Am I In Christ or Just In Religion?

Now let's open our Bibles again
to 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 30. I want to read this text, and
I want you to listen carefully, and I'm going to emphasize several
words in the text and ask the Spirit of the living God to give
us some liberty this morning in thinking on these words. but
of Him, of Him, are ye in Christ, in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
Now, my friends, this is a religious world. No question about that. Man is not only a physical creature,
a social creature, but he is a religious creature. We are
living in a religious world. Everybody, almost everybody,
has some kind of religion. Almost everybody has a God. Even the devil believes in God. That's what the scripture says
in James 2, 19, you believe in one God, you do well. The devil
believes in one God, and he trembles. This is a religious world. Our
Lord came to a religious world. When he came down here in the
flesh, he came to a religious world. He came to a world in
which he was surrounded by temples and tabernacles and synagogues
and places of worship. There were plenty of places of
worship when Christ came down here in the flesh. He was surrounded
by those things. Temples everywhere, synagogues
everywhere, places of worship everywhere. Also, our Lord Jesus
was surrounded by ceremonies and rituals and holy days and
sacrifices. Plenty of ceremonies, plenty
of holy days, plenty of special religious feasts. He was surrounded
by religious leaders, men who prayed, men who fasted, men who
taught the Scriptures, men who, yea, searched the Scriptures. He was surrounded by people who
sought to keep the law of God, who boasted in their ability
to keep the law of God. When our Lord came, He was surrounded
by religious people, men who stood on the corners of the street,
where two main thoroughfares came together and read the Scripture
and prayed long prayers. They made broad the phylacteries
of their robes to show people they believed in the law of God.
They have bits of the law of God written on their robes. Thou
shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit
adultery. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. They had those laws written on
their garments. This was a religious world to
which he came. And yet he told them, you neither
know me nor my father. And they crucified him on a cross.
This is a religious world. It always has been. You say,
if I had lived in the days of Christ, I never would have treated
him that way. I don't know. It depends on whether
you were in religion or in Christ. They treated him that way, and
they were religious people. The apostles went forth to preach
to a religious world. I want you to turn to Acts 17. When Paul and James and John
and Peter and all of these men went forth to preach, they went
forth to preach to a religious world. And Paul came down here
to Athens, verse 22 of Acts 17, and he stood in the midst of
Mars Hill. And he said, Ye men of Athens,
I perceive that you are in all things, that in all things you
are too superstitious. You know what that word is? Some
of you do, I know, because you've studied the Scripture. That word
is religious. I perceive, Paul said, that you
are more religious than most people. For as I passed by and
beheld your devotions, your shrines, your altars, I found an altar
with this inscription, to the unknown God. They had altars
and shrines to all the gods. They were overly religious. They were more religious, Paul
said, than anybody he'd preached to. They even erected an altar,
a shrine to an unknown God, just in case they missed one. This
is what I fear. Oh, under God, I fear this more
than anything in this world. To have, for you and me, I fear
this more than anything else in the world. I fear that we shall have a form
of godliness and not know the power thereof. I fear that I and the people
to whom I preach will be, as the Apostle said, ever learning
and never coming to a knowledge of the truth. I fear that we shall learn the
doctrines of the Bible and miss Christ, totally miss Christ. You say, but I study the Bible,
I search the Scripture. Now wait a minute, turn to John
chapter five. Here were some people to whom
our Lord spoke who searched the Scriptures. They studied the
Bible. I study the Bible. I make no
apologies to you. I study the Word of God. I study
the doctrines. I read the Scriptures, and I
read what men wrote about the Scriptures. I spend more time
in my study than any other single part of my ministry. But I don't
want to study the doctrines and the Bible and miss the person. In John chapter 5, verse 39,
he said, search the Scriptures. Now, you who know something about
the Bible know that this is what Christ is saying. He's speaking
to these religious leaders, and he says, you search the Scriptures. He was telling them what they
knew. You do. You search the Scriptures. You
spend your time searching the Scriptures, for in them you think
you have eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life."
Life is not in the Bible, it's in Christ. It's not in the doctrine,
it's in Christ. And oh, how I fear, how I fear
before God the possibility, the tragedy of tragedies, to go through
life with a false religion, to go through life with a false
faith. to go through life with a false
hope and wake up in judgment and stand there before the Lord
and say, but Lord, I preached in your name. But Lord, we cast
out devils in your name. But Lord, we did many wonderful
works in your name. And to hear him say, I never
knew you, I don't know you, But, Lord, wait a minute now. We were
in the tabernacle, we were in the temple, we were in the church.
I was surrounded by churches and tabernacles and temples,
and they threw me out. But, Lord, wait a minute now.
We kept the—we observed the ceremonies and sacraments and Lord's table
and baptism, all these ceremonies. So did the Jews and crucified
the Savior. But, Lord, we were Bible students.
We searched the Scriptures. I hear people say, my, he knows
the Bible. Maybe he does. But knowing the
Bible doesn't mean he knows the Lord. I don't want to be in religion,
in religion and not in Christ. And most people are. Believe
me, they are. It's always been so. It was so
in the days of Christ. It was so in the days of the
apostles. It was so in the days of the Reformers. It was so in
the days of Spurgeon and Edwards and Whitefield, and it's so today.
We are surrounded by religion. This whole world has religion.
Everybody believes in God. The devil believes in God. But I want to be in Christ, and
I think this text will help us to understand the difference
in being in religion, lost, and in Christ saved. George Whitefield
called this the most comprehensive text in the Bible, the most comprehensive
text in the Bible. Charles Spurgeon said the same
thing about it. I Corinthians 130 is the most
comprehensive Scripture in the Bible. But of Him are you in
Christ, who of God is made unto us all we need. all we need. Now, three things
about this text. First of all, listen to this,
the fountain of life, the fountain of hope, the fountain of true,
vibrant union with the living God. It says, but of Him are
you in Christ. Now, a better translation, the
King James Bible is an excellent translation. I love it, and I
know you do, but a better translation of this would make it read this
way, but it is from Him, the Father, that you have life in
Christ. But it is from Him, the Father,
that you have life in Christ. It is, Spurgeon said, through
God that you're in Christ. Now, brethren, you can get in
the religious life alone. You don't need God to have religion. You don't need God to get in
religious life. You don't need God to get in
the religious stream. In fact, all religionists are
the author of their own faith and their own convictions. You
don't need God to get in religion. You can get in religion all by
yourself. But if you are this day, if you
are this day in Christ, It is through God that you're in Christ.
It is by God that you're in Christ. If you are this day a branch
in the living vine, if you are this day a member of that body
of Christ of which he is the head, if you are this day a living
stone in the temple of God, erected by the Holy Spirit for his glory,
no stone jumped into that temple by itself. If you are this day
a sheep in the great shepherd's foal, if you are this day in
Christ, you didn't get there by yourself. Of Him are you in
Christ. It is from God the Father that
you are in Christ. It is through the Father that
you are in Christ. The first cause The very eternal
cause of your union with Christ is in the purpose of Him who
gave you grace and who gave you mercy and who gave you Christ
before the world began. Turn with me to II Thessalonians
2. Now this is what we're saying,
II Thessalonians chapter 2. We're saying, but of God are
you in Christ. We don't want to be in religion.
We want to be in Christ. We don't want to just be in the
Church. We want to be in the Church of the Firstborn. We don't
want to just be in the religious stream. We want to be in the
Savior, in the Body of Christ, in the Vine, in the sheepfold. How did you get there? How do
you get there? It is of God that you're there.
Look at II Thessalonians 2.13. But we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth." Your union with Christ
is something that occurred in the purpose and plan of God Almighty
before the world began. You're in Christ for the power
of the Father. Turn to John chapter 6, verse
37. John 6, verse 37. Listen to our
Lord here. "'All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise under any circumstances cast out. For I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that
of all which he had given me, I should lose nothing, but raise
it up at the last day." How did I come to be in Christ? The Father
gave me to Christ. It is by God's plan and God's
purpose that I'm in Christ. That's how I got there. And then
your new birth was not of the will of the flesh, but of God.
Look at John chapter 1, verse 11. Here it says he came to his
own and they didn't receive him. That's the Jewish nation, the
Jewish people. He came to the religious world
and they didn't receive him. That's right, Christ was born
a Jew. He came down here and from the time he was born he
began to practice all of the ceremonies and rituals of the
Jewish law because he came not to destroy the law but fulfill
it. His mother and father took him to the priest. They took
him to the tabernacle. They took him to the temple.
They took him to the synagogue. He went to the synagogue on the
Sabbath day. He did all these things. He came
to his own. And they said, we don't need
you. There's no place in religion for Jesus Christ. Not the Christ
of the Bible. There's a place in religion for
our Jesus, but not this Jesus. He came to his own, and they
didn't receive him. as many as received Him. To them
gave He the power, the right, the privilege to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born,
not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but of
God." You're union with Christ, but
of Him are you in Christ? Of God are you in Christ? And
this union with Christ, you can get in religion alone. All you
have to do is read a few doctrines and say, well, I'll accept that.
All you've got to do is follow the rules and laws and regulations,
bylaws and creeds of the church of your choice, and join up.
But you can't get in Christ that way. Of God are you in Christ. Through God are you in Christ.
By the will of God are you in Christ. Turn with me to Romans,
chapter 9. Now, you listen to this. What
I'm telling you is what the Bible says, not what I think. What
the Bible says in Romans, chapter 9, verse 16. Verse 15, He said
to Moses, He said to Moses. Who said to Moses? God said to
Moses. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have
compassion on whom I'll have compassion. So then, it's not
of him that will it. nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy." You can get religion for yourself.
Just join up. Pick the one you like. Pick the
one that meets on Saturday, the one that meets on Sunday. Pick
the one that has the early morning service or the one that has the
later service. Pick the one where they're baptized by immersion
or sprinkled with water. Pick the one where they go through
all the ceremonies and forms and make you feel real sentimental,
emotional, religious, or pick the one where they throw songbooks.
Just pick whatever you want, whatever appeals to your personality.
Pick your religion, pick your church, join up. But just one
way to get in Christ, and that's of God. But of God are you in
Christ. Through God are you in Christ. By God are you in Christ. And
it started back there before the foundation of the world when
He gave His Son a people. And here in time, when those
people are regenerated and quickened and born again, they're born
again not of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man,
not by their voluntary choice. They're in Christ by God's regenerating,
quickening, begetting power whereby He gives them life. That's what
it says. And then, my friend, your call
to faith was of God. Turn to Galatians chapter 1,
Galatians the first chapter. This is what Paul is saying here
in talking about his own conversion. There isn't a better example
in this Bible of what I'm talking about right here. Paul was the
most religious man of his day. Paul said, I was born a Jew,
I was born of the tribe of Benjamin. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, I
was a Pharisee, as touching the law of God I was blameless. You
find the finest religious specimen you can find, and Paul will make
him look like a babe in swaddling clothes. He was a student of
the Scriptures, but he didn't know Christ. And he says in Galatians
1 15, but when it pleased God, When it pleased God, not when
it pleased me, not when it pleased my mother who said to me, now
son, you're twelve years old, don't you think you ought to
join the church? Not when it pleased the Sunday
school teacher who says, don't you want to go to heaven? You
don't want to go to hell, do you? No. Do you want to go to
heaven? Yes. Well, join the church. But when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, who called
me? God called me. Preacher didn't
call me to the front, God called me. And he was pleased, look
at verse 16, "...to reveal his Son in me." His Son in me, not
the rules and regulations of the church. His Son, not to me,
in me. God took a hold of this old religious
Pharisee who was satisfied with his knowledge of the Scriptures.
who was going along at ease in Zion, who boasted and bragged
about his righteousness and his holiness and his piety, and God
picked me up out of my cesspool of sin, covered over with a veneer
of religion, and he revealed Christ in me. God did it. God did. That's salvation. I
don't want anything less than that. You can get in religion
by yourself, nothing to it, just sit down and make up your mind.
Somebody will reach out his hand, you shake it, and you and him
can sign a contract. But the only eternal contract
was signed between the father and son back before the world
began. That's when people were put in
Christ, by God's decision, not theirs. The only decision you
and I ever made was wrong. The only choice we ever made
was wrong. The only direction we ever walked
was wrong. There's a way that seemeth right
unto man, but the end thereof is death. God put me in Christ.
And down here in time, God gave me life. It was not an act of
my will. It was not of the will of the
flesh, not of the will of man. It is of God that showeth mercy. And God called me, and God stopped
me in my religious path, and He revealed His Son in me. And right now, listen to Peter.
In 1 Peter chapter 1 he says that we are, verse 5, we are
kept by the power of God. We are kept by the power of God. So you see how much weight, you
see why Spurgeon called it and Whitfield called it the most
comprehensive text in the Bible. And we just now got started.
But of Him are you in Christ. Of God are you in Christ, the
fountain of life, the fountain of salvation is the Father who
put us in Christ. Now, my friends, Christ is that
fountain of life. Christ Jesus our Lord. You have
no life except as you are in Christ. Our life, spiritual life,
hinges completely Our union with Jesus Christ, apart from Christ,
he said, without me you can do nothing. Apart from Christ we
are nothing but branches fit for the burning, lying out there
alone, fit to be gathered and cast into the fire. Now listen,
if I cannot make this one point clear, I might as well not finish
this message. If I cannot make this one point
clear to you, there's no way that you can understand what
it is to be saved. Turn with me to Galatians 4.19.
This is where Paul sobbed and wept. This is where Paul travailed,
he said, in Galatians 4.19. It's easy to make known the law. It's easy to talk about the rules
of religion. But, my friend, to make Christ
Jesus known. This one point right here takes
the power of God's Spirit. Paul said in Galatians 4.19,
My little children, of whom I prevail in birth again, until Christ
be formed in you. Until Christ, until there comes
to exist a spiritual union, a living, vital union with the Lord Jesus
Christ. In 2 Corinthians 13, 5, Paul
said, Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, know ye not
your own selves, how that Christ liveth in you. Christ liveth
in you. In Galatians 2, 20, he said,
I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ said
in John 14, 23, the Father and I will come and take up our abode
in you. In Colossians 1, 25, Paul says,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you. Now, if you're satisfied to make a
religious decision, if you're satisfied to turn over a new
leaf, If you're satisfied to join a religious organization
and call it salvation, if you're satisfied to memorize some doctrine,
and I mean true doctrine, and call it salvation, that's
your affair. But the Scriptures call salvation
a new birth. The Word of God calls salvation
a new creation. The Word of God calls salvation
a living well springing up within. The Word of God calls salvation
to know God and to walk with Him. The Word of God calls salvation
a life of fellowship. Our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son. The Word of God calls salvation
a life of faith, a life of victory that overcometh the world. its sorrows and its trials and
its temptation that overcometh this world. This is because he
lives. He says, because I live, you
live. It is a living, vital, real union
with Jesus Christ. That's the difference in religion
or in Christ. I can do all things in Christ. Without Christ, I can do nothing.
But of God! And then this is a supernatural
work. This is a God work. The high-pressure,
Hollywood-type evangelist can't come to town and give you this. The loving parents and pastor
who preached to you through the days of your early life cannot
give you this. Of God are you in Christ. Through
God are you in Christ. Because of God are you in Christ,
by His eternal purpose. And in Christ you are in God. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. In Christ. You see what I'm saying?
And what are the blessings that flow from this union? Look at
the next statement here. But of Him, of God, are you in
Christ eternally, supernaturally, by means of a new birth, by means
of a new creation, by means of the new heart, you're in Christ. And of God, by His will, by His
determinate counsel and foreknowledge, by His divine purpose, Jesus
Christ is made unto us. as our representative, as our
federal head. Because we're in Him, He becomes
our life, He becomes our representative. And in Him we have what? Wisdom. Wisdom. What is wisdom? He says here,
Christ is made unto us wisdom. If I were to ask some, what is
wisdom? Some might reply, well, It's
indulging the lust of the flesh. Eat, drink, and be merry. It's
a great world. That's wisdom. To get what you
can get, when you can get it. What is wisdom? Well, it's accumulating
possessions and wealth. Houses, lands, money, possession. Get what you can get. But God's
Word says a man's life does not consist in the things he possesses.
God's going to destroy all this. You see that mansion on the hill,
that beautiful mansion? God'll burn it someday. All of
the stocks and bonds that we have are going to be nothing
but waste paper blowing down an empty street someday without
any value. There's no wisdom there. What
is wisdom? Wisdom is accomplishing a task,
somebody said. It's in leading people. It's
in leaving your mark on this world. Leave a building in your
name, or a school in your name, or a university in your name,
or a monument in your name, that's wisdom. He was somebody. Well,
God said that all that will melt and vanish away too. Well, wisdom's
in the knowledge of books. It's in understanding science.
It's in understanding mathematics and mechanics. It's being able
to call the stars by name. Someone says, where's the Milky
Way? I know, there it is. Where's this? It's there. Now
that was Mars and Jupiter and Venus. Is that wisdom? Paul the
Apostle does not point to Socrates and Aristotle and these others,
or even to himself or any man. He does not point to the things
of this world that shall vanish away. He points to Christ, and
he says, there's wisdom. All you want to know about life
is in Him. All you want to know about God
is in Him. Every question is answered in
Christ. All you want to know about death, all you want to
know about judgment, all you want to know about eternity,
heaven or hell and its prospects, it's in Him. All you want to
know about divine election, predestination, it's in Him. All you want to
know about God's promise, God's plan, God's purpose, is in Him. It's in him. Listen to Paul over
in the book of Colossians chapter 1. He says this in Colossians
1 verse 15, For he is the image of the invisible God. He who
knows Christ knows God. He who's seen Christ has seen
God. He who walks with Christ walks
with God. He who's vitally united with
Christ is in God. That's wisdom. He's the image
of God. He's the firstborn of every creature. Everything that God has made,
Christ was the first one. For by Him were all things created
that are in heaven that are in earth, visible and invisible. You want to understand the principalities
and powers? All these were created by Him,
and for Him, and He's before all things. He's before all things. He is wisdom. Everything is revealed
in Christ. Where is wisdom? He is wisdom. He is wisdom. Then it says, secondly,
in 1 Corinthians 1, Christ Jesus of God is made unto us wisdom. The man who has Christ has wisdom. The man who knows Christ, he
knows the beginning of it all, and he knows the end of it all,
for Christ is Alpha and Omega. He knows the author, and he knows
the finisher. He knows the purpose, and he
knows the plan. He not only knows the judgments
of God, but the ways of God. He not only knows the acts of
God, but the will of God. He who has entered into Christ
has entered into the eternal counsels of God. He who has entered
into Christ has entered into the mind of God, and the love
of God, the affections of God. He who has entered into Christ
has entered into the providence of God. It's all in Him, because
it's all for Him. And He is our righteousness.
Now listen, 1 Corinthians 1.30, Of Him are you in Christ, who
of God, by God's purpose, is made unto us. Wisdom and righteousness. This is what I need. By nature
I'm unrighteous. Even my so-called righteousnesses,
Isaiah said, are filthy rags. Filthy rags. I can't stand before
God in filthy rags. God won't permit me to stand
in His presence in filthy rags. Turn to Zechariah chapter 3. One of these minor prophets over
here In Zechariah chapter 3, I want you to listen to this.
God won't let me stand before Him in filthy rags. All of my
so-called goodness is filthy rags. And it says in Zechariah chapter
3, verse 1, He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before
the angel of the Lord. Satan was standing at His right
hand to resist Him. The Lord said, Satan, the Lord
rebuked thee, O Satan. Even the Lord that hath chosen
Jerusalem rebuketh thee. Is not this a brand plucked out
of the fire? Now Joshua was clothed with filthy
garments. He represents us. And he stood
before the angel, and he answered and spoke unto those that stood
before him, saying, Take away his filthy garments. take away
from him his filthy garments. And unto him he said, Behold,
I have caused your iniquity to pass from you. I will clothe
you with a change of raiment." I've got a robe for you to wear.
I've got something for you to wear. And that's the robe of
Christ's righteousness. Paul said, O that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but the righteousness which is of God the righteousness
which is by faith in Christ Jesus. For Jesus Christ is the end of
the law, the goal of the law, the consummation of the law unto
all them that believe. He's my righteousness." There
Joshua stood before the Lord like you and me, clothed in his
filthy garments. And God says, take away his filthy
garments, put them away. I'll cause your sin to pass away,
clothing with a spotless heavenly, divine, holy garments of Christ's
obedience. So I can stand before God this
morning with all of my failures and all of my faults and all
of my sins and all of my iniquities and all of my doubts and all
of my fears, I can stand before God this morning. The Scripture
says in Colossians 1, holy, unreprovable, and unblameable because I'm clothed
in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I'm in Him. Now over here in my religious
world, playing with my religious toys, making my religious vows,
dedicating, rededicating, consecrating, reconsecrating, up the aisle,
through the pool, down the aisle, back into the streets, back in
the church, down to the front, shake the hand, join again, rededicate
again, go through all of this, and God looks at all that commotion,
what you do about nothing, and its filthy, dirty, fleshy garments
with which he cannot be pleased. But oh, once by his grace, In
that great transaction of eternity by which God Almighty put me
in Christ, I am clean. I am clean everywhere. I am clean
from the sole of my feet to the top of my head. I am clean in
Christ. I am holy in Christ, unblameable
in Christ, unreprovable in Christ. In Him I am accepted in the Beloved. That's what it says. I don't
want to be in religion. I'm so sick, sick, sick, sick
of religion. I just don't know what to do.
Makes you want to do like the old monks of old, or the old
hermits in the caves, just get out of this rotten religious
world that doesn't know God, and go somewhere and just feast
on His presence. Well, we can't do that because
we're the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And we've
got to stand, even if alone, and tell men the truth. In religion,
you perish. In Christ, you live. If you're
satisfied with the other, that's all right. But I'm not. I want
to be in Christ, who is my righteousness. Look at the next word. And He's
my sanctification. He's my sanctification. Now,
the religious world has an answer for that. This is sanctification.
You give up this, this, this, this. But you know, all of that
changes through generations. Back 2,000 years ago, people
dressed this way. Now, they dress another way.
And the way we dress now wouldn't be acceptable. It wouldn't be
religious. It wouldn't be sanctified back 2,000 years ago. Four hundred
years ago, people did this. Now they do something else. What
we do now and call it sanctification wouldn't be acceptable to them.
In one country one thing is permissible and in another country it's not
permissible. In one country you can do this and be sanctified,
in another country you can do this and can't be sanctified.
That's just religious mess, that's all that is, religious confusion. True sanctification is in Christ. In Christ. Motivated by Christ. Inspired by Christ. In Christ
I have imparted unto me, not just imputed to me. Now, righteousness
and sanctification always have to go together. Always go together. His righteousness is imputed
to me legally, officially, and eternally, but His righteousness
is also imparted unto me, and that's called sanctification.
It's imparted to me. What I'm saying is this. I am
clothed with the righteousness of Christ, and God does not see
my guilt and my sin. It's put away. But also, I'm
not only clothed with the righteousness of Christ, but I have imparted
unto me, I have begotten in me, I have put within me the Spirit
of Christ, the life of Christ, the love of Christ, the holiness
of Christ. That's sanctification. If any
man be in Christ, He is a new creature, didn't say he ought
to be. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Christ
is the source of a new thought, of a new attitude. That's the
reason I say a man who has Christ's righteousness also has Christ's
life. And it is impossible for that
man to walk a continuous path of iniquity and hate and evil
and darkness as it would be for Christ to walk that path. Christ
is a source of a new thought and a new attitude. Christ is
a motive of a new life. Now here's the question we need
to ask ourselves. I claim to have the righteousness
of Christ imputed to me. I claim to believe in divine
election. I claim to believe in divine
purchase. Christ bought my soul at Calvary. I claim to believe that God Almighty
has revealed to me how God can be just and justify the ungodly. But wait a minute now. Has the
mind of Christ and the love of Christ and the grace of Christ,
has it been imparted to me? And if it hasn't, I have every
right to question whether or not I'm just religious and not
in Christ. For he is made unto us not only
wisdom and not only righteousness, sanctification. Sanctification. And then in the fourth place,
he is made unto us redemption. Now look at this word. Some people
think, now this will bless you if you listen to it. Some people
think that this word, redemption, ought to have been first. Ought
to have been first in this golden chain—wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Some feel that it ought to be
first because it's the first blessing we enjoy. We become
redeemed. It ought to be the Alpha, but
also it is the Omega. So we're not redeemed altogether
yet. We're not redeemed altogether
yet. We are redeemed by price already,
but not by power. We're redeemed already by purchase,
but not actually by inheritance. For the Scripture says in Ephesians
4.30, you are sealed until the day of redemption. Until the
day of redemption. In Romans 8, I want you to read
this, it's just a few chapters back, Romans 8, verse 23, listen
to this. He's talking about creation awaiting
Christ's coming. Creation groaneth and travaileth
until now, verse 23, and not only they, but also, ourselves
also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit. Even we ourselves
grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, namely,
the redemption of our bodies. I'm not fully redeemed yet. I'm redeemed by price, but not
by power. I'm redeemed by purchase. Christ
has paid it all, all the debt I owe. But I'm not redeemed by
experience yet. And when will I be redeemed?
One of these days I'll fall asleep in death rejoicing that I am
redeemed, but I will not, even when I die, have received the
full redemption." When will that come, the full redemption? When Jesus comes. Well, the Scripture
says, "...when he shall appear, we shall see him We shall be
just like him. That's when I'm going to be fully
redeemed, and that's when David said he'd be fully satisfied.
I shall be satisfied when I awake with his likeness. I'll be satisfied
when I awake with his likeness, and that's when he comes. He
is my redemption. Of God am I in Christ, by his
power, by his purpose, by his providence, I'm in Christ, who
of God is made unto me wisdom, righteousness, a new life, sanctification,
a new attitude, a new thought, a new direction. You know it amazes me, but many
people, many people look to Christ for pardon and justification.
And then they run to Moses for sanctification. That always amazes
me, because I believe Christ is my Lord and my law. I believe
Christ is my law. I want to be like Him. I don't
want to be like Moses, I want to be like Christ. I love that
which He loves, hate that which He hates, if I'm in Christ. And then finally, He is my redemption. He redeemed me by price, and
someday He'll redeem my body by power. He redeemed me by that
divine purchase, by His precious blood, and someday He'll redeem
me from the grave. And that's when I shall be like
Him, and that's when I shall be satisfied. I want us to look
into the Word of God and bow before the Spirit of the living
God, and I want every one of us to ask this question over
and over again and seek His will for the answer. Am I in religion,
like everybody else, or am I in Christ? Am I in Christ? Am I

Am I In Christ or Just In Religion?

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Am I In Christ or Just In Religion?

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