How many times does the phrase 'in Him' or 'in Christ' appear in Ephesians?
The prepositional phrase 'in Him,' 'in Christ,' or 'in Whom' appears ninety-some times in the six chapters of Ephesians. This repetition depicts the believer's position in Christ and is a major emphasis of this prison epistle, distinguishing it from other New Testament books.
Les teaches that Ephesians is one of the prison epistles, written while Paul was in prison in Rome shortly before he was martyred. In these prison epistles there is no single mention of the Old Testament, no reference to the Jew, because everything has flowed into the teaching of the Body of Christ, in which there is no distinction—no Jew, no Gentile. Les points out that ninety-some times in just six chapters we have the prepositional phrase 'in Him,' 'in Christ,' 'in Whom,' all depicting our position. He notes that even in Romans and Corinthians there is not this emphasis on our position in Christ. He repeats these things because it is the only way it sinks in.