Who places believers into Christ's death, burial, and resurrection?
God places believers into Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. He saw every believer on the cross in the person of Christ, saw them buried in His tomb, and resurrected with Him to new life. This identification is God’s work, accomplished by His omnipotence and power in the invisible realm, not by water baptism or church membership.
Les teaches that the baptism in view is not into a denomination or a church but into Jesus Christ. Being placed in Christ means identification with His death first: when Christ died, God saw every one of us on the cross in the person of Christ. Christ died in our place, and God saw us crucified. Just as surely as God saw us on the cross, He saw us in the tomb, buried with Him—not by water, but because God determined that since He had paid the sin debt for all, and for those who believe and appropriate it, they are dead, crucified, and buried with Him. Then they are also resurrected with Him to new life, totally different people by the power of His resurrection. Les summarizes it as a God thing: God in His omnipotence, power, omniscience, and ability to work in the invisible has placed us in all these places and has seen every one of us crucified with Christ.
How is it possible for God to place us in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection?
It is possible because God, in His omnipotence and omniscience, works in the invisible realm. When Christ died, God saw every one of us on the cross in Christ, crucified with Him, buried in His tomb, and resurrected with Him to new life. This placement is God's doing, not water baptism.
How has God placed us in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection?
God placed us in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection by sovereign determination in the invisible realm. He saw us crucified in Christ, buried with Him, and raised with Him to new life. This identification is not by water or denomination but by God’s power for those who believe and appropriate it.