Anonymous asked:

What is the difference between Christ in you and we are in Christ?

I answered:

Great question. I love when someone stops to take a second look at these little sayings that are all over the Christian world. In some circles stuff like this is referred to as “christianese”, and it can be like a language unto itself.

The concept of Christ being in you is that when you accept Jesus into your life, the Spirit comes to dwell in you. Paul says that we are “temples of the Holy Spirit”. So this new presence brings things that weren’t there before. You can access peace and strength and patience that wasn’t there before because there is now Christ in you. 

Colossians 1:27 says “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.” We all have moments where we say something that someone needed to hear, and we have no idea where that came from, and that is an example of the Spirit in you. That also works in convicting us about things. There are behaviors or thoughts from our old lives that used to not cause a second thought, but now that we have the Spirit of God within us, we feel differently about them and they need to change.

The idea that we are “in Christ” is a different concept. When you accept Jesus as your savior, you are under His rule and protection. We become defined by the relationship we have with Jesus above all other definers. We are in Christ because of the choice to live a life that is subject to Him. So when you hear someone refer to a “brother/sister in Christ” what that means is that they are both joined by their relationship to Jesus.

That is what Paul is referring to in 2 Corinthians 5:17 when he says ”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” . That means anyone who has accepted the covenant of grace that came through the blood of Christ. We are now like sheep in His flock or sons and daughters in His family.