Totally submerged in Him

Matthew reports, “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

Jordan explains, “That word ‘scribe’ there means a guy who writes things. The scribes wrote down the Scripture, copying it out, but Jesus doesn’t teach like the scribes. He teaches with authority.

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“In Galatians 1, the Apostle Paul, when describing his gospel and how his message is unique and distinct from those who were there before him, gives, as it were, a certificate of apostleship.

“He writes in Galatians 1:11-12, ‘But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.

[12] For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.’

“He’s going to document and give proof validating that statement. If you go down through the rest of chapter 1, and then through chapter 2, there are at least 14 specific points Paul makes that demonstrate the distinctiveness of his ministry.

“He writes in Galatians 1: [20] Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.

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“Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:11 that God ‘gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.’ The prophets referred to are the New Testament prophets.

“Paul was a prophet but he was also an apostle. He never wrote anything as a prophet; he wrote as an apostle. Paul warns in I Corinthians 14:37, ‘If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.’

“One of the jobs of a prophet all through Scripture is to say, ‘Thus sayeth the Lord.’ He spoke for God. One of the jobs of the prophets in those churches Paul established was to say, ‘This is God’s Word.’

“In II Thessalonians 2:2 there were some people counterfeiting epistles, writing them and saying they were from Paul when they weren’t. But, you see, the local church there had an office, a prophet, a God-empowered person with a supernatural ability as a gift of that church to say, ‘This is Scripture,’ and to speak for God.”

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"Four times in Paul’s writings he uses the expression, ‘This is a faithful saying.’

“The idea is, ‘This is something you can count on.' A lot of things in the world you can’t count on. You know what a 'saying' is.

We have a lot of sayings that aren’t real faithful, but a ‘faithful saying’ is one you can depend on.

“You know, we say, ‘Birds of a feather flock together,’ and that’s saying there are people out there who are kind of the same, but then you see two people who are absolute opposites get together and you say, ‘Opposites attract.’

“Well, which is it? There’s one that fits one situation and another that fits a different situation and we do those kind of things.

“A faithful saying is one that God guarantees to be true every single time. There are four times Paul refers to it in four different relationships. The first one is about the gospel. I Timothy 1:15 says, [15] This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

“The second one is about godliness. I Timothy 4:8-9 says, [8] For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

[9] This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation.

“The next one is in II Timothy 2 and it has to do with the enduring of suffering. The passage says, [11] It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

[12] If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
[13] If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

“The last one is in Titus 3:8: [8] This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

“You’ll notice all of these sayings are in personal epistles to Timothy and Titus. They are written to men involved in the work of the ministry of the Body of Christ. When you look at these four sayings you’re really looking at the whole gamut of what the Christian life is really all about.

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“Three words, ‘in Christ Jesus,’ and variations such as ‘in Christ,’ or ‘in Him,’ are phrases used by Paul more than 130 times in his 13 epistles. It is the dominant thinking of Paul because in his mind, being ‘in Christ Jesus’ is the essence of what Christianity is all about; it’s the essence of the grace of God and who we are.

“Christ is our life, our mind, our goal, our strength; He’s the sum total, the excellency of all that we have. ‘In Christ’—you’ve got to get the idea—is to be IN something. The idea is to be IN the sphere of something.

“I like to say we’re encapsulated. You see, if you were in a circle, that would be different. When you’re in a capsule, you’re surrounded with protection and then if a brick fell, what would happen? It would bounce off! You’re completely surrounded. That’s what it means to be ‘in Christ.’

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“Paul says in Colossians 3:3, ‘For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.’

“I used to struggle with this verse, wondering, ‘What does it mean?!’ Then it dawned on me it means exactly what it says. What a thought!

"If I’m standing in a circle, I’m not hid and you can see me. It’s just on one plane. But if I’m in a capsule and ‘hid with Christ,’ I’m totally submerged inside of God with Christ!

"You know what that is? That’s security! That means I’m safe and secure inside of Him from any harm; any foes on the outside. And I’m completely supplied by everything that’s in the capsule.”

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“God has chosen us IN HIM and we are made alive IN HIM,” writes Bible commentary author Cora Harris MacIlravy. “We are new creatures IN HIM and are to walk IN HIM as we received Him, rooted and builded up IN HIM and established in our faith.

“We become the righteousness of God IN HIM, we are established IN HIM, and can do all things IN HIM that strengtheneth us. God always lead us in triumph IN HIM, making us a sweet savor of Christ unto God. IN HIM we have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places; as we abide IN HIM, we are made complete IN Him who is the Head of all principalities and powers. And we are made more than conquerors THROUGH HIM that loved us.

“It is as we realize upon the vital union which God has put between Christ, who is the ‘chiefest of ten thousand,’ and us, who are members of His body, that this mighty Conqueror enables us to set up banners (floating over, His own peculiar banner, bearing His name, ‘Love’) through the power of His work upon Calvary. Thus is He glorified.”

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“Learning what God’s doing is not an issue of just learning a bunch of doctrine,” explains Jordan. “Somebody told me the other day, ‘Well, were in this predicament and we’re just glad to have the doctrine work.’ Now that’s true, but it’s not just the doctrine working.

“In the Scripture it’s really 'the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe,’ and when that happens, you know what’s really working in you? Christ is working in you. So when you talk about, ‘Well, it’s the doctrine working,’ remember it’s really the life of Jesus Christ working.

“There’s that personal intimate understanding, and when you come to Ephesians you’ve come to the place where God says, ‘Come in and let me have access with you; let me bring you into access to understand.’ What’s going on here is the Triune God.”