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Water in the Sponge

A verse Christians love to quote is 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." But what does it mean to be "in Christ?" 

Some people have a problem with this phrase, and have expressed concerns that it borders on blasphemy. The issue is that they have determined being in Christ means we become divine, especially if we add to this Peter's declaration that through the promises of Jesus we "may become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)."  

Are these New Testament writers saying we, too, have a divine nature like Christ? That does sound blasphemous. 

Saint Augustine compared being in Christ to a sponge soaking up water. The absorbent sponge soaks up all the water it can handle until it is dripping, but the sponge never becomes water, and the water never becomes a sponge. They are forever two separate objects, no matter how closely they are used together. 

We can be "in Christ" the way water is in a sponge (or we can say we are filled with Christ like a sponge soaking up water), but this does not mean we become Christ, or He becomes us. Jesus does not become merely human, and we do not become gods. 

What Paul and Peter are saying is that, when we put our trust in Jesus and are adopted into His family, we become reflections of Him as we live this life, striving to look and act more like Him every day. He is in us, that is, in our heart and soul, leading us in the paths of righteousness. 

We are not omniscient, omnipresent, or omnipotent like God, but we can pray for the ones who curse us, forgive the ones who hurt us, and minister to the least of these in Jesus' name. We can live our lives like Christ because Christ is in us, and in this way, we are participating in His divine nature. 

Let's fill our sponges with Christ until we are dripping with His characteristics, showing people what He did for us, and what He can do for them. 

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