Fall of Man / Salvation - Where is Jesus Now / God is perfectly holy, and Jesus truly bore our sins

Eph. 3:16

Fall of Man / Salvation - Where is Jesus Now?

Question: Eph.3:17; Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27; Rev. 3:20 - how can Jesus be physically at the right hand of God and live in our heart? The Bible teaches that these are both complementary truths about Christ:

1. Jesus is physically present in heaven
2. Jesus lives in believers through spiritual union by the Holy Spirit

Scripture distinguishes Christ’s bodily location from His spiritual presence in believers.

1. Jesus is physically at the right hand of the Father.
After the resurrection and ascension, Jesus took a real, glorified human body into heaven. Scripture repeatedly affirms that He is seated at God’s right hand (Acts 1:9–11; Heb. 10:12). This describes His physical and authoritative position, where He reigns and intercedes for believers: “Christ Jesus… is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34).

2. Christ dwells in believers through the Holy Spirit.
When Paul says Christ lives in believers, he is describing spiritual union, not a physical relocation of Jesus.

• Ephesians 3:17 — “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” The context (Eph. 3:16) shows this happens “through his Spirit.”
• Galatians 2:20 — “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Paul is describing a transformed life united with Christ.
• Colossians 1:27 — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” This refers to the saving presence and life of Christ shared with believers.
• Revelation 3:20 — Christ promises fellowship with those who receive Him.

Jesus Himself explained this relationship in John 14:16–23. He said the Father would send the Holy Spirit, and through the Spirit the Father and Son would dwell with believers:
“The Spirit of truth… dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:17).

3. The biblical idea: union with Christ.
The apostles describe salvation as believers being “in Christ” and Christ being “in them.” Through the Holy Spirit, believers share in Christ’s life, righteousness, and power while Christ remains bodily in heaven. In simple terms:

• Jesus’ body is in heaven at the Father’s right hand.
• Jesus lives in believers through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
• This is the mystery of union with Christ—a real spiritual relationship, not a physical duplication of Christ’s body.

Christ is physically enthroned in heaven, but spiritually present in believers through the Holy Spirit, which is how Scripture can truthfully say both that He is “at God’s right hand” and that He “lives in us.”

Paul writes: “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith (Eph.3:16-17).” The Spirit is the means by which Christ’s presence is experienced. In other words, the Spirit mediates Christ’s indwelling.

Paul uses the terms almost interchangeably: “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom. 8:9–10).” The progression:

• “Spirit of God”
• “Spirit of Christ”
• “Christ in you”

Paul says: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (1Cor. 6:19)?” But in other places he says Christ is in believers (Gal.2:20; Col. 1:27).
The reason both can be true is that the Spirit is the personal presence of Christ with believers.

Jesus said: the Spirit will come and then adds: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you (John 14:16–18).” Christ comes to believers through the coming of the Spirit.

We can be confident Paul means Christ dwelling in believers through the Holy Spirit because:

1. The immediate context (Eph. 3:16–17) links the Spirit with Christ’s indwelling.
2. Paul’s other writings equate “Spirit in you” with “Christ in you.”
3. Jesus’ own teaching connects His presence with the coming of the Spirit.

Christ reigns bodily in heaven, but His real presence dwells in believers through the Holy Spirit.

Paul says “Christ in you” to emphasize our living union with Jesus, even though that union is experienced through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

 

God is perfectly holy, and Jesus truly bore our sins

The key is understanding who Jesus is and what He did in His incarnation.

1. God Is Absolutely Holy

The Bible clearly teaches that God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is perfectly holy.

• “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isaiah 6:3)
• God is “of purer eyes than to see evil” (Habakkuk 1:13).

This holiness belongs equally to the three persons of the Trinity. The Son did not stop being holy when He came to earth.

2. Jesus Became Truly Human Without Ceasing to Be God

When Jesus came into the world, He took on a real human nature.

• “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
• “Though he was in the form of God… he humbled himself” (Philippians 2:6–8).

This means Jesus is one person with two natures—fully God and fully man. In His humanity, He could represent us.

3. Our Sin Was Imputed to Him, Not Placed in His Nature

The Bible does not say Jesus became sinful. Instead, our guilt was counted or credited to Him.

• “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus remained personally sinless, but God treated Him as the one responsible for our sin. This is often called substitution or imputation.

Think of it like a legal transfer:
our guilt was placed on Christ, and His righteousness is credited to believers.

4. The Father Judged Sin in the Son

Because Jesus willingly stood in our place, the Father poured out judgment for sin on Him.

• “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).

This did not make Jesus morally corrupt; rather, He bore the penalty and condemnation of sin.

5. The Trinity Was Not Divided

Even on the cross, the Son remained holy and united with the Father and the Spirit. The cross was the triune plan of redemption:

• The Father sent the Son (John 3:16).
• The Son offered Himself (Hebrews 9:14).
• The Spirit applies the work to believers (Titus 3:5–6).

In Simple Terms

Jesus could bear the sins of believers because He became truly human, representing us, while remaining the perfectly holy Son of God. Our sins were credited to Him legally, not infused into His holy nature. He took the judgment for sin, so that we could receive His righteousness.

“God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)