THE SUBMISSION TO CHRIST IN THE CHURCH <3:1 – 4:18>
- THE POSITION OF THE BELIEVER <3:1-4>
The position (standing or status) of the believer in Christ is a result of God’s grace, because of Christ’s death and resurrection, God has now accepted us in Christ as His children and has blessed us in the heavenly realms, and Paul expresses this in his statement “you have been raised with Christ” <3:1; cf Eph.1:3>. In His letter to the Ephesian Church he states; “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” <Eph.2:6 (NIV)>. So, as he has already stated that we have “died with Christ” <2:20>, he now continues to say that “we have been raised with Christ” <3:1>; and although this is not yet the reality, for we are still confined to this earth, God sees us in the heavenly realms with Christ. This thought should be humbling to us as we consider our position in Christ, and cause us to recognize Christ’s Headship <2:10> and to live a life well pleasing to Him <cf 2:12; 3:3; Gal.2:20; Rom.6:4-6>.
With this in mind Paul encourages us to, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” <3:2 (NIV)>, we should now give ourselves to Godly things and not be too concerned with earthly things, for as far as this worldly system is concerned we are already dead, but our true life is hidden in Christ. This should be our earnest aim for “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” <3:4 (NIV); cf Rev.22:7>, and we do look forward in anticipation to this event.