourselves as God says that we are.
We are Baptized into the Death of Christ
Romans 6 teaches that we are baptized into His death which means that His death for sin becomes our death for sin. If we were not joined to His death then we would find no forgiveness of sins. It is our union with Him that makes possible our forgiveness. God sees us as having died for our sins and therefore no longer guilty of them. Death is the penalty and once dead no other penalty is required.
We are Buried With Christ
Rom 6:4
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Burial is the proof of death. Christ was in the ground for three days and we were buried with Him. We have proof of our death and it is that we were buried and in the ground for three days. The next time the spirit of Darkness accuses you, you can remind him that you were joined to Christ in His death and were buried with Him and therefore a satisfactory atonement for the guilt and penalty of your sins has been made.
We are Joined to Christ in His Resurrection
God did not leave us in the ground, dead, but raised us with Christ to new life. This is what the Scripture says. If you are unsure read Romans 6:4 again. Once, by the death and burial of Christ, our sins have been paid for, then we are raised with Christ to new life. The resurrection of Christ is our guarantee of a new and an overcoming life. Once resurrected with Christ, we now live, by and in His resurrection power, which is a power that enforces death to sin and life to God. We are not expected to live the Christian life in human strength, but we live by faith, trusting in Christ, and trusting in His resurrection power, to both save and keep us.
Baptism
It is not water baptism that joins us to Christ. Water cannot save and water cannot join one to Christ. We are baptized into Christ not water. It is faith, ie, believing what God has said that joins us to Christ. When we believe Christ and accept Him as Lord and Savior we are baptized by the Holy Spirit into the Person and the redemptive work of Christ. If water could save then we would not have to believe but water baptism alone, without believing, would be enough. But for water baptism to be meaningful we have to first believe. It is our believing that makes water baptism meaningful, not water baptism that makes our believing meaningful. Water baptism is but a picture of our union with Christ which is by faith. We go under the water as a picture of death and burial, and we come up out of the water as a picture of resurrection.
Baptism is important and it is powerful when we enter into baptism as an expression of our faith. But it is important to understand that Christ alone saves and not water. Not a sacrament, not a Church, not a doctrine, not a priest, not a prophet, not an apostle, not any saint, not any ritual, not any relic, not a rosary, and not a crucifix. Christ alone saves and He saves when we trust and believe on Him as Savior and Lord.
He Who Glories, Let Him Glory in the Lord!
1Co 1:30-31 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31) That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
Jesus is the One who makes us right with God. Remember, we have been MADE right with God. Rejoice that you have a Savior who is able and willing to make you right with God.
God bless you,
Jim