Place in the Plan of Salvation

Introduction: The Centrality of Union with Christ

0:01 Will you follow in your Bibles, please, as I read from Ephesians chapter 1, verses 1 through 14,

0:13 a portion which it is not my intention to expound, but simply to read as an introduction to the great theme that has been assigned to me for this conference ministry, the doctrine of union with Jesus Christ. And I shall read the portion, giving to certain parts of it a rather grotesque emphasis as I read, but I do this simply to underscore in your minds how central, how pervasive is the doctrine of union with Christ. As I'm sure many of you are aware, this first paragraph in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians, after the introduction, is a great eulogy, a hymn of praise to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for his great salvation. But notice how frequently the concept of union with Christ stands in the forefront of this hymn of praise as I read it in your hearing. I am reading from the 1901 edition, commonly known as the American Standard Version. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God,

1:36 to the saints that are at Ephesus and the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, even as he chose, who chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved in whom we are. in whom we are. We have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, making known unto us the mystery of his will,

2:48 according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him unto a dispensation of the fullness of the times to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth, and in the earth. in him, I say, in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will, to the end, that we should be unto the praise of his glory, who had before hoped in Christ. In whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, Having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is in earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory.

3:48 No one with any intelligent and believing acquaintance with the New Testament would dispute the assertion that the salvation from sin and its consequences, taught within the pages of the New Testament, is a salvation which focuses upon the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Whether we consider the word, words of our Lord himself, who said, I am the way, the truth, the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me, or whether we consider the apostolic statements such as are found in Acts 4 and verse 12 and Acts 16, 31, neither is there salvation in any other, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. The pervasive emphasis of the entire,

4:51 the entire New Testament is that the salvation from sin and its consequences, taught within its pages, is a salvation which focuses upon the person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Now granted, this Christocentric, this Christ-centered salvation is not a salvation divorced from the role of the Father and of the Spirit, both in Israel and in the world. Both in Israel and in the world. In its plan and in its execution.

5:25 Though there is this very clear reference to the role of the Father, as we saw in verse 3 of our reading, and the activity of the Spirit, clearly delineated in verses 13 and 14, it is proper to say that the salvation set forth in Holy Scripture is Christocentric. It centers in the person and work of the Son of God. Now, just as certain as this is true, the centrality of the person and work of Christ, in the procurement of our salvation, it is equally certain that the method by which men and women, boys and girls, come into the benefits of that salvation is by union with Jesus Christ. In other words, no one, ever enters into personal possession of that Christ-centered salvation apart from vital union with Christ who is the Savior and has procured the salvation. As one servant of Christ has said, commenting on this very doctrine of union with Christ

6:47 in relationship to the enjoyment of saving mercy, nothing is more central or basic than union with Christ. Union with Christ is really the central truth in the whole doctrine of salvation. Now I questioned the validity of that statement when I began my studies for this series of messages. I no longer question it.

7:14 I simply now underscore it in red and put an exclamation. Union with Christ is really the central truth in the whole doctrine of salvation, not only in its application but in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ. Indeed, the whole process of salvation, and remember salvation is a process with its roots in eternity past and its full fruit in eternity future. And in this process of salvation, union with Christ is central.

7:58 It has its origin in one phase of the union, and salvation has in view the realization of the other phases of this union. Now someone objects and says, Mr. Martin, I can readily concur with the first assertion that the person and work of Christ are central in the biblical. And I say, Mr. Martin, that this is the central doctrine of salvation.

8:21 But in my reading of the English Bible, I have never even encountered the phrase union with Christ. How dare you assert that this concept is fundamental to the whole doctrine of salvation? Well, I will answer that mild objection by simply reminding you that the little phrase in Christ, in him, and its parallel phrases are the words that are fundamental to the to describe this spiritual reality of union with Christ. The Apostle Paul uses this little phrase no fewer than approximately 150 times in his writings.

9:05 In him, in whom, in Christ, in our Lord Jesus Christ. And Ephesians 1 verses 1 to 14 was but a random sampling of the writings of the Apostle Paul. And in this brief passage of 14 verses, no fewer than 11 times, in him, in whom, in Christ, came before us. Driving down this morning, my wife and I listened to a reading of the entire book of Colossians and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.

9:42 And every time we came to an in Christ concept, I stopped the tape recorder and I said, there it is again, there it is again, there it is again, there it is again, there it is again, there it is again. All the way through, from the opening words, he views the saints as a company of people who are in Jesus Christ and in God the Father. And so then it is no understatement to say that in addressing ourselves, to the doctrine of union with Christ, we are addressing ourselves to that which this esteemed servant of Christ calls the central truth in the whole doctrine of salvation. And it is before this vast area of truth that I have stood for days and weeks feeling dwarfed by the immensity of it, feeling overcome by the magnitude and the glory of it, and I have stood for days and weeks feeling that I am not alone. And I have stood for days and weeks feeling that I am not alone. And I have stood for days and weeks feeling that I am not alone.

Why Study Union with Christ? Safety, Stability, and God's Glory

10:42 Now I have to make some attempt to lay some of those lines of truth before you. But I'm aware that there are some of you sitting here tonight who already have said in your minds, so what? Oh, may I remind you as we embark upon this study that at the lowest level it is in the interest of your own safety that you gird up the loins of your mind and think seriously and soberly about the doctrine of union with Christ. Do you know why it is in the interest of your own safety?

11:19 For the simple reason that the Scripture teaches that unless you are in vital union with Jesus Christ, you are in this very moment under the canopy of the righteous anger and wrath of God Himself. For the Scripture says in, Romans 8 and verse 1, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation, no legal punishment due to those who are united to Christ. But the reverse of that statement is true.

12:02 There is nothing but condemnation to everyone who is not in union with Christ. And so I say to the youngest of you children, right up through the teenagers to the most elderly amongst us tonight, think seriously about this doctrine. Be reflecting continually upon your own spiritual standing in the light of the biblical truth, for it is in the interest of your own safety. If you are not vitally joined to Jesus Christ, there is nothing but a condemnation.

12:38 There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation.

12:39 There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation. There is nothing but a condemnation.

12:39 There is no canopy of wrath above you now. Nothing but to feel the crushing weight of that canopy through all eternity if you die severed from vital union with the Son of God. But in the second place, it is not only in our best interest to think about this doctrine, but it is in the interest of your own stability as a Christian that you think and think seriously about this doctrine. If you are in Christ, it is the growing knowledge of what that relationship involves, what it demands and what it promises that is calculated to produce genuine growth and stability in your Christian life. Let me give you just two illustrations from the scriptures. When the Apostle Paul is seeking to establish the Colossians in doctrinal stability, what doctrine does he open up before them? It is the doctrine of their union with Christ.

13:46 When men come with doctrines that would turn them aside from the Son of God, he says in Colossians 2, In him ye are made full. Don't be spoiled with vain philosophy and with the teaching of men. In Christ is your fullness. And he goes on to enlarge upon the implications of their union with Christ as an antidote to doctrinal deflection.

14:14 It has great practical implications. He is writing to the Christians at Corinth who have been sucked into the orbit of the lecherous spirit of that city. And as he writes to them, what doctrine does he use to prod them on? To moan.

14:30 Moral purity. He says in chapter 6, Don't you know that you are members of Christ? Shall I take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? He said, If you Corinthians not only understand, but hold as a present spiritual conviction the doctrine of your union with Christ, you will never join yourself in an immoral, illicit sexual relationship.

15:00 That's how practical is the doctrine of union with Christ. From the most intense problem of moral purity to the loftiest concepts of doctrinal integrity and everything in between is vitally touched by the issue of union with Christ. And so, dear child of God, it is in your best interest to think seriously, to think soberly on this great theme. And then our highest, our motive for addressing ourselves to this theme with seriousness and sobriety is that it is in the interest of God's own glory that we do so.

15:43 The scripture says, Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me. And our praise will rise no higher than our perception of the gifts and graces that God has conferred upon us. You and I do not praise God for things that we do, that we do not acknowledge as having come from Him, or concerning which we have dim and indistinct views.

16:12 And if our highest privileges as Christians are bound up in the doctrine of union with Christ, then our praise will rise no higher than our understanding of those privileges that flow to us by virtue of our union with Him. And I trust that as God is pleased to bless the preaching and teaching of His Word, that even as that Word is preached and God is pleased to give spiritual perception, there may rise from hearts all over this auditorium a volume of praise to our great God, who has so richly endowed us by union with His Son.

The Three Principal Unions and the Spirit's Role

17:00 Are these not sufficient motives then to come to the doctrine? And to come to it recognizing, as our Lord Himself taught us, that only the Holy Spirit can give us understanding of it. For Jesus said in John 14, 20, In that day, the day of the Spirit's coming, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. In that day, He says, you will enter into an experimental knowledge of your union.

17:33 In that day, you will enter into an experimental knowledge of your union with me. And it is only the Spirit who can give us this experimental knowledge of this great gospel reality. And it's utterly impossible to grasp it apart from His illuminating work. As A.W. Pink has said in an excellent book on this subject, I do not endorse everything in it, particularly his supralapsarian views concerning which he waxes very, very vehement. And you who are theologians, will know what I'm talking about. And a few other things that I believe are aberrations from historic orthodoxy. But nonetheless, it is a rich book.

18:13 And he introduces the subject with these words. There are three principal unions revealed in Scripture, which are the chief mysteries and form the foundation of our most holy faith. Three mysteries that form the foundation of faith. First, the union of the three, the three divine persons in one Godhead, having distinct personalities, being co-eternal and co-glorious, yet consisting, constituting one Jehovah.

18:46 Secondly, the union of the divine and human natures in one person, Jesus Christ, Emmanuel, being God and man. And the third union, the third great mystery, the third great foundation stone of our holy faith, is the union of the church to Christ. He being the head, they the members, constituting one mystical body. And though we cannot form an exact idea of any one of these unions in our imaginations, because the depth of such mysteries is beyond our comprehension, yet it is our bounden duty to believe them all, because they are clearly revealed in Scripture, and are necessary. for the other points of Christian doctrine. Hence, it is our holy privilege, prayerfully, to study the same, looking unto the Holy Spirit graciously to guide us. I hope this has whetted your appetite to attack the subject.

Union with Christ in Election

19:50 If it has, let me suggest now how I intend to approach the subject with you. Tonight, we shall consider simply the place given to union with Christ in the plan of salvation. What place does union with Christ have in the overall plan of salvation? Then, God willing, tomorrow night, the nature of this union in the application of salvation and also the context of this union in the personal appropriation of God's saving mercy.

20:30 Tonight, then, just the place. The place given to union with Christ in the plan of salvation. And I am not at all embarrassed to say that I am deeply indebted to Professor Murray's chapter on this theme in his book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, for both the content and the form in which I handle this part of our study. First of all, then, let us consider the place of union with Christ in our election unto holiness.

21:02 The scriptures everywhere assert that the salvation of rebel sinners by the grace and power of God is a salvation rooted in sovereign purpose and executed according to eternal plan. The salvation is rooted in sovereign purpose and is executed according to eternal plan. Also, this salvation is...

21:33 This salvation is administered within the framework of covenant commitment, what the theologians once called the covenant of redemption, that inter-trinitarian action and commitment to which our Lord refers in the 17th chapter of John when he speaks of those who were given to him of the Father. And then the covenant of grace, God's entering into gracious covenant with sinners, on behalf of his Son and that which he would do, and then administering that salvation to them. The scriptures everywhere assert that salvation is found rooted in eternal purpose, executed according to eternal plan, administered within the framework of covenant commitment. The biblical words election, predestinate, foreknow, force such concepts upon us. Assuming, though not pausing, to prove that this is true. Will you notice in Ephesians chapter 1 that when the Apostle is tracing our salvation back to its fountainhead in election, that is, eternal, gracious, sovereign selection,

22:56 he says that the act of the Father was this, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, Ephesians 1 and verse 4, He chose us in him. In other words, the activity of God in this sovereign, gracious selectivity of some sinners to be the objects of mercy was not an act of naked sovereignty or of naked love. The text says that we were chosen in him. And though there are mysteries that we cannot penetrate, this much is clear, that we were never contemplated in the mind and heart of God as the objects of saving mercy apart from union with Jesus Christ our Lord. The text does not say we were chosen to be placed in him, as though the choice was set upon us, and then we were constituted as united to Christ. And certainly it does not say we were chosen because we would choose to be in him when we believed.

24:22 That's the traditional Arminian perversion of the text. No, no, the text says we were chosen in him. In other words, the very act of choice had reference to union with Jesus Christ our Lord. And so as we seek to trace our salvation back as far as the Scriptures will allow, we find ourselves at that fountainhead of salvation.

24:52 God's free, sovereign choice of undeserving sinners and inseparably involved that choice is union with Jesus Christ. How blessed must be a relationship that has its tap roots in eternity and has such design because of Christ that all people, if we understood that, that'd be enough to make the most reserved of us break into shouting. A salvation whose tap roots are in eternity and even there gives us, and in the fullest blossoming of the fruit of salvation, it will be but another unfolding of that which comes to us, because of the virtue of the one to whom we are united. In the words of one old writer who thought upon this, the response of our hearts should be to thee, O Lord, alone is due all glory and renown.

26:14 Ought to ourselves we dare not take or rob thee of thy crown. Thou wast thyself our surety in God's redemption plan. In thee his grace was given us before the world began. What is the place given to union with Christ in the plan of salvation?

Union with Christ in the Accomplishment of Redemption

26:39 We have seen in election union with Christ is central. Now then, in the second place, what is its place? In the accomplishment of redemption in the saving acts of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the Lord Jesus carried his voluntary obedience to its climax in the death upon the cross, and when he subsequently was raised from the dead, he did not live, die, and rise from the dead as a private person.

27:17 What he did in life and death and resurrection he did as the appointed surety of his people. He was doing what he did in this framework of covenant commitment. You see, that's why these things are all tied together and one resists the temptation to digress into the sister fields of biblical truth. But he was not acting as a private person, any more than he was acting in disjunction from the will and purpose of the Father, acting then as the head of his body, acting as the living head.

27:58 of his people, acting on behalf of his own spiritual seed that was in him and a part of him. The scripture teaches that the death he died was not only his death, but their death. His resurrection was not only his, but theirs. His session was not only his, but theirs. And all that was true of him in his saving acts is true of his people. If you want a rich study, then you just jot down these verses. I can only quote them quickly to you. There are at least six acts of Christ's redemptive work in which it is said, or of which it is said, we were with him in those acts. We were crucified together with him.

28:49 Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ. Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ.

28:57 Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ. Colossians 2.20 says we died together with him. Romans 6.4 says we were buried together with him. Ephesians 2.5, we were quickened together with him. Colossians 3.5, we were raised together with him. And then we read in Ephesians 2.6, we were seated in the heaven heavenlies together with him. And Romans 8.17 says we shall be glorified together with him. And in all but the Colossians 2 passage, Paul is careful to use a compound verb, the verb for crucify, the verb for raise, the verb for seat. And he puts a prefix, which means together. And he makes a compound verb so intimate is our identification with the resurrection and union with Christ that when he was crucified, we were crucified. When

30:03 he died, we died. When he was buried, we were buried. When he was raised, we were raised. When he was seated, we were seated. And when he shall be manifested in glory, we shall be manifested in him and with him in glory. Again, someone has sought to put this in the more attractive and sometimes illuminating structure of poetry. One in the tomb, one when he rose, one when he triumphed or his foes, one when in heaven he took his seat while seraphs sang all hell's defeat. With him their head they stand or fall, their life, their surety, and their all. If ever the Lord Jesus was bound to his people, joined

30:56 to them in mysterious but real bonds of union. And if ever his people were joined to him, it was in those agonizing events of Calvary and in the triumphantly liberating events of the open tomb and in the parted heavens and glorious session of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you think this is all abstraction, oh, my friend, begin to think about the nature of that atonement. Why is it that Almighty God can do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything?

31:31 Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything?

31:31 Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything?

31:31 Why can he do anything? Why can he do anything other than send every one of us to hell? Well, you say long-suffering, yes, that might do for all of us, as in the days of the flood until the whole generation was blotted out except the eight. But how could God show mercy to the eight? How can God ever accept sinners as righteous in his sight? How can he be just and still the justifier of sinners? The one answer is because he dealt with those sinners. And he dealt with them thoroughly. He dealt with them without any relaxation of the full demands of his law and his justice. He dealt with them when they were joined to his son and his son to them. When he died, was buried and rose and sat at the right hand of the Father.

32:22 And so if you want peace of conscience, my friend, you begin to get a good dose of the terror of the law. You begin to take God's holiness seriously. Take the inflexible justice of his law seriously. Begin to contemplate something of the character of God and the foulness of your own heart. You're not going to be satisfied with just some vague notion that somehow, somewhere, in some place, Jesus did something that somewhere or another fixes me up.

32:54 But that will not do for a conscience that stands under the light of God's holiness. I want to be able to look with one eye straight in the face of that God who is the essence of burning, glorious holiness. And the other eye fixed upon Mount Calvary say, My Father, you saw me in your son. And when you raised the stroke of your righteous anger, you brought it down upon him.

33:22 And because I was in him, it fell upon me. And that stroke can never be laid upon me. In him, I die. In him, the death is paid.

33:38 And this has great theological implications. All discussion about the atonement, its nature and extent, must reckon with this doctrine of union with Christ or that discussion is fruitless. And my dear preacher friends, when anyone comes up to you and starts saying, What does this verse mean? He died for all, died for all.

33:58 Don't even discuss it with him until you ask this simple question. Whoever Christ died for, what was his relationship to the people on whose behalf he died?

34:10 And they'll probably look at you like you're talking double Dutch or speaking in tongues without an interpreter.

34:22 But don't you budge from that issue.

34:26 We'll not discuss little words all in every until we discuss something far more significant and profound that undergirds it all. What was the relationship? The relationship of Christ to those for whom he died. It was nothing less of a relation than a relationship of intimate union.

Union with Christ in the Application of Redemption (Effectual Calling)

34:47 We died with him. We were raised with him. Now in the third place, as we contemplate the place of union with Christ in the plan of salvation. Having seen its centrality in election, its centrality in the saving acts of Christ.

35:07 Consider. Thirdly, its place in the application of redemption when God effectually calls a sinner out of darkness into his marvelous light. When a sinner is seized upon by apprehending grace, he's made a new creature. Now, in what context is he made a new creature?

35:30 Turn to Ephesians 2 and verse 10. And having stated in the earlier part of the paragraph what we were, the apostle is magnifying the grace of God and picking up the thread of thought in verse 8 of Ephesians 2. For by grace have ye been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works that no man should glory for. We are his workmanship created in Christ.

36:12 Christ, Jesus, four good works which God of four prepared that we should walk in them. That work of making us new creatures was carried out in the context of union with Christ. We are his workmanship created anew in union with Christ Jesus. Not only pointing to the fact that the result of that work of a new creation was to bring us new creatures, but also to bring us new creatures.

36:42 To bring us into conscious, vital, experimental union and communion with Christ. That would be the truth of 1 Corinthians 1-9. But the very act of his creating us was in the framework of union with Christ. In other words, the benefits that began to be ours consciously, experimentally, personally, those benefits were but the discovery in us.

37:12 Of that which God had purposed by virtue of that previous union established in eternity when he chose us in him, when in time the Son of God died and we died in him and rose with him. Now when I'm effectually called, made a new man or woman in Christ Jesus, it's in the orbit of that union, it is the virtue of that union which brings it all to pass. And so when a sinner is called, he is called within the framework of union with Christ. Look at Ephesians 1.

37:52 Here is the trilogy of spiritual experience whenever the gospel comes and is made effectual by the Spirit. Verse 13 of Ephesians 1. In whom ye also having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. You see what he's careful to emphasize, that when the gospel came, you believed and you were sealed.

38:26 All of this was within the framework of union with Christ. In him ye were sealed. I am not sealed to be brought into him. I am sealed because I have been joined to him.

Union with Christ in the Continuance of the Christian Life (Sanctification)

38:44 And the great blessings that come to me in the sealing of the Spirit, and all the gifts and graces of the Spirit, are those blessings procured in my head, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Now what about the place of union with Christ? In the continuance of the Christian life and experience. We've seen its place in election, its place in the once for all accomplishment of redemption in the work of Christ, its place in effectual calling, when God begins to apply, with power the redemption purchased.

39:22 Now what is the place of union with Christ in the continuance of the Christian life? We may state it this way. The power to walk in newness of life is rooted in the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. A virtue in which we share because we are joined to him.

39:45 Turn to Romans chapter 6 and verse 4. Romans chapter 6 and verse 4. We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, even so we also might walk in newness of life. Our walk in newness of life derives its power and virtue from that which Christ did when he died and rose, and we share in that virtue because we died with him and we were raised with him. How can I have the enjoyment of a pacified conscience? How can I know that I am dead to the law in its condemning power? We hinted at this in another connection, but look at Romans 7 and verse 4.

40:49 Therefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law. How? Through the body of Christ. My death to the condemning power of the law rests not upon something in me, but upon that which he did in his own death upon the cross.

41:13 And I was in him, and when he died, I died with him. I have been released. The last iota of the law's condemning power. This is the teaching of this portion of the word of God.

41:28 And so if you as a Christian are to know newness of life, if you are to know a truly pacified conscience, it's because you've come to some understanding of the nature of your union with Christ. Or we can turn to a passage such as John 15. What place does union with Christ have in the continuing process of sanctification? Well, it's interesting, is it not, that in chapter 14 of John, our Lord has disclosed to the disciples that he's going to leave them.

42:05 And he says, this truth has filled your heart with sadness. And then he begins to tell them they should not be sad, because though he is going as to his person, as the theanthropic mediator, the God-man there before them in human form, he said, I'm leaving you, but I'm going to send the Comforter. And as the Comforter comes, I and my Father come to you as well. The most natural thing to the human mind would be to say, all right, if Jesus is leaving and the Spirit is coming, then we as disciples must completely reshift our whole thinking about what it means to be disciples of Christ, attached to him in loving bonds of faith and obedience. And our Lord corrects all such notions, because having told them he's going away and he's going to send the Spirit, what does he tell them in chapter 15, verses 1 to 8? The great theme is, abide in me. Though I'm going as to my person, the God-man before you, and the Spirit is coming, the heavenly paraclete, his coming is not to make up for my distance.

43:30 His coming shall bring you into an intimacy of relationship that you do not even know now. And so the whole thrust of those first eight verses is, as the branch cannot bear fruit except it abides in the vine, and the life principle, the sap, the juice, that flows through the vine, courses through the branches, and is the source of its life and its fruit-bearing. So Jesus said, my relationship to you and yours to mine when I leave, is a relationship as intimate, as vital, as that of vine and branches sharing a common life. And so, dear child of God, in the outworking of Christian responsibility, there can be no fruit-bearing, no reproduction of the graces of the Spirit, no usefulness in the kingdom of Christ, apart from the recognition of union with Christ and the demands upon us to maintain that union in its vigor and in its experimental awareness in our own hearts. Well then, what about the place of union?

Union with Christ in the Consummation of Redemption (Glorification)

44:55 The place of union with Christ when our redemption is complete. We've moved from eternity to time when He died, to time when He applies His salvation with power throughout the course of the Christian life, and I've just been almost arbitrarily selected. There's such a mass of material. What about the consummation of redemption?

45:17 What about our glorification? Well, for the vast majority of us, our glorification will come in two stages. The first stage will be when body and spirit are wrenched loose one from another and our spirits join, in the words of Hebrews, the spirits of just men made perfect. When our spirits will be purged from every last taint of sin, and then the second stage will come at the coming of Christ and the resurrection, which of course is the Christian's hope.

45:51 Death is not His hope. Death is the coming again of our Lord, the rejoining of the spirit made perfect to a resurrected body, and together we shall be with the Lord. Now, what does union with Christ have to do with this aspect in the process of salvation? Well, the Scripture says that believers die in union with Jesus Christ.

46:18 Turn to 1 Thessalonians, if you will, and chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verse 13. But we would not have you ignorant brethren concerning them that fall asleep, that ye sorrow not even as the rest, who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus, will God bring with Him?

46:58 How does He describe the death of a believer? He says it is a falling asleep in a union with Christ that is not severed by that sleep. They fall asleep in Jesus. That's why we read in Revelation 14, 13, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, who die in union with Christ.

47:30 Over such the second death hath no power, because they are joined to Christ, the virtue of His death and resurrection, and all that He purchased for His people as they were in Him and with Him. The second death hath no power over such. We die in Christ in a way that we cannot understand. It is a union with Christ now in the vitality of our redeemed humanity, body and spirit.

47:59 That's why Paul says, Don't you know that your members, your bodies, are members of Christ? He's talking about what I am as a physical creature. Not only my spirit, but my body. I as a person am united to Christ.

48:14 And though death is real, and that abnormal wrenching of the spirit from the body is real, it cannot wrench me from the bonds that unite me to my Savior. I shall die in Christ. And you say, What about that carcass that goes in the grave? It's still united to Christ.

48:37 You say, Where do you find that in Scripture? Well, read further in chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians. Verse 16, For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ. And that never refers to the spirit.

48:58 No, no. As to our spiritual element, we fall asleep in Jesus. We awake looking upon His face. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

49:16 Those that are dead in Christ shall rise. It's speaking of the resurrection of the body. And that body is in a way that I cannot describe, and I wouldn't attempt to. It is still indissolubly united to Jesus Christ.

49:39 Therefore our glorification will be the manifestation of the virtue of that union. 1 Corinthians 15, 22, As in Adam all die, all who are in union with Him come under the power of death, so in Christ all who are in union with Him shall be made alive. And so our glorification is said, to be in Christ and with Christ. Romans 8, 17, and Colossians 3, 4.

Summary and Exhortation to Unbelievers

50:11 Now do you see, child of God, having given this very brief, overarching view of the doctrine of union with Christ, do you see why I was bold enough to assert that when Professor Murray stated that this doctrine was, and I shall quote his words again, the central doctrine concerning the whole doctrine of salvation, that this was no overstatement. Union with Christ holds a place in the plan of salvation that is central, that is fundamental to the whole and to every single part. So I want to close the exposition before bringing a final word of application by quoting from Professor Murray, who having gone over some of the territory that I have gone over with you, said these words, it is union with Christ now in the virtue of His resurrection that certifies to Him, that is the believer, the reality of His election in Christ. He is blessed by the Father with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, just as He was chosen in Christ from eternal ages. We have the seal of an eternal inheritance, etc. And he goes on to give a panoramic view of this in summary and then he says,

51:39 apart from union with Christ we cannot view past, present or future with anything but dismay and Christless dread. By union with Christ the whole complexion of time and eternity is changed and the people of God may rejoice with joy on the side that is unspeakable and full of glory. Having established the place of union with Christ in the plan of salvation, let me close now with an exhortation that flows along two lines. I am conscious that in a group this size I am addressing myself to some who make absolutely no profession of being a Christian. I am speaking to boys, girls, young men and women, fathers, mothers, adults, husbands of Christian wives, wives of Christian husbands, cousins of Christians, nephews and nieces of Christians. May I address myself to you tonight earnestly and pointedly and please don't turn me off. In the light of what we've studied tonight do you not see that if God is seen fit to indicate with such clarity His great esteem of His Son,

53:03 how He must regard those who disregard so blessed a person? If God has said, I put such estimation upon My Son, the perfection of His person and of His work, that I shall not even conceive of blessing for rebel sinners apart from constituting a union with My Son in eternity and unto eternity, do you not see if God has placed such an estimation upon His Son? How He must regard those who put so low a value upon the Son of God that they despise and reject and respond with indifference to the overtures of mercy in the free offers of the Gospel? O dear unsaved man, woman, boy or girl, that which we set before you in the name of God tonight is not an abstract set of doctrines telling you to absorb them into your noggins and then parrot them. We do not set before you a bunch of rules and regulations and say, bend to them or else. In the name of the God of heaven

54:26 who has put such estimation upon His Son we set before you the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The well beloved of the Father, the one in whom His people were chosen in eternity, the one in whom they died, were buried and rose again, the one in whom they are created anew, the one in whom they abide and therefore receive strength and virtue to walk in newness of life, the one in whom they shall die and the one in whom they shall be raised to life. It's that person, that person that we set before you and ask you soberly to consider if you're prepared to meet Almighty God and face the full unleashed fury of His anger upon all who despise so blessed a person. No wonder God says, kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish in the way. You find yourself quite content to live Christless now. You find yourself quite at peace to be devoid of any saving union with Christ now.

55:52 But my friend, will you be in such peace when you meet God with no mediator to interpose? Will you be so sure of your own sufficiency when you face the God of the universe? Oh, despisers of Christ, everyone indifferent to the blessed Son of God, I entreat you in His name, reconsider your carelessness. You're not trifling with preachers and their dogmas.

56:26 You're trifling with the Son of God. Oh, you say, if Jesus came here and I saw His miracles and He walked before me, then I might consider my friends Jesus Christ is as really present in the preaching of His Word as if He stood here in His flesh and to despise Him as He is coming to us in the overtures of mercy in the preached Word is to despise Him just as though He stood here tonight and you stopped your ears and spat upon it. I therefore entreat every unconverted man, woman, boy or girl who makes no profession of saving union with Christ, reconsider, reconsider. Come now, let us reason together. And then I address myself perhaps even to a larger group who make some profession of being a Christian. You bear the name of Christ.

Exhortation to Professing Christians and Believers

57:33 You wear the badge of discipleship. You've been baptized and identified with a visible church. Oh, my friend, may I press upon your conscience a simple question. Are you in saving union with the Son of God?

57:49 Now, you see, I haven't asked you. You believe the doctrines of grace. There'll be enough people in hell who believe the doctrines of grace to compose a very accurate confession of faith including one or two catechisms. My question is, are you in saving union with Jesus Christ?

58:16 And as we shall see in the subsequent study, the only way you can certify the reality of saving union with Christ is not to look back and pry into the counsels of eternity, nor to look ahead and entertain sweet hopes of what will happen then. The reality of your election union with Christ and your glorification union with Christ is certified by the evidence of a present union with Christ that will always be valid and manifested in a transformed life. For if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is past, the new is come.

59:00 And if the new is not come, you're not in Christ. May God be pleased to use the word of exhortation brought by our brother Ernie Riesinger last night to bear down upon our consciences that we take heed to ourselves to examine ourselves whether indeed we be in the faith. And then my final word of exhortation is addressed to those of you who can say, in spite of all of the awareness of your failure, in spite of all the consciousness of sin, you dare to say yes. I am in saving union with Christ.

59:36 I'm a mystery to myself. What has happened to me in the deepest recesses of my affections as well as in the external conduct of my life bears no explanation but that somehow I say it reverently. I've been hooked into the virtue that flows from the Son of God. Oh, dear child of God, with such a central truth as union with Christ, staring at us from so many pages of the New Testament, must we not confess with shame the sin of our laziness and our neglect that we have thought so little and contemplated so seldom this grand and glorious truth?

60:17 It's been a long time since I've confessed so much sin preparing a series of messages. And my sin that I've had to confess is the sin of spiritual laziness, of careless neglect that so great a heritage has been left me in the Word of God for my own privilege, for my own stability, and ultimately for God's glory that I should praise Him according to the multitude of His tender mercies. Oh, may God smite our hearts, with an awareness of the sin of sinful neglect, and let us then, having confessed our sin and having fled anew to that fountain open for sin and uncleanness, let us plead that we may in the days ahead be caught up in new dimensions of faith and of love and obedience to Christ, that we may be more fully aware of what it means to abide in Him, what it means to commune with Him, what it means to be strong in the faith, that being joined to Him we may even face what for many of us will be that last and ultimate experience of this life, face death in all of its horror, and know that dying in Christ

61:44 we shall be glorified with Him. May the Lord be pleased to teach us by His Word and His Spirit and lead us all to a new appreciation of what it is to be in Him. Amen.