The Benefits of Being in Christ: Discovering What Truly Matters

What if someone handed you an ordinary-looking key and told you it unlocked access to everything they owned—every treasure, every resource, every inheritance? At first glance, the key itself might seem unremarkable. But once you discover what it opens, suddenly its value becomes clear.

This is the beautiful picture of what it means to be "in Christ." The relationship itself is the key, and Christ himself is the treasure. We don't use Jesus to get to something better—Jesus is the something better. And when we receive Him, everything we truly need comes along with Him.

The Great Exchange

The Apostle Paul understood this better than most. He had spent his entire life accumulating spiritual credentials—the right ancestry, the right education, the right religious performance. He was, by all accounts, a model of Jewish righteousness. Yet when he encountered Christ on the Damascus Road, everything changed.

All those achievements he once considered assets? He moved them to the loss column. In fact, he called them "rubbish" compared to knowing Christ. But this wasn't a story of deprivation—it was a story of discovery. Paul hadn't lost anything that mattered. He had gained everything.

So what exactly did Paul gain? What does it really mean to gain Christ?

Five Life-Changing Benefits

1. A New Identity: Being Found in Him

The Christian life begins with identity, not activity. At its core is this simple, beautiful truth: you are no longer defined by your past, your performance, or your failures. You are found in Christ.

The New Testament uses the phrase "in Christ" eighty-seven times. This makes Christianity unique from every other belief system. A Buddhist never speaks of being "in Buddha." A Muslim doesn't say they are "in Muhammad." But believers are in Christ—united with Him in His life, death, and resurrection.

What does this mean practically? It means God now sees you through Christ. Think of it this way: when you're driving in your car, people see you in the car. When you're at home, visitors see you in your house. When you fly, observers see the airplane with you in it.

Similarly, when God looks at you now, He sees Christ. Your failures no longer define you. Your position in Christ does. You can't get to heaven by yourself any more than you can fly through the air at 500 miles per hour on your own—but in an airplane, you can. And in Christ, you can reach heaven.

This is monumental because it means you're no longer striving for acceptance. You're living from a place of acceptance. Christianity isn't about adopting new beliefs or behaviors—it's about living from a new place of belonging.

2. A New Standing: Christ's Righteousness

If our greatest need is a new identity, the next question naturally follows: on what basis does God accept us?

Paul addresses this directly: we are found in Christ "not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).

The happiest day in Paul's life was when he stopped trying to be righteous and believed that he was righteous because he was in Christ. After decades of religious striving, he discovered that true righteousness cannot be produced—it must be provided. And it has been provided in Christ.

Think of the electricity in your home. You didn't generate that power. You didn't build the power plant or string the power lines. Yet when you flip the switch, the electricity is there, fully provided. Your role isn't to produce it but to receive it.

This is the concept of imputation—righteousness credited to your account. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains: "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

This is the great exchange: God treated Jesus like we deserve to be treated so He could treat us like Jesus deserves to be treated. That's why we never pray for what we deserve—we ask for grace, which is God giving us what we don't deserve.

3. A New Experience: Knowing Christ Personally

Righteousness isn't the finish line—it's the foundation. Once our standing is settled, the goal becomes knowing Christ Himself.

Paul wrote, "That I may know Him" (Philippians 3:10). After thirty years of walking with the Lord, planting churches, taking missionary journeys, and writing Scripture, Paul's heart still cried out to know Christ more. His determined purpose was to know Christ experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His person more completely.

This isn't mere information—it's intimate relationship. Biblical knowing means sharing life, deep communion, and growing intimacy. The question isn't simply "Did you once know Jesus?" but "Are you walking with Him today? Are you growing in that relationship?"

4. A New Power: Resurrection Life Now

To truly know Christ is to experience what His risen life does in us. Paul wanted to know "the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10)—not just as a future hope but as a present reality in everyday life.

This means having power to live victoriously, to rise above defeat, to say no to sin and conquer destructive habits. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead sustains believers today.

But Paul doesn't stop there. He continues: "and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death." This isn't about seeking suffering—it's about daily dying to self and remaining faithful even when obedience costs us something.

Here's a profound truth: the trouble-free life is a shallow life. Sorrow turns out to be one of life's greatest fellowship enhancers. Many believers testify that during their darkest seasons, their intimacy with Jesus became sweeter than ever before.

As the poet Robert Browning wrote: "I walked a mile with pleasure; she chattered all the way, but made me none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow and never a word said she, but oh, the things I learned from her as sorrow walked with me."

5. A New Hope: Resurrection Glory Ahead

Paul concludes with the ultimate benefit: "If by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead" (Philippians 3:11). This isn't doubt—it's humble confidence in the completion of salvation through bodily resurrection.

We believe in a literal, physical resurrection. The same body you have now will one day be resurrected to life, though glorified and transformed. As 1 Corinthians 15 explains, it's like a seed and a flower—they share the same DNA, but the flower is far more beautiful than the seed.

Death is no longer loss for the believer. It's transition into glory. Our retirement plan is literally out of this world.

The Access Point to Everything

When you gain Christ, you gain everything that truly matters. You receive a righteousness you could never produce, a relationship you could never earn, and a hope that reshapes how you see suffering, purpose, and even death itself.

In Christ, you've been given access to a new identity, a new standing, a new experience, resurrection power for today, and resurrection glory for tomorrow.

The key has been placed in your hand. Christ is the treasure. And when you receive the Son, you don't just receive a few spiritual benefits—you receive everything that truly matters, and you receive it forever.