ONE IN THE MESSIAH JESUS

When a person believes in Jesus the Messiah, accepting him as his risen lord, he is born of God and becomes a new creation in the Messiah Jesus. As a result, this new believer identifies with Messiah in all of the Messiah's accomplishments: past, present, and future. "In the Messiah" the believer has already been judged as to his spiritual standing before God and the verdict is "not guilty" (Romans 8:1; I Corinthians 1:30). This is not because of the believer's own righteousness but because of the Messiah's sin-offering sacrificial death and the resulting gift of righteousness which God gives, or credits, to believers on the basis of His grace (Romans 3:21- 5:17). The Book of Ephesians speaks about this new creation in the Messiah:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - Yehovah - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's – Yehovah’s workmanship, created in the Messiah Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Being created in the Messiah Jesus is the work of God - Yehovah, not man. It is a spiritual creation, not physical, and is accomplished by a believer being born from above by God's Spirit and incorporated through that Spirit into the spiritual body of the Messiah, the called-out Assembly of God. The Letters of Ephesians and I and 2 Corinthians explain this truth:

And you also were included in the Messiah when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, which is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The body is a unit, although it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with the Messiah. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Corinthians 12:12-13).

Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation: the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17).

For the believer in the Messiah, all things have become new because he is now a new creation in the Messiah Jesus. He has been baptized with the Spirit of God - Yehovah, not water, into the one body of the Messiah Jesus. As a result, the believer stands before God clothed with the righteousness, holiness and redemption that have been made possible by the Messiah's sin-offering sacrifice, death, and resurrection. All of this is God's – Yehovah’s own work of grace which He imparts to us, in the Messiah Jesus, through the Spirit. As Paul says:

You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and by the Spirit of our God (I Corinthians 6:11).

It is because of Him [God - Yehovah] that you are in the Messiah Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - Yehovah - that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption (I Corinthians 1:30).

The Messiah died for us and paid the ransom price for the sins of all mankind (I Timothy 2:4-6). When we accept the sin-offering sacrificial death of the Messiah Jesus for us by believing in him as our risen lord, we receive the benefits of all that he accomplished for us. The gift of "righteousness" means that we have been justified [declared not guilty], or acquitted of our sins, and therefore stand in a new right relationship with God: accepted and at peace with him (Romans 4:23-5:2). The word "holy" means that we have been set apart for God – Yehovah and are now God’s – Yehovah’s "saints" or "holy people" with our citizenship in heaven (Ephesians 2:19; Philippians.3:20). The word "redemption" means that we have been bought back and set free from the spiritual bondage of sin and of Satan's realm of darkness and transferred into the dominion of the Messiah’s kingdom or rule (Colossians 1:13-14).

This redemptive work of the Messiah Jesus on our behalf is a truth that every believer should understand. It is through the Messiah Jesus's work that we are redeemed, not through our own work. As a result of believing in the Messiah and being incorporated into him, we identify with him in all that he did, is doing, and will do on our behalf. The following list shows our spiritual identification with the Messiah Jesus in all of his accomplishments:

"In the Messiah" we as believers:

were crucified with him (Galatians 2:20), died with him (Romans 6:3), were buried with him (Romans 6:4), were made alive with him (Ephessians 2:5), were raised up with him (Ephesians 2:6), are seated in heaven with him (Ephesians 2:6), will appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4).

It is precisely because of this spiritual identification of the believer with the Messiah Jesus in all of his accomplishments that we now stand before God clothed in the righteousness, holiness and redemption that are ours because we are in the Messiah Jesus.

Biblically, the Messiah Jesus is the elect one or chosen one of God - Yehovah in whom all of God's – Yehovah’s purposes are accomplished (e.g. Isaiah 42:1; Luke 9:35; Ephesians 1:1-14). All who are incorporated into the Messiah Jesus - through faith and the Spirit - become a part of God's – Yehovah’s elect or chosen people and thus share with His anointed one Jesus in all of God's – Yehovah’s purposes "for those who love him" (Romans 8:28; I Corinthians 2:9; James 2:5). This is all in accordance with God's – Yehovah’s foreordained plan. In fact, the Book of Ephesians shows that God – Yehovah actually chose us in the Messiah Jesus before the creation of the world in order that we would become his children and live in intimate fellowship with him:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in the Messiah. For He chose us in him [the Messiah] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us [marked us out beforehand] to be adopted as His sons/daughters through Jesus the Messiah in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the One He loves (Ephesians 1:3-6).

God chose and predestined us [marked us out beforehand] to be His children before the creation of the world. This was His plan of salvation. God - Yehovah knew that man would sin and in His wisdom and love He prepared a plan so that through His Son, Jesus the Messiah, we could be redeemed. In his wisdom, God – Yehovah knew according to His foreknowledge the people would believe. Therefore in His love, He made it such that when we did believe we would become His children. God's – Yehovah’s choice and predestination of us [marking us out beforehand], therefore, is based on His own foreknowledge of a people who would believe but with no interference in their freedom to choose. It was our decision to believe. God simply predestined [marked out beforehand] the results of that belief - for us to become His children! The Book of Romans summarizes these wonderful truths in God's – Yehovah’s plan of salvation:

And we know that in all things God - Yehovah works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God - Yehovah foreknew he also predestined [marked out beforehand] to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined [marked out beforehand], He also called; those He called, He also justified [declared not guilty]; those He justified [declared not guilty], He also glorified. What, then shall we say in response to this: If God – Yehovah is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all - how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God - Yehovah has chosen? It is God - Yehovah who justifies [declares not guilty]. Who is he that condemns? The Messiah Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to live - is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us as our High Priest. Who shall separate us from the love of the Messiah? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake, we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God - Yehovah that is in the Messiah Jesus our lord (Romans 8:28-39).

In the Messiah Jesus, we are God's – Yehovah’s children; foreknown before the creation of the world; called to be His own chosen people; justified [declared not guilty] so as to be righteous and blameless before him. And, even though the Messiah has not yet returned, already assured of appearing with him in glory.

The People of God - Yehovah

All true believers in Jesus the Messiah together make up the one family of God, members of His household, and as the called-out Assembly - the body of the Messiah. This is a spiritual family and spiritual assembly which transcends every man-made denomination, division, or sect. The Spirit of God - Yehovah binds all believers in the Messiah into a new people of God – Yehovah united above and beyond all worldly distinctions. This collective sense of being the new people of God - Yehovah is stated in many different ways within the New Testament Letters. Sometimes Old Testament imagery (e.g. the temple of God - Yehovah) is used to describe God's – Yehovah’s people while at other times completely different and new terminology (e.g. the body of the Messiah – which is the called-out Assembly of God) is introduced to describe the new spiritual realities that exist under the new covenant. Look at the Old Testament imagery used in the Book of I Peter:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God - Yehovah, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God - Yehovah (I Pet. 2:9-10).

In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was the called and chosen people of God. The New Testament, however, reveals that because of the Messiah's life, death, resurrection, and his giving of the holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost a new covenant relationship has been established between God - Yehovah and His people. Now all who believe in the Messiah Jesus - irrespective of ethnic, social or religious background - are part of the new covenant people of God, as new creations in the Messiah Jesus members of the New Humanity (cp. Matthew 21:33- 43; I Peter 2:4-10; etc.). As Paul says:

It is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God - Yehovah, who glory in the Messiah Jesus and who put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3; cp. Galatians 6:16).

This is simply Old Testament language being applied to the new covenant people of God - Yehovah. All that was promised in the Old Testament to God's – Yehovah’s covenant people, Israel, now becomes the rightful inheritance of God's -  Yehovah’s new covenant people in a way far greater than the Old Testament people ever saw or conceived. This is all a result of the work of the Messiah Jesus and the giving of God's – Yehovah’s gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe in His anointed one, the Messiah Jesus. Look at the following verses from the Book of Ephesians:

For through him [the Messiah] we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's – Yehovah’s people and members of God's – Yehovah’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with the Messiah Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him [the Messiah] the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God - Yehovah lives by His Spirit (Ephesians 2:18-22).

What magnificent truths! We are fellow citizens with all of God's – Yehovah’s people regardless of ethnic race or national boundaries. We are united together in a citizenship that transcends and supersedes the national citizenships of this world. Our allegiance is therefore first and foremost to God - Yehovah and His kingdom. No national, ethnic or family allegiance can ever take priority over that. We are members of God's – Yehovah’s household - bound together in God's – Yehovah’s family by His Spirit of which we are born. In fact, so great is this new relationship with God - Yehovah that the Bible teaches that we, as God's – Yehovah’s chosen people, are now the temple of the living God, individually and collectively. God - Yehovah, the creator of the heavens and the earth, now lives in us by way of His Spirit, enabling us to do His will!

One in the Messiah

Throughout the New Testament this new special relationship of God – Yehovah with His people is emphasized over and over along with the love and care that God's – Yehovah’s people are to have for each other. In Old Testament times it was often thought that only Israelites or converts to the religion of Israel could be part of God's – Yehovah’s people. Gentiles, i.e., all of the other ethnic groups of the world, were thought to be impure and unclean. Though it was foretold in the Old Testament that these Gentiles would one day be blessed by God - Yehovah, it was never thought that they would be accepted as part of the people of God - Yehovah on an equal basis with Israel. However, as a result of the life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah and then his giving of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost all barriers dividing God's – Yehovah’s people have been forever broken down (Ephesians 2:11-18). Look at the Letters to the Galatian and Corinthian churches:

You are all sons of God - Yehovah through faith in the Messiah Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in the Messiah Jesus (Galatians 3:26-28).

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with the Messiah Jesus. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body - whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free - and we were all given the one Spirit to drink (I Corinthians 12:12-14).

Water baptism in the name of Jesus the Messiah can be very meaningful and significant but it is only symbolic of a far greater spiritual reality. For it is only the one Spirit of God - Yehovah in which we are "all baptized" - at the moment we believe in the Messiah - that truly cleanses us and unites us together in the one body of the Messiah – the called-out Assembly of God - Yehovah. This spiritual baptism into the Messiah is far greater than any kind of water baptism which we may undergo. For it is a baptism in the life-giving power of God's – Yehovah’s own Spirit which God - Yehovah Himself, through the Messiah, pours out upon all who believe (Titus 3:4-7; cf. John 1:32-34; Acts 1:5; 2:33; 11:15-17; 15:7-9).

As a result of this God – Yehovah giving "unity of the Spirit" (Ephesians 4:3) there are no longer any distinctions among the people of God on the basis of ethnic race, social and economic status, or national citizenship. It makes absolutely no difference to God – Yehovah whether a believer in the Messiah is black or white, rich or poor, European or American because God - Yehovah is no respecter of persons - only of conditions (Acts 10:34-35). Anyone - absolutely anyone - who believes in the Messiah is accepted by God – Yehovah into his household on an equal basis with everyone else because we are "all one in the Messiah Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). 

The Mystery Of The Messiah

This truth concerning the equal composition of the called-out Assembly - the body of the Messiah - the new covenant people of God - was so revolutionary that it was not immediately understood by the people of New Testament times. In fact, it was not even revealed by God - Yehovah until many years after the original outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Instead, it was a "mystery" or "secret" hidden in God - Yehovah and never before revealed until it was finally made known to the apostle Paul and then to the other New Testament apostles and prophets. Paul’s Letters to the Ephesian and Colossian churches set forth explicitly the wonderful truth regarding this mystery:

Surely you have heard about the administration of God's – Yehovah’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of the Messiah, which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God's – Yehovah’s holy apostles and prophets. This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise of the Messiah Jesus (Ephesians 3:2-6, emphasis added).

This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant ...for the sake of his body, which is the called-out Assembly. I have become its servant by the commission God - Yehovah gave me to present to you the word of God – Yehovah in all its fullness - the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God - Yehovah has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is the Messiah in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:23b-27, emphasis added).

As a result of all that the Messiah has accomplished, Gentile believers in the Messiah Jesus now share equally with Jewish believers in all that God - Yehovah has promised to His people. All who believe in the Messiah - whether Jew or Gentile - are now "heirs together," "members together of one body," and "sharers together in the promise of the Messiah Jesus". In addition, the Messiah, by way of the Spirit, now lives in each and every believer (Romans 8:9-10). So incredible are these truths that had "the rulers of this age" known about this mystery "they would not have crucified the lord of glory" (I Corinthians 2:8). In fact, by instigating the Messiah's crucifixion Satan himself thought that he had accomplished his greatest victory ever over God - Yehovah; but in truth, it was exactly the opposite, because the Messiah's sin-offering sacrificial death and his victorious resurrection sealed Satan's doom and gained victory forever for the people of God - Yehovah (Colossians 2:9-15; Romans 16:20). Now a new people of God – Yehovah is being formed made up of all who believe in Jesus the Messiah from every nation, family and ethnic race of the world. In this new people of God - Yehovah "there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but the Messiah is all, and is in all" (Colossians 3:11). What a great truth! For when the Messiah was personally present on earth he could only be in one place at one time. Today, however, he is present, by way of the Spirit, wherever there is a disciple that follows the lord Jesus. Therefore, as the called-out Assembly – the body of the Messiah, with the Messiah in each and every member, we are his representatives, ambassadors wherever we may be in this world. The Apostle Paul sums up this wonderful truth in God's – Yehovah’s plan of salvation:

I have been crucified with the Messiah and I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God - Yehovah, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

As God's – Yehovah’s children, created in the Messiah Jesus, foreknown and chosen before the creation of the world, it is now our joy, privilege, and responsibility to "declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light" (I Peter 2:9), so as to bring others into the blessings of God's – Yehovah’s salvation as well.