REVISITING THE BELIEVER'S POSITIONAL RICHES IN CHRIST

Part XXIX: Applying The Truth That Believers Are Vitally United To The Father, The Son And Holy Spirit

 

I.               Introduction

A.    The Apostle Paul predicted that in the latter days of Church History, believers would face abusive people and that they should withdraw themselves from such people for own safety and edification, 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

B.    However, due to the increase of abuse worldwide, withdrawing from abusive people can leave a believer feeling isolated in his relationships, producing a depressing vacuum of a lack of interpersonal intimacy.

C.    Applying one of the 33 positional truths every believer possesses the instant he trusts in Christ addresses this need, that truth being that every believer is vitally united to God the Father, to God the Son and to God the Holy Spirit. (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, vol. III, "Soteriology," p. 262-263).  We view this truth for our insight and edification (as follows):

II.            Applying The Truth That Believers Are Vitally United To The Father, The Son And Holy Spirit.

A.    The believer in Christ is vitally united to God the Father:

1.      The instant one trusts in Christ, he is spiritually placed into God the Father:

                         a.        Paul wrote the 1 Thessalonians epistle to very new believers, 1 Thess. 2:13-17 with Acts 17:1-10.

                         b.        Though new converts, as an entire church, they were said to be "in God the Father," 1 Thess. 1:1.

                         c.        Thus, the instant every believer trusts in Christ, he is spiritually positioned in God the Father.

2.      Similarly, at salvation, God the  Father enters the believer, so the believer possesses the Father, Eph. 4:6.

B.    The believer in Christ is vitally united to God the Son:

1.      After explaining in Romans 3:21-24 the blessing that a new believer has in being pronounced righteous by God when he trusts in Christ, Paul noted at Romans 8:1 that the justified are positionally placed in Christ.

2.      However, John 14:20 reveals that the believer also has Christ indwelling him as his possession.

3.      This union with Christ "is amplified by a sevenfold declaration under seven figures," Ibid., p. 263:

                         a.        The believer is a member of Christ's spiritual Body, 1 Corinthians 12:13.

                         b.        He is a branch to Christ, the Vine, for producing righteous deeds in life and service, John 15:5.

                         c.        The believer is a stone in the building of which Christ is the Chief Cornerstone, Ephesians 2:19-22.

                         d.        The believer is a sheep in Christ's spiritual flock, John 10:27-29.

                         e.        The believer is part of the group of believers that forms the spiritual Bride of Christ, Ephesians 5:25-27.

                          f.         The believer is a king and a priest in a kingdom of kings and priests over which Christ is forever the High Priest, 1 Peter 2:5, 9.

                         g.        The believer is part of the New Creation over which Christ is Head as the Last Adam, 2 Cor. 5:17.

C.    The believer is vitally united to God the Holy Spirit:

1.      The Holy Spirit indwells believer in Christ so that he possesses the Holy Spirit, Romans 8:9a,b.

2.      Also, when one trusts in Christ, he is sealed in (locative of sphere = to pneumati) the Holy Spirit so that he is spiritually positioned in the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1:1. (Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, 1973, p. 80).

3.      Since failure to possess the Holy Spirit means one is not saved (Romans 8:9b), and since we have established that we are vitally united to God the Father and God the Son at faith in Christ, the believer is vitally united to the Holy Spirit the instant he trusts in Christ as his personal Savior from sin.

D.    Indeed, John 14:20 reveals a special relational triad exists between God the Father, God the Son and the believer in the Church era: (1) Christ is in God the Father, (2) the believer is in Christ and (3) Christ is in the believer, making for a complete immersion of relationships between all of these various parties!

E.     The believer is also baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Matthew 28:19b.

 

Lesson: The instant one trusts in Christ as his personal Savior from sin, he is spiritually positioned to be in God the Father and in God the Son and in God the Holy Spirit.  However, as to possession, the believer also possesses God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in his own spirit!

 

Application: (1) May we who believe in Christ as Savior realize that we are never alone, but are always spiritually, intimately, and relationally joined with Three Persons of the Triune Godhead Who have the capacity infinitely to fulfill all our needs of relational intimacy.  (2) May we then walk with God by relying upon Him (Galatians 5:16; Psalm 1:1-6) that we find these Three Persons meeting our deepest relationship needs.  (3) In so doing, we can afford to withdraw from abusive people even if they abound around us, but be equipped to give to others out of the fullness of our spiritual fellowship with Three Spiritual Persons who are EACH Infinite Almighty God!