Being saved is what God does for those whom he "quickens, calls, and recreates, "in Christ Jesus". See Ephesians 2:1-4; Ephesians 2:10; 2 Cor. 5:17. Most church-members in our day do not even come close to appreciating what is meant by that phrase, "in Christ".

I want us to think about what it means to be "in Christ". Whether you realize it or not, being "in Christ" means having been created as a new creature, in Christ. (Ephesians 2:10). It also means that we are one of those that God loved, before the foundation of the world and who have been or will be called to salvation.

It means that when Christ went to the cross he bore our sins and paid the debt that we could never pay. It means that our eternal circumstance will be in heaven, we shall never receive condemnation....Jesus suffered that for us.

We share in the divine nature by being conformed to the image of Christ by the Holy Spirit that indwells us from the moment we are saved. It means that the old creature that we were because of Adam's nature is dead. Romans 6:6; Romans 8:2,10.

The word of God makes it abundantly clear that those who have not been quickened, recreated and born again, are not "in" Christ.

See Ephesians 2:11-12. Unless and until we, who profess faith in Jesus Christ, really understand, what being "in Christ" really means and how that position really makes a great difference in those who are truly saved, we have missed true salvation.

Now, just think for a moment on what your position was prior to Christ going to the cross. Then you were under the wrath of God because you had not believed in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. (see John 3:16-21). You were without Christ, having no hope without God. Ephesians 2:11-12.

You were under condemnation and would have spend your eternity in the literal and burning flames of Hell. Don't ever believe the devil's lie that says that is not a literal hell; because if you read the New Testament, you will find that Jesus Christ preached more about hell than He did about heaven. Luke chapter 16, verses 19 and following gives us a clear picture of what Hell will be like, only much worse.

In hell, those who fail the test of true faith in Christ, will burn and pop like a pine-know in a fire and that will be an everlasting punishment. We won't simply burn up and it be over. Somehow, supernaturally, God will keep our bodies burning and being replenished to burn all over and it will never stop. That is why it is so important that everyone seriously consider what their standing is with God.