I figured I would begin where...
I want you to begin where I began with this message. Galatians
chapter 6 and verse 15 and then you can
go over and hold your place in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 30. Because I believe this one scripture
that we start with is better explained in this other passage. And so we're going to see this. And I've entitled this message,
What is it to be in Christ? What is it to be in Christ? Or
what is union with Christ? The Apostle says in verse 14,
he says, God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of Jesus Christ. by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." In Christ. And that's what I want us to
dwell on out of this verse. These two words, in Christ. What does Paul mean when he says,
for in Christ? Neither circumcision availeth
him being under circumcision, but a new creation." What does
he mean? In Christ. I do pray God the Holy Spirit
would show us what this means. Now every believer, every believer
in Jesus Christ. Everyone that is born of the
Spirit of God, I want you to grab a hold of this with all
your soul. You are in Christ. You are in a spiritual, a real
and a vital union with the Son of the Living God. We who are in Christ do not glory
in anything of the flesh. We who are in Christ, neither
circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything. We say, God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ. So then we are in Christ. Paul
said neither circumcision or uncircumcision doesn't avail
anything. It doesn't have anything to do with our union with Christ. He said if you're in Christ,
that doesn't have one lick to do with it. What does is you are a new creation. That is the manifestation of
our union with Christ, the new creation. Not whether you are
circumcised or you're not, whether you obey the law, whether you're
part of a church or you're not. That doesn't have anything to
do with this union. That means that none of our works,
none of our merits, none of our obedience to the law has any
part with this union with Christ, nor is it any evidence of our
union with Christ. Neither circumcision, that's
what he's talking about, no obedience to the law, is evidence that you're
in Christ. Now listen to this, neither is
your sin evidence that you're not. Just as your obedience has nothing
to do with it, listen, your sin cannot make it void. It doesn't have anything to do
with your union with Christ. So what is Paul saying by this?
He's saying this, that your union with Christ is a sovereign act
of the will of God alone. You're in Christ because God
put you there. The sovereignty of God is surely
a profoundly deep subject, is it not? Can you find a bottom
to the sovereignty of God? How often are we confused at
things that go on, and how often do we doubt His control over
all things? Yet God is absolutely sovereign.
The doctrine of absolute sovereignty is unfathomable to the human
mind. Men by nature are unable and
unwilling to comprehend it. So then they deny the sovereignty
of God. That's the result of this. We
speak of the sovereignty of God. They strive to remove the scepter
of omnipotence from the hand of God. How can you do that?
How is that possible? They twist the Scriptures to
their own destruction. But God said, I declared the
end from the beginning, from ancient times, the things that
were not yet done, saying this, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do all My pleasure. So then seeing that a man by
nature is depraved and ignorant, incapable of knowing God, rightly
has one asked, Canst thou by searching find out, God? Can a man by searching in books
and knowledge find out God? Can he go into the wilderness
and find out about God? Can he study the trees and creation
and find out about God? No! He cannot know God. It is high as the heavens, what
canst thou do? Deeper than hell, what canst
thou know? The measure thereof is longer
than the earth and broader than the sea. You want to know something
about God? If you know anything at all about
God, you know a thimbleful of the ocean. That's about it. A
drop. We know so little. And man by
his study can never find out, naturally. In this vain religious
generation, countless millions have set themselves against the
doctrine of God's sovereignty. They would reject it over their
favorite doctrine, free will. Why do men reject the sovereignty
of God in salvation? Because they love free will. They hate sovereignty because
sovereignty digs at the very root of their false doctrine. If God is sovereign, man doesn't
have a free will. You got that? You can't have
both. Either God is sovereign or man is. There are not two
sovereigns. So when you say things like God
is ruling over all things, including the salvation of man, they would
rather have faith, or luck, or chance, than to have the sovereign
God rule over all things. They would rather have these
things so long as they can have their will as part of their salvation.
So long as they can add one of their works to the work of Christ,
they'll do away with the true sovereignty, the absolute sovereignty
of God. But it doesn't matter, does it? It does not change the truth
of God's sovereignty, does it? No. Denied if they will. Fight
against it. God is sovereign. He is. Our God is in the heavens and
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. He is sovereign over
creation. Our God is sovereign over providence,
over every circumstance. And therefore we know He is sovereign
in the salvation of sinners. So then, our union with Christ
is an act of God's sovereign will. Now, go to 1 Corinthians
and we're going to see how this develops throughout this verse. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30. And I've got three points about
this union, our union with Christ. First of all, our union with
Christ is of God. Of God. Secondly, our union with
Christ affords us great blessings, such as wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. And thirdly, our union with Christ
always yields one fruit, praise to God. It always gives glory
to God. Now let's see these together.
Our union with Christ is of God. First Corinthians 1 verse 30,
but of God. Are you what? In Christ Jesus. Listen, though the word sovereignty
is not there, it's stamped all over the text. It's stamped on
every word of the text. Of God, you are in Christ. Believer, this is the foundation
and source of all our spiritual blessings and salvation. It is
the root of our union with Christ. So that all who are not in union
with Christ have no spiritual blessings. If God hath not put
you in Christ, you have no spiritual blessing. Such was Esau. Esau was a man that God hated
even before his birth. An act of sovereign will. He
was not put in union with Christ, but left to himself. So then let us trace out our
union and see where it begins. See where it begins. It begins
and is rooted in the sovereignty of God. Our union with Christ
is of God. Now then, what does this mean,
of God? First of all, it means that we
are in Christ by the purpose of God, by the will of God, the
sovereign will of God. Remember that whatsoever God
pleased, He did. And I want you to see that God
was pleased to put you in Christ. He willed to put you in Christ. And this not in time, but eternity. Paul says in Ephesians 1-3, Blessed
be the God of our Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ. Where are all spiritual blessings?
They're in Christ. In heavenly places, in Christ.
According, as He hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him, in love, having predestinated us under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to what?
the good pleasure of His will. This is the root cause of your
union with Christ, the sovereign will of God, the sovereign decree
of the Almighty. Who then can oppose His will?
If God has willed you to be in Christ, who should stand against
Him? who in heaven or earth could
stand against omnipotence." I like this. I believe it was, I think
it was Isaac Watts that wrote this, or Newton. Who? Who shall in thy presence stand
and match omnipotence, ungrasp the hold of thy right hand, and
pluck the sinner thence? Who? Don't you see that since
your union with Christ is the will of God that there was no
way that it could be removed? That His will, His decree is
an eternal decree. Of God are you in Christ. Who then shall take you out of
Christ? No one. No one. God willed it. But not only an act of divine
will. That's one thing, isn't it? If
someone just willed, how many times have you just determined
to do something and you didn't like to do it, but you just did
it anyway? You had to give over something
to someone because you wanted to seem pious or whatever reason,
but yet you just disdained it. It just rubbed you the wrong
way to have to do it. Listen, this did not rub God
the wrong way to do this. He did it out of an act of sovereign
will, but it was not just will. It was love. Of God are you in Christ by love. Our Lord Jesus tells us plainly
the greatness and depth of God's love. You want to know how much
God loves you? See if you can measure this. Our Lord Jesus
said this about our union with Him. Listen. He said, "...and
the glory which thou gavest me I give to them, that they may
be one even as we are one, I in them." Now union, I in them. "...and thou in me, that they
may be perfect by one," that's talking about Himself. He was
going to make them perfect by Himself and that the world may
know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them." How much? As much as you love me. You get that? Your father loves you as much
as he loves his son. In fact, He doesn't love you
outside of His Son. He never can love you outside
of His Son. He always loves you in His Son. Herein is love. I don't know
much about love. But if I want to know love, John
says, here it is. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. Don't look at that. Please don't
look at your love for God and try to measure His love for you
based on that. No. Herein is love. Not that
we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. God so loved the world, His elect
who were in the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. How deep the Father's love for
us, how vast beyond all measure, that He would give His only Son
to make a wretch His treasure. God so loved us from eternity
and willed us that we should be in Christ and willed that
Christ should accomplish our salvation. Of God are you in
Christ, who of God is made unto us. So loved and so determined
was God to save you, He put you in Christ and made Christ to
be your representative. made Him to be your high priest
and representative. And so then Christ came into
this world and did what? He accomplished our salvation
as we were in union with Him. Don't you see Him walking around
living the perfect life? You know, I was there in Him. That was my representative man.
He was doing that on my behalf. He was doing that on the behalf
of everyone who was in Him. And He accomplished my redemption
by dying on that tree. When He died on that tree, so
did I. And when He rose again, so did
I. I was in Him. But this sovereign will and sovereign
love that put us in Christ We could not see or experience
it until God revealed it. Now, right? How many years was
it before God revealed this union to you? You had no union with
Him whatsoever. There was a time where we had
literally, physically, no union with Him. Spiritually, no union
with Him. until he made it manifest. And
this is the third part about this. The sovereign union willed
of God by the love of God shall be manifest to all the elect
in an experimental union. Don't you see that? That everyone
he put in Christ, everyone he gave to Christ, they will experience
this union without exception. All of them will. Though we were in union with
Christ from eternity and loved of Him, yet we were born spiritually
dead." Born without the Spirit of God. Without union. And this is what the Scripture
says in Ephesians 2, He said this, that at that time you were
without Christ. What does that mean? It means
you were without Christ. You had no union with Christ.
You had no manifestation that you had union with Him in eternity. You had no manifestation that
you had union with Him while He walked upon the earth. You
were without Christ. He says in another place, we
were children of wrath even as others. What does that mean, children
of wrath? That means you are haters of God. That's what that
means. Just like everybody else. But now you believe in Christ.
What made the difference? How is it now that you have the
experimental union with Christ? Here it is, Ephesians 2, 4, "...but
God who is rich in mercy." It's just what I talked about. Sovereign
will, sovereign love. That's the mercy of God. But
God, who is rich in sovereign love and mercy, who put us in
Christ, for His great love, His immutable love, wherewith He
loved us from eternity. Even when you were dead in sins,
even when you were without Christ, listen to this, hath He quickened
us together with Christ. You were in union with Christ,
and hath raised us up together. You were with Christ when He
was raised, and made us, got that? Made us to sit together
in heavenly places. Your union with Christ, you were
sitting with Christ in heaven. For what purpose? That in the
ages to come He might show, manifest, the exceeding riches
of His grace and kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Here's
how, here's the manifestation for by grace you are saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it
is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Everyone
that God put in Christ, Make no mistake, they will come to
Christ. They will have a vital, real, experimental union with
the Son of God. That's what our text in Galatians
says, isn't it? In Christ, neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but what? How do you know you're
in Christ, Paul? Well, it's not by circumcision.
Well, it's not by uncircumcision either. Here it is, a new creation. That's the manifestation that
you have union with Christ. Are you a new creature? Are you born again of the Spirit
of God? Now listen, if you do not have
the Spirit of God, you You have no claim to union with
Christ. Listen, you can know all there
is to know about this union. You can study it. You can learn
about election. You can learn about the doctrines
of grace. You can know all there is to know about a union with
the elect and a union with Christ. But except you have the Spirit
of God in you, you have no claim to it. Only those who are born
again, except the man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom
of God. Only they who are made new creatures
in Christ Jesus may know of their union with
Him. Knowing then that union with
Christ is the sovereign will, the sovereign love of God that
is manifest. Are you born again? If you are not, you are without
God and without Christ. And none of these blessings are
yours. You have no claim on them. Now, if God, by His grace, gives
you life, then you may have all the claim to these things. of
being in Christ Jesus. So then what is the evidence
of our union? It is this, faith in Christ alone. What is true faith? If faith is the evidence, what's
true faith? Faith is a ceasing of all works to merit salvation
and resting only in Christ. That's what faith is. Faith is
fully trusting Christ. Now what is the evidence of faith?
Because anyone can say I believe, right? How many people in scripture
said they believed but yet they were proven false? What is the
evidence of true faith? It is love. Love for Christ,
love for the gospel. Faith worketh by love. These
two are inseparable. So do you have faith? Do you
have love for Christ and His Word, His people? Then you may
have claim. I am in Christ! On what grounds? God put me there. How do you know? He made a vital
union in my very soul by a new creation. A new creation. And this is the promise of Christ,
that all that the Father had given me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So this
is the Father's will, that all he had given Christ he should
lose nothing, but raise it up again at the last day. Now, are
you in Christ? Are you in Christ? I want to
give you four illustrations very quickly of this union. The scripture
gives us several, but there are four main pictures so as we can
try to take in how close we are to Christ, how in union we are
with Christ. The first one is this, the vine
and the branches. Our Lord said, I am the vine
and you are the branches, except you abide in me. You can do nothing. You can do nothing. See the vine. Very simple picture,
isn't it? See the vine coming out of this
planted. It comes out of the seed. It
grows up the wall and it's singular at first, isn't it? The vine
comes out and it sprouts up the wall and all you see is the stem.
You see that one vine. But what you don't see is this.
All of the branches are pre-programmed into the vine. They're there,
you just don't see them yet. You know they were in the seed,
right? When you have that seed, you know all of the the programming for that plant
is in the seed already. You plant it and when it comes
out you see what was in there. So it is with these branches.
They were already in and then springtime comes and all of a
sudden you see the buds coming out of the vine that were already
in there. They come out and they sprout
and then they begin to grow leaves and then the fruit begins to
hang off of these vines. That's a picture of our union.
I am the vine, Jesus said, and you are the branches. So then our union with Christ
is a vital union. If you were to cut off the branch,
imagine a beautiful branch flowing off of that vine, a strong branch,
a thick branch, full of leaves and fruit. Cut it off from the vine and
what do you have? You have a dead stick. Even so it is with us. Our union
is a vital union. A necessary union. Without me,
you can do nothing. This is the truth that every
believer knows and feels within their own souls, that Christ
is the source and spring of all our life. I know that outside of Him I
would die. But in Him comes all the nourishment
and strength I need to serve God. That's a union, isn't it? The
second figure is the temple, the building. Paul said this
in Ephesians 2, he says, "...and you are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth unto a holy temple, in whom you are also built together
for inhabitation of God through the Spirit." Don't you see the
building? There it is at the very corner
of the building is the cornerstone. The cornerstone of the building.
Don't you know that all the weight of the structure rests on the
cornerstone? What happens if you have a faulty
cornerstone? If the cornerstone is cracked,
it could not support the weight of the building. The building
would fall. But listen, just as Jesus Christ
is the living cornerstone, laid of God, A sure foundation stone
upon which all the church, all the souls of God's church are
built on Him. Don't you see that our union
with Him shows us this, in this picture, that all the responsibility
of our salvation is on Him. All the weight of our souls rest
on Him. Let us rejoice in that He is
our surety, our guarantor, that He bears all the responsibility. The government shall be upon
His shoulders. Are you in union with Christ?
Good, because all the responsibility for Him to bring you to glory
is on Him. And listen, I'll just give you
the end. He finished the work. That stone is set and it's sure
and it doesn't move. Thirdly, the head and the body.
Isn't that a picture of our union? He is the head and we are his
body. You know, I know this. My head
has never been without my body and my body has never been without
my head. I came out that way. You came out that way. What a
picture. Don't you know that you've never
been outside of Christ? Ever? That He's always been your
federal head? You're in union with Him? He's
always been your head. And you know what that means?
That means He is our ruler. If we are in union with Christ
as the head rules the body. Listen, I put my hand on this
because my eye saw it. I can lean on it because my mind
is already determined that this can hold my weight. Now my hand
did absolutely nothing on its own. Am I right? It did as the
head directed. Where are you going? What are
you doing? You're doing and going exactly as the head leads you
and guides you. That's how vitally in union you
are with Christ. He in you and you in Him. He is always with you, always
leading you, always giving you wisdom and understanding. My
hands could have no understanding had not my head given it. And
you could have no understanding had Christ not given it. Now
listen, sometimes my feet don't know, don't have to know what
my hand's doing. Sometimes God don't tell us what He's doing
over here. That's alright, He's your head. And whatever part
of the body you are, perform that function. He'll guide you. strengthen you, give you the
ability to do it. And the last one's marriage.
What a picture of union. This picture is the love of the
union, doesn't it? Marriage. It says, there shall
man leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife.
These two shall be one flesh. Don't you know this? That you
are the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was betrothed
to you. You were betrothed to Him. You
were betrothed to Him by God and He in love bought you, redeemed
you, purchased you from the slave market of sin, from underneath
the justice of God. He bought you for Himself and
then in time He brings His bride to Himself and we become one
with Him. And one thing about this marriage,
it never ends. This marriage never ends. He
says, I have betrothed thee to Me forever in righteousness and
judgment and faithfulness. We are betrothed to Him. So are
you in Christ? Then listen, He is your vine
and you are the branches. All the supply of your life comes
from Him. He is the cornerstone and you
are the building. All your salvation rests on Him. He is your head. You are His
body. He rules and leads you. You are
His beloved bride and He shall never leave you nor forsake you. This is what union with Christ
is. It is one with Him. Are you in Christ? All who are
in Christ are made then to see their need of Him. Do you see
your need of Him? Do you know the guilt of your
sin? All who are made to be in union
with Him were made to feel our guilt and know His nature, know
our depravity and inability to be accepted with God, and then
in grace He comes in the gospel and His Spirit, and He shows
us the perfection of Christ. He shows us that life By His
life and by His death, He satisfied God's justice forever. He reveals that His righteousness
is the only acceptable righteousness. Therefore, in the power and grace
of God, we are moved to Him. You know, I always loved that
picture of Israel on the brink of the Red Sea. He hemmed them in. They could
not go forward. They could not go to the right
or to the left. They could not go backward. So
what did he say? Go forward. And that's what he
tells us. Come to me. Go forward into the
sea of God's justice and it will part for you. Why? You are one with the Son of God.
one with the Son of God. Can justice touch Him? It did once, but no more. And so then what does that mean?
All that belongs to Him, you listen, belongs to me. Now if you can believe that,
may God help us to do that. We should embrace that and take
that as far as you possibly can. Everything that belongs to Christ
belongs to us. Because we are in union with
Him. His righteousness becomes ours.
His redemption becomes ours. He said, I give unto them my
glory. This is what it is to be one
with Christ. I knew I wasn't going to be able
to finish. I'm just going to quickly give
you these four things that belong to you. Look back at your text
in 1 Corinthians. by a sovereign will and love,
are you in Christ, Jesus, now being manifest by the Spirit
of God in the new creation, through faith in His blood, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption."
Wisdom. You had no wisdom. God said, I made Christ to be
all your wisdom. To the world, Christ is what?
Foolishness. But to us, he is the power and
the wisdom of God. Here in his wisdom, how can God
be just and justify the ungodly? I know! I know! How do I know? Christ is my wisdom. Christ is
the only way God can be just and justify the ungodly. He's
my wisdom. You know that. You know that
because you're in Christ. And he's given that wisdom to
you. Righteousness. He hath obtained righteousness
as my federal head. He obtained righteousness by
his own, listen, obedience to God. He came and took my nature
and as a man obtained righteousness on my behalf. and then by grace
and power he imputes that righteousness to my charge and at that appointed
time of union he imparts that righteousness in the new nature. Righteousness. What is righteousness
but active obedience? Isn't that righteousness? Isn't
how righteousness obtained is by active obedience? And by His
righteousness we are justified. The law looks at me and says,
there's no sin in Him. He's justified. He's righteous. There's no punishment for Him. That righteousness is mine. Why? God hath made Him. To be unto us, righteousness. Sanctification. Now here's a
good one. Holiness. Holiness. God hath made Him to
be our holiness. What's the difference between
righteousness and holiness? I had to muse on this for a while. It took me a long while to muse
on this. But this is what it is. Righteousness
deals with the actions or obedience of a man, whereas holiness is
just a state of being. God who is holy does righteousness. So Christ with all of his works
has made us righteous, but he's done more than that. He has made
us holy in our being. Don't you know that? You are
holy. That's what that new creation
is all about. That new creation was created. How? Holy. Paul says that we are created
after God in true what? Not righteous. Holiness. It's
just who you are. Don't you know you can't change
who you are naturally? Well, guess what? You can't change
who you are spiritually either. Nothing you do outwardly will
affect the holiness of the other nature. It won't. It can't contaminate. It won't. Just as the holiness
won't do anything to the old man, the old man can't do anything
to the new man. Listen, you just are holy. With his holy garments on, I
am holy as the Holy One. Now can you believe that? Now
don't look in the mirror, you won't see it. Listen, I wouldn't tell you such
things if God didn't tell you. Didn't God make him to be your
sanctification? So what does sanctification have
to do with your works? For in Christ neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision." That doesn't have anything to
do with your new creation, your holy nature. That's what God
purposed you to be. And that's what Christ has made
you to be, holy. And He's our redemption. Redemption
has to do with buying, doesn't it? Purchasing out of captivity
we were captive to our sins captive only to our nature under the
bondage and Dominion of Satan under the justice of Almighty
God and Christ redeemed us by his blood once for all Oh sinner
receive it once for all old brother believe it Scriptures have told us, He hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. He has redeemed us. And what's
the glory? What's the end result of all
those who are in Christ? Paul says, As it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Don't you see all
this is of God? Can you not see that all of this
was outside, done outside of you before it was ever done in
you? And when it was done in you, it was just as permanent
as when it was done outside of you. who then shall separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Neither height,
nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor life, nor death, nor any other thing
shall be able to separate me from the love of God that is,"
listen, in Christ Jesus. Are you in union? How sure is
your union? is as sure as the will of God.
It's as sure as the love of God. It is sure as the righteousness
and death of Christ. It is sure as the resurrection
and ascension of Christ. It is as sure as He is our Savior
and King. I pray that God would be pleased
to show us and give us such faith to believe these things. I tell
you, we wouldn't fear as much if we believed these things.
I tell you, we wouldn't be dismayed as much if we would believe these
things. God give us faith to believe these things. And give
Him the glory. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.