Romans 8:1 (NKJV)

“…those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

We can all claim to be in Christ Jesus if that is what is required to be beyond condemnation. Any fool or stark sinner can claim that he is in Christ, irrespective of his lifestyle. One practical evidence that we are in Christ, is in the way we live our lives. If I am in Christ Jesus, then my life has actually been buried with Christ and the only life I now have is the very life of God dwelling in me by His Spirit. The way to know a man in Christ is that he walks not according to any fleshly desires but according to the Spirit of God.

God’s Spirit is real and He has a mind and a will and desires, and any man who claims to be in Christ must be known by His conformity to the pattern and the mind of the Spirit. A person still living by the dictates of the old nature, following and pursuing the passions of the flesh, can never claim to be in Christ. If I am in the Spirit and my life contradicts the ways of the Spirit of God, then I am deceiving myself. Self deception is insisting on a position despite the obvious evidence to the contrary.

“Lord, I know I am in You but help me constantly measure my life by the standards of the Spirit of Christ and never by my own presumptions and opinions. In Jesus name. Amen.”