⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Paul now developed further the idea of God making the believer alive by Christ. Both being raised with Christ and being made to sit with Him in heaven happened “together” with Christ. Verse six is an amplification of verse five. Being made alive will result in being raised and sitting together with Christ. This is a way of expressing our union with Christ or our position in Christ.

⁶ and raised us up together,

“Raised up” here refers to positional resurrection; it is our status with God forever. God raised us “together” with Christ. God raises us up together with Christ with the same power He used in raising Jesus (1:19-20). He not only gave us new life (v.5) but He raised us with Christ. Resurrection with Christ has already taken place. The Christian experiences the life of Christ because he received new life in Christ. “Together” means that God sees us in His Son.

and made us sit together

Jesus died, rose, and was seated physically with the Father. The believer died to his sin, was raised, and was made to sit together in union with Him. The analogy between what God did in Christ and what He did to believers is striking. God deems us worthy of Christ’s victory of being seating at the right hand of God.

The Greek of “sit together” means that this seating is an accomplished fact (aorist indicative). God has already seated us positionally in heaven because of our status in Christ. This is our position or status now as Christians. This means that in God’s mind we hold privilege and security before Him.

The word “together” occurs three times in this passage (2:5, 6—twice). This means that God sees us in His Son.

in the heavenly places

Christians presently hold an exalted place in God’s economy. It is a place of God’s favor upon us. It is the abode wherein we worship God. Non-Christians know nothing of this place. They function horizontally, not vertically.

in Christ Jesus,

Union with Christ is the basis for our present position with God. By virtue of this status with Christ we partake of Christ’s life and exaltation. Christians presently share in Christ’s resurrection, exaltation, and session by their positional status in Christ Jesus.

PRINCIPLE:

New status requires new values.

APPLICATION:

Truth of our position in Christ is not something we feel or smell; it is something we take by faith. God sees us in His Son. His reckoning is different than ours. We need to take by faith what He reckons as true.

Because we share Christ’s status of being resurrected, exalted, and seated, and hold His status before God, we should live our lives reflecting our status in Him. As people no longer spiritually dead, we are alive in Christ.