ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS ARE IN CHRIST

We are told: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3). This means that every single benefit to one’s soul is obtained and realized by being in Christ. What, then, are these spiritual blessings?

Those who are in Christ are REDEEMED. The Bible teaches that it is Jesus “In whom we have redemption” (Eph. 1:7). “Redemption” means “a releasing for (i.e., on payment of) a ransom” (Vine’s, vol. 3, p. 264). Thus, the one who is in Christ has been released from sin and the clutches of Satan because Jesus paid the ransom price with the crucifixion.

Those who are in Christ have become a NEW CREATURE. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Cor. 5:17). To be a “new creature” is to be a new person (Eph. 4:25) and to have a new life (Rom. 6:4)–no matter how evil a life one had been living.

Those who are in Christ have no CONDEMNATION. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). To be condemned is to be disapproved of God. It is to have His judgment pronounced against us. But, at Judgment Day, to those who are in Christ, there will be no condemnation.

Those who are in Christ have FORGIVENESS OF SINS. Colossians 1:14 reveals, “In whom we have forgiveness through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” “Forgive” literally means to send away. Thus, those who are in Christ have had their sins sent away from the mind of God–there is no sin on their record.

Those who are in Christ have SALVATION. The apostle Paul wanted others to “obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 2:10). Awaiting each person is either God’s reward in heaven or God’s wrath in hell. Every human being is either saved from God’s wrath, or he is lost. The only way to be saved is to be in Christ.

HOW THEN DOES ONE GET IN CHRIST? Romans 6:3 and Galatians 3:27 both state that one is “baptized into Jesus Christ.” It is clear then, one gets in Christ by being baptized for the purpose of getting into Him. Thus, if you were told that you were in Christ before you were baptized (such as, at the moment you believed), and then were later baptized for some other reason, then you were never baptized for the purpose of getting into Christ, and these blessings (which all occur in the mind of God, not ours) have never been obtained. We would that all men be in Christ and enjoy these spiritual blessings, but it can be achieved only by the means by which God has decreed.
Gary Henson