The Bible speaks of disciples as people who are “in Christ.” This is the language of union with Jesus. By nature, we are all “in Adam,” which means spiritual death. By grace, God puts undeserving sinners “in Christ,” which is life everlasting (1 Cor. 15:22; Rom. 5:12–21). This is the reality that the Apostle Paul addresses in Ephesians 1, where the phrase “in Christ” appears repeatedly. To be without Christ is abject misery. To be in Christ is true salvation. To be like Christ is real holiness. To be with Christ is joy beyond compare. He is the root and source of every blessing. We need, therefore, to grasp certain sweet realities about the Christian’s union with Christ Jesus.
1. Union with Christ is real.
It is not just a nice idea that we are somehow connected to a distant Jesus. It is a real and a vital (living and lively) connection. We sometimes call it a mystical union. This does not mean that it is fanciful or notional. It means that union between Christ and believers, as God has revealed it, is brought about supernaturally by the Holy Spirit in a way not easily described. Faith, granted to us and worked in us by the Spirit (Eph. 2:1–10), brings us into a relationship with Christ in which we share His life, so much so that when our Lord confronted Saul of Tarsus about Saul’s persecution of Christ’s people, Christ asked him, “Why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).
2. Union with Christ is saving.
Our standing with God is based on our relationship to Jesus Christ. We are washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness. He was made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). We were predestined to adoption by Christ and are now accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:5–6), beloved of God for His sake. Is it not wonderful to consider that God deals with you as one with Jesus, never apart from Him? That is how we are justified—declared righteous in God’s eyes because of the righteousness of Christ Jesus put to our account. All our confidence comes from this.
3. Union with Christ is sanctifying.
The Spirit of God dwells in the hearts of all who belong to Christ; we are conformed to His image (Rom. 8:28–29). We cannot have union with the Lord Jesus without increasing and ongoing change. A new heart must give rise to new life. Where there is a new root, we produce new fruit. Having died to sin in our Savior and risen again to newness of life with Him, we now live a life for the glory of God, presenting ourselves to God as alive from the dead and our members as instruments of righteousness to God (Rom. 6:1–14). The power for this new life is that of the risen Jesus at work in us by His Spirit (Eph. 1:19–20; 2:5–6).
4. Union with Christ is comforting.
We have mentioned the comfort of knowing that God accepts us for Christ’s sake, and that Jesus feels the persecution of His people as the persecution of His own body. To be united to Jesus is to be one with Him and in true fellowship with all others who are in Him. That is the level of intimacy and affection involved in union with Christ. All the images of that union point to this: the Head with the members of the body; the Bridegroom with His beloved bride; the Good Shepherd with His blood-bought flock; the Chief Cornerstone and the living stones; the Living Vine and the enlivened branches. The church is spoken of as the one whom Christ purchased with His own blood, whom He perfectly loves, for whom He perfectly cares, whom He constantly guards and guides, with all His wisdom and power as the risen Redeemer now directed and devoted toward bringing His people at last to be with Him where He is (John 17:24).
5. Union with Christ is transforming.
That prayer of Jesus that we will be with Him and may behold His God-given glory (John 17:24) will be answered. In sanctification, we are being conformed to Christ. In glorification, we are transformed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, entirely and comprehensively, into His image. It will not just be our character that bears the impress of His image; our whole humanity will be like His because we belong to Him. If He is the firstfruits of the glorious harvest, then all who are united to Him must follow. We must bear the image of the heavenly man (1 Cor. 15:49). We shall share His resurrection life in all its glorious fullness. The work begun when the Spirit of Christ renewed our hearts and took up residence in them will be comprehensively completed, and our union with Him will be entirely and eternally manifest.
This is the union of the new covenant in Christ Jesus, in which He—our Prophet, Priest, and King—stands as our true representative before His Father and ours, and we all enjoy all the fruits of that intimate, Spirit-worked connection—now, increasingly, and soon, fully and finally.
Ligonier Ministries