This lesson looks into the Christian experience of 'union' with Christ.

1. Union with Christ
Series on Soteriology | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

2. Salvation is an unbroken chain
of God’s work in our lives from
eternity to eternity.

3. Salvation
in Christ
Being chosen
[predestination]
Being called
[conversion]
Being in Christ
[union]
Being a child of God
[adoption]
Being forgiven & freed
[justification]
Being born again
[regeneration]
Being a saint
[sanctification]
Being bodily
resurrected
[glorification]

4. Apostle Paul’s Letter
to the Ephesians
(Twin letter of Colossians)

6. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.” (NCV)
Ephesians 1:4

7. “in Christ”
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
This phrase (‘en Christou’ in Greek) occurs
more than 80 times in the letters of Paul.

8. “Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ, God has given us
every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly world.” (NCV)
Ephesians 1:4
“Purihin ang Diyos at Ama ng
ating Panginoong Jesu-Cristo!
Dahil sa pakikipagka-isa natin
kay Cristo, ibinigay niya sa atin
ang lahat ng pagpapalang
espiritwal mula sa langit.”
(SND)

9. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
“Being united with Christ is a
spiritual union which is as real as
though it was in fact a literal
umbilical cord, reaching all the
way from Christ in heaven to
every believer on earth.”
-Dr. Robert Reymond

11. “Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Christ*, God has given us
every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly world.” (NCV)
Ephesians 1:4
* In chapter 1:1-14, this formula
“…in Christ” (‘en Christou’)
was repeated several times:
-v. 4 (being chosen), v. 7 (being
forgiven & freed), v. 10 (being
reconciled), v. 11 (being God’s
people), v. 13 (being given the
Holy Spirit).

12. Salvation
in Christ
Being chosen
[predestination]
Being called
[conversion]
Being in Christ
[union]
Being a child of God
[adoption]
Being forgiven & freed
[justification]
Being born again
[regeneration]
Being a saint
[sanctification]
Being bodily
resurrected
[glorification]

13. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
Union with Christ is not simply a phase
in a Christian’s experience of salvation
but the underlying mechanism that
makes every aspect of redemption
possible.
-Prof. John Murray

14. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
But it is only when we come to
faith in Christ (conversion ) that
we actually become partakers of
Christ (union ), and the salvation
he brings.
-Dr. Robert Reymond

15. What does it MEAN and what does
it take to be united with Christ?
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

16. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer
live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the
body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me
and gave Himself for me.” (NIV)
Galatians 2:20

17. What does it mean that we no
longer live?
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

18. “5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly
nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and
greed, which is idolatry… 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the
life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such
things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from
your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old
self with its practices10 and have put on the new self, which is being
renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” (NIV)
Colossians 3:5-10

20. What does it MEAN and what does
it take to be united with Christ?
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

21. “5 For if we have been united with Him in a death like
His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a
resurrection like His… 8 Now if we died with Christ,
we believe that we will also live with Him.” (NIV)
Romans 6:5-11

22. “20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a
great harvest of all who have died.
21 So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the
resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. 22 Just as
everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to
Christ will be given new life. 23 But there is an order to this resurrection:
Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ
will be raised when he comes back.” (NLT)
-I Corinthians 15:20-23

23. Why is it important that we
UNDERSTAND what it means to
be united with Christ?
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

24. Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
“The only possible analogy to the
phrase “in Christ” is in our relationship
to the air which surrounds us. Unless,
we are in the air and unless the air is in
us, we die. And unless the Christian is
in Christ and Christ is in the Christian
the spiritual life dies.”
-William Barclay

25. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by
itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless
you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in
you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5 (NIV)

26. “Remain in me, as I also
remain in you. No branch can
bear fruit by itself; it must
remain in the vine. Neither can
you bear fruit unless you
remain in me. .” (NIV)
John 15:4 • The word “remain” (NIV) is
translated also as “abide”
(NASB, NRSV) or “manatili”
(MBB).
• In the original Greek, it is the
verb ‘meno’ which means ‘to
stay.’ It is an imperative
(command).

27. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
The quality of our Christian life is directly proportional
to how close we stay with Christ.
Closeness to
Christ Quality of
Christian life

28. “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by
itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless
you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in
you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5 (NIV)

29. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
“Since our very existence as a
Christian as well as our growth in
grace and in glory are all grounded
in our spiritual union with Christ, it
is where we derive all our strength
and power to live the Christian
life.”
-Dr. Robert Reymond

30. How do we remain and stay
close to Christ?
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo

31. “This is how we know we are in Christ: whoever
claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.” (NIV)
1 John 2:5-6

32. “This is how we know we
are in Christ: whoever
claims to live in Him must
live as Jesus did.” (NIV)
1 John 2:5-6 • The English word “live” in
Greek is ‘meno’ (remain,
abide).
• The second occurrence of
“live” is a different Greek
word (‘peripateo’) which
means ‘walk.’

33. “By this we know that we are
in Christ: the one who says He
abides in Him ought himself to
walk* in the same manner as
He walked.”
1 John 2:5-6 (NASB) *In the present tense and
indicates continuous action
in Greek grammar, that is,
‘keep on walking’.
‘Peripateo’ is often used as
an idiom for behavior or
lifestyle.

34. “By this we know that we are
in Christ: the one who says He
abides in Him ought* himself
to walk in the same manner as
He walked.” (NASB)
1 John 2:5-6 *Most Bible translations,
however, did not clearly render
an important word in the
original Greek: (‘opheilo’)
which is an accounting term
and literally is ‘debt’ or ‘dues.’
It expresses the idea of
‘obligation’ or ‘responsibility.’

35. Union with Christ
Union with Christ | P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
The blessings of being ‘united with Christ’ come
with a RESPONSIBILITY –that is, to really be
Christlike in the way we live our daily lives.

36. “1 Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with
Christ (‘en Christou’), if any comfort from his love, if any common
sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make
my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being
one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition
or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above
yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the
interests of the others.” (NIV)
Philippians 2:1-4

39. P. Rei Lemuel Crizaldo
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Email: rlemuel.crizaldo@gmail.com | Twitter: @xgenesis_rei