I remember the first time I encountered something that fed my conspiracy theory side. I had discovered that so many companies were actually connected to the same, larger parent company. This realization blew open the door for me. All my favorite grocery brands were really just three or four parent companies repackaging their stuff. The same was true for television networks, car companies, so on and so forth.
The doctrine of union with Christ is a bit like that umbrella or parent corporation. It exists upstream from so many other doctrines. Yet far from a conspiracy theory—and far from something to be suspicious about—the doctrine of our union with Christ is something Christ himself taught. He says, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
To be in Christ is to be united to him. Put succinctly, GK Beale states it this way: “What Christ is, the believer (in union with Christ) is.”1 When we enter into Christ by faith, we are now united to him. We exist in him. This changes everything. Indeed, this union with Christ is the work of the Holy Spirit who binds us to him (Eph. 3:16-17).
Fellow youth ministers, for this reason, help your students click things into place about their salvation by teaching about their union with Christ. When we understand our salvation, we grow more and more in the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 1:17). So, to help you do this, I want to give six ways that salvation finds its source in our union with Christ.
Union with Christ explains our relationship with God.
When we are saved by God and brought into union with Christ, our relationship with God changes. The Trinity exists in perfect, eternal love that never fails. When we are united to Christ, we are brought into that perfect and eternal trinitarian love. Jesus shows us this reality when he prays, “just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:21).
One might think about the beautiful picture of a family. When a father and mother love each other, and they have a child, that child enters into the beautiful love of the family. Likewise, through union with Christ, our students experience the love that God the Father has for his Son.
Union with Christ explains our righteousness.
It is often said that we are forgiven of our sins because Jesus lived a perfect life and died on the cross for us. That is true, but how do we connect those dots? How does his righteousness become my own? His righteousness becomes ours when we are united to him by faith. This “alien” righteousness is now ours because we are in him. Paul speaks of this very reality in saying, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The biblical analogy of clothes is helpful. Imagine you pull the ultimate dad move and get spaghetti on your shirt. If someone points at you and says, “There is spaghetti on you”, you wouldn’t get offended and say, “No! That’s just my clothes!” For all intents and purposes, that is you. In that same way, Christ’s righteousness is yours. His perfect life is yours—and your students— when we are in him. Indeed, his death to sin is also your death.
Union with Christ explains our spiritual blessings.
Ephesians 1 is a foundational text for the doctrine of our union with Christ. In this chapter, we read about all the spiritual blessings that we have. Yet, this is only the case because those spiritual blessings first belong to Christ. By nature of our union with him, we now have those spiritual blessings too. When my wife and I got married, we combined our bank accounts. All that I had was hers; I did not hold anything back. Yet, unlike my bank account, Christ’s blessings and riches are unfathomable.
Union with Christ explains our new life.
In Ephesians, Paul expounds on our new life in Christ. In the first seven verses of the letter, there are five references to being “in him” or “in Christ.” Elsewhere, Paul says that we should “put on Christ” (Rom. 13:14). Putting on Christ is also known as putting on the new self—a change has happened in us. The old self has passed away, and the new self has been born. This is regeneration. It means we have a new heart.
To put on Christ is to have one’s whole self be renewed. Sinclair Ferguson puts it like this:
The word “Christian” is used only three times in the New Testament. New Testament believers seem to have thought of themselves fundamentally as people who had been given a new identity such that they were no longer united to Adam. Rather, they had been brought into a new humanity in Jesus Christ.2
Our union with Christ is this new self, and this is critical to help our students begin to grasp. We cannot die to ourselves without living to something else. Otherwise, we would just be dead. The new life is a life in Christ.
Union with Christ explains our need to pursue holiness.
It is a truncated and wrong view of the Christian life to simply receive the benefits of the gospel and not the reality of it. Meaning, because we are now united to Christ and have been made new, it is necessary to walk in holiness. Why? Because Christ is holy. If this is true, then we should expect to see constant calls to walk in the righteousness (right standing before God) we received in Christ, all throughout the apostolic teaching. Well, that is exactly what we see.
Paul says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…” (Rom. 12:2). John writes, “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9). You can find many more passages like these throughout the New Testament. Like a passenger on an airplane, if you are truly on board, you will necessarily ascend with the plane. If we are truly in Christ, we will desire holiness to mark our lives. Our appeals for teenagers to hear and understand the gospel must also include a call to grow in Christlikeness.
Union with Christ explains our resurrection.
In his great explanation of the resurrection, Paul drops a bombshell saying, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). If we rightly understand what it means to be in Christ, then the language of Christ’s resurrection being the “firstfruits” makes sense as well. If we are united to him—and if what Christ is the believer is—then his resurrection is our resurrection. We will one day rise and live forever with God because Christ did.
Our union with Christ is a grand doctrine indeed; it changes everything. Because of it, we are beloved children of God and stand unashamed before him. It explains how all the riches and blessings of the Father are now ours. It helps us understand our new life and our pursuit of holiness. Our union with Christ is why we have hope that we will be raised with Christ and live forever.
Anyone who studies this doctrine will be encouraged. Fellow youth minister, help your students get a handle on the grand mystery of the faith by teaching the biblical doctrine of union with Christ.
To help your students grasp more of what Christ has done for them, pre-order our upcoming book, God With You: A 52-Week Devotional Through the Whole Bible for Teenagers (Zondervan). This devotional encourages teenagers to place their hope in the steadfast love and trustworthy character of Jesus, our Immanuel, God-with-us.
