How does one get to be ‘in Christ’?
Simply by believing in Christ! In John 17:20, Christ talks explicitly about those who 'believe on me through their [the apostles'] word'. Being 'in Christ' is not some advanced spiritual state into which some specially holy Christians manage to enter after years of spiritual discipline. All believers are 'in Christ' from the very first moment that, in true repentance and faith, they put their trust in Christ. And it is God who puts them in Christ: 'And because of him [God]', says Paul, 'you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption' (1 Corinthians 1:30). And not only are all believers in Christ from the moment that they put their trust in him, but they are all equally in Christ. It is not a matter of degree: none is in Christ to a greater extent than another. Moreover being in Christ for salvation removes all other distinctions: 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Galatians 3:28).
