Daily Bread – March 21, 2023 (The Third Day – Genesis 1:9-13) Romans 8:2 – For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed me from the law of sin and death. Being in Christ Jesus is the dominant theme of Romans chapter 8 – as well as the dominant theme of Paul’s revelation and ministry. Paul uses the phrase “in Christ” (‘en christo’) 73 times from Romans to Philemon. However, he actually makes many more references to being in Christ; for in Ephesians chapter 1, he refers to being in Christ with other phrases such as “in Him” or “in the Beloved” a total of 13 times. Also, in John 14-17, Jesus declared how we would be in Him, or He would be in us, 19 times (John 14:17,20,23, and 15:2,4,5,6,7, 16:33, and 17:11,21,22,23,26). Peter referred to us being in Christ 3 times in his First Epistle and John uses the phrase “in Him (Christ) 13 times (1 Peter 3:16, 5:10,14; and 1 John 1:5, 2:5,6,8,15,27,28, and 3:5,6,15,24, 4:13,15). However, there are many more references to Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or the Father being in us throughout the New Testament. Blessings, Pastor Mark Spitsbergen