Enshrined in those simple words is one of the most important doctrines of Scripture. Some might say the most important and daring assumption that any 'religion' could make. It is also an idea that can readily become lost in a repetition of saying and be meaningless. Perhaps that is why Paul and other New Testament writers used different approaches to the same idea.

In Colossians 1.27 (RSV) Paul wrote "To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." 'Them' refers to the saints; not people awarded a title after they are dead, but all those who are truly the people of God, whom He has made holy through Christ. One of the objectives of being 'in Christ' is that His real followers may grow up in Christ and become like Him. 'In Christ' is a favourite expression of the Apostle and we must ask whether this is the same as 'Christ in you'. The question may be answered as we proceed with the study. There are other expressions such as 'in the Lord' and 'Christ be formed in you'.

In Col.1.27 Paul refers to a 'mystery' which he says had been kept secret for ages. This is not a mystery of the type found in the Greek mystery religions or among the Gnostics.

Such pagan mysteries belong to the few initiated into the ritual and kept secret from the vast majority of adherents. Nor were they the kind of secret that the Jews had known concerning the purpose of God but which had not hitherto been disclosed to the Gentiles. This was the whole revelation of God in Christ ‑ of man being brought close to God through Christ in a new relationship. The people of Israel had but dimly seen this great conception of the Divine purpose and few had perceived the suffering Messiah, the Son of God. That anyone could share His life was the great mystery now being explained by the Apostle Paul. Paul was not alone in this revelation for Christ Himself had been the first to make the matter known in the great exposition at the Lord's Supper, in John 14‑16. In John 15.5 we read "I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit." Most scholars would agree that the four gospels were not written before Paul's letters but their teaching must have been circulating in the early church. Paul was given seed thoughts which he developed by revelation of the Holy Spirit so that he was able to explain how this mystery was not only operating but available to all Christians to bring them to the fullness of Christ.

Moses had been given a wonderful idea of the character of God. Jeremiah was given glimpses of how the image of that character was going to be restored to the life of the believer ‑ the New Law of Christ was going to be written on the fleshy tables of the heart. But they could not foresee or know how that was going to be outworked by Christ living within the believer. How could it be different from a true Israelite following the teachings of Moses and obeying God's Law given through covenant at Sinai? How would it be different from the disciples of many of the great prophets who taught about the character and teachings of God? Saul of Tarsus knew the Law, the Histories and the Prophets of Israel as well as anyone. He put tremendous physical and intellectual effort into obedience to God's Word as he found it in Israel's Holy Writings yet he was aware of spiritual failure. The pattern of good men and women and the commandments of God alone were not enough to rid the soul of sin. This is shown in Romans 7.

The example and pattern of Christ are vital as John writes "he who abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked" (1 John 2. 5,6). During Jesus' earthly lifetime the disciples had tried so hard to walk in the Master's steps and tried so hard to keep His commandments. Yet they found themselves often out of step with Him. They found it so difficult to obey. The old nature, the human nature, had not been changed by their efforts to obey; nor had their pre‑conceived notions of holiness been changed by looking at Him.

Slowly a change came over the disciples and was noticeable in the "twelve" about whom most is written. Some of the women too had caught something of the spirit of Jesus, judging from His remarks. The real difference came after Pentecost when the 'risen Christ' sent the power of God's spirit into their lives. The cowardly, confused men of Gethsemane and crucifixion days became bold clear speakers of the Gospel. Some of them had been prejudiced, and could think in no other grooves than their tradition, but now were adventurously crossing man made boundaries and launching out toward the Kingdom of God.

The commandment and the pattern were still vital to their growth and service. Through the whole Christian era godly men and women have walked the way of Christ and have found the necessity of knowing and obeying the Word of God. Others have sought wisdom of the Greeks and human philosophies and science; of the occult, subservience to human emotions and supernatural forces, only to find that they have parted company with Christ the Son of God. The example and commandments of Christ are vitally important to our recognition of Him and it is through the Word that He still speaks to us and directs our footsteps. What is important to us is that human ingenuity and will power ‑ and indeed human passion and physical powers, are not enough to make us do the things that we would do if we could fully understand the Bible. Our powers of reason and intuition are not enough to unravel either the mysteries of God's purpose or the way in which our lives should be shaped and guided. We depend upon Christ Jesus our Lord ‑ that He lives in us ‑ and we in Him. This is clearly the thought of Jesus in John 14.23 when He said to the disciples that He and the Father would make their home with those who loved Him and obeyed His commands. This is not just a mystical expression of the supernatural based upon our nervous system that having a religious experience, seeing, hearing and feeling things with the natural senses. The people of God have had these experiences ‑ in the days of the Old Testament and in the period since then ‑ members of the Christian church. But the religion of the Bible was not totally based on those experiences ‑ nor did all God's people have them. Only a select small minority was to know their reality. But the whole of God's people since the days of Pentecost have been able to enjoy life of the indwelling Christ within the framework of their human life. If they can but realise that it is theirs to have ‑ without vision or supernatural event but spiritual transformation which can change their lives not only within but without ‑ to become living witnesses of Christ.

So we ask how can any ordinary believer share this wonderful transformation? Does not the old nature get in the way of such a change? How can God work in our lives so that the person inside this imperfect, sinful nature inherited from humanity, becomes fit for His eternal kingdom, prepared for the very presence of the great Creator of the Universe. The answer to our question is found in Paul's words to the churches in Galatia. This is an early letter of Paul to churches that were among his early converts and first missionary journeys. Exponents of the Jewish religion had insisted that to be saved they must accept Jewish rituals and come within the covenant of Israel. To them only total proselytes from the Gentiles were acceptable to God. They taught the need for physical circumcision but seemed to ignore the need of cleansing and purifying the heart. Thus Paul writes that he is crucified with Christ and the only life he now has is the life that Jesus lives in his, Paul's, human nature.

For him humanity and in particular his own humanity died with Christ on the cross. This doesn't mean that his own physical body has died. He still has a human body but he says that life is under the control of ‑ has been taken over by ‑ the Son of God who loved him enough to die for him so that His resurrection life could be given to Paul. What died with Jesus was the humanity of Adam ‑ Paul no longer belongs to the fallen creation of Eden vintage but the new creature of Gethsemane vintage where once and for all Christ gave His life ‑ it ebbed slowly away ‑ cruelly ‑ in trial and crucifixion. Now the things he had been proud of ‑ the things of human nature ‑ his Israelite ancestry ‑ his relationship to God under the law ‑ his obedience to the sacrifice and ritual of Sinai ‑ these, says Paul, are all gone. They were crucified with Christ. To the Philippians he says "I've put them in the dust bin ‑ they are only refuse". His own efforts to please God ‑ to do the right thing he says are but dirty linen ‑ not fit to be worn. He's not talking about sin specifically here but he's talking about everything that was Saul of Tarsus until he met Jesus on the Damascus road.. From that time forward Paul discovered a power within his life which ancestry, rules and animal sacrifices could not give. They could provide a standard of holy living which he had no power to live up to. Now he obtained a much higher standard of living and was given the strength and know how to live up to it. He talks about their former effort to please God in Colossians 2 20‑22. Paul had tried these things for himself most ardently and failed. Now he had found a way of life which worked ‑ a faith and piety which is as different from his former religious exercises as the heart and lungs are from the digestive system. That is just what he means when he says., "set your affections on thing above and not what is below. These thing below are all right ‑ part of God's creation ‑ harmless ‑ but passing away. The things above are the integral part of an on‑going process which will go on into eternity.

Paul in chapter 3, goes on to show the Colossian church that not only the ordinary religion and efforts of the old life have gone but Christ has the power to rid us of those vices which seem to be part of humanity. This goes deeper than our former religious life. Maybe that was non‑existent and that we had no pride of traditional goodness. Paul now addresses himself to that part of our nature that is in rebellion against God. The selfish part of our make‑up that readily and weakly submits to hurting others and subscribing to idols that do not belong to God. Wanting what doesn't rightly belong to us in anger and cruelty ‑ evil and dirty language ‑ all these belong to the old man ‑ to Adam and his race. But a second Adam has come ‑ Christ the new man has come into our lives and Paul exhorts us to take off that old nature with all the things we despise in ourselves and puts on the new as a man takes off one coat and put on a new one.

DN