To be united to Christ means that we are united to Him through His death, our life of obedience, our faith in Him, and His love for us. 

I go through these phases where I pick a TV show that I like, and then that’s all I watch until I’ve seen every episode available.  Recently, I started watching reruns of an old makeover show called What Not to Wear.  The hosts of the show surprise unsuspecting people with a makeover and money to buy a whole new wardrobe. These people are nominated by friends and family because they dress in a way that is sloppy, frumpy, or just inappropriate. There have been some episodes where, with a new hairstyle, makeup, and clothes, the people were unrecognizable by the end of the show when they returned home to show off their new looks to the ones who nominated them.  They looked like a new person.

We All Need a Makeover!

The truth is, we all need makeovers, only we need a spiritual makeover, not a physical one.  As a result of the Fall, when Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God by disobeying His command (see Genesis 2-3), we are born with a sinful heart and a rebellious nature.  According to Romans 3:10-12, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”  This is a pretty grim picture of who we were as unbelievers. 

We also read in Ephesians 4:17-20 that unbelievers are blinded to the truth. They have no fellowship with God and are stubbornly resistant to any positive moral influence. Unbelievers also feel no grief or shame over their sin. In fact, they want to sin more and more.  However, Paul says we are no longer to live like that, because that’s not what we’ve learned from Christ.  So, the key to our spiritual makeover is found in Christ, or, more specifically, by our being in Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”

What does it mean to be in Christ?

What does it mean to be in Christ?  In part, it means to be united with Christ by placing our faith in Him and by being committed to Him.  I’m going to focus on faith in Christ in this post

In Galatians 2:20, we read about our union with Christ as a result our faith.  It says, “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  

From this passage, I’ve identified four things about being united to Christ:

First, we are united to Christ through His death. 

We have been crucified with Christ, which means that we have died to self and to sin.  Galatians 5:24 says that because we belong to Christ, we have been crucified to the flesh with its desires and passions.  That does not mean that we will no longer sin, but we now have the ability to resist sin.  Our sinful desires have been replaced with the desire to serve and obey God.  We should desire sin less and less the more mature we become in Christ.  Also, when we do sin, we should feel the conviction of the Spirit and we should feel sorrow over our sin, seeking repentance and forgiveness as soon as possible.

Second, we are united to Christ in life. 

Because we are in Christ and He is in us, we should want to live a life of obedience and submission.  Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”  We don’t obey Christ in order to earn our salvation, for salvation is a free gift of God.  However, we were created to do good works (Ephesians 4:8-10).  Our obedience to Christ is a way of showing our love for Him.  It’s motivated from gratitude and a desire to please Him. 

Third, we are united to Christ by faith. 

Faith has to do with trusting someone that we believe to be reliable and capable of doing what He says.  So, when we put our faith in Christ, we’re simply saying that we trust Him.  We are willing to submit to Him because we trust Him to care for us, and we believe that His way is best (Romans 8:28).  We also trust that He is willing and able to save us.  Both parts of that statement are important.  It wouldn’t do us any good if Jesus wanted to save us but didn’t have the power.  It would also be horrible if Jesus had the power to save but didn’t want to.  Thankfully, He does have the power and He does want to save, which leads us to our next point. 

Fourth, we are united to Christ because of His love for us. 

We needed a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins, and Jesus was the only one capable of meeting that need.  He was the only one able to live the life of perfect obedience that we could not live.  He was willing to fill that need and give Himself for us because He loves us.  Jesus says in John 15 that He loves us in the same way that the Father loves Him (verse 9).  What an amazing thought, that we are the recipient of that kind of love! He also says, “Greater love has no one that this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:13-14).  Jesus actually considers us His friends, and He showed that by giving His life for us.  We reciprocate that friendship by our obedience.

Because we are born sinful, we all need a makeover.  To receive that spiritual makeover and become a new creation, we must be in Christ.  We are united to Him through His death, in our life of obedience, by our faith in Him, because of His love for us. 

What comes to your mind when you think about Jesus loving you enough to give Himself for you?  How does that knowledge affect how you live each day? Let me know in the comments below!

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One of my favorite songs, “Before the Throne of God Above” beautifully illustrates all the blessings that we have in Christ. Check out this version performed by Kristyn Getty!

Before the Throne of God Above

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This post is part of my Bible study series called “A New Creation.”  You can find other posts and resources for this free online bible study here:

A New Creation-What It Means to Be in Christ

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.