Part 4 - The Application of Faith

Reckoning Life in Christ

A second area of reckoning, where the believer is to take an accounting and apply faith, is that work of Christ which has separated the believer from spiritual deadness and placed him with Christ in His heavenly dwelling place. This is the place of life in Christ, a new life that is in the spiritual realm. Everlasting life is not that which one waits and hopes for when he dies, but it is that which begins at regeneration. It is not an entity in itself, but is something that is inseparable from the very life and person of Jesus Christ. The Bible states, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:12).

Alive to God in Christ Jesus

Continuing in the sixth chapter of Romans, where Paul the Apostle lists four areas of reckoning that correspond to the four areas of separation in Christ, Paul writes, "Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:11). First the believer is to reckon the light of the gospel, that through the death and resurrection of Christ one is separated from the old life where sin and death reigned. Now the believer is to reckon that he is "alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The believer is "in Christ." Paul writes in Ephesians, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:4-6). The "heavenly places" are the spiritual realm. It is here, in Christ, where the believer dwells. This is to be reckoned by faith. For the Christian, there is to be no hoping for acceptance by the Father. There is to be no hoping that God might one day accept him into heaven. The believer is to reckon that the acceptance of Jesus Christ by the Father is his own acceptance by the Father. The believer is to reckon that the entering into the heavenly places by Christ is his own entering into heaven. This is because the believer is "in Christ." The believer is accounted to be with Christ in His resurrection and ascension into the heavenly places. And indeed, the believer is actually in and with Christ in this place as a reality. This is a reality in the spiritual realm however, and the flesh cannot see it.

Newness of life

Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Rom. 8:15-16). Life in Christ is life in the Holy Spirit. It is a place of regeneration, called "newness of life." Christ manifests His life in the believer through the Holy Spirit. The abundance of life in Christ is shown in the book of John: "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified" (John 7:37-39).

The place of life in Christ is a place of living in God and God living in the believer. It is a place of faith. Jesus said, "He who believes in Me," and as John comments, "whom those believing in Him would receive." This is one aspect of believing in Jesus Christ as the Truth. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25). He follows this by asking, "Do you believe this?" The place of life in Christ is one of reckoning the truth and believing it.

Such a holy place of oneness with God is not attainable by works, nor by self-righteousness, nor by self-sanctification. It is only Christ's sanctifying work that brings a person to such a place, and it is a sanctifying work that is based on the redemptive and justifying work of Christ. The work has been completed by Christ, and now the believer is to apply faith to that finished work. Rather than looking at himself, he is to look to Christ, and as Paul says, "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."