The phrase “in Christ” (and cognates) is a favorite with Paul to signal the personal, local, and dynamic relation of the believer to Christ. To say that it is a favorite of Paul’s is not, however, to rule out its use by the early church as well, which seems to be the case, if Gal 3: 26 is taken as an early Christian “sayings” statement and vv Gal 3:27—28 as a portion of an early Christian confession which still sung in the Eastern Churches The “in Christ” phraseology in its various forms appears a total of 164 times in the Pauline writings apart from the Pastorals.
In Christ: a survey of the relationship between Christ and us humans
