# Union With Christ



## Backwoods Presbyterian (Aug 1, 2008)

I recently picked up Mark Garcia's book _Life in Christ: Union with Christ and Twofold Grace in Calvin's Theology_ and would like to see some discussion on what seems to be a growing rift in Calvinistic and Reformed camps as to what exactly this union means and does for the believer. To get us started here is a quote from John Murray that shows forth the point Garcia and Richard Gaffin have been making.



> “…And our death to sin is guaranteed by our union with Christ in his death and resurrection (6:3-5). The strength of sin is the law and if we have been put to death to the law by the body of Christ (7:4), we have died to sin. Furthermore, by union with Christ we have come under the reign of grace and sin can no longer exercise dominion (6:14). This is the basis and assurance of sanctification. Christ died for us-this is our justification. But if he died for us, we who also died with him-is the guarantee of sanctification.”


-- pg. xxv, John Murray, _The Epistle to the Romans_


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Aug 1, 2008)

*bump*


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Aug 1, 2008)

Benjamin -- You may wish to add this to your reading list:

http://www.puritanboard.com/f29/inner-sanctum-puritan-piety-21123/


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Aug 1, 2008)

You da man Andrew...


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## toddpedlar (Aug 1, 2008)

VirginiaHuguenot said:


> Benjamin -- You may wish to add this to your reading list:
> 
> http://www.puritanboard.com/f29/inner-sanctum-puritan-piety-21123/



I second that recommendation - it's a fantastic little book (and may prompt you to purchase Flavel's works, but what's wrong with that?)


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## Robbie Schmidtberger (Aug 1, 2008)

Check out Beeke's Overcoming the World. It is a popular treatment of Calvin's theology of our Union with Christ. His thesis is that we cannot defeat sin, unless we realize our union with Christ. Each chapter is short, which is nice, but convicting. After his theological argument for piety, he goes on and mentions several aids to our sanctification - the church, worship, sacraments, etc.


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## Iconoclast (Aug 1, 2008)

Here is some J.L.Dagg


> 1. By the will of God, as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, that which is produced in regeneration, is immortal. This is signified by the language of the Scriptures: "The hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible."[176] "Being born of the incorruptible."[177] "Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him."[178] Grace in the heart is here represented as incorruptible and abiding, and as securing its possessor from sin, that is, from a life of sin, such as unregenerate men pursue. The same truth is taught in these words of Christ: "He that believeth, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."[179] The new life which grace produces, is in the present possession of the believer, and is here called everlasting. Its perpetuity is asserted in another form, in the words "Neither shall he come into condemnation." If one who has been made a new creature, and justified by faith, can return to the state from which divine grace has rescued him, he will come again into condemnation; but this is declared in these words of the infallible teacher, to be impossible: "If they who have passed from death to life, may return again to death, their present life is not everlasting;" and the assurance, neither shall come into condemnation, is groundless. The same truth is exhibited in another light, in these words of Paul: "Knowing that Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no dominion over him; likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord."[180] Here believers are taught to account the new life which they have received, to be like the life of Christ, raised from the dead. As death hath no more dominion over him, the resemblance would fail in a most important particular, if their spiritual life were not immortal. As death can have no more dominion over the risen Saviour, so, death can have no more dominion over those who, in regeneration, have passed from death to life, and have been raised up together with Christ.
> 
> 2. The union of believers with Christ is indissoluble. His love holds them fast. "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ," &c.[181] "Having loved his own, he loved them to the end."[182] "His power holds them fast; neither shall any pluck them out of my hand."[183] Such is their union to him, that their life is said to be in him, and he is called their life.[184] The life of the risen Jesus, is the life of his people, and such is their union with him, as to render this life operative in them.: "If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."[185] As his death was efficacious to bring us into a state of reconciliation with God, his life, now that he has been raised from the dead, and is ever living to make intercession for us, and is the source of our life, hid in the Godhead, will much more preserve us in this state of reconciliation, and secure our final and complete salvation.
> 
> 3. The promises of God secure our preservation in Christ. When the new covenant is made with believers, by writing the law in their hearts, the accompanying promise is: "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."[186] It is true that the Israelites were once accounted the people of God; and that they departed from God, and were rejected by him; and the same departure and rejection might happen to believers in Christ, if they were under the same covenant. But God found fault with the old covenant precisely on this ground, that it did not secure his people from disobedience and rejection: "Because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not."[187] Having found fault with this covenant, which did not put the law in their hearts, and secure them from rejection, he abolishes that covenant, and makes a new one, founded on better promises: "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me."[188] "Believers are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation;"[189] and the power which keeps them through faith, keeps that faith in existence and exercise, or it would fail to preserve them. This preservation of their faith, follows from the intercession of Christ,[190] who prayed for Peter, that his faith should not fail; and as he ever liveth to make intercession,[191] the preservation of faith is secured by the continued supplies of his grace, which otherwise would not be sufficient for his people. It is manifest that Paul entertained these views, when he wrote to the Philippians: "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."[192]


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (Aug 1, 2008)

Y'all have to listen to the Castle Church Interview with Mark Garcia. Mindblowingly awesome.


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## Iconoclast (Aug 1, 2008)

Here is J.P. Boyce on Adoption, which deals with Union with Christ


> CHAPTER XXXVI
> ADOPTION.
> 
> ADOPTION is that privilege, bestowed upon those who are united with Christ, and justified by faith, by which they are admitted into the family of God, adopted as his children, and made joint heirs with his own Son.
> ...


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## Augusta (Oct 27, 2008)

We had Mark Garcia speak at a conference at our church on Calvin's views on union with Christ. We now have all the audio up on our church website. It was a very good conference if anyone is interested. Just go to audio resources and then conferences.


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## Scott1 (Oct 27, 2008)

While the trajectory of this concerns me, I trust Reverend Keister's explanation of this on his blog:

Interview With Mark Garcia « Green Baggins

Someone once told me that if you cannot explain to someone on the street the business of a company you want to buy stock in in two sentences or less, don't invest in that company.

I realize there are a lot of smart people in theology and that God has gifted them.

However, the complicated, conviluted explanations that say, in effect, we are saved, but not really, when Christ saves us, cause me great concern.


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## ChristianTrader (Oct 27, 2008)

Scott1 said:


> While the trajectory of this concerns me, I trust Reverend Keister's explanation of this on his blog:
> 
> Interview With Mark Garcia « Green Baggins
> 
> ...



When you are evaluating how complicated an argument is for one position vs. its contrary, make sure that the simple side is not ignoring data that it has to account for.

For example, tri-theism and modalism are much simplier than Trinitarian Theism.

CT


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## MW (Oct 28, 2008)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> > “…And our death to sin is guaranteed by our union with Christ in his death and resurrection (6:3-5). The strength of sin is the law and if we have been put to death to the law by the body of Christ (7:4), we have died to sin. Furthermore, *by union with Christ* we have come under the reign of grace and sin can no longer exercise dominion (6:14). *This is the basis* and assurance of sanctification. Christ died for us-this is our justification. But if he died for us, we who also died with him-is the guarantee of sanctification.”
> 
> 
> -- pg. xxv, John Murray, _The Epistle to the Romans_



I emphasise the careful phrasing, "by our union with Christ" and "this is the basis." In this way Prof. Murray makes the unio mystica to be the "common basis" of the two distinct benefits of Christ's meditation -- justification and sanctification, which are related to the union by different modes of operation. This is in accord with Larger Catechism answers 69, 70, 75, 77. Problems only emerge when the unio mystica is itself made the all-inclusive benefit of Christ's mediation, and justification and sanctification are mixed together as if they are different modes of explaining the same thing.


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