Union with Christ

John Murray on Union with Christ

Tony Reinke John Murray, Union with Christ

A favorite little theology text is John Murray’s Redemption: Accomplished and Applied (Eerdmans). It’s not a large book and it’s not a new book (now 55 years old), but it’s the wonderful fruit of a first-rate theologian. Since I recently posted my scribbles from a lecture on the topic of union with Christ I figured I would post a few quotes from the second-to-final chapter of Murray’s RAA (“Union with Christ,” pages 161–173). Murray is not a man of overstatement.

On page 170: “Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation. All to which the people of God have been predestined in the eternal election of God, all that has been secured and procured for them in the once-for-all accomplishment of redemption, all of which they become the actual partakers in the application of redemption, and all that by God’s grace they will become in the state of consummated bliss is embraced within the compass of union and communion with Christ.”

On page 171: “It is out of the measureless fullness of grace and truth, of wisdom and power, of goodness and love, of righteousness and faithfulness which resides in him that God’s people draw for all their needs in this life and for the hope of the life to come. There is no truth, therefore, more suited to impart confidence and strength, comfort and joy in the Lord than this one of union with Christ.”

Union with Christ

Tony Reinke Union with Christ

I recently listened to Richard Gaffin’s lecture “Union with Christ in the New Testament,” recorded in 2006. And these are my notes.

We see a comprehensive sweep of our union with Christ from eternity to eternity:

• Eternal origin: Predestinated in Christ (Eph 1:4)

• Eternal end: Glorified in Christ (Rom 8:17, 1 Cor 15:22)

Gaffin then makes three categorical distinctions of this union:

• Predestinarian union with Christ (Eph 1:4).

• Redemptive-historical union with Christ (Rom 6:1–14). The union that is involved as we are seen as one with Christ when he actually accomplished our salvation. We are crucified, buried, raised up with Christ.

• Applicatory (or existential) union with Christ. Paul percieved himself as one chosen in Christ from eternity (1) and as one who was contemplated in Christ during his death/resurrection (2). But Paul also knew that he was at one time NOT united to Christ, but was rather a child of wrath (Rom 16:7). So what effects the transition from wrath to grace? That point came when Paul was united to Christ by faith.

These are not three distinct unions but three facets to the single union.

Under “applicatory union” Gaffin makes these further points:

• Mystical union. It is mystical union because it involves a great mystery, a mystery that has its closest analogy in the relationship between a husband and a wife (Eph 5). Marital union and intimacy does not blur the distinctions between the husband and wife. So our union with Christ does not blur the clear personal distinction between Christ and the Christian. Christ remains our representative. This point protects us from mysticism.

• Spiritual union. It is spiritual because of the activity and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This union is not ontological (like the Trinity), not hypostatic (like the two natures of Christ), not psychosomatic (body-soul relationship), not one flesh (like marriage), nor is it merely intellectual and moral (as if Christ and the believe now merely share a common purpose). Spiritual union is rooted in the relationship between Christ and the Holy Spirit.

• Reciprocal union. Believers are in Christ and Christ is also in them. The hope of the church is that Christ “is in you” (Col 1:27).

• Vital union. Christ’s indwelling is the very life of the believer (Gal 2:20, Col 3:4).

• Permanent union. Rooted in election, our union will reach its final consummation in glorification. At the end of Rom 8 Paul says that nothing, not even death, can separate us from the love of Christ. Why? Because not even death can separate us from Christ. Westminster Confession: “The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.”

• Corporate union. Union is obviously very personal. But it’s also corporate (1 Cor 1:9, 12:13). The call that comes to each believer is also a call into fellowship with His Body. There is no union that is not also fellowship with other believers. Never polarize the personal and corporate concerns.

• Union and justification. We do not have our justification apart from, or prior to, our being united to Christ. Justification is a manifestation of our union with Christ.

John Calvin, Institutes, 3.11.10: “that joining together of Head and members, that indwelling of Christ in our hearts—in short, that mystical union—are accorded by us the highest degree of importance, so that Christ, having been made ours, makes us sharers with him in the gifts with which he has been endowed. We do not, therefore, contemplate him outside ourselves from afar in order that his righteousness may be imputed to us but because we put on Christ and are engrafted into his body—in short, because he deigns to make us one with him.”

Conclusion. A focus on our union with Christ will keep our focus on Christ himself, on his person, rather than being preoccupied merely by the benefits we receive from Him. It keeps Christ central. It will not allow him to fade into the background as a mere facilitator of these benefits.

It is an excellent lecture and you can download the MP3 from the WTS media center (login may be required). Or listen here:

No such ‘thing’ as grace

Tony Reinke Grace, Sinclair Ferguson, Union with Christ

Sinclair Ferguson has a new book coming out soon, By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me. Can’t wait to read it. Whenever I think of grace I am reminded of his message on John 15 from the 2007 Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference in Grantham, PA. Sitting in a sweltering chapel listening to him preach for the first time in person my understanding of grace was shaped and I came to discover the depth and riches of our union with Christ. I’ll never forget when Ferguson said this:

“The union with Christ we have is not that we somehow share His grace. Because–follow me carefully–there actually is no ‘thing’ as grace. That actually is a Medieval Roman Catholic teaching, that there is a ‘thing’ called grace that can be separated from the person of Jesus Christ, something Jesus Christ won on the Cross, something He can bestow on you, and there are at least seven ways it can be bestowed on you and they all, as it happens, turn out to be in the hands of the church. And you can have this kind of grace, and this kind of grace, and this kind of grace …

There is no such ‘thing’ as grace! Grace is not some appendage to His being. Nor is it some substance that flows from us: ‘Let me give you grace.’ All there is is the Lord Jesus Himself. And so when Jesus speaks about us abiding in Him and He abiding in us–however mysterious it may be, mystical in that sense–it is a personal union. Do not let us fail to understand that, at the end of the day, actually Christianity is Christ because there isn’t anything else; there is no atonement that somehow can be detached from who the Lord Jesus is; there is no grace that can be attached to you transferred from Him. All there is is Christ and your soul.”

United with Christ

Tony Reinke BR > Christian Focus, Union with Christ

The following is one of the sweetest descriptions of the believers union with Christ I have read. The text originates from a fictional dialogue between a pastor, a legalist, an antinomian, and a young Christian, as written by Edward Fisher in his 1650 book The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Christian Focus, 2009). The Marrow Controversy is an important event that raised significant questions about how we should best explain the grace of God, the Christian life, and even the gospel! I think every Christian should be aware of the debate and I hope to write more about what this event in Church history can teach us.

But today I am simply pleased to announce a reissued and re-typeset version of Fisher’s classic by our friends at Christian Focus in Scotland. [Thank you!]

The following excerpt explains the reality of the Christian’s union with Christ and the far-reaching consequences of living consciously aware of this union. The language is beautiful.

The quote I’ve selected is taken from the fictional dialogue. You are about to read the words of a pastor as he speaks directly to a young Christian to help him grasp the significance of his union with Christ. I’ve divided the text to help in the process of reading and reflection. Hopefully you are not distracted. Sweet words!—

––––––––––––––––––

I tell you from Christ,
and under the hand of the Spirit,
that your person is accepted,
your sins are done away,
and you shall be saved;
and if an angel from heaven should tell you otherwise,
let him be accursed.

Therefore, you may (without doubt) conclude
that you are a happy man;
for by means of this your matching with Christ,
you are become one with him,
and one in him,
you ‘dwell in him, and he in you’ (1 John 4:13).

He is ‘your well beloved, and you are his’ (S. of S. 2:16).

So that the marriage union betwixt Christ and you
is more than a bare notion or apprehension of your mind;
for it is a
special,
spiritual, and
real union:
it is an union betwixt the nature of Christ,
God and man,
and you;
it is a knitting and closing,
not only of your apprehension with a Saviour,
but also of your soul with a Saviour.

Whence it must needs follow that you cannot be condemned,
except Christ be condemned with you;
neither can Christ be saved,
except you be saved with him.

And as by means of corporeal marriage all things become common betwixt man and wife;
even so, by means of this spiritual marriage,
all things become common betwixt Christ and you;
for when Christ hath married his spouse unto himself,
he passeth over all his estate unto her;
so that whatsoever Christ is or hath,
you may boldly challenge as your own.

‘He is made unto you, of God,
wisdom,
righteousness,
sanctification,
and redemption’ (1 Cor. 1:30).

And surely,
by virtue of this near union it is,
that as Christ is called ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (Jer. 23:6),
even so is the church called, ‘the Lord our righteousness’ (33:16).

I tell you,
you may,
by virtue of this union,
boldly take upon yourself,
as your own,
Christ’s watching,
abstinence,
travails,
prayers,
persecutions,
and slanders;
yea,
his tears,
his sweat,
his blood,
and all that ever he did
and suffered
in the space of three and thirty years,
with his
passion,
death,
burial,
resurrection,
and ascension;
for they are all yours.

And as Christ passes over all his estate unto his spouse,
so does he require that she should pass over all unto him.
Wherefore,
you being now married unto Christ,
you must give all that you have of your own unto him;
and truly you have nothing of your own
but sin,
and, therefore, you must give him that.

I beseech you, then,
say unto Christ with bold confidence,
I give unto thee, my dear husband,
my unbelief,
my mistrust,
my pride,
my arrogancy,
my ambition,
my wrath,
and anger,
my envy,
my covetousness,
my evil thoughts,
affections,
and desires;
I make one bundle of these and all my other offences,
and give them unto thee.

And thus was Christ made ‘sin for us, that knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him’ (2 Cor. 5:21).

‘Now then,’
says Luther,
‘let us compare these things together,
and we shall find inestimable treasure.

Christ is full of
grace,
life,
and saving health;
and the soul is freight-full of all
sin,
death,
and damnation;
but let faith come betwixt these two,
and it shall come to pass,
that Christ shall be laden with
sin,
death,
and hell;
and unto the soul shall be imputed
grace,
life,
and salvation.

Who then is able to value the royalty of this marriage accordingly?

Who is able to comprehend the glorious riches of his grace,
where this rich and righteous husband,
Christ,
doth take unto wife this poor and wicked harlot,
redeeming her from all devils,
and garnishing her with all his own jewels?

So that you,
through the assuredness of your faith in Christ, your husband,
are delivered from all sins,
made safe from death,
guarded from hell,
and endowed with the
everlasting righteousness,
life,
and saving health
of this your husband Christ.’”

—Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Christian Focus, 2009), pp. 166–167.

2007 Sermons of the Year

Tony Reinke Banner of Truth, Sinclair Ferguson, Union with Christ

The end of December is an ideal time to reflect on God’s blessings from the past year. And today I am reminded of some specific memories from the Spring.

The Banner of Truth invited me to attend their minister’s conference in Grantham, Pennsylvania. To my surprise, when I landed in the Harrisburg airport I was kindly chauffeured to the conference in the same car as Dr. Sinclair Ferguson and Dr. Derek Thomas. It was a memorable 45 minutes, as the two men laughed over funny pulpit experiences. Ferguson’s humor had me rolling the entire trip, like the time he bought some marmalade as a gift for his wife and attempted to bring it through airport security. The gift was confiscated. Apparently, he concluded, the United States is fearful of being attacked by marmalade. The story seemed especially funny with the punch line packaged in a thick Scottish accent.

The conference at Messiah College was sunny and hot. Derek Thomas took a chance of speaking without a jacket on, and his friends caught word over at Reformation21. Dr. Thomas took the brunt of some public correction and perhaps lost points with Mississippi Presbyterians and “British Lloyd Jonesites.” The heat was too intense for a jacket. I think I was wearing jean shorts.

At the end of the first night of messages I experienced the now-famous Ferguson walk through the conference bookstore. The bookstore was stuffed with onlookers, and Ferguson wove his way around the tables of Banner treasures, holding up specific volumes long enough to expound their value in the library of a “gospel minister” (another phrase that sounds great with the Scottish accent). Among others, he lifted Iain Murray’s 2-volume biography of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, B.B. Warfield’s Faith and Life, Charles Bridges’ The Christian Ministry, J.C. Ryle’s The Upper Room, and Gerhard Vos’ Biblical Theology. Every book he mentioned was drastically cut in price and snatched up quickly. He began the walk through the bookstore with a memorable preface. When he graduated seminary, the really useful books printed by Evangelical publishers could easily fit on one shelf. In other words, we are blessed to have so many excellent volumes available today.

Overall, I had great roommates in the shared dorms. We shared a lot of laughs, ate some wonderful food, and met several new friends. The format of the conference was a bit more formal than I’m used to, but experiencing the Holy Spirit’s work in different settings and formats is always encouraging. And my time with Steve was encouraging and edifying, especially the late drive from the conference to the Banner of Truth warehouse in Carlisle, PA. Because of a tight schedule, time allowed only a midnight tour of the Banner warehouse. It was a conference highlight.

These conference memories come back because last week (after I released my top books of the year), I received an email from a reader (Dean) inquiring about my list of favorite messages I’d heard this year. My “Now on my iPod…” on the sidebar spikes listener interest and some assume that I compile a lot of audio messages (which I don’t). But I like the idea, and off Dean’s advice I set out to complete a top-10 list of favorite messages from 2007. As much as I tried, the list never came together for me. Next year I’ll take note of favorite messages throughout the year (as I do in compiling favorite books).

Despite being unable to complete a top 10-list, there is no debate over my top two favorite messages from 2007. Sitting in an oak pew in the balcony of a hot Pennsylvania chapel, I remember frantically writing down notes in a Moleskine as I absorbed every word from Ferguson’s two messages. It was the first time seeing Ferguson in person, and his messages struck deep because he turned my attention to the Cross in a way I had not previously considered.

Taking his cue from Titus 2:11-15, Ferguson expounded how our sanctification is the purchase of the Cross. In other words, when we consider our personal growth in holiness, we should be reminded that Christ purchased this sanctification for us. It was a stirring message, and I left with a deeper appreciation for the Cross.

I could explain both messages in detail, but I’ve already written summaries and your time would be best spent listening to the audio for yourselves. Enjoy.

“Our Holiness: The Father’s Purpose and the Son’s Purchase” (Titus 2:11-14)
by Sinclair Ferguson
May 29, 2007
Blog summary
Download MP3 (1:02:31, 35.8 MB)

“Our Holiness: Abiding in Christ’s Love” (John 15:1-11)
by Sinclair Ferguson
May 30, 2007
Blog summary
Download MP3 (1:07:52, 38.5 MB)

……………

Related: Transcripted excerpt from the first message titled Supporting the imperatives to holiness.

Related: Transcripted excerpt from the second message titled No such ‘thing’ as grace.