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We have to remember that we are all sinners because we are all in Adam. Everyone that is born of Adam has the Adamic nature. We do not need to make an effort to lose our temper, lie, etc., because Adam's nature, life, and behavior have all flowed into us. God's way of salvation is not by making us better but by delivering us out of Adam and putting us into Christ. Similarly, everything of Christ has flowed into us. The Bible shows that as long as we are in Adam, we will sin; and as long as we are in Christ, we are righteous. But in the most secret place of our heart, there is an erroneous desire. We wish that God would do something on us. Many people make this kind of mistake. However, God never does anything on us; rather, He puts us into Christ.
Some people think that because the root of sin is still in us even though we are saved, we need to ask God to do another thing on us: to remove the root of sin in us like pulling out a bad tooth. Perhaps someone has said that we need to pray to ask God to pull out the root of our sin. Perhaps some have said that after they prayed for a certain period of time, they succeeded and were sanctified. But if we expect God to accomplish something on us, this will never happen. The Bible shows us that all of God's work has been accomplished in Christ. Since the day Christ died, every spiritual thing has been accomplished in Christ. God will not do any more. If we ask God to perform a work on us, God cannot. We can only receive what God has already accomplished in Christ.
Everything is in Christ. Do not hope to receive some special light while you are praying or hear some voice telling you that a certain sin has been removed. Do not expect to have a special feeling that will fill you with joy. You may think that these are good things. Actually, thinking this way involves an evil heart of unbelief. This is not God's work. Whatever God does has been done in Christ; it is not done in you. It is not a matter of what God does on you; God has done everything in Christ. If you believe, you will have it. But if you want God to do something on you, you will never have it done. When you are in Christ, you have what is in Christ by receiving.
Many times when you are ill, you wish that God would just touch you with His little finger so that you would be healed. However, God has healed you in Christ; God cannot do anything on you again. As long as you are in Christ and receive, you will have what you need. Once you believe, the healing is yours. Do you want to be victorious? You can never do it! Only Christ is victorious. Do you want to overcome the world? You can never do it! Only Christ overcomes the world. Do you wish that God would do something? God will never do it because He has already done everything in Christ. Do you think that overcoming is something that only happens today? No, it happened when Christ overcame. May God grant us the light of revelation and show us what is already in Christ. If we do not have faith, we will have nothing; but if we have faith, we will have everything. In Christ there is victory, justification, holiness, forgiveness, as well as all the other spiritual blessings. God will not work these things on us again. If we enter into Christ, all that is in Christ will be ours. This does not mean that we extract something from Christ for our nourishment. Rather, it is entering into Christ and letting everything in Christ flow into us.
When we are baptized, we are baptized into Christ. Not only are we immersed into the water, we are also immersed into Christ. The second part of Romans 6:3, "Baptized into His death," indicates that the baptismal water refers to death. The first part of this verse, "Are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus," indicates that the water also refers to Christ. Many times we think that God gives us a glass of water to drink. Instead, God wants us to enter into Christ. If we see this clearly, we will know that we do not have to ask God to do something on us. It is done in Christ. Everything is in Christ.
Romans 8:1 says, "There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." You cannot be condemned, because you are in Christ. Can you say to God, "I am a sinner, please forgive me and do not condemn me"? No. God cannot do this. God forgives you in Christ. You need not look at yourself. You only need to look at Christ. How do you know that you will not be condemned in the future? Can you rely upon your experience of a certain day or a certain time? The only way you can stop me from rebutting you is by quoting the Scripture. If you quote the Scripture, no preacher on earth can rebut you. Even God cannot rebut you because His Word says, "There is now then no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus."
Second Corinthians 5:17 says, "So then if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away; behold, they have become new." Does this verse tell us that we are changed? No, it says that he who is in Christ is a new creation. Some say, "I was a Christian for many years but was very weak. But on a certain day of a certain year, I was revived and became a new creation." What evidence does he have that he became a new creation on a certain day of a certain year? My evidence is not a so-called revival which supposedly made me a new creation; my evidence is God's Word which says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. Perhaps some may say, "According to the Bible, I am in Christ, and I am a new creation. However, when I look at myself, I do not seem so new." I can say that sinners and even many Christians do not have faith. After reading this you should kneel down and say, "God, I thank and praise You; Your Word says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation. I am in Christ; therefore, I am a new creation!" Whenever temptation befalls you and tells you that you are still an old creation, you should say, "God's Word says that whoever is in Christ is a new creation." If you do this, Satan will retreat. If you pay no attention to the temptation and only stand on the side of God's Word, you will overcome. Overcoming does not depend upon feeling but upon God's Word.
God will not do any work on us. If He removes the root of our sin, we will have no need to believe. God has accomplished everything in Christ. He wants us to look to Him day by day and believe His Word which says that we are a new creation in Christ. God does not lie. Whatever God speaks will be done. If we believe, it will be ours. This is the secret of overcoming.
Ephesians 1:6 says, "...His grace, with which He graced us in the Beloved." God accepts us only in the Beloved. No one can please God outside of Christ. God can keep us and accept us only in Christ.
Colossians 1:14 says, "In whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." Being saved and being forgiven are both in Christ. Have you asked God to forgive you? Suppose a Christian has committed a sin and asks God to forgive him. Do you know when God forgives him? Some say the evidence that you have been forgiven comes only after you have prayed to the point of having peace in your heart. But are there not many people who still have peace in their hearts even after committing sins? Are there not many people who still have no peace even though their sins have been forgiven? Your feeling is not dependable. If a Christian has sinned, can you tell him how long he has to pray before he can obtain forgiveness? You should know that your sins were borne by Christ more than nineteen hundred years ago. You died in the death of Christ; you are forgiven. All you have to do is to bow down and take what Christ has accomplished. If you expect God to do a new thing on you, it is impossible to say how long you would have to pray. When you ask God to forgive you, you are really asking for the forgiveness in Christ to flow to you. Your forgiveness depends upon your faith that God has forgiven you in Christ. It does not depend on feeling.
Second Corinthians 5:21 says, "Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." We are justified because we are in Christ. God does not justify us because we do good. God justifies us in Christ. If we want to wait until we regard ourselves as righteous before we believe, we will never believe.
First Corinthians 1:2 says, "To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, the called saints, with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place." We are justified because we are in Christ; we are sanctified also because we are in Christ. Many people make a big mistake by saying that God has given them holiness and that they were sanctified on a certain day of a certain month. If we expect God to work on us until we are sanctified, this will never happen. All we need to do is to receive what is in Christ
The light in a car is supplied by only a little amount of electricity that is stored in the battery. If we are in Christ, we will be like the light in a room; although the source of the electrical power is not in the room, electricity flows into the room. Once the connection is made and the switch is turned on, the light will come. But when the connection is broken or the switch is turned off, the light will not come. When we are joined to Christ, we have everything; once we are disconnected, we find ourselves to be just like unbelievers. A single work is never accomplished on us; everything is accomplished in Christ. We are merely a wire through which electricity flows.
Romans 8:38 and 39 say, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." All these things cannot separate us from the love of God. There is only one reason: this love is in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 2:10 says, "And you have been made full in Him...." We have been made full because we are in Christ, not because of ourselves.
Colossians 3:3 says, "And your life is hidden with Christ in God." Our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
Romans 8:2 says, "For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death." We are freed because we are in Christ, not because of ourselves. Those who believe this are blessed. But those who beg for it will not receive.
Ephesians 1:3 says, "Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." This verse surely has much for us to enjoy. No matter what the spiritual blessings are, they are altogether in Christ. If you have this verse, you can say, "I thank and praise God because He has given me every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ." The extent of your belief in God's Word is the extent of your receiving of the reality.
John 16:33 says, "In Me you may have peace." Peace is not found outside of the Lord. When we are in the Lord, we have His peace.
Philippians 2:1 says, "If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any tenderheartedness and compassions."
Second Corinthians 12:2 says, "I know a man in Christ." This speaks of a person who is in Christ; his whole being is in Christ.
If you carefully read the Bible, you will not ask God to do a work on you. If you want God to do a work on you, you will not only be disappointed today and tomorrow; you will be disappointed until the day you die. If the electrical switch is turned off, you cannot expect the lamp to have light. The moment the switch is turned on, immediately there is light. If you do not believe in Christ moment by moment, you will not be victorious. You need the Lord every moment. In Christ you have everything.
(1) He who believes into Christ is in Christ. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life." This is a union. When you believe into Him (Christ), your sin becomes His, and He becomes one with you.
(2) Having believed into Christ, we should be baptized into Christ. Baptism is to be immersed into Christ. Romans 6:3 says, "Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?" The way we are immersed into the water when we are baptized is the way we are immersed into Christ. If a copper coin is put into a bottle of sulfuric acid, the copper coin will melt, and we will not see the copper coin anymore. When we are immersed into Christ, we are melted into Christ and become one with Him. This is faith.
(3) "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 1:30). God has immersed us into Christ. Inwardly, we believe into Him; outwardly by baptism, we are immersed into Him. God joins us to Christ. God has done this for us. Therefore, we have righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It is wonderful; we have it all. We have no righteousness in ourselves; Christ is our righteousness. We have no sanctification in ourselves; Christ is our sanctification. We have no redemption in ourselves; Christ is our redemption. Our eyes must be fixed on Christ. May God remove our veils, so that we would see how complete God's accomplishment is.
Mr. Hudson Taylor once tried hard to overcome. He said, "I am always asking, but God never gives it to me; one day when I read John 15:5, `I am the vine; you are the branches,' I immediately received the light." Later he knelt down and prayed, saying, "I am the most foolish person in the whole world; the overcoming life that I am looking for, I already have." You are a branch; it is not that you want to be a branch. You are a branch; the life is yours already. For many years Mr. Taylor asked to be joined to the tree like a branch. Little did he realize that he was already a branch and already joined to the tree. It was not until the day he received the revelation from God and had genuine faith that he had the victory. Later he was able to accomplish great things for the Lord. Once he was asked to speak at the Keswick Convention, and he related this story. He said, "After I failed, I sought for the overcoming life, only to find that I could never obtain it. But the day I believed, I received it."
Brothers and sisters, we are not hoping to draw out some sap from the root to nourish us. We are branches of the tree. We do not have to care for anything as long as we are the branches. We do not need to take something from the tree to cultivate ourselves. All we have to do is believe that we are the branches. God has joined us to Christ. Everything that Christ has now belongs to us. If we believe, we will overcome.
On the one hand, we are baptized into Christ; on the other hand, by means of the bread and the cup, we contact Him. This is the way for His life to freely flow.
