Union with Christ

The subject is union with Christ. The gospel calls us to have fellowship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” His life, the life of Christ, flows into us continually. Dr. James Boice says that Paul in his epistles speaks about our union with Christ 164 times. It is the heart of our salvation.[1]

What is union with Christ? Professor John Murray says the following:

Union with Christ has its source in the election of God the Father before the foundation of the world and has its fruition in the glorification of the sons of God. The perspective of God’s people is not narrow; it is broad and it is long. It is not confined to space and time; it has the expanse of eternity. Its orbit has two foci, one the electing love of God the Father in the counsels of eternity; the other glorification with Christ in the manifestation of his glory. The former has no beginning, the latter has no end. . . . Why does the believer entertain the thought of God’s determinate counsel with such joy? Why can he have patience in the perplexities and adversities of the present? Why can he have confident assurance with reference to the future and rejoice in hope of the glory of God? It is because he cannot think of past, present, or future apart from union with Christ.[2]

Eternal Election in Christ Is the Foundation of Our Salvation

1. The Father elected in eternity in Christ a few sinners to salvation.
   • Ephesians 1:3–4: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”
   • Matthew 7:13–14: “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
2. The elect are united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
   • Romans 6:4–5: “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
   • Romans 4:25: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
3. The elect will hear the gospel in time and be saved.
   • The legion-demon man was an elect. Two thousand demons were in this one person. Jesus sought him and saved him and sent him to evangelize his own people.
   • The publican was an elect (Luke 18:13–14). He prayed, “Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner.” And he went home justified by Jesus forever.
   • Apostle Paul was the worst sinner, but he was an elect. He says in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” I say every elect sinner is the worst sinner. But God chose us to be saved.
4. The non-elect will hear the gospel and reject it.
   • This is illustrated by the seed that fell on the pathway. Satan immediately comes and takes it away. We have met people like that. Most people are non-elect. Only a few are elect of the Father before the creation of the world. And if you are elect, you will glory in what I am saying.
5. The elect will die in Christ to go to heaven. We are not afraid of death. Christ delivered us from eternal death.
   • 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 16: “We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. . . . For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
   • Psalm 116:15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Every elect person, when he dies, goes to heaven in the spirit.
6. The elect will be glorified to be with the Lord forever.
   • 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
   • Philippians 3:20–21: “Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
7. The elect sinners once were under God’s wrath, though from eternity in Christ they were predestinated to be saved.
   • Ephesians 2:3: “All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.”
   • Ephesians 2:12–13: “Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.”
8. The source of our union with Christ is election of God the Father, and it has its fruition in the glorification of the elect to dwell with God in the new heaven and new earth where dwells no sin but only righteousness forever and ever.
   • Revelation 21:1–4: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”
9. The gospel call by God-called and sent ministers will result in the elect having fellowship with Jesus Christ, God’s Son.
   • 1 Corinthians 1:9: “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” He called us by the gospel preached by the man called and sent, that you may have fellowship with his Son.
   • 1 John 1:3: “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”

This fellowship is joy unspeakable and full of glory. (PGM) Jonathan Edwards experienced this ecstasy, and I have experienced it. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory.

• John 14:23: “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.’” Joy unspeakable and full of glory!
• 1 Peter 1:8: “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). The Christian life is not a depressed, miserable life. Christians are filled with joy. Why? They have fellowship with God the Father and God the Son through God the Holy Spirit.

10. This union with Christ is spiritual; a spiritual man is indwelt by and ruled by the Spirit of God through the word of God.
    • Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”
    • Ephesians 5:18: “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be [being] filled with the Spirit.”
    • 1 Corinthians 2:14–15: “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment.” The spiritual man has the mind of Christ because he is regenerate. He has a new intellect, new will, and new set of affections.
11. Christ dwells in us by the Holy Spirit
    • Romans 8:11: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” The Spirit lives in us. The greatest reality lives in us. Infinite God, eternal God lives in us, enlightening us, empowering us, guiding us in each decision-making process. When you pray, he guides you.
    • 1 John 4:13: “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”
12. Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation.
13. In Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7).
14. In Christ, the elect are sealed with the Holy Spirit. If we are God’s elect, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. This is speaking about security and ownership. We are owned by God, and he himself will protect and guide us.
    • Ephesians 1:13: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”
    • Ephesians 4:30: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
15. In Christ, we are made rich.
    • 1 Corinthians 1:5: “For in him you have been enriched in every way—in all your speaking and in all your knowledge.”
    • Ephesians 1:3: “The Father has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
16. In Christ, we are made alive.
    • Ephesians 2:5: “[God] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
17. In Christ, we are justified.
    • Galatians 2:17: “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ . . .”
18. In Christ, we are sanctified.
    • 1 Corinthians 1:2: “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.”
19. In Christ, we are created for doing good works, obedience.
    • Ephesians 2:10: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
20. In Christ, we have eternal life.
    • Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is [eternal] death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” – in union with Christ Jesus our Lord.
21. Christ Jesus has become our wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
    • 1 Corinthians 1:30: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” In Christ we have everything. We lack nothing.

Union with Christ Illustrated[3]

1. We Are the Bride of Christ

The church, consisting of the elect believers, is the bride of Christ, who loved her and died for her eternal salvation. He paid the highest price to redeem us.

• Ephesians 5:25–27: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”
• Revelation 19:7–8: “‘Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)”

We were poor debtors to God; now we are very rich in Jesus Christ, our husband, who owns everything. All our debts are his. That is what marriage does. All his riches are ours (Rom. 8:17). The Bible says that we are God’s treasure. It is true, but it is a mystery. I do not understand it, but it is true.

• Titus 2:14: “[Jesus Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
• Deuteronomy 32:9: “For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance,” – his treasure. We are treasure to whom? To God. Hallelujah! And so we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and we are secure. God owns us. He will protect us.

2. The Vine and Fruitful Branches

In John 15:5–6 Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him [union with Christ], he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” This is speaking about eternal hell.

We are called effectually by the gospel preaching of the man called and sent by Christ, as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:9: “God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.” This effectual call results in fellowship with Christ to bear fruit, more fruit, and much fruit, for the life of Christ flows continually into the branches. Apart from him, we can do nothing.

3. Christ Is the Head, the Church His Body

In Ephesians 1:22–23 we read, “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him [Christ] to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” The church is vitally united to Christ the head, who rules the church and provides for her every need of the church. Jesus said, “I will build my church.”

Many churches are synagogues of Satan, churches of antinomians. Ministers in such synagogues of Satan do not preach the gospel. They preach lies, like the lie that a Christian does not have to repent of his sins or obey Lord Jesus, or that salvation is absolutely free of any obligations. They are demon-possessed people. They lie from the pulpit. And their churches are full of people because no one is saying that a Christian has to repent or obey Jesus Christ.

But all these are lies, as Jesus said in Matthew 7:21–23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” And my own translation is, “Go to hell!”

Many antinomian evangelical churches teach these heresies. The head of such churches is Satan, not the Lord Jesus Christ.

4. Spiritual Temple

• Ephesians 2:20–22: “[This temple is] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
• Isaiah 28:16: “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.’”
• Matthew 7:24–26: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and [obeys them] is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.”
• 1 Peter 2:4–5: “As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

In this illustration, Christ is the foundation, and each believer is built on the foundation stone of Christ. Additionally, every believer is vitally connected to every other member of God’s church as the body is vitally connected to Christ the head and to every other member of the body. So we practice what Scripture says: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–31).

The Family of God

If Christ is the head of the church, which consists of all his elect members of Christ’s body, then every true believer belongs to God’s family. So we are sons and daughters of God, and we are brothers and sisters of others in God’s family. We all enjoy union with Christ, resulting in fellowship with God and fellowship with each other. We are interested in others. We ask, “How are you doing? Do you have any need?” We are interested in knowing.

• Galatians 6:10: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
• Luke 10:27: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

This means we must pray for each other and minister to each other, meeting each other’s needs as members of God’s family.

• Ephesians 6:18–19: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.”
• Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
• 1 Corinthians 14:26: “What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.” We have a responsibility to strengthen other people.
• Romans 12:6–8: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him prophesy in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

If any brother or sister has any need, we must help that person joyfully. “He who stole, let him steal no longer, but let him work with his hands, that he may give to those in need” (Eph. 4:28).

• 1 John 3:16–18: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother or sister in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
• Acts 2:44–45: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
• Acts 4:34–35: “There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”
• Romans 12:13: “Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Every elect of God is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the first fruit of the Spirit is sacrificial love. So we must love our brothers and sisters, even as Christ loved the church and died for her salvation.

The heart of union with Christ is found in John 15:10. Jesus said. “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” And we are told that Jesus “learned obedience by the things he suffered and . . . became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him” (Heb. 5:8–9). It is a lie to say that we do not have to repent or obey. The devil rejoices in those who believe such lies because they are going to the same place to which the devil is to be sent.

Union with Christ means his life is continually flowing into us to produce fruit, more fruit, and much fruit for the glory of God the Father. May God help us to be filled with his word and the Holy Spirit so that we may do the will of him who chose us from eternity past to be holy and blameless in his sight. To God be all glory!

[1] James M. Boice, Foundations of the Christian Faith, rev. edition (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1986)), 390.

[2] John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955), 164. See also Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995), 840.

[3] Examples are from Boice, Foundations, 393–395.