Union with Christ and Christian Living
by Bryan Carlson
“Union with Christ is a phrase used to summarize several different relationships between believers and Christ, through which Christians receive every benefit of salvation. These relationships include the fact that we are in Christ, Christ is in us, we are like Christ, and we are with Christ” (Grudem 840). “Union with Christ is the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation…Union with Christ reaches its zenith in adoption, and adoption has its orbit in union with Christ” (Murray 170). “God’s grace transforms us through our union and communion with Jesus Christ…His uniting himself to us in our human nature is the basis for our uniting ourselves to him in faith” (Ferguson 55). “This for [Paul] was the essence of being a Christian – being united to Jesus Christ by faith, so that he typically described believers as those who were in Christ…On average in appears in his letters in one form or another between two and three times per chapter” (Ferguson 61).
Grudem talks about the three aspects of our union with Christ (Grudem 840-850):
God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4, 11-12; 2 Timothy 1:9).
Christ’s perfect life, death, and resurrection are accounted to us (Romans 5:19; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:6).
During our lives now:
Dying and rising with Christ (Col 2:12; Rom 6:4, 11; 2 Cor 5:17)
New life in Christ – “It is ‘in Christ’ that we are called to salvation (1 Cor 7:22), regenerated (Eph 1:3, 2:10), and justified (Rom 8:1; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 2:17; Eph 1:7; Phil 3:9; Col 1:14). ‘In Christ we die (1 Thess 4:16; Rev 14:13) and ‘in him’ our bodies will be raised up again (1 Cor 15:22). These passages suggest that because our lives are inseparably connected to Christ himself; the Holy Spirit gives us all the blessings that Christ has earned” (Grudem 843).
All our actions can be done in Christ (Col 2:6-7).
We are one Body in Christ (John 17:21; Rom 12:5; 1 Cor 10:17; 12:12-27)
Erickson also talk about the characteristics of our union with Christ (Erickson 961-967):
Judicial in nature. God always sees the believer in union with Christ and measures the two of them together. Thus, he does not say, “Jesus is righteous, but that human is unrighteous.” He sees the two as one and says in effect, “They are righteous.”
The union is spiritual. It is effected by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:13; Rom 8:9-11) and it is a union of spirits.
Our union with Christ is vital. His life actually flows into ours, renewing our inner nature (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 4:16) and imparting spiritual strength.
And Ericson talks about the implications of our union with Christ (Erickson 961-967):
We are accounted as righteous (Rom 8:1).
We now live in Christ’s strength (Phil 4:13; Gal 2:10; 2 Cor 12:9).
Being one with Christ also means that we will suffer (Mark 10:39; John 15:20; Phil 3:810; 1 Pet 4:13).
We have the prospect of reigning with Christ (2 Tim 2:12).
When a person believes in Jesus and is saved, they are joined to Christ in a spiritual union that is both positional and experiential. This can be compared to a marriage relationship, where the believer becomes one with Christ in a close, intimate, and permanent bond (Ephesians 5:31-32). Through our union with Christ, we die to sin and are raised to new life in him. Romans 6:3-5 says, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." Our identity is no longer defined by our sin, but by our relationship with Jesus. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). This changes the way we think about ourselves and our relationship with God, making us more confident in our salvation and in our ability to grow in holiness. Additionally, our union with Christ gives us access to all the benefits of salvation, including forgiveness of sin, righteousness, and peace with God.
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 840-850.
John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, 161-173.
Sinclair B. Ferguson, Devoted to God, 55-61.
Millard Erickson, Christian Theology, 961-967.
