“Christ Is All, and in All”

The Bible reveals that Christ is all that we need in order to be saved. He is described as the Creator (John 1:3; Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:16); the mighty God, Wonderful, Counsellor, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6; John 1:1; Hebrew 1:6–8); the Saviour (Matthew 1:21); the Healer, the Teacher, the Preacher (Matthew 4:23); our Advocate (1 John 2:1); our High Priest (Hebrews 3:1; 5:10; 8:1); our Judge, our Lawgiver; our King (John 5:22; Isaiah 33:22).

Christ is fully God, and as such, He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. He is called the greatest gift given to humanity for their salvation and restoration.

Being fully God, Christ became a perfect man, lived a holy life, developed a righteous character, and finally died on the cross in behalf of humanity. He also resurrected, ascended to heaven, where He intercedes in our behalf, and He will soon come again to take His faithful children to the heavenly home.

He is the main source of grace. John declares that “the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (1:17).

Christ and the plan of salvation are the main themes in the Bible. Jesus is revealed in all the pages of holy writ. He was the invisible Leader of the people of Israel during their journey through the wilderness, as He is our Leader today. Paul affirms that the people did “all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4).

Peter refers to those who have “obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ”; and explains that “grace and peace” are multiplied to us “through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:1, 2).

Further, the veteran apostle declares that Christ “hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (verse 3). In other words, everything we need for this life and the life to come is found in Christ.

In the same chapter, Peter describes all the attributes we need to develop in our character—all of which are found in Christ: faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly love, and charity. When we accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord, all these attributes are imputed to us, and, as we remain in Him, the Holy Spirit imparts them to our character.

In Romans chapter 8, Paul also declares that God “spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (verse 32, emphasis added). The main point about Christ is that He possesses all the attributes and gifts which enable Him to give us complete salvation. He is the One who has all power to restore us to our early condition at creation.

All the virtues included in Christ’s character become part of our character through the work of the Holy Spirit and the power of His Word.

As the representative of Christ, the Holy Spirit—through the Word—makes us partakers of the divine nature, and this way Christ becomes all to His people. It is essential that we be guided the whole time by the third Person of the Godhead and be connected to His sacred word.

Christ is our Elder Brother, the foundation and Builder of His church, the Captain of our salvation, the Center of our faith, hope, and true doctrine, the Champion of truth, as well as the main linking agent between earth and heaven. He is also the Cornerstone of the spiritual temple of the Lord, which is His church. He is our Defender in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.

In Christ’s soon coming is centralized the climax of our eternal hope. Faithful believers through the centuries were taken to rest in the blessed hope of His appearing at His second coming. This is also our hope.

He is also the fountain of all the true knowledge we need to be made wise unto salvation. He is the Head of the mystical body of His church.

We cannot overlook mentioning His cross as the center of our Christian life. Even though all His life was a sacrifice in our behalf, at the cross Jesus paid the price of our salvation and satisfied the justice of God which demanded eternal death of all sinners. Paul wrote to the Galatian believers: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“To Paul the cross was the one object of supreme interest. Ever since he had been arrested in his career of persecution against the followers of the crucified Nazarene he had never ceased to glory in the cross. At that time there had been given him a revelation of the infinite love of God, as revealed in the death of Christ; and a marvelous transformation had been wrought in his life, bringing all his plans and purposes into harmony with heaven. From that hour he had been a new man in Christ. He knew by personal experience that when a sinner once beholds the love of the Father, as seen in the sacrifice of His Son, and yields to the divine influence, a change of heart takes place, and henceforth Christ is all and in all.”1

In 1 Corinthians 1:30, Paul declares that Christ “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (emphasis supplied). These are essential elements for our salvation and are all found in Jesus.

Wisdom. The Bible talks about two kinds of wisdom: human and divine. Human wisdom is considered by God to be foolishness. The prophet Jeremiah declares that a person should not glory in his or her own wisdom. Instead, we should look for the divine wisdom that is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Righteousness. The prophet Isaiah says that human righteousness is as filthy rags. Christ says that we need a righteousness that is greatly superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees as an essential condition to be in God’s eternal kingdom. True righteousness is found only in Christ and is received only by a faith that works by love and purifies the soul.

Sanctification. True sanctification is a Bible doctrine and is possible only through a permanent connection with Christ by faith. Paul makes clear that without holiness no one will see the Lord. “The righteousness which Christ taught is conformity of heart and life to the revealed will of God. Sinful men can become righteous only as they have faith in God and maintain a vital connection with Him. Then true godliness will elevate the thoughts and ennoble the life. Then the external forms of religion accord with the Christian’s internal purity. Then the ceremonies required in the service of God are not meaningless rites, like those of the hypocritical Pharisees.”2

“Sinful man can find hope and righteousness only in God; and no human being is righteous any longer than he has faith in God and maintains a vital connection with Him.”3

Redemption. The entire humanity was bought by Christ when He offered His life on the cross of Calvary. However, only those who surrender their lives to Jesus, by humble submission and willingness to do His will, shall be the redeemed in His eternal kingdom.

Before his death, Paul declared with full confidence: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2 Timothy 1:12; 4:6–8).

Our eternal salvation depends on our vital connection with Christ by faith through prayer, study, and obedience to His word. This way He becomes all in all His children.

“It is by the perusal of the Bible that the mind is strengthened, refined, and elevated. If there were not another book in the wide world, the word of God, lived out through the grace of Christ, would make man perfect in this world, with a character fitted for the future, immortal life. Those who study the word, taking it in faith as the truth, and receiving it into the character, will be complete in Him who is all and in all.”4

“When one is fully emptied of self, when every false god is cast out of the soul, the vacuum is supplied by the inflowing of the Spirit of Christ. Such a one has the faith which works by love and purifies the soul from every moral and spiritual defilement. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can work upon the heart, influencing and directing, so that he enjoys spiritual things. He is ‘after the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1), and he minds the things of the Spirit. He has no confidence in self; Christ is all and in all. Truth is constantly being unfolded by the Holy Spirit; he receives with meekness the engrafted word, and he gives the Lord all the glory, saying, ‘God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit.’ ‘Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things which are freely given to us of God’ (1 Corinthians 2:10, 12). The Spirit that reveals also works in him the fruits of righteousness. Christ is in him ‘a well of water, springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:14). He is a branch of the True Vine and bears rich clusters of fruit to the glory of God. What is the character of the fruit borne? ‘The fruit of the Spirit is love.’ Mark the words—love, not hatred; it is joy, not discontent and mourning; peace, not irritation, anxiety and manufactured trials. It is ‘longsuffering gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law’ (Galatians 5:22, 23).”5

Are we willing to allow the Lord to be all in us?