Union With Christ, #1

Introduction to the Doctrine of Union with Christ

0:01 I'm indeed grateful for the opportunity of coming and sharing with you in this time of concentrated ministry. I should like simply to underscore the rationale behind the division of the materials. Dr. Adams mentioned that the focus of our concern in these morning sessions will be the doctrine of union with Christ in its theological perspectives.

0:26 Assuming that you are theological students, assuming that you have some working acquaintance with theological terminology, these morning lecture-sermon-exhortations, whatever one would use to describe them, will not be as popular in nature for the simple reason that serious students of the Word of God and of theology ought to be familiarized with the terminology of their particular discipline and ought to have a more penetrating grasp, a more definitive grasp upon these biblical truths.

1:09 So let me assure you that if some of the terminology is a little bit new to you, don't complain. Make yourself acquainted with that terminology because, in a sense, some of the terms used are the currency of theological, and you ought to have a working acquaintance with those terms. However, in the evening, assuming that we will have a more popular audience, we will have people whose primary occupation is not the study of theology and the study of the Word of God, hence the broad division of the subject matter, union with Christ in its practical implications.

The Centrality of Christ and Union with Him in Salvation

1:53 Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the uniqueness of his person, and in the sufficiency of his saving work, is the central figure in the salvation set forth in the Holy Scriptures. I believe there is no one with any intelligent and believing acquaintance with the Scriptures that would debate that assertion. The assertion that Jesus Christ, in the uniqueness of his person, Jesus Christ, in the sufficiency of his work, is the central figure in the salvation set forth in the Holy Scriptures.

2:35 Whether we consider his own words as given to us in such passages as John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me, or whether we consider the apostolic testimony concerning him, Acts 4, 12, neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name, under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. All of the lines of biblical revelation point to the centrality of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and to the work that he accomplished on behalf of sinners.

3:15 Furthermore, when we move from the vigorous monotheism of the Old Testament, the constant assertion that Jehovah our God is one, the climate of the New Testament, the climate of the New Testament, the climate of the New Testament, is decidedly one of a vigorous, Christocentric, or Christ-centered, Trinitarian theism. Now that's a mouthful, but just hang in there. The climate of the New Testament is vigorously Christocentric. Christ is central.

3:50 But it is not a Jesus-only Christ-centeredness. It is a Christocentric, Trinitarian theism. It is a Christocentric, Trinitarian theism, or Trinitarian doctrine of God. God is set before us as the Father, but as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4:13 Now again, I doubt there is anyone who has a working and believing acquaintance with the Word of God who would debate these assertions. However, I want to move on from that initial assertion concerning the centrality of Christ's and his work to state this. As surely as the person and work of Christ are central in the doctrine of salvation, so it is equally clear that the method by which men and women become partakers and the beneficiaries of that salvation is by union with Christ.

4:54 In the words of one servant of Christ, commenting on this very fact, and I quote, Nothing is more central or basic than union with Christ. 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 has its origin in one phase of union with Christ, and salvation has in view the realization of the other phases of union with Christ.

Biblical Basis for the Term 'Union with Christ'

5:38 But perhaps someone is thinking, I can readily agree with the first assertion concerning the centrality of the person and work of Christ, but I'm not quite so sure with that second assertion that nothing is more central or basic than union with Christ. Perhaps lying behind that mildly, the second assertion is the thought, I have never found the phrase union with Christ in my English Bible. Well, granted, you have not found that phrase union with Christ in your English Bible. However, if you will understand that I am using the term,

6:19 and the theological writers and the exegetes use the term union with Christ, in an effort to express those many portions of the word of God in which you find yourself, in this language, in Christ, then you will see that the assertion is well-founded. Someone has taken the time to go through in careful regard to this little phrase in just the writings of the Apostle Paul, and they tell us that it occurs no fewer than 150 times in the epistles of that one apostolic writer. Add to the little phrase, in Christ, all of the,

7:03 all of the biblical concepts bound up in the phrases with Christ. Colossians 2 and Romans 6, in which we are told we were crucified with him. We were raised with him. We are seated with him.

7:23 Add to the in Christ terminology of the New Testament, the with Christ terminology. Add to those the Christ in you passages, such as Galatians 2.20, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, or the Colossians 1.29 passage.

7:44 Christ in you, the hope of glory. Add to these then the passages which point to this mutual indwelling, or this mutual abiding. Ephesians 3.17 as a specimen that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, or the, Joannine terminology, first John 2.6.

8:06 He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself so to walk even as he walked. I say when you bring together all of that New Testament terminology, all of the in Christ terminology, all of the with Christ terminology, all of the Christ in you, and the you in Christ terminology, all of the indwelling of Christ, and the indwelling inter Zwale, Christ terminology, and then I believe your objection will dissipate. And you will agree with Professor Murray when he says, there is nothing, nothing more basic or central

Ephesians 1 as an Index to Union with Christ

8:49 to the doctrine of salvation than the doctrine of union with Christ. Ephesians chapter 1, in a very real sense, is an index to the teaching of the New Testament on this great theme. And I want to refer you to that chapter very briefly, just so that you get something of the feel of the predominance of this concept in the New Testament doctrine of salvation. As you know, that first lengthy paragraph, beginning with verse 3 of Ephesians 1 and continuing through the 14th verse,

9:31 is not a treatise in systematic theology. The Holy Ghost has allowed us, as it were, to put our ear to the mind and heart and lips of the Apostle in a great hymn of praise, or engaged in a great hymn of praise. He begins with the words, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he is blessing and magnifying God for the greatness and the magnitude of the salvation of the world. And he is blessing and magnifying God for the greatness and the

10:02 salvation of the world. And he is blessing and magnifying God for the greatness and the salvation which this God extends to ill-deserving sinners. And he announces in verse 3 the most fundamental concepts concerning that salvation. Notice them. Blessed be the God and Father of

10:19 our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Any spiritual blessing ever conferred upon the ill-deserving sinners is a blessing of the sons and daughters of Adam comes from this great and glorious God, this God who is never to be conceived of apart from his relationship to his own beloved son. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the ultimate source of all spiritual blessings. However, we confront immediately following that assertion these

11:02 words, in Christ all spiritual blessings come from the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ all such blessings come only within the framework of union with Christ just as surely as it is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing he has blessed us with no spiritual blessing apart from union with Christ you see the emphasis of the text he has blessed us with these spiritual blessings in Christ

11:45 and so union with Christ becomes as it were the orbit becomes the perimeter within which every single blessing is conferred upon the ill-deserving sons and daughters of Adam and now having made that generalization the apostle begins to unpack that lofty concept and he does it with this recurring emphasis upon in Christ in whom, in him, in the beloved no fewer than eleven times in this one paragraph the in whom, the in him the through whom concept comes to us

12:26 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world verse 2 verse 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved verse 7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood and right on through the passage and you can analyze it at your leisure but you will find that the apostle breaks down the blessings of grace and salvation into three main categories there is the design of God with respect to salvation and the design of God and the concepts of election and foreordination in verses 4 and 5

13:11 and he says concerning salvation in the hidden depths of divine purpose is salvation in Christ then he directs our attention to salvation in its procurement the actual work of Christ on behalf of sinners redemption through his blood and here again the doctrine of unionism with Christ is central we are accepted in the beloved in whom we have our redemption and then in the actual application of salvation by the spirit in verses 13 and 14 he directs our attention to the fact that there is

13:56 no activity of the spirit in the application of redemption apart from union with Christ notice verse 13 in whom having heard in whom having believed ye were sealed the sealing occurs in the realm of union with Christ and so the apostle opens up the great theme announced in verse 3 that God the Father is indeed the ultimate source of every single spiritual blessing but the union with Christ concept meets us on the threshold and it is the only and it is never out of the apostle's mind every aspect of salvation

14:40 from its purpose in the divine councils to its procurement in the actual space-time history of the son of God to its application in your space-time history the orbit of that salvation in all of its reaches in all of its dimensions is union with Jesus Christ and so I say the salvation of the spirit is union with Jesus Christ and so I say the salvation of the spirit of the spirit and the salvation second assertion is warranted. Not only is the person and work of Christ, or are the person and work of Christ, the central themes, the lodestones, as it were, of all revelation concerning salvation,

15:20 but nothing is more fundamental than the doctrine of union with Christ as the sphere in which that salvation is actually purposed for specific sinners, provided for specific sinners, and applied with power to specific sinners by the might and work of the Holy Spirit. So I say this passage becomes, as it were, just an index of the emphasis of the New Testament. Now why have I gone into this rather lengthy introduction, and I hope you'll not be offended by my informality, but I'm working up a terrible time. I'm working up a terrible time. I'm working up a terrible time.

Reasons to Grapple with Union with Christ

16:00 I'm working up a terrible sweat here already. Thank you. Now why have I gone to the lengths of establishing these two fundamental axioms? Well, for the simple reason that it's difficult to think in uncharted waters, if I may mix a metaphor. When we're moving into a realm which we've never

16:23 thoroughly explored before, it demands tremendous mental and spiritual energy. And if you're made of the same stuff, of the same spiritual energy, of the same spiritual energy, of the same spiritual energy, of the same spiritual energy, of the same spiritual energy, of the same spiritual energy, of the which I am made, and I believe the Bible enough to know that that's true, then mental and spiritual laziness are part and parcel of what you are. And I've gone into this rather lengthy introduction hoping to prod you to arduous mental and spiritual activity. How can you claim to be a Christian,

16:56 seeing what we've seen in these first few minutes, the centrality of union with Christ, and be indifferent to so glorious a concept as is set forth in the Word of God? Let me suggest there are three reasons why you ought to gird up the loins of your mind now and think hard and long with me, and that we together may think hard and long in these morning sessions relative to this glorious doctrine. Number one, it is in the interest of your own safety that you do so. If you are not in Christ, you are yet in your sins.

17:34 And if you are not in Christ, you are yet in your sins. And if you are not in Christ, you are yet in your sins. As surely as this roof is over your head this morning, a canopy of pure and holy wrath hangs over your head, and it is only the infinite mercy of God that keeps it from breaking down upon your head and pressing you to the lowest hell. For the scripture tells us in Romans 8 and verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are where?

18:04 In Christ Jesus. He doesn't say anything about there is no condemnation to those who have some notions about Christ, some notions about the cross. If there is no vital union with Jesus Christ, you, sitting here this morning, are in a state of condemnation. So you see, we're not just dabbling in abstractions these mornings. We're touching the very nerve centers of your highest interest,

18:33 your own personal interest. We're touching the very nerve centers of your highest interest, your own personal safety. And if you have any love for your own soul, and love for one's soul is a biblical doctrine, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? I appeal to your own self-interest this morning that you engage your mind with great concern as we study this doctrine. But secondly, it is not only the interest of your safety that

19:02 you do so. It is in the interest of your own self-interest that you engage your mind with stability as a Christian that you do so. If you are in Christ, the growing knowledge of what it means to be in him, what it demands and what it promises to be in him, is calculated to produce genuine growth and stability in the Christian life. A failure to understand what it means to be in him, a failure to live in a manner commensurate with that reality, a failure to act faith upon that great reality can only produce instability.

19:43 Let me give you just two examples of this in Scripture. We'll open these things up more fully in the evening sessions. Paul is dealing with the very practical problem of fornication, illicit sexual relationships among believers. And when he treats that subject in 1 Corinthians 6, you know what doctrine he brings to the fore in his treatment of that subject more than any other?

20:07 What? Know ye not that you are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of an harlot? You see the doctrine that he brings central to the whole matter of arming Christians with spiritual weapons with which to resist the pressure to illicit sexual relationships?

20:32 He brings the doctrine of union with Christ right to the center. You see how practical it is? He says, If you, Corinthians, when you walk by that situation where you're tempted to commit yourself to a course of activity resulting in illicit sexual contact, if only you remember you are joined to Christ in the totality of your redeemed humanity, you are joined to him. Would you dare then with that self-conscious awareness take the members of Christ and join them to a harlot?

21:06 That's the language of 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 6. And then in Colossians chapter 2 we see its implications in a doctrinal way. Here are people who had been buffaloed into thinking Christ was not enough. You need Christ

21:21 plus. Christ plus! And God knows people of that theology abound in our day. Christ plus! Christ

21:29 plus! And what does Paul do? He brings them back to union with Christ. He says in Colossians 2, In him, in him dwells all the fullness of the God.

21:39 God hath bodily, and in him ye are made full. Do you see why I say that it is not only in the interest of your safety that you grapple with this doctrine, but in the interest of your stability? And then thirdly, and of course the highest, the most exalted reason, it is in the interest of the glory and praise of God that you wrestle with this doctrine. The scriptures tell us that whoso offereth praise, glorifies the living God. And since our praise will rise no higher than our perception of the

22:18 gifts and graces imparted in Christ, how can we praise God for that of which we are ignorant, or concerning which we have no clear and distinct views? Now isn't that precisely what happened to the great apostle? As he contemplated what it meant to be blessed with every blessing in the heavenlies, in Christ, and in the earth. And he said, I am the one who is blessed with every blessing he has. Isaiah estimates this as his true calling for the Lord, on the day of judgment.

22:45 However, sometimes that may seem diarrhea to you, often equal to making Google a cephalopods, but now the revelation once again brightness, hamburger and Kahna Bestowal of your strength, pleasing the world through birazio, is the reading of Jesus' thinly 만 image of God. wie

Union with Christ as a Great Mystery

23:11 never be rendered to god until there is first of all the illumination of the spirit upon the mind through the word giving you some kind of an intelligent grasp upon this glorious doctrine of union with christ our lord said in john 14 20 in that day the day of the spirit's descent ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you indicating that until the spirit came they could not grasp the doctrine of their union with christ or his union with them

23:51 and though the spirit has come he continues to come and though we do not look for a repetition of pentecost we pray as those who realize there is the extension 이싰 and present ministry of the Spirit. He speaks to a people who already have the Spirit and says in Ephesians 1, I pray that God will give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Him. And dear brothers and sisters, if these morning hours are to be something more than an intellectual exercise, we stand in that posture of utter dependence upon the Holy Ghost, for we're examining one of those three great mysteries

24:35 upon which the entire Christian faith rests and out of which it grows. There are three great mysteries that form the heart and the soul of the Christian faith. You know them, don't you? The first mystery is the mystery of the one in three.

24:54 One eternal, ever-blessed God existing in three subsistences, His Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Yet so as we do not have three gods or merely three modes of the one God, there is unity in Trinity and Trinity in unity. That's the first great mystery. The second great mystery is the mystery of 1 Timothy 3.16.

25:20 Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh. How can it be that in one person there is essential godhead, and true humanity, so joined as to constitute one person, yet no mixture of the two natures? The great mystery of godliness.

25:44 That great mystery, that mystery that has baffled the most profound and careful students of the Word of God, that ever and anon has left them prostrate before its glory. The great mystery of godliness. God manifested in the flesh. Well, the third great mystery is this mystery.

26:05 It is the mystery of the union of Christ with His people and His people with Him. And if you distill the entire fabric of the theology of the Word of God to its essence, there's the essence of the Scriptures right there. The three great mysteries.

26:28 The mystery of being, one in three, three in one. The mystery of incarnation, God and man in one person and two natures forever. And then the mystery of that union which grows out of the incarnation of Christ in the accomplishment of redemptive purpose and design. The mystery of the union of Christ with His people.

Union with Christ in the Eternal Plan of Salvation

26:54 Well, have I whetted your appetite or scared you away? Which have I done? I can't read you this morning. Having preached to my own people, some of them have been with us a long time, 16 years, I can read their eyes.

27:09 Because I preach to people's eyeballs, not their foreheads or to the back wall. But you're new to me and I'm new to you and I can't quite read you. Have I whetted your appetite or scared you away? Well, maybe it's a mixture.

27:20 You better not respond. In the time that remains this morning, and I'm not going to be in a hurry to just get through so much material, I'd rather get through the material I'd planned for this morning, spreading it out over three mornings and in some way, open up the passages with at least a little degree of not exhaustiveness, but competence, than to rush through a given block of material. What I want to do this morning, and I can tell from the clock I'll only begin it, and God willing, we'll pick up there tomorrow and move on. I want to give you a broad panoramic view relative to the place given to union with Christ in the plan of salvation.

28:05 Now, what I'm going to do is, rather than plan of salvation, I like the terminology scheme of redemption, but if you don't like the word scheme, if it has bad connotations, you use the word plan. But what we're going to do, beginning this morning and then, God willing, carrying on tomorrow morning, we want to consider the place given to union with Christ in the plan of salvation. Now, in handling the subject this way, I say without embarrassment that I'm greatly indebted to Professor Murray's treatment of this subject in his book, Redemption Accomplished and Applied. I feel his handling of it is biblical, balanced, logical,

28:48 and I don't know where Professor Murray ends and I begin, so I make that acknowledgement without any reservations. But in case some of you are familiar with that, I would never want my own integrity as a servant of Christ to be brought into question as a plagiarizer. And may I say to you young preachers, never forget that. Far better, if there's any doubt, to make an acknowledgement than to have the confidence of your people eroded by apparent plagiarism.

29:14 I remember hearing a preacher one time preaching on Remember Lot's Wife, and the more he got into his sermon, I said, that's got a ring of familiarity about it. And I went home and pulled down Ryle's book on holiness, and sure enough, he had extracted the outline, whole sentences, and never once gave a note of acknowledgement. And the trouble was, many of our people have mastered much of the contents of that book. And his integrity as a preacher was suspect.

29:38 And I had to take him aside and lovingly exhort him, and say, brother, don't pull that too often around here, or you won't have the ears of our people. Well, he publicly acknowledged his fault, and the last I heard, he's made a real effort to reform that terrible practice. All right, so much for that little aside. The place given to the doctrine of union with Christ in the plan of salvation.

30:01 Now let me ask this question. If we trace the story of Jesus, the salvation of the Bible, back as far as the Bible allows us to trace it, where do we land? In what territory do we find ourselves? Now notice I did not say, if we try to trace the salvation of the Bible back as far as the curious questions of man may wish to trace it, where do we land?

30:29 No, no, my question is this. If we trace it back as far as the Bible itself allows us to trace it, where do we land? Well, it's obvious that we land exactly where the apostle landed in verse 4 of Ephesians 1. 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 an eternal plan.

31:03 Now the Bible words, elect, election, chosen, predestinate, predestination, foreknow and foreknowledge impose such concepts upon us. And may I just state, because I believe it's so vital in the interest of these biblical doctrines, there is no way that we can be honest with the words that I have just mentioned and they are all biblical words. They were not invented by John Calvin or the Synod of Dort. Nor were they concocted by some dour old predestinarian Puritans who wanted to spoil everyone's form.

31:45 The words elect, election, chosen, predestinate, foreknow and foreknowledge are biblical words which impose upon us in terms of their biblical meaning the concept that the salvation that comes to sinners in time is a salvation that has its roots in eternal and divine purpose. Now I'm assuming, though not pausing to prove, that election is an eternal, gracious, sovereign selection

32:27 of certain sinners to life and salvation. I'm not stopping to prove that. I'm assuming you have a sufficient acquaintance with the meaning of the word itself that you will never make elect mean ratify. And the whole notion that God saw who would believe and then he chose, that makes the word elect to become ratify and the average third grader knows the difference between ratifying and electing.

32:54 Alright? So I'm not stopping to prove I'm assuming you have that understanding. Now, because we are often so concerned with demonstrating that the meaning of the word elect in verse 4 of Ephesians 1, even as he chose us in him, I say we're so often concerned with demonstrating the meaning of the word chose that we put the emphasis in this verse at a point where God has not placed it. The primary emphasis of verse 4 is not election as a bare sovereign choice.

33:34 The emphasis derives from verse 3. The apostle is blessing God for this salvation that is purposed and given in Christ even as he chose us in him. Now here's the way we usually read it. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ.

34:04 Even as he chose us in him. That we should be holy. No, no. That's not the emphasis.

34:13 The emphasis is this. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love having predestinated us unto the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ to himself. Now what does that mean? Chose us in him.

34:43 Well it means that the choice of specific sinners to receive the blessings of grace and salvation that would result in their being made holy chose us in him that we should be holy and without blemish. That choice was never exercised apart from the union of faith Christ with his people and the union of Christ's people with himself. It does not say we were chosen in order to be in him and certainly it does not say we were chosen because we would choose to be in him.

35:24 The language of the scripture at this point is clear. We were chosen in him. Now there are mysteries that we can never fathom. But this much is clear.

35:40 God the Father the ultimate source of all the blessings with which he has blessed us in Christ never contemplated us with approbation and love apart from his Son. The very act of choosing was in Christ. And what is equally amazing Christ the Messiah the anointed one the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world as God's elect the one in whom his soul delights in the language of Isaiah and if this scripture didn't force it upon me I couldn't say it.

36:24 The words stick in my mouth. He was never contemplated apart from those who are in him. I tell you that to me is heart wrenching and mind blowing and boggling and every other term you can use. I never conceived of apart from him he never conceived of in the purposes of redemption apart from me.

Union with Christ and Covenant Theology

36:55 Chosen in him. Now of course this language brings us to the borders of that vast field of rich biblical teaching commonly called the covenant of grace the covenant of redemption. Some old writers use the term the council of peace federal theology all of that terminology you see again is not something that dusty old men who were slaves to logic imposed upon the simple testimony of the Bible no, no. You see they did not live in an activist age when they were running over the surface of things

37:38 when they saw a little phrase like this or clause chosen in him they asked what did that mean? If the choice is before the foundation of the world before all time before I had any being before the eternal word was ever incarnate and yet there was a choice of specific sinners at this point dwelling in Ephesus yet they were chosen in Christ what does that mean? And as they scoured the scriptures they began to see that there was a beautiful synthesis of biblical truth for in the days of his flesh Jesus talked about a people whom the Father had given to him.

38:20 He spoke repeatedly of a people who were given to him of the Father he speaks in language that points to some pre-arranged structure of mutual commitments he said I've glorified thee having accomplished the work you gave me to do now Father glorify me you see that's the language of covenant commitments well you see the old writers were not just looking around for terminology to appear profound when they talked about covenant of redemption covenant of grace, council of peace they were using the poor stuff of human language to try somehow to set forth

39:04 this glorious biblical truth the truth that sometimes is called federalism and I commend for you your careful reading particularly you men aspiring to the work of the ministry the entire work of Hugh Martin on the atonement but particularly the chapter on federalism or federal theology in relationship to the atonement Hugh Martin makes some of the most perceptive statements I've ever read in uninspired literature bringing together many lines of biblical thought let me just whet your appetite by giving you a little sampling this morning if I may I'm going to do it anyway even if you don't give me your permission the key note of federal theology as we take it

39:48 is union with Christ though it took shape as a formal scheme of doctrine or exposition later than the days of Calvin it is virtually through the great predominance and ruling power in the institutes of the idea of union with Christ it is virtually the leading thought in Calvin's theology far more than any or 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 with Christ and his people then it is so full of vital power that it will adopt itself to fresh forms of literary effort and then he goes on to say

40:32 we're not sticklers for terms he said if you want to come up with a new term that expresses it better he says hallelujah but express the concept that there are inter-trinitarian arrangements predating all time in which the Father and the Son and the Spirit engage for the salvation of a people in Christ some have called this our legal oneness Pink uses different terminology even though some of his writing in his otherwise excellent book Spiritual Union and Communion is tinged with a superlapsarian position and some fanciful exegesis

41:15 there is some excellent material in that book but whatever term we use do you see that Paul's language in Ephesians 1 forces upon us this concept that we were chosen in Christ we were never conceived of as the objects of grace and mercy apart from some kind of union which was established before us between sinners and Christ and between Christ and sinners another text that points in this same direction with unusual force is found in Paul's letter to Timothy

41:58 2 Timothy 1 verses 8 and 9 be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God who saved us and called us with a holy calling whether that calling is the effectual calling into a state of grace in which it would be parallel to being saved or whether it's referring to the special call to special function in service it makes no difference both the salvation and the calling whatever that calling is were given to us

42:42 in Christ Jesus before times eternal as one servant of Christ said who was with us giving some lectures recently on the person of Christ he said ultimately all your terms explode what is before times eternal what kind of verbal gobbledygook is that well you see ultimately when the finite seeks to grapple with the infinite and the temporal with the eternal all of our terms when we trace them back ultimately they explode and we're lost in wonder love and praise

43:25 as you and I would seek to appreciate as we would seek to understand the magnitude the scope of our salvation in Christ we trace it back to its beginning and what do we find we find that union with Christ stands on the very threshold if I may speak this way with others without being irreverent the first motions of God's mind and heart with respect to your salvation and mine were motions that expressed themselves in union with his own beloved son chosen in him

44:09 Augustus Toplady then was right when he penned these words trying to express this biblical concept to thee O Lord alone is due all glory and renown 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 long ere the world began and for some of you who have come to some appreciation of this glorious doctrine of the divine selection may I urge upon you to spend a little more time

44:53 in Christ before the foundation of the world may I urge upon you don't spend so much time debating it with a red face in your jugular vein standing out on your neck spend a little more time on your face before God with Ephesians 1 and your spirit saturated with the wonder and the glory that almighty God who could have purposed your damnation as a sinner and the purpose that he should constitute a relationship between you and his beloved son before the world began a relationship that forms the basis of what we shall see tomorrow the benefits of the once for all work of Christ

45:36 in history the basis of the actual experience of our effectual calling right down to our glorification union with Christ is the orbit out of which every blessing grows but as Hugh Martin so perceptibly says if we say Christ being surety justifies the substitution if he's surety if he becomes legally liable for all the debts and obligations of his people yes the substitution is justified by the suretyship but what justifies the suretyship and there is no answer but the answer that we've been suggesting this morning that Jesus Christ was appointed the covenant head of his people

46:20 he was constituted the head of his body his bride for he loved the church and gave himself for it we must learn to go as far as the scripture allows us to go and then to have a mind that is sufficiently sanctified to stop where scripture stops but I would remind you of Thornwell's very perceptive comments when treating some related themes he said we must always beware of two kinds of carnal disposition with regard to the truth of the Bible one is the carnal attitude of inquisitiveness that would go beyond what is written and the other is the carnal attitude of timidity

47:03 that would fall short of what is written now there are some who want to pry where they have no business prying the secret things belong unto the Lord what was the precise arrangement by which we were chosen in Christ we want to have it all analyzed no no we go no further than scripture goes but neither do we dishonor God with a fastidiousness that says oh those things are too deep for me I can't my friend the things that are revealed are for us and our children and Ephesians 1.4 is a revealed truth 2 Timothy 1.9 is a revealed truth and that is for you and for your children that we may know and do

47:46 the words of this book well God willing we'll pick up here tomorrow morning right where we left off tracing out the doctrine of union with Christ as it comes to expression in the incarnation the life and ministry of Christ then in our effectual calling then in our progress in grace and then in our actual glorification and I think that will be enough for one morning thank you for your careful attention and above all I hope our hearts will continue to seek the Lord for the illumination of his spirit upon our times together thank you