Union with Christ, Part 2

Driving home: He shall see of the travail of His soul, and He shall be satisfied.

Martin contrasts two interpretations of Christ's final cry: on the particular atonement view it is a triumphant declaration that real redemption has been effected; on the universal atonement view, when logic is pressed, it amounts to 'I am finished,' with nothing certainly secured for anyone.

Well, if the latter is true, then it forms the basis of the efficacy, the triumph, and the glory of the cross. The cry of our Lord, It is finished! is a triumphant declaration that a real redemption has been effected. If the former position is true, the cry, It is finished!

6:19 - 6:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: He shall see of the travail of His soul, and He shall be satisfied.

Martin compares Christ's assumption of his people's legal liabilities to co-signing for a debt: the one who becomes surety is as legally bound as if the debt were his own, making God morally obligated to Christ on behalf of his people.

in which the concept of debt to Christ enters, whereas if Christ actually assumed the legal obligations, the liabilities of His people, in His real and legal sense, is if you become surety for another person, as legally binding as when you co-sign for a debt. If Jesus Christ was actually constituted the federal head of His people, so that what He did in His life, culminating upon His activity upon the cross, is legally accepted before God, then you see the salvation of those whose debt was cancelled upon the cross

8:14 - 8:58 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second theological implication is that union with Christ is the governing framework of all redemptive activity -- design (chosen in Christ), procurement (died and buried in…

Martin coins a structural analogy: just as God's covenants are the governing framework of redemptive history, so union with Christ is the governing framework of all redemptive activity -- design, procurement, and application -- the orbit within which the whole of salvation is planned, procured, and accomplished.

What the covenants of God are to the history of redemption, that is, their structural framework, union with Christ is to the orbit of redemptive design, procurement, and application. That is, it is its governing framework. What the covenants are to the history of redemption, union with Christ is to the orbit of redemptive design, procurement, and application. Design, we were chosen how?

11:41 - 12:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second theological implication is that union with Christ is the governing framework of all redemptive activity -- design (chosen in Christ), procurement (died and buried in…

Martin uses the image of wrenching the central redemptive act (the cross) out of its larger orbit (union with Christ), arguing that doing so produces only disjuncture, fragmentation, and confusion -- as he himself experienced for years before understanding this doctrine.

Now if that's so, then you see the tragedy then of wrenching the central redemptive act out of that orbit. Nothing but disjuncture, fragmentation, and confusion. Results. And I'm sad to say that for years my thinking about the cross, though thank God there were elements of saving, attachment to Christ crucified, my thinking was filled with confusion, fragmentation, a bifurcation is a word that keeps coming to me, because I could not see the interrelatedness of divine revelation, because I was not seeing

13:04 - 13:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Believers should be equipped to defend the justice of penal substitution by understanding that Christ was not merely an innocent party substituted for the guilty, but was constituted the guilty one in his actual legal an…

From The Shadow of Calvary, Hugh Martin notes the twofold strand running through the gospel passion narratives: simultaneously the constant declaration of Christ's innocence (false witnesses who cannot agree, Pilate's wife's dream, Pilate washing his hands, the centurion's confession) and the constant appearance of guilt, which God used as an external object lesson of the internal spiritual reality of Christ being charged with the sins of his people.

that just about blew my mind when I read it. He said if you ever noticed how in the gospel records there is this two-fold strand of emphasis from the moment of Christ's arraignment or the moment of his capture in the garden when they came with swords and staves to take hold of him and took him to Pilate and Herod and back to Pilate and the rest. There is this two-fold strand. There is on the one hand the constant and at times almost mysterious declaration of his innocence and at the same time the constant affirmation of his guiltiness.

16:12 - 16:53 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third theological implication is that union with Christ is the only adequate defense against the accusation that penal substitution is unjust: the innocent did not merely…

Martin asks the listener to imagine arriving in Jerusalem as a stranger just as Christ was being dragged to trial: outwardly every appearance would be that of a guilty criminal, yet listening closely one would hear only declarations of innocence -- illustrating Christ's dual status as positionally guilty and personally innocent.

From the garden of Gethsemane until he is laid in Joseph's tomb his outward appearance would only come to Jerusalem say from Jakarta or you would come from New York or Rome or somewhere else and you came to Jerusalem and came into the town just at the time that Jesus Christ was being dragged by the soldiers to the place of trial. What would you have seen? In every outward form you would have seen what? A guilty criminal.

16:53 - 17:23 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin cautions against imposing a philosophical unifying principle on Scripture, but argues that union with Christ is not such an imposition -- it is a principle derived from the…

Martin quotes Hugh Martin: 'The keynote of federal theology as we take it is union with Christ... the idea of union with Christ is the leading thought in Calvin's theology, far more so than even all of the five celebrated points.'

Though it took shape as a formal scheme of doctrine or exposition later than the days of Calvin, it's virtually, through the predominance and ruling power in the institutes, the idea of union with Christ that is the leading thought in Calvin's theology, far more so than even all of the five celebrated points. And if this is true, if the heart and soul of this theology is found in the union and communion of Christ and his people, then it is so full of vital power that it will adopt into its service all fresh forms of literary effort and all valid products of literary culture. And he goes on to ...

23:19 - 24:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin defines 'experimental' in its older theological sense as experiential or devotional -- truth in its application to life and conscience rather than in philosophical…

Martin holds up John Owen as the supreme example of an experimental divine: no matter how high or deep Owen went in grappling with theological truth, he always brought it back to impinge upon the heart, the life, and the conscience -- always 'pinching you where you live.'

Well, divine is the old word for theologian. Experimental meant he was a theologian who wasn't just banding about ideas, he was always taking ideas and pinching you where you live. Now that's why we call John Owen the experimental divine par excellence. He stands head and shoulders above most divines because no matter how high he went or no matter how deep he went in grappling with truth, he was always bringing it back to impinge upon the heart, upon the life, upon the conscience.

25:47 - 26:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Pastors should recognize that correct soteriology is not merely academic: theological distinctions about the design of the atonement become urgently practical the moment a person is truly confronted with the question 'Ho…

Martin conducts a logical dialogue exposing the problem of universal atonement: if Christ died equally for Judas and Peter, and Judas is in hell, then either divine justice was not actually satisfied on the cross, or God is exacting double payment from Judas -- once in Christ as substitute and once in Judas himself.

Well, Judas is for me. My Bible says that Judas went to his own place. You mean Jesus did something to resolve the problem of sin, and he did it as much for Judas as he did for Peter. Peter's in heaven and Judas is in hell.

29:49 - 30:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Believers troubled by their own recurring sin should find rest in Romans 8:32 and 1 John 1:9 understood through union with Christ: God is 'faithful and righteous to forgive' because Christ actually bore those sins in uni…

Martin shares his personal struggle in early Christian life with the phrase 'faithful and righteous to forgive' in 1 John 1:9: righteousness seemed to demand condemnation, not forgiveness. The resolution came through union with Christ -- righteousness demands forgiveness because Christ actually bore those sins in union, creating a legal obligation on God.

where would you be? time and time again I had to come before God and say Lord here is your promise if we confess our sins he is faithful now I could understand that but that next word used to bother me he is faithful and righteous to forgive and that used to bother me I say how did righteousness enter into my forgiveness? righteousness says damn him he sinned again and if not damn him at least spank him good in the light of all his privileges righteous to forgive do you plead righteousness when you come seeking mercy from God? I don't say now Lord give me what I deserve and yet

34:05 - 34:49 Read in full sermon

The point: As believers age and death becomes more immediately present, they should be taught the indissolubility of union with Christ through death: the body in the grave is still in union with Christ, the Spirit still inhabits it…

Martin speaks personally of what it feels like to pass 40, realize half of life is gone, and begin to face death seriously -- arguing that vague general notions about Christ 'taking care of things' are insufficient and that union with Christ becomes the specific doctrinal buttress the soul needs when looking death square in the eye.

to think seriously about death and that is not wrong I think it is psychologically impossible for a young man to think too often about death or too frequently because or unless God puts him in circumstances where he has been chronically ill and death has come by very very frequently and so I am not trying to make you morbid but there is something about passing that 40th birthday and you realize if I have my three score and ten plus my extra ten half of it is gone and I tell you that hits you and you feel it right down here it is gone gone it is gone it is gone gone and I tell you when you feel...

35:34 - 36:19 Read in full sermon

The point: As believers age and death becomes more immediately present, they should be taught the indissolubility of union with Christ through death: the body in the grave is still in union with Christ, the Spirit still inhabits it…

Martin compares aging and watching successive generations die to soldiers moving up through the ranks in a Civil War battle: first the great-grandparents go, then the grandparents, then the parents, until one finds oneself at the front of the line with death immediately before.

who still are waiting to go into the grave before you you have got a living grandmother and a living mother who when all the grandparents die and then your parents start dying you know you are coming up in the ranks it is like being in a bloody battle during the civil war and they would line up and one wave of soldiers would come and they would line up you can imagine what it would be like in some of those bloody battles out there in Gettysburg and you knew in the fourth rank well you didn't you know there was apprehension but that is not so bad but one in the first rank of your buddies goes a...

36:19 - 37:03 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Apart from union with Christ, we cannot view past, present, or future with anything but dismay and Christless dread.

Murray is quoted: union with Christ in the virtue of his death and the power of his resurrection certifies election backward, seals the eternal inheritance in the present, and gives confidence of the future -- so that apart from union with Christ we cannot view past, present, or future without dismay and Christless dread.

He said, It is union with Christ now in the virtue of His death and the power of His resurrection that certifies to the believer the reality of His election in Christ before the foundation of the world. That's looking backward. He has the seal of an eternal inheritance because it is in Christ that He's sealed with the Spirit. And then, of course, it is this union with Christ that gives Him confidence of the future.

41:02 - 41:30 Read in full sermon

The point: Preachers should teach every doctrine within the larger framework of union with Christ -- election, redemption, new creation, sanctification, glorification all in Christ -- so that their teaching has symmetry and due pro…

Martin illustrates theological symmetry by contrasting the bodybuilder who develops only his biceps (huge arms, undeveloped calves and back) with the one who develops all muscle groups proportionally: union with Christ as the governing framework produces doctrinal symmetry, where every doctrine is seen in proper proportion to the whole.

Back when I was a kid and used to lift weights and look at the bodybuilders' magazines, one of the terms you'd find that so-and-so was noted for his symmetrical proportions. You might get some guy that he became a bicep nut and he just worked eight hours a day, and he had these big 20-inch gobby arms, but then he had these little skinny calves and these undeveloped lats or pecs or anything else. But someone else, he worked on all this, but there was symmetry. Everything fit together nicely.

44:24 - 44:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Preachers should teach every doctrine within the larger framework of union with Christ -- election, redemption, new creation, sanctification, glorification all in Christ -- so that their teaching has symmetry and due pro…

At pastors' conferences, brethren came to Martin distraught about charismatic divisions in their churches; Martin replied that Trinity Baptist did not have the problem, attributing this stability in part to the congregation's intelligent understanding of this doctrine, since people genuinely gripped by union with Christ do not go looking for novel spiritual experiences.

Ephesians chapter 4, You be no more children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. When I go off in pastors' conferences, which I don't do much anymore, not because I'm not invited or don't feel it's a necessary ministry, there's just too much to do here. But often, brethren come to me very distraught and say, Brother, what are you doing with the inroads of the charismatics in your church? I say, we don't have any.

46:56 - 47:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Fathers and shepherds can do few things better for those under their care than to teach the doctrine of the cross in the larger category of union with Christ: this is the content that produces intelligent stability, immu…

Hugh Martin wrote (late 1800s Scottish Highlands context) that many congregations, if questioned, would have to say as the Ephesian disciples did -- 'we have not so much as heard whether there be a doctrine of union with Christ' -- but that the pious eldership of well-taught churches know that their vitality and vigor are bound up with intelligent appreciation of this truth.

I'll give you a little incident from Hugh Martin and then I'll be, be done and we can have any questions for a few minutes if we need to. Hugh Martin, as he's pleading that people reconsider the doctrine of Christ's atonement in relationship to this larger category of union with Christ, says, there are not many congregations of the church that if questioned on the subject would as yet feel themselves driven to give an answer analogous to what Paul once got from certain disciples at Ephesus. We have not so much as heard whether there be any covenant of grace. We've not so much as heard whether ...

49:41 - 50:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Fathers and shepherds can do few things better for those under their care than to teach the doctrine of the cross in the larger category of union with Christ: this is the content that produces intelligent stability, immu…

Hugh Martin warned that if the doctrine of union with Christ falls into neglect, preaching will become destitute of compactness and connection, progressive instruction will cease to be realized, then cease to be aimed at, and finally cease to be desired -- a prophetic warning issued as younger Free Church ministers began absorbing German rationalism.

He goes on to say, if this teaching should fall into neglect, there's reason to fear that the materials of pulpitism will be destitute of that compactness and connection, apart from which conscious advancement in knowledge on the part of the people is impossible. The topics handled will be disjointed and isolated. Progressive instruction will cease to be realized and perhaps cease to be aimed at. The next step will be it will cease to be desired.

51:42 - 52:13 Read in full sermon

The point: Every Christian must pursue not merely the form of truth in the mind but the power of truth in the heart: orthodox knowledge without experiential possession cannot preserve against apostasy, and the two together under th…

Martin closes by citing Owen: 'He who has seen the glory of truth and felt its power will never relinquish it. He who relinquishes it has never seen its glory nor felt its power.' The only safeguard against apostasy is the power of truth in the heart as well as the form of truth in the mind.

Frightening thing. So let me urge upon you to feed upon the truth until you suck sweetness to your own soul. And as we go back to Owen, he who has seen the glory of truth and felt its power will never relinquish it. He who relinquishes it has never seen its glory nor felt its power.

54:17 - 54:36 Read in full sermon