In Paul’s letter to the Church at Philippi, he speaks of being found in Christ, not having his own righteousness but the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ. This is a fundamental truth of the Christian faith and is essential to the Gospel. Those who have truly placed their faith in Christ, repented of their sins and confessed the Lord Jesus with their mouth are in Him. But the question I wish to pose to believers is this; do we find ourselves in Jesus as we face the perplexities of life? We have the imputed righteousness of Christ, we are in Him but do we find ourselves in Christ in the practical living out of our faith?
The practical living out of our faith begins in our mind. God communicates His will to our mind through His word and by His Spirit. As His children we are accountable for obeying His will, which He has revealed to us. There is a battle raging for our minds, a battle we dare not lose. Therefore, it is important that we find ourselves in Christ in our thinking. We need to think from Jesus’ perspective; we need a Christ life-view. Many talk of a Christian world view, but that can mean different things to different people; a Christ life-view means thinking on this life as Jesus would. It is a fact that we are faced with many temptations in our mind, in addition to the temptation to yield to sin, we are tempted to view life from a carnal point of view, tempted to doubt, we also are plagued with thoughts of lust, greed, bitterness, discouragement, hatred, selfishness and all the old thought patterns of our old nature. God knows that we cannot always help the thoughts that enter our mind, just as we cannot help but see things that cross our field of vision but we can help what we do with improper thought patterns and thoughts. We have to renounce all sinful thoughts and thought patterns and bring them captive to be obedient to Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ, we must apply it. Romans 12 encourages to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, this is a process that goes on throughout our waking hours as we pray without ceasing. May the thought of our mind be found in Him.
In close relation to our thinking or perhaps a part of our thinking is our motivation. I like to think of our motivation as coming from our hearts. By motivation I mean, why we do what we do, what is the driving force of our life? For believers, the motivation should be to be pleasing unto Him who died and rose again on our behalf. Paul said in 2 nd Corinthians 5; 9 that he made it his goal to be pleasing to the Lord. It is important for believers to keep the right motive for their service to the Lord, we must do as Proverbs 4 says, “Watch over our hearts with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” May our motives for living the Christian life be found in Christ.
Christ lived a life of perfect obedience to the Father, He is our pattern to follow. In 1 st Samuel 15:22, after King Saul disobeys the command of God, Samuel rebukes and states that it is better to obey than to sacrifice, Sometimes we pick and choose our sacrifices but what we are to obey is determined by God and is not our own choosing. We are to obey God in the revealed truth of His word and in the revealed direction of His Spirit. My we found in Christ in matters of obedience.
In order to be found in Christ in our thinking, motives and obedience, we have to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is in us already through the Holy Spirit; it is our responsibility to apply Him to our lives. In Romans 13, Paul tells the Roman believers to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe this means simply to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and go in the power of the Holy Spirit; if we do this we will be found in Him, and that is an awesome place to be.