Who Christ Is In Me
Who Christ Is In Me
Christ is the hope within. He is the hope of Glory within us.
To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Colossians 1:27
He is my high priest and apostle.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;
Hebrews 3:1
He is my Rabbi, Teacher, and Leader.
But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Matthew 23:8-12
He is the Head of the Body, First-Born from the dead.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18
He is the Head over all things for the church.
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Ephesians 1:22
He is my judge, lawgiver, and king.
For the LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us–
Isaiah 33:22
He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord.
which He will bring about at the proper time– He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
1 Timothy 6:15
What Christ Does In Me
Christ within us is our Advocate, our Comforter, Strengthener and Standby, abiding forever.
And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever—
John 14:16 AMP
Christ, who is both within and in heaven, lives to make intercession for me.
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Hebrews 7:25
He helps me in my weakness, and prays for me through unutterable. And, when He does, He prays perfectly, always according to the will of God.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Romans 8:26-27
He reveals all things, even the deep things of God.
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
1 Corinthians 2:10
He produces fruit in me.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
He brings me conviction, reprove, and correction.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
John 16:8
I am His property, His possession. He owns me.
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
2 Peter 1:9
He teaches me all things and reminds me of it when I need it.
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
John 14:26
He anoints me with power, and makes me a witness.
[B]ut you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
He is the strength of God.
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8:11
He gives me strength so I CAN do whatever I need to.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13
He guarantees my portion in God’s promise.
[W]ho is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:14
How Christ Is In Me
Christ Himself is the mystery of God.
[T]hat their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself,
Colossians 2:2
He is my glory. He lifts my head.
But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
Psalms 3:3
He is the image of God.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
Colossians 1:15
He is the radiance of God’s glory, resembling in every way. He has become better than the angels.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high
Colossians 1:3-4
He is my Beloved. I am His, and He is mine.
I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, He who pastures his flock among the lilies.
Song of Songs 6:3
He is my Beloved, and He desires me.
I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.
Song of Songs 7:10
He is my righteousness.
In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The LORD our righteousness.’ [Yahweh Tsidkenu].
Jeremiah 23:6
He, in me, is Love–the very flame of God.
Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.
Song of Songs 8:6
Good stuff brother — Christ in us is the reason we have the power to live the victorious life.
I have read many of your comments on extreme grace and I resonate with you whole heartedly – I thought long about the different posts you have made and the ones where people call others off because they don’t quite believe the way they do — and here is some of my thoughts —
Is it possible to have our theology so thought out and smug in how it makes us relate to God that we are more enamored with our brand of theology than with God Himself – who is way beyond our theology? There is always this subtle temptation to convey that our interpretation of Scripture is somewhat more advanced or more “excellent” than the next brother of sister. But even more subtle than that is the fact we can be zealous to bring people into relationship with our particular brand of theology than with God Himself or that we are convinced that there is a special “freedom” or “anointing” to our theology.
Now I’m admitting that each of us wrestle with many nuances as we engage the Word and try to express ourselves not only Biblically and relevantly, but that we also are convinced that the truth we have journeyed through has set us free. That each one of us is convinced that we are right is not prideful or surprising. No one goes around saying, “I’m wrong, I’m wrong, I know I’m wrong.” We have grappled with the various interpretations, and ,more importantly, are the living proof that God used certain truths to capture us, change us, and motivate us to live for Him.
But after that work is accomplished in us, we can come across that we believe people will find a greater fellowship, freedom, or breakthrough if they apply our version of the Gospel. (And I’m talking about those who preach a pure Gospel – Jesus is Lord and you need to turn from yourself and accept His free gift of redemption through faith.) Again, it can be more about our methods and our special teachings and how the others are “off” in some error instead of simply calling people into REAL SIMPLE PASSIONATE FAITH RELATIONSHIP with God through the entire counsel of God.
It is not a theology that saves us. Theology expresses the deeper realities of what are going on in the journey of salvation. But it is way deeper than a body of teaching or a method or a mind-set. Though each of these are tools God uses, if our emphasis stops short with people celebrating the “coolness” of our message or our methods then they missed the whole point.
The challenge is getting people to respond to spiritual reality. They live in a perpetual spiritual fog. They can’t see the forest for the trees. So opening them up to spiritual reality is only able to be accomplished through the help of the Holy Spirit. Our whole passion should be to partner with God to do His work and for people to respond by a living faith. We should be excited whether He used our particular brand of the Gospel or He used someone else’s. “Glory be to God He captured another selfish heart and won their surrender and allegiance. It doesn’t matter if it was Calvinism or Arminianism, or Wesleyism or anything else.
In our day, the pendulum seems to have swung very far to the grace-only side and it’s like we have a “paranoia” about guiding people on how to engage God. “Now be careful, don’t engage God too intentionally now – He did it all for you. You are very near the cliff of self-effort and works, be careful!”
Don’t we think God can handle our excesses and errors? If I engage Him and become obsessed with “doing,” instead of “being” won’t He guide me and change my perspective, if I’m teachable?
Many movements seem to project a message that they don’t think God can handle the different ways we each value the approach we use in our faith to engage Him. Once again, so subtly so much theology throughout the Church-age is reactionary theology. Leaders who have been in a dead religiosity and have lived an experience that was fake come across like they have a corner on the market of real freedom and anyone who is motivated and deeply engaged and wants to draw near to God in earnest seeking is somehow operating in self- effort. We need to make room for various emphases without projecting on others that they are in error and putting unnecessary labels on each other.
Hey Don. Thanks for stopping by.
I would bring it down to reality. You are right. You have a lot of good points. As Paul put it, knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
But, I have also observed that some people do one thing, and get a certain result. And others do something else, and get another. As Paul put it, It is good that there are differences among you so you can see what God prefers (1 Corinthians 11:19).
So, I can’t go with you all the way. Spiritual pride is a thing in any setting. Some people do get too caught up on the “teaching” as opposed to God Himself. But, truth be told, some people experience more of God, in meaningful ways, on a more regular basis, and the question is WHY?
WHY do some organizations experience the miraculous, breakthrough power of Christ regularly in their ministries? Why do some church gatherings experience the life-changing manifest presence of God regularly and expectantly in their meetings? Why does life come into some people through some messages, and not others?
Jesus said it this way… My Words are Spirit and they are Life. But, there are other keys that are… Beneficial, if not essential.
What I can’t put up with is simply doing with less of God’s good pleasure and benefits simply because I am too lazy, too ignorant, or too fool-headed to do the work. When I pray more, He shows up more. When I worship more, He shows up more. When I fast more, He shows up more. I don’t care about anything else. When he tells me to have an Ice Cream, I obey. Easy as that.
I have only one emphasis, seriously.. All God, all the time. I don’t care much about anything else. I eat because I get hungry. I sleep because if I don’t, the scientists say you go die after about 10 days.. And, it’s sensible. And, I’m tired.
But, I’m not willing to sit by, and watch the manifest glory of God come down every single service at one location, and sit by in my little clap-board igloo of a church, and wish and pray my way into more of the same. There ARE things that make a difference. There ARE reasons why some churches fall down more. I DO know some of them.
Aren’t you hungry? Aren’t you passionately, and desperately thirsting for His life? For His goodness? For the totality of His personhood? Can you even exist to not be consumed, and obliterated into all that He IS? I can’t. I wrote on my FB from time to time, God, let me worship, or take me home. There isn’t anything else.
Is that ego? Is that pride? Or, is it just every piece of Christ’s testimony, shoved into a tight enough space, that says, “No one is greater than his teacher, but the one fully trained is just like him” (Luke 6:40).
That’s all I see. Everything else IS wrong, in my opinion. The parts of myself that don’t submit, I disagree with. I hate them, as per Luke 14:26, because they are that seed which is born again, it is living according to the flesh, and not the Spirit. My own life.
I don’t have any other Christianity. I don’t fellowship with any other Christianity. There is none other. And, in the broken way that I fail at it, when I come in at the end of the night, after doing His will the best I can, in the spirit of Luke 17, I say, “I am only an unworthy servant”. I merely did in faith the best I could see Him lead, and probably didn’t do it as well as He would have. I didn’t come up with it, I didn’t invent it. I didn’t even know how to carry it out. All I did was listen with the heart of faith, and, as best I could, did what i was told. Nothing more, nothing less. What I have, what I’ve done, was given. What pride is there in that? Or shame. A workman approved needeth not be ashamed.
But, as for the rest… Leave not the path of wisdom, nor of understanding. Yes, it is only in His Spirit, but we are trained for a reason. It is ONLY the anointing that breaks the yoke. I have no qualms with any part of the anointing, and can fellowship with however much of Christ resides in you, or any fellow believer, even if it’s just seed.
Be blessed. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciated your comments. Feel free to hang around a while, if you’ld like.