John's Use of "In Him"

[Van]

One of the Greek phases translated as "in Him" is constructed from "en autos" and is found in the following verses: John 1:4, 3:15, 7:18, 13:31 and 13:32. In these usages, it seems that "with or within" is the intended meaning.

John 1:4
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.
Here we see that when an individual is placed into Christ, and thus within Him, the person is made eternally alive, thus within Him was life.

John 3:15
so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
Here we see that when God decides a person "believes" then God transfers the person into Christ and therefore is "within Him."

John 7:18
“The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Here we see that there is no unrighteousness within Him.

John 13:31
Therefore when he had left, Jesus *said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
He we see God is glorified with Him.

John 13:32
if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.
Here we see the same thought, God is glorified with Christ. The "if" indicates that the thing (glorification) will be done. ​

Are you surprised or suspicious I only addressed 5 examples? That would be natural because we see "in Him" at least 17 additional times, but the phrase is constructed differently. More on that in my next post.

 

[Van]

In the Opening Post, I referenced several verses that showed things that are with or within Christ, including (1) eternal life, (2) no unrighteousness, and (3) glorification. However, none of the above indicate the means of being transferred from the sinful state of being "in Adam" into the gracious state of being within Christ.

Many times John uses the phrase believe, or believed, or believing into (Greek preposition "eis") Him. However exactly how we are propelled into Christ is left for us to discern from other passages of scripture.

Lets look at John 1:12:

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,​

Here we see phrase "received Him" used interchangeably with "believed into His name." This begs the question, who is it that determines whether or not a person has "received Him" or "believed?" The answer is that it is God and God alone who decides whether a lost person faith will be credited as righteousness or not. And if God and God alone credits the person's faith, then God and God alone, transfers the person into Christ. This is how a lost person "believes into Him.

 

[SavedByGrace]

One of the Greek phases translated as "in Him" is constructed from "en autos" and is found in the following verses: John 1:4, 3:15, 7:18, 13:31 and 13:32. In these usages, it seems that "with or within" is the intended meaning.

John 1:4
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind.
Here we see that when an individual is placed into Christ, and thus within Him, the person is made eternally alive, thus within Him was life.

John 3:15
so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.
Here we see that when God decides a person "believes" then God transfers the person into Christ and therefore is "within Him."

John 7:18
“The one who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Here we see that there is no unrighteousness within Him.

John 13:31
Therefore when he had left, Jesus *said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him;
He we see God is glorified with Him.

John 13:32
if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately.
Here we see the same thought, God is glorified with Christ. The "if" indicates that the thing (glorification) will be done. ​

Are you surprised or suspicious I only addressed 5 examples? That would be natural because we see "in Him" at least 17 additional times, but the phrase is constructed differently. More on that in my next post.

and your purpose of this thread, apart from trying to get those who actually know Greek, to enlighten you?

 

[Van]

and your purpose of this thread, apart from trying to get those who actually know Greek, to enlighten you?

To inform those interested in bible study.

 

[Van]

John 2:11
This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

Here we see John using his phrase and ascribing the action to His disciples. We can assume Judas was excluded.

 

[Van]

Many times John uses the phrase believe, or believed, or believing into (Greek preposition "eis") Him. However exactly how we are propelled into Christ is left for us to discern from other passages of scripture.

Lets look at John 1:12:
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name,
Here we see phrase "received Him" used interchangeably with "believed into His name." This begs the question, who is it that determines whether or not a person has "received Him" or "believed?" The answer is that it is God and God alone who decides whether a lost person faith will be credited as righteousness or not. And if God and God alone credits the person's faith, then God and God alone, transfers the person into Christ. This is how a lost person "believes into Him.

An additional observation, note that those God credits as believing are then born of God which occurs within Christ.

 

[Van]

Col 2:10
and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over every ruler and authority;

Thus the divine action of being made complete or perfect occurs within the Spirit of Christ, following God placing us into Christ.

 

[Van]

John 12:44 (NASB)
Now Jesus cried out and said, “The one who believes in Me, does not believe only in Me, but also in Him who sent Me.

NASB1995
And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me.

There two efforts at translation miss the message in my opinion.

Here is a more literal interpretation of the text:
And Jesus cried and said, "the one believing into Me is not believing [only] into Me, but [also] into the One sending Me.

If we add the clarification words of the NASB, the message is that the Father and the Son are One, such that when a person is placed into Christ's Spirit, they are also within the Father's Spirit.

This message is also found in John 10:38, John 14:10 and 11, John 17:21 and John 17:23.

 

[Van]

John 6:29
Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

There are two very different understandings of this verse. One side interprets "work of God" to mean "God's work" (something God does) and the other side interprets the phrase to mean the work God requires people to perform.

I have posted numerous times that the second interpretation is the correct one, but now I see I might have been mistaken (and not for the first time).

My view was based on the idea Jesus was answering the question posed in verse 28, asking what work the people could do to obtain God's work of salvation. Lots of people, including Dr. Daniel Wallace, hold that view.

However, since the verse uses the phrase "believe into Him," the verse might refer to God crediting the person's faith as righteousness and based on that "work God does" transferring the person "into" Him (Christ), the alternate interpretation seems viable to me.

Obviously the bogus view that this verse supports that God instills His faith into the individual via irresistible grace, remains nonsense.

 

[Van]

John 7:31
But many of the crowd believed in Him; and they were saying, “When the Messiah comes, He will not perform more confirming miracles than those which this man has done, will He?”

Here we have the difficulty of God's word saying people believed into Him before Christ had been put to death on the cross. Since the washing of regeneration must occur after Christ's sacrifice for without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin, no one was actually transferred into Christ's Spirit before His sacrifice.

Thus, if we allow Scripture to define Scripture, the phrase "believed into Him" refers to obtaining the means of entry into Christ, rather than encompassing actually entry. The means of course refers to God crediting the person's faith as righteousness. The OT saints obtained approval through faith and had to wait until Christ's sacrifice in "Abraham's bosom, too.