Believer’s Vital Union with Christ

The relationship between Christ and the believer “is the nearest, dearest, closest, most intense, and most enduring relationship that can be imagined,” said Spurgeon. We live because Christ lives, and our lives are hid with Christ in God. It is closer than a husband and wife, or children and their parents.

One of the greatest mysteries in the Bible is the believer’s vital relationship to his Lord and Savior.

There are three great mystical unions in the Bible. The union of the three persons of the Godhead, being one God, called the doctrine of the Trinity. The Bible also teaches the union of the two natures of Jesus Christ in one person, and the vital union of the believer in Christ.

There is a close intimate union between the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christian. It is so intimate that it may be spoken of as one. “We are members of His body” (Ephesians 5:30). It is not a physical union, but an attachment of love. We are truly united with Him as truly as the parts of our bodies belong to the head. Charles Hodge said, “This might mean simply that we stand to Him in the same intimate and vital union that a man’s body sustains to the man himself.”

Figuratively, we are members of Christ, and together we form His body. This is the closest imaginable relationship. We are identified with Him. We are made an essential part of Him. He is the head of the body and we are the members of that body. It is the closest imaginable vital union possible. “We are members of His body.”

The apostle Paul has in mind that the believer’s standing is such a relationship with Christ that it is analogous to Eve’s relation to Adam. As Eve derived her life from the body of Adam (Genesis 2:18-25), so we derive our spiritual life from the body of Christ. We are partakers of the life of Christ. Our spiritual life proceeds from and is sustained by Christ. It is the source of our present spiritual life, and of our eternal life in glory with Christ.

“You are therefore, now made by His grace to participate in His moral and spiritual nature, and you will never be satisfied till you awake in His likeness,” wrote C. H. Spurgeon. “But you will awake in His likeness, so that when He sees you and you see Him, then shall be abundantly manifested to you that you are a member of His body.”

Being made a “member of His body” means we have entered into the most intimate relationship possible with Him. We are joined together with Christ in the most intimate communion. Adam could say of Eve, she is of the same bone and flesh, thus she is related to me.

“We are members of His body,” means we are His loving possession. We belong to Christ. “You are not your own, you are bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). He purchased us with His own precious blood. You are now altogether His, and you belong to no other.

“You are one with Him. You were ‘buried in Him in baptism unto death,’ wherein also you have risen with Him. You were crucified with Him upon the cross, you have gone up into heaven with Him, for He has raised us up together, and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And surely you shall be actually in your very person with Him where He is, that you may behold His glory. You are one with Him” (Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon, vol. x, p. 22).

One of the greatest practical applications of this great doctrine of our vital union in Christ is that it secures the eternal safety of every one who is one with Christ. “Because I live you shall live also.” All of you who are in Him have eternal life. The idea of Jesus Christ losing members of His body who are grafted into Him is impossible to conceive. Will He lose His members? “I give unto My sheep eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall any snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28). There is strong reason to believe in the security of every one who is one with Christ. That is how much God loves you and cares about His relationship with you.

We are now being changed from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3:18) through this vital union with Christ. If we are one in Christ we shall enjoy His divine love. If we are one of His members He may chasten us and correct us when we need it, but He will never sever us from His body. “As My Father has loved Me, even so have I loved you.”

He nourishes us because we are members of His body. We draw our daily sustenance from His presence. He makes us lie down in His green pastures.

Since we are members of His body, He will one day present us to Himself without spot or wrinkle or blemish. We will be perfect even as He is perfect. We will enter into the eternal joy in the Lord. We are joint heirs with Christ; therefore whatever He has we shall share.

Because we are members of His body we shall be with Him where He is, and behold His glory. We shall be with Him always. 

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

The Reason for That Is

You have filled my heart with more happiness than they have when there is much grain and wine. Psalms 4: 7 The Holy Bible The New Life Version

I would like to change happiness to joyfulness.

The reason for that is that happiness is dependent upon physical thing while joyfulness is spiritual.

Happiness cannot ever compare to joyfulness. It is like comparing a hot dog to a steak.

I am grateful for the physical blessing Poppa has blessed me with but remember the spiritual ones far longer and when I remember them it still makes my heart dance with joy. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

Prayer: Thank you Jehovah El Simchath Gili (Psalms 43:4 GOD My Exceeding Joy ) for blessing me with Your Heavenly treasure of joy through out the day, every day. I praise You in the name of He with whom I find the greatest joy in spending time with, Jesus Christ. Amen

Seleh- stop and think about it.

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2023

But it is Worse To

It is bad to think ill, but it is worse to speak it. Matthew Henry

Because They Are

Only tyrants attempt to force someone to do their will because they are selfish, immature and weak. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

One Letter Short Of

Anger is just one letter short of danger. Unknown

There is no Distinction Between

For God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds. He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings. He makes them turn from doing wrong; he keeps them from pride. Job 33:14–17 The Holy Bible, The New Living Testament

Do you notice that there is no distinction between children of Jehovah and the unsaved?

Jehovah speaks to us all.

Only the arrogant refuse to listen and always pay the price for it. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

They That are Assured Of

None walk so evenly with God as they that are assured of the love of God. Thomas Manton

The Believer’s Baptism

The ordinance of the believer’s baptism is a marvelous picture of the Christian’s vital union, and identification with Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.

There is a “wet” baptism and a “dry” baptism. The “dry” baptism is without water and is the work of God the Holy Spirit placing the believer in Christ the moment he believes on Him as his Savior.

The “wet” baptism is the ordinance that Christ gave to the church. It is a believer’s baptism by immersion in water which presents in symbolism the Christian’s vital union with Jesus Christ. Take away the Biblical mode of baptism and you lose the vital theological message of baptism.

“Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:3-4).

The ordinance of baptism is a constant reminder of how we were redeemed. It is an outward symbol of an inward, silent and real experience.

Baptism by immersion in water does not put the believer “into Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit did that when we believed in Christ. This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the life of every believer. Immersion is a picture of what the Holy Spirit did in our identification with Christ.

Dead in Christ, risen with Christ. Buried with Christ, alive in Christ (Rom. 8:34).

The burial confirms that we died with Christ. “Our old man was crucified with Christ.” Unless one die with Christ we cannot live with Him. All our condemnation and guilt were buried with Christ, and they remain buried.  It is a blessing to know that all of our sins and transgressions are swept away by the blood of Christ and buried in the tomb (Ps. 32:1, 2).

The believing sinner has learned to look into the grave of his Lord and see the burial of all his sins. There is no longer the burning resemblances, bitter accusations, and stinging reproaches of sin and guilt. Therefore the believer has learned to forgive himself in God’s deep river of forgiveness.

The baptismal waters are a perpetual witness to this great truth. The water says, “I buried the believer with Christ.” It says, “I rolled my wave like a stone against the door of his tomb. I set the seal of the new covenant in the blood of Jesus inscribed with the triune name upon his tomb.”

The believer needs to remind himself that every tinge of a guilty conscience is silenced by the atoning blood of Jesus.

The tomb of Jesus is a shelter against the raging storm of the wrath of God. “Buried with Christ” tells us that our sin debt has been paid in full. We have propitiation in the blood of Jesus Christ.

It is a constant reminder that we cannot enter into “the power of Christ’s resurrection” except through conformity to His death.  “I am crucified with Christ” and buried with Him.

The waters symbolize this union with Christ in that the buried form is raised up from the water in the likeness of Christ’s resurrection. Alive in Christ. We have a new relationship with sin and God. We also have a new identification—we are saints. We are saved sinners. Every believer who comes up out of the water has a new identification. You can distinguish him from everyone else because he or she is dripping wet. Believers have a new identification and people can see that we are “in Christ.”

The believer has died to the old life, and has been raised to enjoy a new life in Christ (Col. 2:12).

We have been made alive in Christ. We stand on resurrection ground. We have the authority and power to live triumphantly over sin.

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

To Help Me Imitate Everything I

Take time to be holy, let him be thy guide, and run not before him, whatever be tide. In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord, and, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul, each thought and each motive beneath his control. Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love, thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

We all imitate that which we love. That is why every morning I pray for Jesus to bless me to help me imitate everything I say and do through out the day Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

Here is the Liberals Idea Of

Tax his cow, tax his goat;
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his crop, tax his work;
Tax his ties, tax his shirt.

Tax his chew, tax his smoke;
Teach him taxing is no joke.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule;
Tell him, “Taxing is the rule.”

Tax his oil, tax his gas;
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers, tax him more;
Tax him ’til he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod ‘neath which he’s laid.

Put these words upon his tomb:
“Taxes drove him to his doom.”
After he’s gone, we won’t relax;
We’ll still collect inheritance tax.

Then, we will give it to those who are too lazy to work.

Here is the liberal governments idea of how to have a balanced budget.