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Several times you have mentioned that Paul uses phrases like “in Christ,” “with Christ,” “through Christ” and I have been noticing this since I have been reading Paul. What does he mean by these phrases?

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Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ had a tremendous impact on him. A persecutor of the Church, he became an ardent apostle for Christ. He had a profound understanding, probably greater than other New Testament writers, except perhaps John.

He described this experience as being “seized” by Christ and being compelled to service by God’s grace and “entrusted” with the Gospel, a “prized possession.”

Paul expected the Messiah’s coming, but it was a conquering messiah who would rescue the besieged Jews. Instead, he was confronted with a crucified messiah, a “scandal” to the Greeks and “accursed” to the Jews by being hung on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23).

But Paul came to a deep understanding of the salvific value of Christ’s passion and death. He realized that Christ had taken the sins of humanity upon himself. He saw that the Father who revealed the Son was the same God he had served, for God cannot be divided.

The great mystery

Paul didn’t tell us much about Jesus’ earthly life. He studied in Jerusalem but likely never saw or heard Jesus. His overwhelming experience moved him to a singular focus: the death and resurrection. Everything else must be seen through the lens of this great mystery.

Keenly aware of his own unworthiness and that of all humanity, Paul knew that everything was possible for God’s power through Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Christian partaking in Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection is incorporated into the Body of Christ.

Paul uses various ways to express the intimate relationship of Christ and Christians. We need to reflect on what he says as only he could understand this relationship so well. These phrases are rich in meaning so my suggestions are limited.

“Into Christ” is the beginning of the movement for the believer, torn from the original condition in Adam, natural inclination in the flesh and the Law toward incorporation into Christ through faith and Baptism.

This is accomplished “through Christ,” by the mediation of his ministry, his present state as Lord and his end-time role, thus opening the path to future Christian experience “in Christ” and “with Christ.”

Identifying “with Christ” at the beginning in Christ’s redemptive acts of suffering, dying and rising, the Christian is associated “with Christ” at the end in Christ’s eschatological glory. Human destiny is to be “with Christ” but during life, is “in Christ.”

So what does “in Christ” mean? The deepest and most difficult, this phrase appears 165 times so it’s important to try to understand. Paul uses two forms: “in the Lord” and “in Christ.”

Paul’s favourite title for Christ is “Lord” which meant “God” for the Jews because the word “God” was too sacred to pronounce. But the pagans also used it for their gods and emperors did too.

For Paul, it meant a sovereign Lord and master. The risen Christ, as Lord, influences the Christian life in practical ethical conduct.

Paul uses it in greetings and exhortations, telling Christians to become “in the Lord” what they really are “in Christ.” He also uses it in formulating his own plans and activities as his goal is always to be guided and influenced by the “the Lord.”

For Paul, “in Christ” is the culmination of Christian life denoting a close union, an incorporation, with one totally belonging to Christ. A transformation of the whole person occurs so Paul can say: “If you are in Christ, you are a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Christ in glory

The Christian partaking in Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection is incorporated into the Body of Christ, bodies shared so intimately that Paul can say, “Your bodies are part of Christ’s body.” This experience is rooted in the reality of the bodily Christ and is a living dynamic union with the risen Christ. At the end, the Christian will be with Christ in glory.

The basis of this union is the possession of the Holy Spirit. As part of Christ’s body, the individual Christian’s suffering fills up what is lacking in Christ’s suffering which Christ began in his earthly life.

This continues in time until the cosmic dimensions of Christ are achieved at the end of time.

For us, is the Gospel a prized possession entrusted to us? Do we ponder and enter into this intimate union Christ offers?

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