This expression, en Christo, though not confined to Paul's letters alone, is, nonetheless, typically Pauline. Of its 87 occurrences in the NT, only four are found outside of Paul's letters (Heb 3:14; 1 Pet 3:16; 5:10, 14). Among all his letters, "in Christ" occurs most frequently in Eph (13x), followed by 1 Cor (12x) and Rom (10x). In addition to this is the equivalent phrase, "in him," en auto: 29x in Paul, out of 75x in the NT (just beating Gospel of John, at 22x, and 1 Jn, at 13x), most frequently in Eph (8x), followed by Col (6x) and Rom (5x).
Paul and John, especially, do not tire of using this phrase when they write about the life and work of Christ and its implications of the Christian life; for, if they were required to sum up his entire understanding of salvation in just two words, they would say, "in Christ." For them, as it would be for all the NT authors, it "is because Christ is acknowledged as righteous, that believers are 'justified'; because he is declared to be Son of God that we, too, receive sonship; because he is glorified that mankind is restored to glory."1 Everything that makes anything Christian is summed up in this expression. Not only do we believe 'in Him,' our life is 'in Him.' "As the root in the soil, the branch in the vine . . . the fish in the sea, the bird in the air, so the place of the Christian's life is in Christ. Physically his life is in the world; spiritually it is lifted above the world to be in Christ . . . There is the implication that wherever the Christian may be, in whatever difficult environment, threatened by materialism or paganism, in danger of being engulfed by the power of the state or overwhelmed by the pressures of non-Christian life, he is in Christ."2
It is important, however, that this is not some kind of mysticism, but "is intended to express the very practical truth that the Christian, if faithful to his calling, will not try to be self-sufficient, or to move beyond the limits of the purpose and control and love of Christ, nor will he turn to the world for guidance, inspiration and strength. He finds all his satisfaction and his every need met in Him, and not in any other place or from any other source."3
Steeped in his Reformation mind-set, John Calvin emphasizes the absolute fact of grace this incorporation 'in Christ' implies thus:
For if we are chosen in Christ, it is outside ourselves. It is not from the sight of our deserving, but because our heavenly Father has engrafted us, through the blessing of adoption, into the Body of Christ. In short, the name of Christ excludes all merit, and everything which men have of themselves; for when he says that we are chosen in Christ, it follows that in ourselves we are unworthy.4
The phrase, whether we interpret its usage according to Paul, or John, or any of the other authors of the NT, makes the same point, and constitutes the major soteriological expression of NT faith, and serves easily as "the basis for and incorporating within itself the patristic themes of 'victory' and 'redemption', the Reformation stress on 'justification', the Catholic insistence on 'the body', the more modern emphasis on 'reconciliation' and 'salvation' and all the Pauline ethical imperatives and appeals."5
Notes
1. M. D. Hooker, "Interchange and Atonement," Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 60 (1977-78): 479.
2. Francis Foulkes, Ephesians (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; London: Tyndale Press, 1963), 42.
3. Ibid.
4. John Calvin, The Epistles of Paul the Apostle to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians and Colossians (Edinburgh/Grand Rapids: Oliver & Boyd/Eerdmans, 1965), 125.
5. Richard Longenecker, The Ministry and Message of Paul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 98.
Low Chai Hok
Breda B. Colijn, "Paul's Use of the 'In Christ' Formula," Ashland Theological Journal 23 (1991): 9-26.
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