When a person believes in Jesus Christ, something happens far deeper than a change in behavior. Salvation is not merely the decision to improve our lives. It is not the beginning of a religious self-improvement program. It is a new birth.
Jesus said in John 3:6-7, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” The new birth is not merely emotional. It is not symbolic language for becoming more serious about church. It is a work of God within the human spirit.
The person who believes on Christ is born of God. He does not merely receive a new set of rules; he receives new life. He does not merely turn over a new leaf; he becomes a new creation. Second Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Notice where this new creation is found: “in Christ.” The believer is not standing outside of Christ, attempting to remain close enough to Him through good conduct. The believer has been placed into Christ. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body.” The Holy Spirit places the believer into the Body of Christ.
This is union, not merely association. First Corinthians 6:17 says, “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” The believer is not simply near the Lord. He is joined to the Lord. He is not occasionally connected when he feels spiritual and disconnected when he feels discouraged. Scripture says he “is one spirit” with the Lord.
Colossians 3:3 says, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Consider the security contained in those words. The believer’s life is hidden with Christ in God. Who can reach into God and remove the one He has hidden there? Who can overturn the Father’s decision? Who can separate Christ from those who have been joined to Him?
No preacher can remove you. No religious accusation can remove you. No painful memory can remove you. The devil cannot remove you. Your emotions cannot remove you. Even your own failure cannot reach into the eternal purpose of God and pull you out of Christ.
Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,” nor any other created thing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Paul did not say that most things could not separate us. He said nothing in creation could do it. If nothing created can separate us from the love of God, then our sins, weaknesses, failures, emotions, and struggles cannot possess the power to break our union with Christ.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” The Christian life is not merely an attempt to imitate Jesus from a distance. It is Christ living in the believer. The old identity has been crucified with Him, and a new life has begun.
Romans 6:6 says, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him.” The old man is not slowly being crucified through religious discipline. Scripture says he “is crucified.” First Corinthians 6:11 says, “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.”
These words describe accomplished realities. Washed. Sanctified. Justified. The apostle did not say, “You may someday become washed if you perform well enough.” He declared what God had already done through Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:10 says, “And ye are complete in him.” Our completeness is not found in ourselves. If we look at ourselves, we will always find weakness, inconsistency, and areas in need of growth. But God does not tell us to find completeness in our behavior. He tells us we are complete “in him.”
Complete does not mean almost complete. It does not mean complete until the next failure. It does not mean complete only during seasons of strong faith. It means complete in Christ because Christ Himself is our righteousness, sanctification, redemption, and life.
First Corinthians 1:30 says, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” Everything we need before God is found in Christ. Our righteousness is not fragile because Christ is not fragile. Our acceptance is not temporary because Christ’s acceptance before the Father is not temporary.
John 14:20 says, “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” This is the language of divine union. Christ is in the believer, and the believer is in Christ. The Christian is not climbing toward a distant Savior. He is living from the life of an indwelling Savior.
First John 4:13 says, “Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.” We dwell in Him, and He dwells in us. This is not temporary closeness based upon performance. It is the New Covenant reality established by God.
The believer may lose sight of this union. He may live as though Christ were far away. He may become distracted by the world, burdened by guilt, or confused by religious teaching. But losing the awareness of union is not the same as losing the union itself.
Feelings may change, but the Word remains. Experiences may rise and fall, but the finished work remains. The believer may fail to enjoy the truth, but his failure to enjoy it does not cause it to become untrue.
The Christian cannot slide away from God in his spirit because he has been joined unto the Lord as one spirit. He cannot become spiritually unborn. He cannot become a new creation and later return to being the old creation. The life he received is not human life maintained by human strength. It is the life of Christ.
Colossians 3:4 calls Christ “our life.” First John 5:11 says, “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Eternal life is not something God hands to us separately from Christ. Eternal life is in His Son. Therefore, the person who has the Son has life.
“He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:12).
The believer is not trying to obtain life each day through good behavior. He possesses life because he possesses Christ. He is not attempting to maintain union through religious effort. He has been joined to the Lord through the work of the Holy Spirit.
That union is not fragile.
That life is not temporary.
That new birth cannot be reversed by human weaknes
