1. Salvation from the guilt and punishment of sin.
2. Salvation from the power and slavery of sin.
3. Salvation from the nature and presence of sin.

1. Complete—“In Christ” we stand perfect in all righteousness [1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:3; Colossians 2:10].
2. Universal—“In Christ” all humanity was redeemed or legally justified, i.e., reconciled to God [Romans 5:18; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; 1 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:11; 1 John 2:2].
3. Outside of Us—“In Christ” the righteousness accomplished was without any help or contribution from us [Romans 3:21, 28; Philippians 3:9].
4. Meritorious—This righteousness “in Christ” is the only means of our salvation, and unless we resist and reject it, it fully qualifies us for heaven now and in the judgment [Acts 13:39; Romans 3:28; 10:4; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5].

1. Incomplete—“Christ in you” is an ongoing, growing process of sanctification to be fully realized before the second advent; and the glorification of our bodies or nature, to be experienced only at the second advent [Romans 5:3-5; 8:18-23; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; Philippians 3:12-14, 20-21; Colossians 1:27; 2:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 2 Peter 1:3-8].
2. Particular—“Christ in you” applies only to believers who have by faith experienced the new birth [John 3:16; Romans 8:9-10; 1 Corinthians 6:17-20; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; 6:14-16; 1 Timothy 4:10].
3. Allied—“Christ in you” involves the cooperation of the believers who by faith are walking in the Spirit [John 15:1-5; 17:23; Romans 8:9-14; 13:12-14; Galatians 2:20; 1 John 3:23-24].
4. Demonstrative—“Christ in you” witnesses or gives evidence of our salvation in Christ, but is not meritorious [Matthew 5:14-16; John 13:34-35; 14:12; Ephesians 2:10; Titus 3:8].

1. To prove that the law of God can be kept by man.

   The problem with this answer is that it cannot be substantiated explicitly by Scripture.  Naturally, the fact Christ did keep the law perfectly in His humanity proved that man, controlled by God’s Spirit, can fully meet the law’s demands.  But the Bible does not teach that this is the primary reason why Christ became a man.

2. To be our example.

   While the Bible does point to Christ as our example, it does so only with reference to believers who have accepted Christ by faith and have experienced the new birth [1 Peter 2:21; Philippians 2:5-8].  But Scripture does not teach that this is the primary reason why Christ took on our human flesh.  Those who emphasize Christ as our example without first clearly presenting Him as our Saviour give the impression that they are teaching the example theory of the atonement, which is why they are often accused of the heresy of perfectionism or legalism (see “From Controversy to Crisis” by Kenneth Samples, Christian Research Journal, Summer 1988, p.  9).

3. To redeem mankind from sin.

   Scripture presents this as the primary reason for the Son of God being made flesh [Matthew 1:21; Galatians 4:4-5; Hebrews 2:14-17].  At the very heart of the doctrine of Christology is the glorious truth that Christ assumed humanity so that He could be the Saviour of the world.  And only to those who have first received Him as their Saviour does He become to them an Example.

1. Those who hold to the vicarious position (one person acting in place of another), as the Reformers and many Evangelicals today, teach the pre-fall nature of Christ.  Here is their basic argument:

   Sin is a dual problem; it is first of all a condition or a state, since to them a sinful nature is sin that automatically stands condemned. Accordingly, Christ had to take a sinless human nature in order vicariously to substitute for our sinful nature which stands condemned. They insist that if Christ had taken our sinful nature as we know it, He would automatically have been a sinner Himself in need of a Saviour.  Secondly, His perfect life and sacrificial death substitute for our sinful performance.  Thus by His sinless human nature which vicariously substitutes for our sinful nature and by His perfect performance (i.e., doing and dying), Christ vicariously redeemed mankind from sin.  But this position presents a twofold problem:

   1. It makes the gospel unethical since, as we have seen already, no law, God’s or man’s, will allow guilt or righteousness to be transferred from one person to another.  Therefore, those who teach vicarious substitution are rightly accused of teaching “legal fiction” or “as if passed-on righteousness” (by Osiender and Newman in the Counter-reformation, and Islamic scholars today).

      All attempted solutions given to this ethical problem—such as “Christ is above the law,” or “since He volunteered to die in man's stead this makes it ethical”—are unacceptable.  As we saw, law will not allow sin to be transferred from the guilty to the innocent.  Only when the two are linked together, as it was illustrated in the sanctuary service, does the substitution become legally accepted [1 Corinthians 10:18].

   2. The “vicarious” view is very conducive to turning the gospel into cheap grace, i.e., since Christ did it all without having to identify Himself with us (He lived and died instead of us), we can receive the blessings of His holy history by a faith understood as a mental assent to truth without identifying ourselves in that history, which true faith and baptism demand [Galatians 2:19-20; Romans 6:1-4].

2. Those who take the actual position teach the post-fall nature of Christ.  Their argument is that since Christ came to save fallen humanity He had to assume the humanity that needed redeeming, which of course was sinful.  Thus by identifying Himself with our corporate fallen humanity Christ qualified Himself to be the second Adam and legally to be our Substitute.

Thus, by nature we:

1. Are spiritually dead, but “in Christ” were made spiritually alive [Ephesians 2:5]
2. Are sinners, but “in Christ” were made righteous [2 Corinthians 5:21]
3. Are sinful, but “in Christ” were made holy and blameless [Ephesians 1:4]
4. Are condemned, but “in Christ” were made justified [Romans 5:18]
5. Are sons of man, but “in Christ” were made sons of God [1 John 3:1]
6. Are doomed, but “in Christ” were made to sit in heavenly places [Ephesians 2:6]
7. Are mortal, but “in Christ” were made immortal [2 Timothy 1:8-10]
8. Are poor, but “in Christ” were made rich [2 Corinthians 8:9]
9. Are nothing, but “in Christ” were made joint-heirs [Romans 8:17]
10. Are lower than the angels, but “in Christ” were made kings and priests [Revelation 5:10]