WE HAVE LOOKED at the “in Christ” passages in Romans and then in the Gospel of John to see the connection between Paul and John in their emphasis on being in Him. This conception we have seen is not merely Pauline—it is Christian. It is not the emphasis of one man—it is the emphasis of the God-Man. To abide in the God-Man is to abide in God and man. It means to find God and ourselves. Being outside Him means to lose God and ourselves.
We now return to Paul, to see what he says about “in Christ” in 1 Corinthians. The first passage that meets our eye is “to those sanctified in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:2). This is an important passage in that it tells us where the sanctification lies—it lies not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus. Sanctification comes through surrender to Jesus Christ, and remains as long as we continue in Christ Jesus. If I say, “I am sanctified,” instead of saying, “I am sanctified in Christ Jesus,” then I am calling attention to an experience instead of to the One who brings the experience. It makes me experience-centered instead of Christ-centered—self-conscious instead of Christ-conscious. When I am self-conscious the experience fades; when I am Christ-conscious the experience remains and grows.
If we emphasize “the doctrine of sanctification,” it remains a doctrine—often threadbare and verbal. But if we emphasize the fact of being “sanctified in Christ Jesus,” the doctrine becomes a fact—vital and victorious.
As long as sanctification remains in Christ Jesus it is sanctification. When sanctification gets out of Him, it is “cranktification”—a bone of contention instead of the Word become flesh. The word “sanctification” and the experience become redeemed when they are “in Christ Jesus.” Outside of Him they rot.
Lord Jesus, Thou dost redeem everything that is in Thee. Thou dost not bring redemption; Thou art redemption, and everything is redeemed and stays redeemed as long as it stays in Thee. I thank Thee for this simplicity, this profundity. Amen.
AFFIRMATION FOR THE DAY: My “sanctification” may be barren in me, but it is blessed in Him.
