Revisiting Redemption through Union with Christ
- Protim Adhikari
- Mar 13, 2011
- Series: Subversion - Jesus as Lord in the Book of Colossians
While there are unending treasures to be covered and uncovered in Scripture, the doctrine of union between Christ and His people has been called the central truth of salvation1 and the foundation of all believers' experience.2 For followers of Jesus, there is no deeper wellspring of joy, comfort, and strength in the Lord’s Person and Work.
However, in his treatment of this relationship between Jesus and His followers, A. W. Pink, a respected theologian of the 19th and 20th centuries, wrote:
“…the subject of spiritual union is the most important, profound, and yet,
the most blessed of any that is set forth in the Scriptures and yet, sad to say,
there is hardly any which is now more generally neglected…
Probably its very profundity is the reason why it is so largely ignored in this superficial age…“3
In all likelihood, few of us have ever heard or made any explicit mention of our union with Jesus. Indeed, its bottomless riches are perhaps one reason why it has been overlooked. So then, if we are among the ignorant, let us chart a different course forward in understanding this massive truth and Gospel reality. Let us examine both the doctrine and ourselves in order to see if we are living in light of what God has revealed. If so…rejoice! If not…rejoice again, for we have been given the means for growing in our knowledge of, and love for, God. So then, the doctrine of union with Christ is meant, first and foremost, for the worship of God and the well-being of His people, not merely the building up of our libraries…though, I do enjoy God, people and books…though not all equally.
The Roadmap
Where do we begin? Many map out this topic in three distinct steps.4 That is, our union with Christ is:
1) rooted in God’s designs from eternity
2) grounded in Christ’s accomplishments in history (birth, life, death, burial, resurrection, and reign)
3) applied to believers’ lives and experience in this age and the age to come
We will focus on the application of redemption to believers (#3). As such, we run the risk of slicing our treatment too thinly by foregoing attempts to penetrate God’s thoughts and plans from eternity (#1) and their execution in Christ’s achievements in history (#2). Nevertheless, given the scope of this essay, I commend you to the Scriptures and bibliography for further study and reflection.
For our purposes, we will journey along the following path. First, we will consider the structure of union and provide the context for viewing Christ and the blessings we receive in the Gospel. Next, we will look to the biblical and theological language of union and recognize how Scripture and theologians articulate the doctrine. Lastly, we will conclude our discussion by anchoring it to our work and rest in Christ, by the Spirit, and for the Father’s world.
The Structure of Union
Consider the following question posed by one of history’s great theologians:
“How do we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on His only-begotten Son
not for Christ’s own private use, but that He might enrich poor and needy men?5
In order to judge how we “poor and needy men (and women)” experience these “benefits,” let’s examine the two most familiar ones — justification and sanctification — within the context of union with Christ. For the purposes of this discussion, let's begin with some classic definitions:
Justification – God credits Jesus’ righteousness to believers. As a result, believers stand righteous before God in light of Jesus’ perfect standing.
Sanctification – God’s provides Jesus’ holiness to believers. As a result, believers are now empowered to live changed lives, pursue good works, and grow in Christlike character.
Perhaps you see a difficulty emerging here. After all, we know that Scripture teaches BOTH that we are forgiven on the basis of Jesus’ perfect righteousness AND that we must pursue Christ-likeness in life and mission. But, if we’ve already been declared perfect before God, where is our incentive for good works? Why do anything now in an attempt to top, or add to, what Jesus has already done? In fact, many have excused themselves of living changed lives (sanctification) by appealing to their “perfect standing” before God (justification). However, the Bible anticipates such questions and closes these would-be loopholes (Rom 3:5, 6:1, 15). Our theological articulation and understanding would do well to follow the Scriptures on such matters.
Some popular Gospel presentations carry us along a sequence, or “chain,” of benefits in which we move from one blessed link to the next (see diagram below). Here, we extract the joy of one gift before progressing to the next part of the chain. In this paradigm, changed lives are either responses to Christ’s forgiveness or simple obedience to God’s commands (“Jesus teaches. We follow.”). These are fine as far as they go, but they must go further.
In union with Christ, we have a more elegant answer. Here, we find an organic connection between our justification (perfect standing) and our sanctification (transformed living): Jesus Himself. As long as we remain apart from Him, we experience no Gospel blessings!6 However, should we be united to Jesus so that we are “in Christ” and He "in us,” all that He has becomes ours. To put it plainly, we have all the benefits if we have been definitively united to the Benefactor (Jesus)7 and so, the only way that there would be any conflict between justification and sanctification would be if believers only received a partial Christ. But, we do not receive only the Christ who forgives or the Christ who transforms, but both. We receive the whole Christ! If we desire freedom from sin’s power (sanctification), we must receive Christ. If we want freedom from sin’s guilt (justification), we must receive Christ. But, since both are given distinctly, yet inseparably and simultaneously in Him, we possess all at once...in Christ.8
What we see is that by being united to a complete, comprehensive, and whole Christ, we are relieved of groping for, or leaning exclusively on, one benefit until we come to the next. By faith in Jesus, we are united to all that He is and has done. As a result, we now enjoy all things because He has become them for us (1 Cor 1:30, Col 3:4, Eph 1:3). In short, union with Christ centers on the Lord and keeps Him as the root and fiber of all truth and experience.
So, just as the sunlight in our rooms points to something more basic (the sun), so the benefits of the Gospel manifest something more fundamental: our union with the Son of God Himself.9
The Biblical Language of Union
If this is such a cornerstone of biblical truth, how can we know when we’ve come across it in our English Bibles? Will the phrase “union with Christ” appear on every other page? Hardly. We won’t find it. Then again, neither can we highlight, boldface, or underline trinity, incarnation, and bible. However, there are two approaches employed by biblical writers: prepositions and metaphors/images. First, let’s look at the little words that point to this Gibraltar-esque truth.
Prepositions (“in,” “with,” “for”)10
“in” – To be “in Christ” summarizes all that it means to be a Christian. In fact, this was the chief manner in which the earliest believers thought of themselves. No doubt, this resulted from the fact that the early Church tooks its cue from the writings of the Apostles (Acts 2:42). Certainly, this was Paul’s most oft-preferred expression for describing union. If you read his epistles (letters), you will find it extremely hard to miss. To this day, “in Christ” remains the single greatest reminder that to be a follower of Jesus is to have our identity anchored in Him so that our activity reflects His character, nature, and purposes.
“with” – In some way, by God’s design, when Jesus died, we died with Him to the crushing burden of sin’s guilt and condemnation. Likewise, when He rose in triumph, we rose with Him in newness of life under His good, gracious and victorious reign. So, we see that when biblical writers, especially Paul, pen the phrase “with Christ,” they are referring to our union with Jesus during the most climactic moments in redemptive history, namely His death and resurrection.
“for” – What has been done in and with Christ has been done “for us.” God had appointed His Son to be a representative head for a new humanity (Rom 5:12-21) such that what Jesus did and became through life, death, resurrection, and reign, He has done and become for our benefit, to deliver a salvation that was suited to our condition and needs.
Metaphors, Images
In addition to these short punctuated phrases, Scripture is replete with metaphors and images that are loaded with meaning, particularly regarding God’s relationship with His people. Rather than unpacking each of these motifs, I’ll merely point you to the Bible so that you can see a small sampling of how frequently, diversely, and uniquely God presents our bond with Jesus.
Old Testament: High Priest’s garments (Exod 28),
David as Israel’s representative (1 Sam 17)
Suffering Servant (Isa 53)
New Testament: Baptism (Rom 6), Head-Body (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 1, 4, 5)
Cornerstone-Building (Eph 2, 1 Pet 2), Husband-Wife (Rom 7, Eph 5)
Vine-Branches (John 15), in Adam-in Christ (Rom 5, 1 Cor 15)
God-Temple (1 Cor 3)
The Theological Language of Union
Having studied the biblical revelation regarding union with Christ, many have attempted the tall task of categorizing it. So, the more theologically-inclined have opted for these adjectives, among others: spiritual, mystical, and vital.11 Most of us would likely have settled for something like “awesome” or “Jesus for the win!”
Spiritual - First and foremost, as we have mentioned, union is an intimate relationship with Jesus. But, He is not merely the source and ultimate destination of that bond. Rather, our bond continues and flourishes by direct participation with Christ through the Holy Spirit. In His resurrection, Jesus was transformed and consumed by the Holy Spirit in such a way that though they remain distinct in identity, they have become one in activity (1 Cor. 15:45). As such, the presence and power of the Spirit in our lives is the presence and power of Christ Himself (Eph 1:19-20). Though our culture uses the word “spiritual” to describe a wide spectrum of ecstatic exercises, we mean it with a capital “S.” In other words, God the Holy Spirit, initiates, nurtures, and completes our union with God the Son.
Mystical – Finding earthly analogies to describe this connection can prove to be a rather elusive task. Thus, we call the union mystical. Again, let’s keep the cultural connotations of mysticism at a distance. This simply means that our union is like nothing else and is easier to describe in terms of what it is not. So, it is not like the union between the persons of the Trinity (ontological), the human and divine natures of Christ (hypostatic), and the human body and soul (psychosomatic). The closest analogy is the one seen in Scripture (Eph 5:22-33), but the mystical nature of union with Christ surpasses even that mysterious oneness between husband and wife (“one-flesh”).
However, there is something that Scripture does reveal about this mystery. It was purposely hidden by God, both in eternity and in earlier stages of history. But now, through the unfolding of God’s plan in time, this mystery has unfolded in the Gospel and will find its full bloom in the realization of the kingdom. There, our union will be experienced in HD, 4D, surround-sound, sensory-overloaded joy with followers of Jesus from every tribe, tongue, people group, and nation.
Vital – Though the affections, intents, and actions of Jesus have become ours in Christ, we have also been given His life-sustaining and flourishing resources. Simply put, walking in the newness of life is now not only a slight possibility, it is a promise fueled by the presence and power of God Himself. But, just as we are often unaware of the circulation of the blood in our body, so too the extent to which Christ is the very source and condition of our life may escape us. So take heart for though our present state and pressures of life may distract us, by virtue of our union with Jesus, Christ remains our life. Amen!
As we bring our discussion to a close, we see how the life of Christ acts as the fountain from which our life in Christ flows, springing us forward into his mission through our work and rest.
Union with Christ in Work & Rest (“The Already & The Yet to Come”)
When we began our discussion, we looked at two structures of redemption. In the more popular paradigm, we were carried by faith along an assembly line of blessings, one after the other. In looking at the application of redemption through our union with Christ, we were united to Jesus by faith and He became all that we need since what we truly need is Christ Himself. There is one extremely helpful facet of redemption that remains hidden in the former, but becomes obvious in the latter.12 By putting Jesus at the forefront, the doctrine of union bookends our redemption with the two comings of Christ. Through the work of His first coming, in His decisive victory at the cross & empty tomb, we have “already” come into the possession of every and all spiritual blessings (justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification). Yet, the tangible, full-blown and full-bodied experience of these Gospel gifts is “yet to come” and awaits the return of our Lord and King.
Practically, this means that in our prayers, the “already” gives us boldness, while the “yet to come” gives us hope and eager expectation. In our care for others, the “already” imparts assurance and comfort, while the “yet to come” imparts patience and a path for maturity. In our teaching and training, the “already” provides us with power through a great Gospel wind at our backs, while the “yet to come” reminds us that perfection yet awaits us because of the many headwinds that come against us in a still-fallen world. Finally, in rest, we may “already” cease from our toil in the sabbath rest of Jesus, while we anticipate the indestructible rest and peace in the kingdom “yet to come.”
As you can see, the breadth and scope of Jesus and our union with Him is deep and wide. Earlier, I used the word "bottomless" and indeed it is. Hopefully, this primer has combed the service and given us a glimpse of the greatness of being followers of Jesus, those who are “in Christ.” Though the range of our essay has allowed us to only rake some leaves, by God’s grace, we will turn to Him and His Word to spend the rest of our lives mining for gold.
In Christ, by the Spirit, for the Father’s world,
Protim Adhikari (“Tim”)
ENDNOTES
1 J. Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids, MI.: Eerdmans, 1955), 170.
2 S. Ferguson, Know Your Christian Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1981), 92–93.
3 A.W. Pink, Spiritual Union and Communion (Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker, 1971), 7.
4 S. Ferguson, The Holy Spirit (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1996), 104.
5 J. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Volume 1, 3.1.1 (Louisville, KY.: Westminster Press, 2006), 537.
6 Ibid., p.537
7 Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 102.
8 Calvin., p.798
9 Westminster Larger Catechism, Question #69, (also available at www.reformed.org/documents/larger1.html)
10 Ferguson, The Holy Spirit,108.
11 Murray, 165-171.
12 Ferguson, The Holy Spirit, 102-105.
