Ordained in Christ

Just as a badge opens doors, being in Christ gives us access to all we need — we are already appointed to bear fruit.

Devotional Credit: Excerpt from In Christ by E. Stanley Jones
Photo Credit: Unsplash

E. Stanley Jones reflects on the powerful truth embedded in Jesus’ words from John 15:16 — “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” Traditionally, we’ve reserved the word “ordination” for formal ceremonies where a select few are set apart through the laying on of hands. But Jones invites us to reconsider this concept through a more biblical lens — one that springs from our union with Christ rather than human ritual.

Jones argues that being in Christ is itself an ordination. When Jesus chose us, that divine choice was not symbolic — it was effectual. It set us apart not by horizontal ceremony but by vertical calling. Every believer, regardless of gender or role, has been spiritually commissioned to bear fruit. This ordination is not something we earn or receive from people — it is embedded into the very nature of our identity in Christ.

If we are in Him, then we are appointed — not for status, but for fruitfulness. And this divine appointment opens to us the wondrous privilege of prayer aligned with God’s will. Our prayers become extensions of our union with Christ, not demands shouted toward heaven, but whispers from within heaven’s courts.

Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

I chose you before you chose Me, and My choice carries weight. It is not symbolic. It is not borrowed authority. It is My voice speaking life into your being, and it confers upon you everything needed to walk in the good works I prepared beforehand.

You are not waiting to be approved or empowered. You are ordained — not by men, but by My own call. I appointed you to bear fruit that remains. The seed I planted in you is incorruptible, and it will not return void. Your ordination is not conferred by hands but by the pierced hands that bore you.

Remain in Me and My words in you, and you will ask — not as a beggar, but as one who shares My heart. I hear those who abide. I act through those who rest in My life. You are My branches, chosen and placed, and I have made you sufficient in Me.

Your ministry is not self-made, and your prayers are not petitions from the outside — they rise from within our union. So walk as one who has been set apart by grace, not to strive, but to display My life.

(Scripture references: John 15:16; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Peter 1:23; Isaiah 55:11; Romans 8:26-27; 2 Corinthians 3:5)

Real-Life Analogy

Have you ever been handed a security badge at a workplace that instantly gives you access through every door? No one questioned you, no one had to explain — the badge itself proved that you belonged. You didn’t earn access room by room; it was granted all at once when you were hired.

In the same way, your union with Christ is your access — your ordination. You don’t become authorized to bear fruit later. You already carry the badge of belonging in Him. Wherever He sends you, you walk in with His credentials, not yours.

Prayer of Confidence

Father, I rest in Your divine appointment. I am not waiting to be ordained or looking for human confirmation. In Christ, I have already been chosen, placed, and called. I lack nothing for the path You’ve marked out for me. Thank You for planting Your life in me — life that bears fruit, life that prays from within Your heart, life that walks freely in Your name. I will not strive to be seen or approved, because I am already rooted in Your yes.