Chapter 4

The Linchpin of the Gospel: Identifying With Christ

I remember when it hit me that trying my best to obey God is not the same thing as walking by the Spirit. By conflating the two, I had unintentionally removed all supernatural power from the Christian life. Through the ultimate demonic trickery, even in my effort to obey God, I was actually putting off the Spirit. The impact that this revelation had (and still has) on me cannot be overstated, for it was the difference between operating under the law versus under grace; between fruitless effort and productive effort.

You see, whether or not you are walking by the Spirit is not about whether you are trying. It isn't about whether you are going to church regularly, reading enough scripture, spending enough time in prayer, sharing your faith with others, making disciples, or any other sort of religious activity. It's about how you view your present spiritual state.

In attempting to please God, are you straining to become something you are not, to do things contrary to your will/nature? Or are you simply being exactly what you are because you cannot be anything else?

Walking by the Spirit doesn't begin with thinking to yourself, "What does God want me to do right now?" Nor does it begin with more directly asking God, "What would you have me do right now?" Nor even does it begin with praying, "God, help me to do your will." For, while none of these are inherently wrong, they can all be said (and often are) with the underlying belief that you and the Spirit of God are very different from one another, in which case, you have already lost the battle, reducing yourself to mere flesh and putting off the very thing (the Spirit) that God has given you in order to walk in victory.

Paul says, "[Since] we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). Notice where he begins: since we live by the Spirit. If we do not start there, then our efforts to "keep in step" will be futile. Relating this again to the analogy of a branch connected to a vine (where we are the branch, Christ is the vine, and the Spirit is his life that flows into us), then we can see more clearly what Paul means. To say that "we live by the Spirit" means something like "the Spirit is the source of our life," "we were born of the Spirit," "the Spirit defines who we are," "we have the same nature as the Spirit," etc. Therefore, this belief about our identity, our nature, and all that we have in common with God, must be the starting point of our thinking, from which we then live our lives. Again, our identity drives our actions.

This merits a much deeper conversation about our Christian identity, which this chapter (and in a way, the whole book) is devoted to. As much talk as there is in today's church about our "identity in Christ," there is not nearly enough. And even when it is discussed, I find it is often missing the clarity that is needed to be highly useful. It's one of those "interesting ideas" that not many people know how to apply, and very few realize how absolutely central it is to the mechanics of the gospel.

But, to be sure, "identity in Christ" isn't the kind of message we should preach just once a year to make sure we've covered our theological bases. It isn't just a random topic for you and your small group to study, after which you move on to other things. It isn't just one among many other ways to grow spiritually, nor is it just one among many subjects that are equally beneficial. In a way, I would argue, it is everything. It is the key to understanding all that we've been given. It is the foundation of the gospel which should pervade everything we teach. And as such, it is worth our tireless pursuit to attain the revelation together, all the way to glory.

God Joined With Man

The crux of the whole gospel, including the singular power it holds within us to overcome sin and bear the fruit of righteousness, is God himself joined with man.

Now, when I say that the power is God himself, I do not mean to say that God, in his power, grants us the ability to obey, and then we just do it. Nor do I mean that he gives us something like peace or wisdom, and then we just have it, like an object or a gift transferred from one person to another. Nor is it like a man who teaches his son to fish, and then eventually, the son can fish effectively without his father. This is certainly the more natural way of thinking for us humans. But with regard to the gospel and its power to transform us, we only have the power by having God himself.

This lesson is of primary importance if we want to experience the victory we have in Christ. For, while it is true that we have received the power to obey God all the time, if we believe (even subconsciously) that we can access that power independently of God, then we will fail to access it altogether, for we will fail to depend on God. Our inner state will not be that of looking to Jesus but of looking to self. And God has made it certain that this mode will be fruitless.

In his extravagant love and divine wisdom, he has made it impossible to obey him apart from him. Even if we intend to do his will, our plans to do so in our own strength will be frustrated by God, who desires to be the source of our strength. As Jesus says, "the branch cannot bear fruit by itself" (John 15:4), and "apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). Thus, if you find yourself disobeying God despite intending to obey him, it is always because you are depending on something other than him. The heart may be right, but the way is misguided.

Furthermore, if we think that God gives us godliness apart from himself, then we are prone to another common error. In the case that we find ourselves lacking something — let's say, love — we will pray and wait for God to give us what we need, not realizing that we already have it in him. In this case, our prayers are misguided (possibly even pointless), and we are disabled from walking in the freedom of love until we feel we've received whatever we're asking for.

But the truth is, God "has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him" (2 Peter 1:3, my italics). Thus, all we need for life and godliness is to know him, which we do (see 1 John 2:13-14). Everything we need is found in his son, Jesus Christ, who lives inside every Christian. As Paul writes, Jesus "became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30, my italics). Notice, he didn't just give it to us; he became it to us (see also Colossians 2:3; 8-9). So, if you feel you are lacking in these things, there is something you are not understanding about Christ in you. It is contradictory to say that we believe the Spirit of Christ dwells inside us and simultaneously to pray that God would give us (for example) love, joy, peace, or righteousness. He has already given it to us, for he has given us himself.

To be sure, this is the linchpin of God's whole operation. "Christ in you [is] the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). That is to say, the very glory of God being manifest in you and through you, from one degree to the next until it is complete and total, is entirely dependent on Christ in you (see 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Everything he planned from the beginning of creation is and will ultimately be fulfilled in one way — by uniting all things to himself through Jesus (see Ephesians 1:9-10). In this way, God himself will "fill all things" (Ephesians 4:10). "God [will] be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).

Let us first acknowledge that this separates Christianity from every other worldview. It is so profound that no man nor angel ever thought of it until it was revealed. Even now, Paul says, only through the church is the "manifold wisdom of God [being] made known to the rulers and authorities in heavenly places" (Ephesians 3:10; see also 1 Peter 1:12). It is why it is referred to as the "mystery" in many of these passages I've already quoted. All other religions or philosophies, including Judaism, imagine humankind becoming something of their own accord, apart from a union with God. It does not matter what end they pursue, whether it be immortality, divinity, virtue, power, enlightenment, wisdom, love, honor, happiness, or pleasure. They are all the same in that they pursue it apart from Christ, who is the true substance of these things and the only Way to them.

So then, the work of Jesus is not merely something for us to admire from afar, to stir up the kinds of emotions in our hearts that might motivate us to repent and obey. The gospel should not be treated like a crucifixion movie that we're supposed to watch over and over until we feel the right feelings, get a good cry, and start trying to live like Jesus again. If we understand and preach the gospel this way — as merely a motivational tool — we will undoubtedly be disappointed with its results. Frankly, I am not sure it matters that some preach "grace and forgiveness" over "hell, fire, and damnation." One motivates with love and the other with fear, but if we are honest, it doesn't take long for people to grow dull of hearing these motivational speeches, either way. We all know we ought to be more affected by God's love, but the fact is, sometimes we are not. Thank God we do not need to rely on our feelings any longer, for we have all we need in God himself, whom we can always access by faith.

Now, we must take Christianity yet another step further. For, while most Christians would agree (at least verbally) that the Holy Spirit dwells inside them, most do not see it the way that it really is.

One Spirit

"For, as it is written, 'The two will become one flesh.' But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." (1 Corinthians 6:16-17)

Some believe that God and man are so different, so far apart, that they could never become one in any real sense. "God is God; man is man; that is that." To suggest anything otherwise is considered blasphemy, for God is too holy and man too sinful. Some of these people, quite surprisingly, still believe that God dwells inside them through the Holy Spirit, and yet, the radical distinction between themselves and God remains. It is like oil and water in a cup (his Spirit and our spirit in our body) — two things that can touch but never mix.

Others believe that God and man are becoming one — a work in progress that will be completed on that Day when we are raised from the dead. They cannot deny that the scriptures allude to this destiny, but they also feel they must be honest to the observable reality that this hasn't occurred yet. They might think of it like a Venn diagram, with two circles partially overlapping one another, growing closer and closer together until they are eventually the same circle.

And then there is Paul, who, as we can see in the scripture above, believed that every Christian becomes one with Jesus — completely and totally — the moment they receive him into their hearts.

There are many ways to talk about what happens to us when we are saved, or born again, but to me, this is the way that gets straight to the point better than any other. When a person repents of their sin and places their faith in Jesus Christ, they are joined with Jesus, meaning they become one spirit with him. The Bible's teaching on marriage, which says that a man and a woman become one flesh, is actually pointing to a deeper spiritual truth — that Jesus (the Groom) and his Church (a.k.a. the Bride of Christ) have become one spirit. Another metaphor that he uses to convey this reality of oneness is Christ as a head and the church as his body, lending itself once again to the imagery of marriage where a husband is the head of his wife. You can see in Ephesians 5:22-32 how fluidly he blends each of these images — head and body, husband and wife, Christ and the church — ending with the following:

"…we are members of his body. 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." (Ephesians 5:30-32)

Let us also remember Jesus' prayer in the gospel of John that "they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us… The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one…" (John 17:21-23). When Jesus prays that we "may become" perfectly one, he is not alluding to the end times but to the time after his resurrection when he would send his Spirit. We can be sure of this in light of all the New Testament passages that speak to this reality, like Ephesians 4:4-6: "There is one body [i.e., the Church] and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

Examine the scriptures, and you'll find there is no indication anywhere that our oneness with Christ is something that is to be attained or completed when we are resurrected from the dead. Any teaching suggesting that we are not already one with him has come from man, not God, only to make sense of something they could not understand. The fact is, you are either married/joined to Christ or you are not. You are either a member of his body or you are not. Any speak of "almost," "not yet," "kind of," "sort of," or "something in between," makes no more sense than a woman being "kind of" married to a man or my head being "almost" part of my body.

All this is to help you see that if you are a follower of Christ, you are as one with Christ as you will ever be, and thereby one with God. It is like when someone receives a blood transfusion, and the blood from the donor becomes their own. The two bloods become inseparable and indistinguishable from one another, flowing through every member of the body. In this analogy, of course, the blood represents the Spirit, which (not coincidentally) is what the blood/wine represents in the Lord's Supper, "as all were made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:13), and, "my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him" (John 6:55-56).

Similarly, if your body were like a glass and your spirit like water, receiving Jesus' Spirit is not like pouring oil into the glass alongside the water. Rather, it is just like pouring water into the glass. Some may argue that, before knowing Christ, our glass is empty, and when we receive Christ, it is filled. I am OK with this as long as we acknowledge that both analogies result in the same outcome — a glass filled with water or a body with one s/Spirit (his and ours joined together). This is how we must view our current state. You may not see it yet or understand how it is so, but this doesn't change the unchangeable word of God.

Consider, then, how this changes your concept of yourself. You are not made to be a replica of God but an extension of him. Think about that for a second. When you enter your workplace, Christ himself enters your workplace. When you kiss your children, Christ himself kisses your children. When you look in the mirror, Christ himself looks in the mirror. When you serve your brothers and sisters, Christ himself serves Christ himself (see Matthew 25:34-40 and Ephesians 5:29-30). This is not cute language. It is not a desperate attempt to sound super spiritual. There is nothing metaphorical or analogous about it. It is as plain and real as I have presented it. And thus, it is the most profound thing in all the universe.

We are not mirrors that reflect his light; we are the light (see Matthew 5:14), for he is light (see 1 John 1:5). Try to separate his light from ours. You cannot. Christ is not something apart from us anymore. Instead, everything we truly are is defined by him, and whatever is not him is not truly us. This is why Paul says things like "Christ is all, and in all" (Colossians 3:11), "It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Galatians 2:20), and "the church [is] the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Ephesians 1:23). Anyone who tries to explain these verses without the understanding of our present oneness with Christ invariably has to drum up excuses and exceptions that Paul frankly does not provide. And without realizing it, in their attempt to offer explanations that are "safe," "sensible," and "wise," they drain the gospel of its power.

As you think about the fact that you are dead to sin, you should see now what makes this possible. If you identify with Christ, then how could you also identify with sin? On the other hand, if you are not one with Christ, then dissociating from your sin would, in fact, be false, empty, and powerless. For Christ is the substance of everything we have and everything we are.

But having been born of God and joined with him, there is now only one way to know yourself truly — know Jesus truly. There is only one way to see yourself clearly — see Jesus clearly. There is only one way to evaluate your character — evaluate Jesus’ character. There is only one way to measure God’s love for you — measure his love for the Son. For Christ is your new life (see Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:4; etc.).

So now, let us realize that Jesus' incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension are not the whole story. If they are, then the gospel is just a solo victory for God with no benefit to his people. Jesus would be the only human in heaven forever. None of the things that he so wonderfully accomplished would have any meaning or practical value in the lives of his followers.

Make no mistake about it: the linchpin of this whole operation is that those who believe "receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38). And this is more than a friendly relationship with the Spirit; it is oneness with the Spirit. For "he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him" (1 Corinthians 6:17). It is more than walking with Christ like his disciples walked with him on Earth. It is walking in Christ as if we know no reality and have no identity apart from him.

From this Christ-reality flows nearly every grace in Christian life. If you do not understand this, you may not understand much else. For seeing ourselves as one with Christ is the doorway to understanding the great depths of the gospel.

Before we move on, I feel the need to stress that Christ himself is the power, the answer, the solution, the way. This book is full of truths that greatly impacted my life, but I want to be forthright that the power is not in the truths themselves but in the fact that they lead us to Christ, who is the Truth. At the end of the day, if you are born again, to whatever extent you still sin, the root cause can only be one thing — you have not learned to depend totally on Jesus, your Savior.

This, I believe, is not because you don't want to depend on him but because there are lies you believe that are keeping you from doing so — namely, that you and him are separate. This book is an attempt, in one way or another, to break down those lies. Everything I write serves to help you abide in him, know him, learn from him, draw strength from him, and rely on him at all times. This is the way. Jesus is the Way (see John 14:6).

If we ever lose sight of this, then all the knowledge we gain loses its substance. For the real knowledge is to know him, like Adam knew Eve — intimately, actionably, presently. As Jesus said, "[T]his is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3). The very life of God — i.e., "eternal life" — is to know him.

So, "If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God" (1 Corinthians 8:2-3). Let this be our compass, today into eternity. Let this be the simplicity of the gospel. Let this keep us humble despite whatever knowledge we think we have. And when all else fails us — including the knowledge in this book — let it be our reminder to fix our eyes on Jesus, "the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

Looking in the Mirror

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres… he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22–25).

As I teach about grace and faith being the solution to sin, there is a question that often arises: If we are only to believe, then how do we make sense of all the commands in Scripture that tell us specifically what to do? In the passage above, we find a wonderful answer.

According to James, if you are a Christian, to encounter the word of God — by hearing it taught, by reading it in our Bibles, etc. — is like looking at yourself in the mirror. For example, if God’s word instructs you to keep from lusting after women, then you are not lustful. If God’s word says to forgive and to love your enemies, then you are forgiving and a lover of your enemies. If God’s word says to seek first the kingdom of God and not to serve money, then you are not someone who cares about money, possessions, and other worldly things. If God’s word says not to fear, then you are a courageous and faithful believer. Hopefully, you get the point. The do's and don’ts of Scripture are actually are's and aren’ts pertaining to your true image, which is Christ. This is because Christ is the word of God, and the word is inside of you now.

Take a minute to apply this personally to your own life. What is one thing about yourself that you feel is most contrary to God’s character? Once you have identified it, give thanks to God that it is not actually who you are. Say, for instance, it is anger. You could say something like, “Thank you, God, that you have made me a patient, gentle, and loving person.” Or take a command within Scripture and then rejoice that it now describes you. The Bible says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). So you might tell God, whether or not you feel it, “I trust you completely! Thank you for putting Jesus’ faith in me!” If you cannot see it, that's okay. Just keep looking deeper, letting God show you who you really are. Do not look at the flesh, for you will not find it there. Instead, look at your union with Christ, established by the word of God, to which the Spirit within you will testify as the truth.

God’s commands are no longer just rules to follow or even something you need to strive to become. Rather, the whole law has been written on our hearts (see Jeremiah 31:33, cf. 2 Corinthians 3:3). Whatever God’s word commands is a reflection of who we truly are. How? Because the Word, himself, if you have “received [him] with meekness” (James 1:21), is your new life and identity. This is why, in the same letter (Romans) where Paul says so emphatically that we are no longer under the law, he also says, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law” (Romans 3:31, my italics). The law is not over us anymore; it is in us. Therefore, it still has a very important purpose — to tell us who we are.

Notice what else James calls this “word” — “the perfect law, the law of liberty” (James 1:25). Instinctively, there is nothing about the words “perfect” and “law” that sounds liberating. But that is because we have always looked at Jesus — the perfect one, the fulfillment of the law — as just a picture on a wall. He has been something entirely outside of us, the image of what we are not and what we should strive to become. Surely, under the law, this is exactly how it is! But under grace, Jesus comes into us, and that picture of Jesus becomes a mirror showing him as our true reflection.

It is now easier to see what is happening when we are disobedient to God’s commands. According to James, it is like walking away from the mirror and forgetting what we are like (James 1:24). Striking, isn’t it? He does not say that if we sin, it is because we are still sinners in need of more grace or more repentance. Nor is it because we do not love God enough. Instead, if we sin, it is because we forgot (or did not believe) that we are saints in love with God. Sin, therefore, is deception (which he says in v. 22), and righteousness is truth. If we sin, it does not necessarily mean we are unrighteous. It means that we did an unrighteous thing, out of character, because we believed a lie.

This changes the way that we repent, does it not? If the actual fault was due to unbelief, then repentance is belief. Sin is no longer an accurate reflection of who you are. It is the result of not seeing your true reflection, who is Jesus.

This is different for the believer and the unbeliever, to be clear. For unbelievers, repentance requires a surrendering of their life to Jesus, that they might die to sin and live to righteousness. Jesus is still outside of them — just like the picture on the wall, so to speak.

But for us believers, repentance is the remembrance of our death and new life in him. It does not entail trying to change ourselves or praying that God will finally change us. Nor does it entail mulling over our depravity and beating ourselves up for it. True repentance is to acknowledge that what we did was based on a lie. It is to turn back around, look into the mirror, see Jesus, and believe. The one who perseveres in this “will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25).

I challenge you now: go find a mirror, look at yourself in the mirror, and by faith, see Christ in you and nothing else. Let this image be seared into your brain. Then, as you walk away and go about your day, remember what you saw and see how it transforms you.

Like Christ vs. In Christ

A Bible word search will reveal to you that the phrases “in Christ,” “in him,” “in the Lord,” etc. (those which refer to Jesus) appear over 200 times in the New Testament. Guess how many times “like Christ” appears. Zero. The words "like him" appears twice — Philippians 3:10 and 1 John 3:2. Even if you use a translation that is less literal, you will not find “like Christ” more than five times, and the other three of them are an inaccurate translation of the Greek.

Here is the point that I am trying to make. “In Christ” is the most common biblical description of the state of a Christian, yet to most, it has become a practically meaningless expression. We read past it without a thought, assuming it to be merely flowery language. On the other hand, “like Christ” is hardly biblical at all, and yet it has become, to many, the highest goal of the Christian life. This may seem like nothing, but it makes all the difference in the world as to how we understand our righteousness.

The gospel of “Christ-likeness” is deceptively works-based if we fail to recognize that our likeness is purely the product of our oneness. In other words, we are never to think of ourselves as like him apart from him. The life of Christ is not a mere example that we are supposed to follow. If it is, then we are most utterly under the law, and we have nothing but self-righteousness. Instead, Christ is a person with whom we have been joined. The only light we shine is Light himself. From the beginning to the end of the Christian life — from infancy to maturity — it is Christ’s righteousness that is manifest in us. This is why Paul speaks of “not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Philippians 3:9, my italics). Sanctification is not so much the process of Jesus making us more like himself; it is Jesus himself being more and more manifest in us, which is the fruit of our ever-increasing faith. “[N]ow the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law… the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:21-22, my italics).

We do not fix our eyes on ourselves, claiming to be perfect. We fix our eyes on Jesus, our new life, and we dare to believe that “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Anything apart from him is not truly who we are. Do not let anyone convince you — Satan or otherwise — that this is a blasphemous thought. It is in your Bible, and it is time to start believing it. It takes the utmost humility to believe and receive this grace, for it allows no room whatsoever for even a trace of self-righteousness. We do not claim to be Jesus, nor even to be like Jesus. Rather, we claim to be in Jesus, and he in us. For “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11). It truly is all by grace through faith.

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