Christ in You

Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). The phrase “there am I in the midst of them” refers to the presence of Christ’s spirit in a group of believers. This is not to be understood as God’s universal spirit which fills heaven and earth, nor the miraculous Holy Spirit which was present in the first century church, but that spirit manifested in the collective Christlike mind or disposition of those who are gathered together in his name.1

The Christlike mind

We speak of there being a lovely spirit in a certain ecclesia. The warmth of that spirit is, we know, a reflection of the Christlike attitude of the members of that ecclesia. Within our own ecclesia, we recognize that same spirit in the contributions of our own members. It is in the quality of our worship and Bible classes, the mutual esteem and concern that we share for one another, the hospitality extended to visitors and strangers and the unseen efforts of many helping hands

Christ’s presence in our midst is not an added benefit or bonus of our assemblies, it is the main reason for coming together We are commanded “not to forsake the assembling of our­selves together” because it is the principal means by which we “exhort” one another (Heb 10 25) Significantly, the Greek verb for “exhort” is parakaleo which also means to comfort This is the same root idea as in “Comforter” (noun, parakletos), the name given to the “spirit of truth” which edified the early church so effectively (John 15 26)

With the spirit of Christ working through the lives of the members rather than through special Holy Spirit gifts, Christ comforts and exhorts the ecclesia today in much the same way the spirit of truth comforted the early church

We feel Christ, and through him the Father, works through the lives of individual believers by means of his abiding presence, which is the inner man transformed into a likeness of the mind of Christ This is obtained on the basis of faith (Eph 3 17), obedience (John 14 23) and the sharing of his sufferings “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” (Gal 2 20)

Help at a personal level

As a result of our inner spirituality, Christ (and through him, the Father) is able to comfort us in our own suffering in a way that is not unlike his comfort of the ecclesia, but at a personal level “For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our conso­lation (parakletos) also aboundeth by Christ” (II Cor 1 5) The point is similarly expressed in Paul’s reassurance “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal 4 6)

With the influence of Christ exhorting and comforting us, there is a resulting process whereby our inner man is changed and we become like him “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Cor 3 18) This inner change has a corresponding outward expression, or fruitfulness, demonstrated by our willingness to forgive others, even as we have been forgiven and do good “unto all men, especially unto them who are the household of faith” (Gal 6 10)

The subject of Christ in us is a very exciting and beautiful one It will have a far greater significance in the kingdom, when our earthly bodies are changed into spiritual bodies and Christ’s spirit tills our whole being, not just the inner man “Beloved, now

are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him” (I John 3:2).

  1. Bro Martin presents a different view of this passage than was suggested in last month’s editorial. There we felt Christ was alluding to walking in the midst of the ecclesias which is accomplished through his authority over the angels and the concentration in him of God’s universal spirit The difference in view is only in respect to the meaning of this one passage, as both points are correct as demonstrated by other verses. Christ does walk among the brotherhood and a Christlike mind does exist in the believers