Skip to content

Growing in Grace

"Watch your life and doctrine closely"

Menu
  • Recommended Reading
  • About
  • Writers’ Guild
  • Contact
Menu
Union with Christ; bride and bridegroom

Six Characteristics of Union With Christ

Posted on October 18, 2021January 27, 2022 by James Williams

One of the great encouragements of Scripture is that believers are said to be “in Christ.” Not only have we been forgiven and redeemed, we have been united with Christ. While this is great news, this doctrine can often be mysterious. The better we understand this great truth the more we’ll be encouraged in our faith!

We continue our study of  “Great Doctrines of the Bible (vol. 2)” by Martyn Lloyd-Jones (MLJ) by looking at chapter 11, “Union With Christ.”

What Union with Christ Does Not Mean

MLJ begins by stating two negatives to clarify what union with Christ does not mean. First, he states that union with a believer and Jesus is not a “confusion of persons.” In other words, the believer and Christ are not joined to form some third type of being. He states: “It must not be thought of in the sense that our substance, or the essence of our being, becomes merged and lost in the substance, or the essence of being, of our Lord” (106-107). He clarifies this because of the teaching of some mystics or certain eastern religions that hold to similar teachings.

Second, he states that union with Christ is not merely a union of interest. When we are united with Christ our interests certainly should align with his, but it means more than this. Our union with Christ is deeper than merely joining an interest group.

Six Characteristics of Union with Christ

After providing two examples of what union with Christ does not mean, MLJ goes on to explain what it does mean. First, he argues that union with Christ is a spiritual union. First Corinthians 6:17: “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” We are joined to Christ by the indwelling Holy Spirit within us.

Second, union with Christ is a mystical union. In Ephesians 5, Paul teaches about the mystery of marriage and how two people come together to become one flesh. Then, Paul tells us that marriage shows us the union between Christ and and his church. Two are joined together in a mystical way while keeping their individual identities.

Union with Christ is also a vital union. The believer can only have spiritual life as he is abiding in Christ. Without the indwelling Holy Spirit and our union with Christ we are spiritually dead. It is a life-giving relationship: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20).

Fourth, union with Christ is organic. By this, MLJ explains that it is a union where we give and receive. Ephesians 4 explains: “Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (vv. 15-16). Believers are to grow in Christ and as we do so we each play a vital role. It is not a passive relationship.

Next, he says union with Christ is a personal union. This means every believer is in union with Christ. MLJ argues this against certain teaching that holds “we have no direct union with our Lord as individuals but that we are only connected to Him through the Church.” MLJ does not think it’s biblical to do away with the individual aspect: “we all have a personal relationship with our Lord, and it is only because of that that we are members of the body” (110-111).

Finally, union with Christ is an indissoluble union. One cannot go in and out of union with Christ. Once there is union with him it last forever and nothing can separate us from him (Romans 8:38-39).

Be encouraged, believer, that though we are sinful, we have been redeemed and united to our Lord in a union that cannot be dissolved nor taken away. We’ll be with him forever.

facebookShare on Facebook
TwitterTweet

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to receive all new posts:

About Me:

My name is James Williams and I serve as one of the pastors at FBC Atlanta, TX. I love preaching, writing, reading, growing vegetables, and running. My wife, Jenny, and I have four children and are actively involved in foster care. Read More…

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Instagram

Check out the audio blog:

Reading Through Leviticus

Many well-meaning Bible reading plans have derailed in Leviticus. Why does Leviticus feels tedious to us?

Blog: www.growingingrace.blog

Follow me on Facebook or Twitter!

I pray this episode served you well! Please consider leaving a rating on Apple Podcasts as this will help others find the podcast, and please share on social media!

Reading Through Leviticus
Reading Through Leviticus
March 9, 2023
I’ll See You in Heaven
February 21, 2023
Doubts and Questions in the Christian Life
January 19, 2023
Driven By Awe: Missions
November 14, 2022
Driven by Awe: Faithful Endurance
September 27, 2022
Driven By Awe: Fighting Sin
September 8, 2022
Driven by Awe: Humility
August 22, 2022
Driven by Awe
August 3, 2022
God Is Everywhere, Why Should I Go To Church?
May 29, 2022
Thinning the Peaches
May 16, 2022
Search Results placeholder

Subscribe:

RSS
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Instagram
  • Book Reviews
  • Christian Living
  • Devotional
  • Driven by Awe
  • Foster/Adoption
  • History
  • Links
  • Martyn Lloyd-Jones
  • Poetry
  • Theology
  • Uncategorized
  • Writing

Recent Sermons: Revelation 12- The Great Accuser

https://www.growingingrace.blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Revelation-12.m4a

Psalm 91- Fear and Foolishness

https://www.growingingrace.blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Psalm-91-Fear-and-Foolishness.m4a
©2023 Growing in Grace | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb