Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. Today's
message is the sixth message in a series that is intended
to accompany a new book that we're offering entitled, What
is a Christian? A Biblical Study of the One True
Faith. These messages are intended to
help people in in exercising the command, obeying the command
of the Lord, as related in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, examine yourselves whether
you be in the faith, the Christian faith. Do you claim to be a Christian?
Do I claim to be a Christian? Yes, I do. Well, let's put that
to the test of the Bible. What does the Bible say a Christian
is or a Christian is not? Don't worry about the opinions
of men, don't worry about feeling and experiences, just go to the
Bible and put your claim to the test and hopefully you'll come
out with the assurance of being a true Christian as per the Bible,
the biblical truth. Well this is the sixth message.
And this is to accompany the chapter that is entitled this
way, Christians are united to Jesus Christ. A Christian is
a person who is united to Jesus Christ. And this union with Christ
is so important, so important. This union has so many different
glorious aspects as related in the scripture. And that's what
I'm going to give you a few of them. In fact, I'm dividing this
subject up into two messages. The next message we'll deal with
that. But union with Christ, you see, when you talk about
other religions, you talk about one being a follower of this
prophet or this person, like, you know, a Buddhist is one who
follows Buddha. A Muslim is one who follows Muhammad. Well, Christians do follow Jesus
Christ, but it's more than that. A true Christian is one who has
been brought by the power and grace of God into a personal
union and relationship with Jesus Christ. And this is by means
of God-given faith. Over in the Old Testament it
even teaches this. The book of Ezekiel, for example,
chapter 36, the prophet Ezekiel is prophesying of the reality
of the new covenant in Christ where where people, sinners,
will be born again by the Spirit and brought into a personal faith
union with the Lord, with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says
in Ezekiel 36, verse 26, he said, God says, a new heart also will
I give you, a new mind, new affections, new will. He says, and a new
spirit will I put within you. Now, the Holy Spirit will come
and indwell God's people, but he'll give them spiritual life
and knowledge. And he said, I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh. That stony heart there is the
unrepentant heart, the unbelieving heart. He said, I'll give you
a heart of flesh. The word flesh there doesn't
mean a sinful heart. The word flesh there means a
penitent heart, a broken and a contrite heart. This is what
God gives a sinner IN THE NEW BIRTH. CHRIST SENDS THE HOLY
SPIRIT TO IMPART SPIRITUAL LIFE. HE SAYS IN VERSE 27 OF EZEKIEL
36, HE SAID, I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT WITHIN YOU, THAT'S THE HOLY SPIRIT,
AND CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUES. THAT'S THE GOSPEL. THAT'S THE
TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. WALKING IN HIS STATUES, NOT TO
BE SAVED BY YOUR WORKS, BUT BECAUSE YOU ALREADY ARE. HE SAYS, YOU
SHALL KEEP MY JUDGEMENTS. And so all of these things, God
grants unto His people to bring them as sinners saved by grace,
based on the blood and the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, into
a personal faith union with Christ. Over in the New Testament, we
could go to so many scriptures here. that would talk about this
union with Christ. And remember what we're saying
now, a true Christian is one who is united to Jesus Christ. And in John 16 and verse 8, for
example, the Lord himself describing the work of the Holy Spirit in
the new birth. And it says, and when he is come,
that is the Holy Spirit, he will reprove or convict the world
of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Now that speaks
of Holy Spirit conviction. Later on, I have a whole chapter
in this book on what is a Christian on this subject relating this
verse. Of sin, he says in verse nine,
because they believe not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to my father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the
prince of this world is just. Over in the book of Romans, chapter
6 and verse 17, the Apostle Paul writes to the Roman Christians,
he says, God be thanked that you were the servants of sin,
that is to be an unregenerate unbeliever, but you have obeyed
from the heart. Now the heart there is the new
heart that Ezekiel spoke of, it's the regenerate heart. and
it's the convicted heart, it's the heart of faith, it's the
heart that's being cleansed by the blood of Christ. So you have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine. Now the form of
doctrine there is the gospel and the teachings of God's grace
in Christ, that form of doctrine which was delivered to you. And
he says, being then made free from sin, you became the servants
of righteousness. Now these passages of scripture,
are just a very few examples describing what the Lord himself
called the new birth. You must be born again. Over
in John chapter three, you might recall when Christ was talking
to a man named Nicodemus, a religious man. And he says in verse three,
Jesus answered and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto
thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God, Nicodemus saith unto him, how can a man be born when he's
old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and
be born? Well, obviously not. Jesus answered, verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, because that which is
born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit
is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, you must be born again.
So that's speaking of that vital, life-giving faith union with
Jesus Christ. But let's put things in their
proper order and their proper perspective concerning a Christian's
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And what I wanna do, and this
is the reason I divided this one up into two messages. I want
you to understand, and the reason I want you to see this is because
of the way the Bible describes and defines Those who are true
Christians. Those who are truly saved. And
in order to understand that, you've got to understand these
two things about union with Christ. In the Bible, there is, number
one, an objective union with Jesus Christ. Objective union. Now what that means is that's
the union that believers, that true Christians have with Christ
that has nothing to do with their personal experience or what happens
within them. The objective union with Jesus
Christ has everything to do with what God in Christ, outside of
ourselves, does for his people. Now, there is subjective union. That's what we're gonna talk
about more next week. I've been talking about that,
that subjective union. That's what a person, a sinner
saved by grace, actually experiences personally within themselves
in being united to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we call the
personal union with Jesus Christ. Remember I said at the beginning,
a true Christian is one who is brought by God, God's power,
God's will, God's grace into a personal union with Christ.
But let's first talk about the objective union with Christ.
What we're talking about there is what Christ himself does for
his people, not in them, but for them. And again, the reason
I wanna talk about that is because the Bible speaks often of that
objective union in describing what a true Christian is. And
for me to understand what, if I'm really a Christian, I need
to understand these things. I read this verse last week,
but let's go back to the book of Ephesians chapter 1. and verse
three. And this describes the objective
union of true Christians with Jesus Christ. It says in Ephesians
1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places, and look at this phrase here, in Christ. In other words, this is the benefits that the people of God have always
possessed in Christ. Not in themselves necessarily.
Because these things, it says in verse four, now look at it,
according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. I wasn't around before the foundation
of the world. But my surety, my substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ, was right there. He's God. Who is Jesus
Christ? He is the second person of the
Trinity. And if I'm a Christian now, what the Bible tells me,
is that God chose me and blessed me in Christ by virtue of His
representing me, Him being my surety, my sins being imputed
to Him, His righteousness imputed to me, all the blessings of salvation
assured unto me in Him before the foundation of the world.
That's an objective union. You see, I wasn't even born.
You weren't even born. That's the way the Bible says
it. Now I know that's a mind boggling truth. It goes on in
Ephesians chapter one verse five saying, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. And
then he says in verse seven, in whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. You see, what that's talking
about is the election of grace. God chose a people, that's objective
union. See, Christ is the representative,
Christ is the surety of his people. And those who are part of the
election of grace, the Bible makes clear, it's made up of
Jews and Gentiles who eventually in time will be brought under
the preaching of the gospel and by the power of the Holy Spirit
be born again. by the Spirit and brought by
God the Holy Spirit to that personal, subjective union with Christ. They'll come to faith in Christ.
But before they are brought by the Holy Spirit to trust Christ,
what are they? Well, they're unregenerate. They're
fallen, ruined, spiritually dead sinners. That's what the Bible
says in Ephesians 2.1, and you hath he quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins. dead sinners, spiritually dead,
lost in their sins and in unbelief. The apostle Paul describes God's
elect before their new birth and before being brought to faith
in Jesus Christ as no different by nature than what he calls
the children of wrath. I quoted part of it. Let's look
back there at Ephesians chapter two, verse one. He says, and
you hath he quickened, that is made alive, who were dead in
trespasses and sin. Now that's spiritual death. spiritual
death. That means we have no desire,
no will for the glory of God in Christ. He says, wherein in
time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air. Now that course
of the world can be a course of false religion as well as
immorality. He said, according to the prince
of the power of the air, that's Satan, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience, that's unbelievers. Verse three,
among whom also we all had our conversation, our walk, in times
past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, now that's as we were
born, the children of wrath, even as others. Now my friend,
God's elect have never been under His wrath. His wrath is eternal
condemnation and damnation. But what He's saying here is
by nature, as we were born in sin, dead in trespasses and sins,
we were no different than the children of wrath, even as others. And God's electing grace, which
united His people to Christ objectively and positionally had nothing
to do with their character or their works, seen or foreseen. It was all of grace. Now the Apostle Paul was led
by the Holy Spirit to illustrate that in the cases of two boys. And it's found in Romans chapter
nine. Go back to Romans chapter nine,
beginning at verse 11, talking about the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand not of works, but
of him that calleth." Now many unbelieving men and women hate
this truth and they try to use it to accuse God of being unjust
and unfair. But the Apostle Paul anticipated
that objection. You know who the children were,
that's Jacob and Esau. He said, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. And I know people today, they
just don't want to hear about a God who hates. Or they think
that's awful. Now let me tell you something
about that. The Bible says God hates all workers of iniquity.
And that begs the question, how in the world can I, who am a
sinner, be classified not as a worker of iniquity? There's
only one way. It's by the grace of God washed in the blood of
Christ and clothed in His righteousness imputed. The Bible said, Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. Preachers today will either avoid
that or they'll water it down. They'll say, that means, well,
he just loved Esau less. That's not what the word means.
God's hatred is not like your hatred or my hatred. When I hate,
it's a sinful thing. When you hate, it's a sinful
thing. But God's hatred is his justice
against sin. He must punish sin. And my friend,
here's the point of God's hatred. If you don't have Christ as your
substitute in surety, if He's not your hope, if you're not
found washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness,
you have no way of experiencing the love of God. It's nothing
but wrath and justice and hatred. And it's a righteous hatred.
But see, the Apostle Paul anticipated this objection. Oh, God's unfair,
God's unkind, God's mean. Well, Romans chapter nine and
verse 14, listen to what he says. He says, what shall we say then?
Is there unrighteousness, injustice with God? God forbid, for he
said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and
I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then
it's not of him that willeth, it's not of the will of man,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. God is never unfair or unjust,
no matter how you see it. And that's an objective. You
see, we need to be in Jesus Christ. Now, another facet of objective
union with Christ is Jesus Christ offers as the true Christian
surety, which I've mentioned before, whereby the true Christian
is redeemed by the blood of Christ. Christ redeemed His people by
His death on the cross. Over in the book of Romans chapter
five and verse six, we read, for when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse seven
says, for scarcely a righteous man will die, yet peradventure
for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commended
his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Now that's not talking about
all without exception there. That's talking about all who
are justified in Christ, who are in union with Christ, whom
God chose before the foundation of the world and gave to Christ.
Verse 9 says, much more than being now justified, not guilty,
righteous by His blood, we shall be saved. by his life, his work,
his living, his death, burial and resurrection. And Romans
chapter six and verse three says, no, you not that so many of us
as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death.
Now that word baptized, there's an interesting word. You know,
normally when you think of baptized, you think of water, the ordinance,
the Christian ordinance of water baptism wherein a person confesses
their faith in Christ by immersion into water. Many people say,
well, the word baptized means immersion, and it does. It literally,
if you want to translate it literally, it means placed into. So that a person, a believer,
who is baptized in water must be placed into the water. That's a symbol of the death,
the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. A person who is baptized
into water. Water baptism does not save them.
It does not wash away their sins, as some Christians say, false
Christians. That's right. Baptism is a confession
that when Christ died, He died for me. When He was buried, He
was buried for me. When He arose, He arose for me.
But here, baptized means placed into His death. It's the objective
union. When Christ died, I wasn't there
on the cross. He was in my place. And it says
in verse four of Romans six, therefore we're buried with him
by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from
the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we've been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection. 2 Corinthians 5.21 says, For
he hath made him to be sin for us, Christ who knew no sin, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And so this objective
union shows us that the true Christian's righteousness before
God is the imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now
I said at the beginning of this program that a true Christian
is one who has been brought by God, the power of God, the will
of God, the truth of God by the power of the Holy Spirit into
a personal faith union with Jesus Christ. But my friend, a true
Christian knows it is not the work of the Holy Spirit within
him that makes him righteous before God. It is totally, completely,
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ for him on the cross. So this objective union of a
true Christian with Christ, it has to do with God choosing him
before the foundation of the world in Christ, giving him to
Christ, making Christ his surety. It has to do with Christ coming
into the world as his surety, and substituting himself, Christ,
for his people, and dying on that cross, having the sins of
his chosen people charged, accounted, reckoned to him, he was made
sin, dying for those sins, suffering unto death, satisfying the justice
of God, redeeming him, and establishing the only righteousness whereby
God could be just to save them and still remain a just judge. He has to be a righteous judge
as well as a loving father. So that objective union is their
union in election, their union in redemption as the surety brings
forth the righteousness that we need. A Christian is saved
and justified based on a righteousness that is imputed to him. If I'm
a true Christian, I had nothing to do with working or establishing
the righteousness by which God justifies me and saves me and
keeps me and brings me to glory. It's what Christ did alone for
me and imputed to me, charged to me. He paid my debt. I didn't pay it. I don't have
one penny to pay. He satisfied justice. I didn't
satisfy justice. He brought forth everlasting
righteousness. I'm not guilty because I stand
in Christ. When He died, I died. When He
was buried, I was buried. When He arose again the third
day, I arose again the third day. And here's another aspect
of that objective union. Christ right now is sitting at
the right hand of the Father, ever living to make intercession
for me. The merits of His righteousness
are eternal. It's, we put it this way sometimes,
we say, well, he's pleading the merits of his blood, his righteousness
continually. And that's sort of metaphorical
language, but what it is, is the value. of the righteousness
which I stand before God, there is the righteousness of God himself
and its value, its merit, its goodness, its worth, its power
is eternal. It cannot be contaminated. It
cannot be taken away. That's a true Christian's objective
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's no other way of salvation.
Now when we talk about the objective union with Christ, We're talking
about the source of salvation. We're talking about the ground
of salvation. When we talk about the subjective
union, which I'll go into more the next program, we're talking
about the fruit of salvation and the evidence of salvation.
The work of Christ for me is the objective part of salvation,
the legal part of salvation, my position in Him. and His work
for me is the ground of my salvation. His righteousness imputed is
the ground of my salvation. The work of Christ in me by the
power of the Holy Spirit in the new birth and in the preservation
and perseverance of a believer, a true Christian, that's the
fruit and the evidence of salvation. you understand that and it's
important that we do not confuse or deny or get these mixed up
because you see when we're examining ourselves to see whether or not
we're in the faith we have to understand what is it exactly
a Christian believes Christian believes the gospel the gospel
is the revelation of the righteousness of God it shows God who is holy
It shows me as a sinner who deserves and can earn nothing but wrath
and damnation. And it shows Christ, the God-man,
who established righteousness to ensure my salvation. Hope
you'll join us next week for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia 3-1-7-0-7. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.