Union with Christ

Definition and Meaning

Union with Christ is the teaching that believers are joined to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and thereby share in his death and resurrection, his righteousness, and his life. In Latin it is called unio cum Christo. When its depth is emphasized, it is also called the "mystical union."

Most denominations do not understand this union to mean that a person is transformed into Christ or that the believer's essence is mingled with his. Instead, they describe it as a personal and spiritual bond. In soteriology, it is treated as the foundation that holds together justification (being declared righteous by God) and sanctification (growing progressively in holiness).

Biblical and Historical Background

The phrase "in Christ" appears with great frequency in the Pauline epistles. Paul describes baptism as dying and rising with Christ (Romans 6:3–6). He also says that the believer's life "is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3–4). In the Gospel of John, Jesus compares himself to a vine and his disciples to its branches (John 15:1–8; see The Vine and the Branches).

During the Reformation, Martin Luther used the analogy of bridegroom and bride in On the Freedom of a Christian (1520). His explanation—that Christ takes on the believer's sins while the believer receives Christ's righteousness—is commonly called the "joyful exchange." In the Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin held that as long as Christ remains outside of us, the salvation he accomplished is of no benefit to us. He taught that the Holy Spirit binds us to Christ and that in this union we receive the "double grace" of justification and sanctification. Question 66 of the Westminster Larger Catechism likewise addresses the union of the elect with Christ. The Eastern Orthodox Church understands this theme in terms of "deification" (theosis), in which human beings participate in the life of God.

Practice in Korean Churches

The expressions "in the Lord" and "in Christ" are used routinely in greetings, prayers, and letters in Korean churches. The theological emphasis, however, varies by denomination.

• Presbyterian: Following the Reformed tradition that descends from Calvin, Presbyterians regard union as the center from which every saving grace flows. They teach that in the Lord's Supper believers have real communion with Christ through the Holy Spirit.
• Methodist and Holiness: Under the influence of Wesleyan theology, these churches often explain union in connection with holy living and growth in love in the Holy Spirit.
• Baptist: Baptists emphasize believer's baptism by immersion as the public sign of union with Christ in his death and resurrection.
• Full Gospel and other Pentecostal churches: These churches emphasize that a life united with Christ is manifested through the experience and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within the believer.