Christ in You

One night, a couple thousand years ago, Jesus got asked a question by a religious leader. His name was Nicodemus. And Jesus told him something that we can learn from and apply to our lives… today. 

Turn to John 3.

Here’s what we’re going to learn: The connection Jesus had with God is available to you and me. Because of what he did in his life back then, we now… get to walk with “Christ in us.” Not “with Jesus” but with “Christ in us.” Sounds a little strange, right? 

That is what.. being born again… makes possible: Christ in you. 

So, the Word teaches us the difference between being baptized in water and being born again of the spirit. A lot of people today are going through “the water” and missing out on being born again of holy spirit… that Jesus taught about.

Part 1: Jesus Introduces Being Born Again

In John 3:2, Nicodemus shows up at night and says, “Rabbi, we know that you a teacher and you come from God.” And Jesus answered in verse 3, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus is confused. He’s thinking “physical.” But Jesus is talking “spiritual.” 

Read verses 5 and 6: “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Jesus is teaching about two births. Flesh (that’s how we’re all born, flesh) and spirit. The phrase “born of the Spirit” in Greek is “gennao ek pneuma.” Gennao means to be born, to be brought into existence. Pneuma is spirit. 

This isn’t a metaphor. This is something that actually comes into existence… inside a person that wasn’t there before. God creates spirit within you. That’s the new birth Jesus is teaching here - “born of the spirit.”

Now here’s the important thing: being born again of the spirit wasn’t available during this conversation. Jesus was telling Nicodemus about something that was NOT yet available. Nobody could be born again of the spirit until Jesus accomplished everything — his death, the burial, his resurrection, the ascension. Nicodemus couldn’t leave that conversation… born again. Jesus couldn’t teach and guide anyone to be born again of the spirit. It wasn’t available during Jesus’s lifetime. 

Turn to and read Colossians 1:25-27. This is Paul.

So Paul calls this being born again as “the mystery,” and it’s not that Jesus never mentioned it. Jesus absolutely talked about it — with Nicodemus. But it couldn’t become a reality until Jesus finished his work. Jesus was talking about being born again with holy spirit (pneuma hagion) which is what Paul would later explain in detail as “Christ in you.”

Part 2: Water Baptism vs. Born Again of the Spirit

Turn to Matthew 3. 

In many churches today, people get baptized in water, and they think that’s what Jesus was talking about. Nope. There’s a huge difference between water baptism and being born again of the spirit.

Water baptism was in the time of John the Baptist. Look at what John himself said in Matthew 3:11: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with… the Holy Ghost (holy spirit), and with fire.” This is John foretelling what would happen on Pentecost, where believers for the first time would be born again of… holy spirit.

John says, “I’m doing water. But the one coming after me? He’s going to baptize you with (pneuma hagion) holy spirit.” 

That’s the new birth. Jesus confirms this… right before his ascension in Acts 1:5. And this is Jesus talking, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.”

He’s telling them: what John did with water is not what’s about to happen to you. You’re about to be filled with… holy spirit.

A lot of good-hearted people today have been dunked, sprinkled, and gone through the water ceremony. I did. I was baptized in water at a Russian Orthodox church in Pennsylvania by a priest when I was a baby. 

If we just keep doing “water,” then we’re still on the “John” side of things. 

We’re missing what Jesus (and John) was actually teaching. Jesus said we must be born of the spirit. That’s what he and John said. That’s what makes us a son or daughter of God. And that’s what gives us access to everything God has for us. That’s what gives us… the same connection to God… that Jesus had… thousands of years ago. 

Turn to John 14.

Part 3: Jesus Shows What It Looks Like — God in Him

Jesus had God in him. 

Turn to and read John 14:10: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

The Father lives in me. The words come from Him. The miracles? He’s doing the works.

And then here’s the promise. John 14:20: “At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”

“At that day.” He’s talking about the future again. At that day (in the future), the Father will be in Christ. And Christ will be in you. 

A chain of connection, from God, to Jesus Christ, to you, and me.

Part 4: The Comforter — Jesus Points Forward to Pentecost

After talking to Nicodemus, Jesus tells his disciples… what’s about to happen.

John 14:16-17: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

“Comforter” is the Greek word “parakletos” — meaning “one called alongside you to help,” an “advocate for you.” 

This Comforter “dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” We’re moving from external (flesh, water) to internal (spirit, spiritual, Christ in you).

What’s this comforter? 

Turn to and read John 14:26: “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost (pneuma hagion, holy spirit) whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

God is Holy Spirit. That’s what He’s made of. He gives what He is. The gift of holy spirit is God’s own nature coming to dwell inside you.

Then in John 16:7: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” 

He said it will “dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

Jesus said to his friends, it’s better for everyone that I leave. He’s only one guy, one person, walking around. But now, Christ (holy spirit) is spread abroad, in every born again believer. 

Part 5: Pentecost — Everything Changes

Turn to Acts 2:1-4. This is the moment. Everything Jesus promised becomes reality here: “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”

For the first time in history, people were born again. Filled with holy spirit. And the very first thing they did was speak in tongues. That’s one of nine manifestations of the spirit in action.

None of the manifestations were available before Pentecost. 

The disciples couldn’t operate them while walking with Jesus, because they weren’t born again yet. They didn’t have the spirit in them. Everything changed at Pentecost. That’s when the new birth became available, and that’s when the power to operate these manifestations came with it. 

Part 6: Paul Reveals the Reality — Christ in You

Jesus promised it, Pentecost delivered it, and Paul explained it. 

Paul explains it and calls it “the mystery.” Hidden for ages, now revealed. It’s “Christ in you.” And you. And you. And me too. (Colossians 1:26-27, Galatians 2:20).

Part 7: Why This Changes How We Read the Bible

Now here’s where this really matters for how we live. During Jesus’s earthly ministry, nobody was born again of the spirit. The disciples walked literally “with Jesus,” but they did not have “Christ in” them. That didn’t happen until Pentecost. 

So when Jesus gave instructions during his ministry (like when he was talking with Nicodemus), he was talking to people who were not born again.

That’s why many people who only follow Jesus’s earthly teachings aren’t fully grasping what’s available to them. They’re following teachings given to people who didn’t have what we have today.

• They hear “take up your cross” in Matthew 16:24 and think God wants them to suffer. Nope. 

• They follow Jesus, not learning that they can have “Christ in them.” 

• They get baptized in water and think they’ve done what Jesus taught. Nope. 

Jesus was actually teaching about something far greater — as we read in the Word. Jesus (and John) taught about being born again of the spirit.

• Jesus did the suffering. We get the healing. 

• He bore the cross. We get the freedom. 

This is why we read and study what’s written. It’s not about what I think, or what Alicia thinks, or what The Way ministry says, or what your pastor thinks. It’s what the Word says.

Wrap-Up

Jesus told Nicodemus about being born again of the spirit. But it couldn’t happen yet. He was pointing forward to what was going to come. He described what the connection… to God… looks like… God was in him. And He is in us. He promised the Comforter. Said it was better than having him walk around.

Then Jesus accomplished everything — death, burial, resurrection, ascension. 

And on the day of Pentecost, it happened for the first time ever. People were born again. Filled with holy spirit. Speaking in tongues. Manifestations. Everything changed.

Then, Paul reveals the mystery: It’s “Christ in you.” And because we’re born again, we don’t go backwards and live under the law.

We don’t settle for water baptism… when spirit baptism… is what makes us sons and daughters. 

We read the Word… and live from what the Word teaches about who we are.

You have Christ in you and every benefit available as a son or daughter of God. 

Amen? 

You are the best. 

Word Study

• gennao ek pneuma — to be born of spirit; a real spiritual birth (John 3:6)

• pneuma — spirit, breath, wind; the immaterial part of a being (John 3:6, 4:24)

• pneuma hagion — holy spirit; God’s gift of His own nature to the believer (John 14:26, Acts 2:4)

• parakletos — comforter, advocate, one called alongside to help (John 14:16, 16:7)

• orthotomeo — to cut straight, to rightly divide, to handle correctly (2 Timothy 2:15)

  
  

Key Scriptures

• John 3:3, 5-6 — Born again; born of water and Spirit

• Matthew 3:11 — John baptizes water; Jesus baptizes Holy Ghost

• Acts 1:5 — Ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost

• John 14:10 — The Father dwelleth in me

• John 3:34 — God gave Jesus the Spirit without measure

• John 14:16-17 — The Comforter shall be in you

• John 14:20 — Ye in me, and I in you

• John 14:26 — The Comforter, the Holy Ghost (pneuma hagion)

• John 16:7 — It is expedient that I go away

• Acts 2:1-4 — Day of Pentecost; filled with the Holy Ghost

• 1 Corinthians 12:7-10 — Nine manifestations of the spirit

• Colossians 1:26-27 — The mystery: Christ in you

• Galatians 2:20 — Christ liveth in me

• Romans 10:9 — Confess and believe = saved

• 1 John 4:15 — God dwelleth in him, and he in God

• Isaiah 53:5 — Wounded for our transgressions

• Romans 8:1 — No condemnation in Christ Jesus

• 2 Timothy 2:15 — Rightly dividing the word of truth

• 2 Peter 1:20 — No private interpretation