Do You Know Union with Christ?

James S. Stewart wrote that “union with Christ, rather than justification or election or eschatology, or indeed any of the other great apostolic themes, is the real clue to an understanding of Paul’s thought and experience” (A Man in Christ [Harper & Bros., 1955], vii).

John Calvin said that union with Christ has “the highest degree of importance” if we are to understand justification correctly (Institutes 1:737).

John Murray wrote that “union with Christ is . . . the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. . . . It is not simply a phase of the application of redemption; it underlies every aspect of redemption” (Redemption—Accomplished and Applied [Eerdmans, 1955], pp. 201, 205).

Lewis Smedes said that it was “at once the center and circumference of authentic human existence” (Union with Christ [Eerdmans, 1983], xii).

Anthony Hoekema wrote that “Once you have your eyes opened to this concept of union with Christ, you will find it almost everywhere in the New Testament” (Saved by Grace [Eerdmans, 1989], 64.

Hoekema explains that the New Testament uses two interchangeable expressions to describe union with Christ:

We are in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; John 15:4, 5, 7; 1 Cor. 15:22; 2 Cor. 12:2; Gal. 3:28; Eph. 1:4, 2:10; Phil. 3:9; 1 Thess. 4:16; 1 John 4:13).Christ is in us (Gal. 2:20; Col. 1:27; Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Eph. 3:17).

Three passages (John 6:56; John 15:4; 1 John 4:13) explicitly combine both concepts.

Hoekema says that we should see union with Christ “extending all the way from eternity to eternity.” He outlines his material in this way:

The roots of union with Christ are in divine election (Eph. 1:3-4).The basis of union with Christ is the redemptive work of Christ.The actual union with Christ is established with God’s people in time.

Under the third point, he shows eight ways that salvation, from beginning to end, is in Christ:

We are initially united with Christ in regeneration (Eph. 2:4-5, 10)We appropriate and continue to live out of this union through faith (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 3:16-17).We are justified in union with Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8-9).We are sanctified through union with Christ (1 Cor. 1:30; John 15:4-5; Eph. 4:16; 2 Cor. 5:17).We persevere in the life of faith in union with Christ (John 10:27-28; Rom. 8:38-39).We are even said to die in Christ (Rom. 14:8; 1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 14:13).We shall be raised with Christ (Col. 3:1; 1 Cor. 15:22).We shall be eternally glorified with Christ (Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:16-17).

And here’s a helpful quote from Sinclair Ferguson (in Christian Spirituality: Five Views of Sanctification [IVP, 1989], 58), explaining in a nutshell why union with Christ is the foundation for sanctification:

If we are united to Christ, then we are united to him at all points of his activity on our behalf.

We share

in his death (we were baptized into his death),in his resurrection (we are resurrected with Christ),in his ascension (we have been raised with him),in his heavenly session (we sit with him in heavenly places, so that our life is hidden with Christ in God), and we will sharein his promised return (when Christ, who is our life, appears, we also will appear with him in glory) (Rom. 6:14; Col. 2:11-12; 3:1-3).

This, then, is the foundation of sanctification in Reformed theology.

It is rooted, not in humanity and their achievement of holiness or sanctification, but in what God has done in Christ, and for us in union with him. Rather than view Christians first and foremost in the microcosmic context of their own progress, the Reformed doctrine first of all sets them in the macrocosm of God’s activity in redemptive history. It is seeing oneself in this context that enables the individual Christian to grow in true holiness.

Some newer treatments of this important subject:

Robert Letham, Union with Christ: In Scripture, History, and Theology

Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, Found in Him: The Joy of the Incarnation and Our Union with Christ

Robert Peterson, Salvation Applied by the Spirit: Union with Christ (forthcoming, 2014)

Copyright © 2013 by the author listed above. Used by permission.

Union with Christ: A Matter of Spiritual Life and Death

Union with Christ is one of the central theological principles of the Christian faith. Its pervasive presence in the New Testament typically is indicated by the word in
, a simple preposition with profound implications.
Believers often are said to be in Christ: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). Sometimes this phrase passes by so rapidly that we may hardly notice, as in Paul’s opening address to “the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi” (Phil. 1:1). But even such passing expressions are grounded in the deep spiritual truth of our faith-union with Jesus Christ. The reason we are called “saints in Christ” is because our true and ultimate identity is found in Him: “you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

On other occasions, the Bible teaches the reciprocal principle that Jesus Christ is in the believer: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). Similarly, Paul wrote of the gospel mystery that has been “hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26). What is this glorious mystery? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).

Christ is in us and we are in Christ. The two sides of this mutual relationship sometimes appear together in Scripture. For example, in teaching His disciples about the vine and the branches—a metaphor for union with Christ—Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Similarly, the apostle John described union with Christ as a double habitation by the Holy Spirit: “We know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13).

By virtue of this mutual relationship of spiritual indwelling—our union with Christ—we receive all the saving blessings of God. In being united to Christ, we receive not only Christ Himself, but also His benefits. What is His becomes ours, for God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Eph. 1:3). Thus we see, said Calvin, that “our whole salvation and all its parts are comprehended in Christ.” Indeed, union with Christ is the heart of the gospel, for when the apostle Paul “defines the Gospel, and the use of it, he says that we are called to be partakers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be made one with Him, and to dwell in Him, and He in us; and that we be joined together in an inseparable bond.”

When Calvin considered how “we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on his only-begotten Son,” his answer was that we receive them by our union with Christ. Christ must “present Himself to us and invite us into such a relationship that truly we are united to Him, that He dwells in us in such a way that everything that belongs to Him is ours.” Thus Calvin made union with Christ one of the controlling principles of his soteriology, or doctrine of salvation.

Apart from union with Christ, it is impossible to receive any of the saving blessings of God. Not even the cross and the empty tomb can save us unless we are joined to Jesus Christ. Calvin was emphatic:

We must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us…. We also, in turn, are said to be “engrafted into him” [Rom. 11:17], and to “put on Christ” [Gal. 3:27]; for, as I have said, all that he possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with him.

Simply put, if we are not in Christ, we have no part in His death on the cross to atone for sins and no share in His resurrection from the dead. We are not justified, adopted, sanctified, or glorified without being united to Christ. “I do not see,” wrote Calvin, “how anyone can trust that he has redemption and righteousness in the cross of Christ, and life in his death, unless he relies chiefly upon a true participation in Christ himself. For those benefits would not come to us unless Christ first made himself ours.” Union with Christ, therefore, is nothing less than a matter of spiritual life and death.

An excerpt from John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
by Burk Parsons. Download the digital edition free through October 31, 2013.

Union with Christ, the Duplex Gratia, and the Current Debate: A Pulpit Perspective

The current discussion in the blogosphere concerning union with Christ and the duplex gratia of justification and sanctification is a good one. We should have this debate, so long as it remains brotherly and respectful.

I’m actually not here to chime in on the technicalities of the doctrinal discussion – far better minds than my own are already doing that well enough. I want to address the discussion from the perspective of the pulpit. That is to say, from a practical and pastoral perspective relative to the week in and week out work of the minister of the Word.

And here I have only two points I’d like to make.

First, justification by faith alone must never become assumed, but must remain explicit in our preaching. With zeal to build up the holiness of the congregation, many pastors go on to a practical series of sermons where he addresses the nuts and bolts of the Christian life. Here he speaks to Christians, or to those he assumes are Christians. It seems that here justification by faith alone is not relevant. After all, so it seems, that doctrine is for converting unbelievers, not for the saints. What the saints need is teaching on what to do, not on what is done for them in Christ’s work of justifying the ungodly. The result of this can be two-fold. First, it may lead a congregation to forget the fact that they are still – in and of themselves – ungodly. And all they need are tips for better living. They come to church to get some good life advice on how to live the Christian life. Or, on the other hand, after hearing a series of sermons on what they should be doing, they become honest with themselves and discover that they aren’t living the Christian life as they should. The end result of this is despair. They get a bunch of good and biblical dos and don’ts, but because justification by faith alone is assumed rather than explicitly taught, they forget who they are in Christ no matter how much they fall short of God’s law.

Secondly, preaching from indicative to imperative is not enough. I think everyone in the current debate agrees that we must preach the imperatives as they are grounded in the great indicatives of the Gospel. And if we did this, my first point above wouldn’t really be a problem. But another problem arises if we preach in a linear why from the indicatives to the imperatives and stop there. The problem is we leave off on a legal note. We leave off with man. We leave off with what I am supposed to do. And our people go out from church, all charged up to change the world, and then horribly fall short on Monday morning. OK, if the sermon was really good, maybe they make it until Tuesday. And once again, they are driven to despair. Or, they fool themselves – or otherwise excuse themselves – and convince themselves that they are keeping the law they heard on Sunday. Therefore, we must also remind our people that even their sanctification – their gifted sanctification which flows from Christ himself – will be imperfect. Therefore, and I often tell my congregation this, Christ’s justifying grace redeems me not only from my past sins of open rebellion, but it also pays for my “good works” as well. If it is true that not even the most sanctified of believers in this life approach perfect obedience, and if our best of works are really as filthy rags in the sight of God, then Christ’s justification is not only a reality which became mine “back then” at my conversion. But we must remind our people that their justification is a continual and abiding reality, even and especially when I am living a holy life. Even when I say no to sin, and turn from it, that act was itself so mingled with sin that I praise God I am forgiven of even the imperfection found in that good work. I think that much preaching in Reformed pulpits can lead people to think that they come in and out of a state of justification. But we must remind our people that if they are really in union with Jesus Christ by a sincere faith, no matter how bad they fail in their sanctification throughout the course of the week, they are no less justified as they were when they were first converted. To say otherwise is to lead people to think that they are justified by their sanctification.

The beauty of the doctrine of the duplex gratia is how justification and sanctification are co-terminus benefits in the life of the believer. Even while I am being sanctified, I am at the same time justified in Christ. And as one who is justified in Christ, I am also being sanctified. We can never leave one or the other out of our pulpits.

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