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UNION IN AND WITH THE DIVINE
The nature of Christian worship is mystical. By its
own foundations, worship acknowledges not only the holiness of God but also the
participation of the saints. The sacraments, moreover, afford the opportunity
for the church to not only remember and display but also to experience and
participate, as God’s work in the lives of his people is fully comprehended and
undergone.
Such experience subsists of the basis of union—both
union with and in Christ and union between the people of God. The Lord’s Table
is often referred to as Communion, but the sacrament is also union.
Additionally, the sacraments display union perhaps more than any other aspect
of Christian life, for more than a public display, the sacraments are an
experience of eternal reality.
Union in and with the divine is a privilege and
right that belong solely to the redeemed church of God.[1] Such
benefit may not be experienced as reality if the sacraments’ mystical
foundation is not understood. The sacraments, therefore, must be more than
historic rituals but rather ever-present experiences among God’s people. Union
in and with the divine is a mystical participation and an eternal reality.
Not Only Communion but
Union
Assuredly, the thought of communion between the
church and God is not uncommon. Nevertheless, sacramental theology transcends
beyond mere communion and to a place of union—a mystical tie between God and
his people. This part of sacraments and sacred rites should not be overlooked
or neglected by God’s people, for the manifestation of God’s work in Christian
life is dependent upon its realization. In three ways, union among God’s people
subsists:
1) with the divine,
2) in the divine, and
3) in participation with
the Trinity.
With the Divine
The mystery of the sacraments perpetuates the
reality that is union with God—the triune God but especially with Christ. The
Bible says that those who belong to Christ are so intertwined with his life
that when he died, we died with him.[2] “Not
only is union with Christ in the Bible, but I believe it’s also the best lens
with which to read the whole Bible.”[3] Union
with Christ is not only part of the Christian life, but the Christian life is
impossible without such a reality.[4]
Union with Christ is so intertwined to the
Christian faith that its reality infiltrates every part of one who has been
redeemed by the Lamb. Throughout Jesus’ ministry, the truth of union between
him and his people is amplified, as one’s profession of faith is unrealized
without a comprehension of what has occurred spirituality and, thus, in
reality. In three ways, God’s people experience union with the divine Lord, and
it is with the Son, the mediator: 1) with Christ in glory, 2) with Christ in
suffering, and 3) with Christ as a part of his body, the church.
First, God’s people experience (and even partake of)
union with the divine through a sharing with him in his glory. The Apostle Paul
contends that Christians are co-heirs with Christ, inheriting his promises
including his glory (Rom 8:17). The Apostle also reminds the Church at
Thessalonica that the calling of the believer ensues a sharing with Christ in
his glory (2 Thess 2:14).
Sharing with Christ in his glory is so interwoven
into the lives of God’s people that it is impossible to live a Godly life
without such manifestation of sharing. As such, the question could likely arise
of how one shares in the glory of Christ when God is clear that he does not
share his glory with anyone (Isa 42:8, 48:11). The answer lies in the (new)
nature of God’s people. The church has been redeemed and, therefore, radically
changed in nature. Said another way, the old nature of sin has now been cancelled
and repealed for the new nature in Christ and as a part of his body, the
church. Thus, while triune God refuses to share his glory with anyone, because
of the mystical union between Christ and the church, God’s people share in the
glory of God on the basis that she (the church) is a part of his
body—therefore, in an authentic manifestation, glory is received through by God
and through his people.
The sharing of glory by the people of God indicates
a genuine union with the divine, as the people of God are literally the body of
the Lord. Moreover, believers share in the suffering of Christ. The Apostle
Peter instructs God’s people to rejoice in sufferings (1 Pet 4:13); Paul also
links the sharing in the sufferings of Christ to the resultant comfort of
Christ (2 Cor 1:5); and the Apostle Paul also instructs the Philippians to become
like Christ in his death (Phil 3:10). These aspects of the Christian faith are
perhaps the least desired but the most relevant to Christian life, as believers
are assured difficulties as the result of radical transformation (i.e., one who
does not experience trials is right to question his or her commitment to Jesus
Christ).[5] In
the sacramental actions of God’s people, the church’s union with Christ is
reflected and realized. The sharing of glory should be desired by Christians,
but the sharing of glory is only subsequent to the sharing of suffering.
Additionally, God’s people experience union with
the divine as a part of his body, the church. To experience union with Christ
in the church, the people of God must not consider such union as figurative but
literal (i.e., the church is the realized body of Christ on earth).
As the word assumed our humanity rather than a
preexisting human person, we participate in Christ as the head of this new
humanity rather than in his unique personal identity. One’s conception of the
mystical union of the believer with Christ is inextricably related to one’s
view of the mystical body, his church.[6]
Paul’s reference to the
physical body of Christ is replete in the New Testament (1 Cor 12, Rom 12, Eph
1, 5). As Christian battles are not metaphorical but literal (Eph 6:12), the
mindset of God’s people should be transformed from a representational to a
corporeal spirituality. The church is factually and plainly the body of Christ
and his physical bride: a plurality of redeemed people bought by the blood of
the Lamb and formed by Christ for his glory and for sharing in such glory.
The sacraments are indicative of the reality that
is union with the divine, for as the people of God partake in the elements of
sacramental actions, they experience the sacred rites’ veracities and spiritual
amendments that occur because of Christ’s work in their lives. “All that has
been said as to the beginnings of the Christian life, and indeed all that is
yet to be said as to its continuance, may be summed up in one phrase, union
with Christ.”[7]
As such, union with Christ is perpetually undergone through mystical union with
Christ.
In the Divine
Sacramental theology also suggests mystical union
not only with Christ but in him. Christian life is so fixed to Christ that
God’s people do not only live with their Lord and Savior but also in him (i.e.,
the divine life is sacramental in that union is not only shared with Christ but
experienced in him). The redeemed not only share with Christ in his glory, his
suffering, and as a part of his body, they are also found in the Lord through
eternal assurance, through his work in the world, and through his work in the
lives of his people.
First, as a part of the redeemed body of Christ,
the church, Christians are in Christ through eternal assurance. Being in Christ
means that the church holds no doubts of her eternal position as the redeemed. “‘You
are in Christ’ gives you assurance. ‘Christ is in you’ gives you power.
Together they help us move out in confidence.”[8] The
unfeasibility of a chosen one of God to be denied salvation subsists from
before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8, 17:8). Further, the love of God
is assured for the chosen people of God (Rom 8:38-39). The most certain place
to be is in the grip of Christ. Thus, God’s people exist in undeserved
confidence that because their salvation is applied from before time began, it
is eternal and unrepealable because they are one in Christ and in his firm
grip.
Second, believers are found in Christ through his
work in the world. Sacramental theology suggests a participation in the work of
Christ. As the hands and feet of the Lord (Eph 1:22-23), Christians hold the
sole right to participation in the Lord’s work. Truly, no other group of people
may lay hold to such a claim, for only the people of God exist in and through
the mediation of Jesus Christ. Mysticism in the sacraments is fulfilled through
divine participation. As Christ works in the world, such work is accomplished
through his body, the church—a privilege and right that belong to only the
people of God. As the Lord’s work in completed, the church participates in the
glory of God through his people. Therefore, in divine position, union with
Christ is realized by the church.
Third, the people of God experience union in Christ
through the Lord’s work in the lives of his people. Mindful of the fact that
God is not only the object of Christian worship but also the subject,
individual believers experience the work of Christ in the corporeal
manifestation of Christ that is the church, for as God works in the church,
individual believers may encounter the work of the Lord as a part of his body
and, furthermore, play a pivotal role in such work.
Sacramental thought expresses not only union with
God but also union in him. As such, the church’s position in Christ is held to
assurance and right (i.e., the people of God are assured their unique position
as eternally redeemed and as the lone participators in the work of God).[9] Not
only do God’s people endeavor a life with Christ but also a life in him and,
furthermore, a life that is unbreakably linked to his work both in the world
and in the church. Union in the divine, therefore, is an exclusive part of
Christian living and spirituality. God’s people may not go anywhere but in the
shade of the divine and are eternally assured his presence and protection. The
union in Christ is mystical and real and expressed most palpably through the
sacraments.
In Participation with
the Trinity
A final way in which the sacraments represent not
only communion but union is in participation with the Trinity. Trinitarian
theology is surely present in all aspects of sacramental life, for all work in
the kingdom of God subsists to the glory of the Father, through the mediation
of the Son, and in the power of the Spirit. Spiritual reality in the life of
God’s people, therefore, proceeds in the same manner. Triune God’s work in the
church then involves newness of life, which is certainly represented in rising
from the waters of Baptism. Through God’s work, Christians hold a new identity,
a new direction, a new purpose, and a new hope through Trinitarian work.
First, Christians possess a new identity. Natural
identity apart from Christ exists in sin. Because of triune work, however,
God’s people possess a new identity—a new DNA if you will. Paul tells the
Colossians to set their minds on things above (Col 3:1-2). “This new mindset
gives us a new way of understanding who we are, which is the next thing he
says: ‘For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God’ (v. 3).
Christ is now your life, and that is the next thing he says: ‘Christ who is your
life’ (v. 4).”[10]
The triune progression should be noticed here. Believers exist 1) in the Spirit
as the gift of God for his people on earth, 2) on the basis of (and with) the
Son’s atoning work, and 3) in God. The progression then is a life redeemed
through the Spirit’s call, hidden in the life and righteousness of Christ, and
in the assurance of triune God. The new identity, therefore, is vastly
different from the old nature, which not only includes sin but is nothing but
sin. God’s people, however, exhibit a radical shift from a life of sin to a new
life hidden in God.
Second, because of the new nature, the people of
God also have a new direction. Novelist, Walker Percy, attests, “I have learned
that the most important difference between people is between those for whom
life is a quest and those for whom it is not.”[11] Along
with a new identity in the Lord, Christians have a new direction, for the
desires of the redeemed shift from what is old to what is new. Where the old
direction included career, the new includes a matchless love for people because
of the love of Christ; where the old direction involved selfish desires the new
lays claim to selfless sacrifice and love; where the old desire included a
desire for money, the new affords people who give radically and for the glory
of God.
While not every individual believer has the same
direction, every believer’s direction changes upon reception of Christ. Through
the mediation of Christ, the Father is glorified, and his purposes are
accomplished through the inspiration and power of the Spirit. Therefore, the
people of God not only experience Trinitarian work but also become an
interwoven part of it.
Union with the divine is also experienced for
Christians in a new purpose. Christian sanctification does not exist for mere
fire insurance (i.e., salvation from eternal damnation) but rather for
conformity to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29). A new purpose is seemingly
subsequent to a new identity and direction, for purpose may not occur without a
realization of identity and direction. In an overarching manner, one’s new
identity in the Lord is worship, which is largely defined as glorifying God.
One’s specific purpose (e.g., occupation, calling, etc.) then stems from that
overarching and governing endeavor.
The purpose of God for his people is holiness. “In
the Bible, holiness is not an optional extra reserved for the cloistered few or
only those most advanced. It is God’s expectation for all of his people at all
times and places.”[12] Where
the old purpose for humanity is wrath, the new purpose for God’s people is
holiness and transformation to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29, 2 Cor 3:18). Purpose,
however, does not originate with mere desire but with new desire. Scripture
instructs God’s people to delight in the Lord and they will be given the
desires of their hearts (Ps 37:4).[13] The
new desire is the place from which purpose stems. Uncertain of the Lord’s
purpose for his or her life, the Christian should decipher what he or she
wants. Yearnings are not placed in people’s lives to ignore, especially for the
people of God, for all of life in intended to glorify the Creator. Not to act
upon such innate wishes then is to disobey the God who has given such desires.
The Holy Spirit offers desires to his chosen people; the Son mediates the way
to achieve such desires; and the Father receives glory from achievement of
those desires. In such a manner then, God’s people participate in union with
the Trinity.
Last, the church participates with the Trinity
through a new hope. Bear in mind that union with Christ realizes a living God
who has manifested his Spirit among his bride today. Nonetheless, Christ’s
Ascension points to a greater reality that Jesus lives and intercedes on behalf
of his people at the righthand of the Father now. Such truth affords new hope
for God’s people. It is not as if hope is merely in the future, but hope is in
the present and intended to be claimed by the church now. Because the Son lives,
the Spirit empowers, and the Father is glorified, God’s people possess an
eternal hope.
The Ascension means
that a human, Jesus of Nazareth, is now part of what it means to be God and
that this state of affairs goes on forever. For God to hate humanity (or any
human), God would have to hate himself.
The Ascension means
that created human nature is now seated at God's right hand and that no one
needs to impatiently grasp for divinity again, for Christ has divinized human
nature; creatureliness is now Godliness in Jesus the Son and we truly
participate in that union.
The Ascension means
that by the Spirit Christ is still present in the world via his body, the
church. It is Christ himself who acts and speaks when the church proclaims the
gospel, heals the sick, visits prisoners, cares for the poor, celebrates the
Eucharist, gathers together, and so on. Jesus is the head of his body now, and
we are now the fullness of Christ in the earth.
The Ascension means
that Christ is elevated to Lordship of all things. Jesus is Lord and all
temporal rulers and spiritual powers are judged as inadequate, as false gods.
There is no Lord for the Christian but Jesus.
The Ascension means that Someone who
knows what it is like to be limited by time and embodiment and hunger and
anxiety and rejection and torture and pain and betrayal and thirst and
contingency—who knows being human from the inside out—is present in God when we
pray (with all of our limitations), and this Someone knows our every petition
and our every experience from the inside before we ask.[14]
Because of
Trinitarian work through the Death, Burial, and Resurrection, and Ascension of
Christ, the church stands in righteousness with an eternal hope, a new hope,
and a sure hope. For that reason, each Christian participates in all aspects of
Trinitarian work, for God’s people share mystically in and with Christ as the
mediating party of the triune Godhead. The sacraments, therefore, represent
such a mystical participation of union in and with the divine. Sacramental
theology is indicative not only of communion with the divine but an unbreakable
union.
The Church’s Union with
Each Other Reflects Union in the Trinity
As the body of Christ, God’s people (the church)
retain a consequent union with one another. The fellowship within the church is
such that may only exist in Christ and one that is in the identity of Christ’s
bride. Therefore, the people of God must display rather than achieve such a
union. Moreover, the union of God’s people with one another is such that
reflects the Trinitarian union between Father, Son, and Spirit, and such a display
is exuded in the sacraments. As God’s people partake in the holy elements of
Communion and Baptism, the love relationship between the Father,
Son, and Spirit is exalted, displayed, and engaged.
The sacraments first reflect the Father’s love for
both the Son and the Spirit. The function of the Father is vastly disparate
from that of the Son and Spirit—believers should be mindful of the threefold
functions of each person of the Godhead. Sacramental theology embraces the
concept of bequeathment of the Son from the Father, for Jesus is a gift from
the Father to the chosen people—the church. Puritan, John Owen, teaches that
“through the work of the Spirit, the heavenly Father gives you to Jesus and gives
Jesus to you. You have him [and he has you and neither may be rescinded].”[15] Out
of love for both the Son and the Spirit, the Father displays greatest joy and
satisfaction by gifting his Son with a bride and subsequently gifting the Son’s
bride with both a redeemer and a mediator.
The Father’s love must not be negated or overlooked
for his justice and (even) wrath. Surely, God is just, and the Father is just.
Nevertheless, the Father’s actions do not originate from a sense of obligation
but from love both of his Son and of his chosen people. Whatever realizations
of justice are found in the proceedings of the Father, his gift of and to the
Son are rooted in love. God is love (1 John 4:8); as such, nothing advances
from the Father that is not love irrespective of thoughts and opinions upon the
basis of humankind’s circumstances or conditions.[16]
During the sacraments, a display of the Father’s
love for his people is fully exuded. During the elements of Communion, the Son
is remembered and experienced as the bread and wine are consumed. Therefore,
not only do God’s people partake but they also experience the love of the
Father through the gift (of the Son) afforded by him. Moreover, during the
practice of Baptism, the Father’s love is shown to God’s people through the
redeemed life exhibited publicly. The sacraments then are not only public
displays but also corporeal experiences of the Father’s love, as his endowment
is realized through the sacraments.
The sacraments secondly are a realization of the
church’s union with God through the Son. Certainly, the Son often holds the
most focus during the sacraments, for as the mediator, sacred actions are
Christocentric. Nonetheless, Jesus, coequal and coeternal with both the Father
and Spirit, works in union with the two. The church is interdependent upon the
workings of Christ (1 Cor 12:12-27, Rom 12:4-5). Augustine of Hippo expresses
such union with the Son precisely.
For surely if the Son of God by nature became son
of man by mercy for the sake of the sons of men (that is the meaning of the
Word became flesh and dwelt among us), how much easier it is to believe that
the sons of men by nature can become sons of God by grace and dwell in God; for
it is in him alone and thanks to him alone that they can be happy, by sharing
in his immortality; it was to persuade us of this that the Son of God came to
share in our mortality.[17]
Union with the Son means God’s people belong to
Christ and Christ belongs to them. Therefore, nothing may snatch the people of
God from him, for his grip is strong and fast.
The sacraments, furthermore, reflect Trinitarian
through the Spirit. The love between each other (the people of God) expresses
the same love that is shown between the members of the Godhead, and such love
may not exist apart from the work of the Spirit. Rankin Wilbourne writes, “…the
Holy Spirit’s primary work is to shine light on Jesus and glorify God the
Father.”[18]
The Spirit is the comforter in the triune relationship of the threefold Godhead
(John 14:16). Proceeding from both the Father and the Son, there subsists no
hierarchy between all three persons of God. Rather, the Spirit is the gift to
God’s body on earth for comfort, provision, sealing work, and conviction. Jesus
offers his Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20) prior to his Ascension so the
Spirit he promises is God (also coequal and coeternal with the Father and Son)
and the one who makes possible the call to which Christ has called his bride.
The Trinity must not be neglected in corporate
worship and especially in the sacraments. While certainly Christ is the
mediating party, the Father and Spirit both hold vital roles in the union,
which the sacraments exhibit. A church that offers an equal focus on the triune
Godhead is a healthy church. Worship is Christocentric, but worship is also
triune. The sacraments display such a union between God’s people and himself.
Further, the church’s union with each other as a singular body comprised of a
plurality of believers mirrors the triune relationship between the Father, Son,
and Spirit, for as God’s people are one in Christ the love for one another is
exuded repletely. The Trinity is a mystery in itself but one that must be
considered and experienced in all facets of Christian worship.
God is triune and eternally exists as the
Godhead, three in one: no hierarchy and no division but three distinct persons,
coequal and coeternal with each other. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one
with each other and equally worthy of worship. Neither is created, and all are
equal in power and glory yet function in disparate manners in a specific
Godhead order. The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Spirit; the Spirit
is not the Father. Yet, the Father is God; the Son is God; the Spirit is God;
and all three persons eternally exist as one with each other. All three persons
of the Trinity operate in a love relationship with one another yet as one God.
The Father, out of love for the Son, has bequeathed a people to his Son; the
Son, begotten of the Father as incarnate word and out of love for the Father
has redeemed the people given to him through his death, burial, resurrection,
and eventual return; the Spirit, eternally proceeding from both the Father and
the Son (John 14:16, 16:7) and out of love for the Father and the Son, calls,
guides, and convicts the redeemed people of God; through the distinct work of
all three persons then, triune God is glorified. The church worships and lives
in the power of the Holy Spirit, through Christ the mediator, to the glory of
God the Father. One in love, glory, and power, a specific Godhead order is
designed for the overarching and governing purpose of worship, namely the glory
of God. One God, three distinct persons, God ordains all things, and in all
things, the three persons of the Trinity, in love for one another, function to
the glory of the triune God.[19]
If you spell out the other Greek word, peri-choresis, you
can hear in English what the word conveys: peri (from which we get words such
as perimeter) and choresis (from which we get our word choreography)—a dancing
circle. The word describes the interrelationship of the persons of the Trinity.
That in everything God the Trinity is and does, each of the three persons
relates to and engages with each of the other persons.[20]
What the sacraments represent is Trinitarian union
between Father, Son, and Spirit. Furthermore, by means of union with God, the
church holds the same representation: a holy love unity between one another and
perpetuated in its reality (i.e., through a union in Christ and that only
subsists in Christ, the church needs not strive for unity but merely display
it, for in union with God is who she is). In the Table, the church stands as
righteous in Christ; in Baptism, the church is seen as redeemed by the Father;
and in the impacts of sacraments, the church employs a holy work through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the church’s union with each other
reflects the union between the Father, Son, and Spirit and is only possible by
union with and in God himself.
The Mystery of Union in
a Body of Plurality Is Best Represented in the Sacraments
Union with an in the divine is a mystery that
cannot be explained in human terms. Although it is a spiritual reality, since
Christian life subsists within the eternal and spiritual realm, the mystery of
union is also a realized element. The body and bride of Christ is a plurality
of redeemed people that represents the mystery of union through the sacraments.
In three ways, the church displays the mystery of union through the sacraments:
1) the sacraments show a body that transcends time and space; 2) the sacraments
only work because of the mediation of Christ; and 3) the church’s eternal union
is proven as unbreakable through the sacraments.
First, the sacraments, through the church, reveal a
body that transcends time and space. It is no secret that the church of God is
global, multiethnic, and multigenerational. What is often missed, however, is
the connection God’s people of the present possess with the church of the past,
for the church is eternal. The Apostles possessed the same Spirit that God’s
people hold today; the great figures of Old Testament miracles (e.g., Moses,
Abraham, Elijah, etc.) served the same God the church serves today; and the
link between the God’s chosen people of the past (including those who have
passed to be with the Lord) and the church today is unbreakable. When the
people of God engage in the sacraments, they are experiencing a holy union with
triune God that is impossible to express and, moreover, transcends time and
space.
The Hall of Faith (Heb 11) speaks of those saints
of God who have left this world for eternal glory and presents them as a cloud
of witnesses (Heb 12:1-2) as if cheering on God’s chosen people today. Those
saints of old have laid the foundation for a strong and secure faith in Jesus
Christ through whom the church holds the same union as them. The sacraments
offer a matchless declaration of mysterious union in the body of Christ by the
Lord’s people participating in an act of worship, which is the same act in
which God’s people of old have participated. Thus, the body of Christ (a
mystery in itself) experiences union through the sacraments to which God has
called her.
Second, the sacraments are only possible because of
the mediation of Christ. Holy Communion and Baptism would be mere empty acts if
not for the redemption of Jesus Christ. Without a mediator, the Father would be
required to exercise his justice upon humanity, for God is just (i.e., his
character is just—it is who he is). Rather than display his wrath upon
humanity, nonetheless, Christ has mediated undeserved grace and mercy.
During the sacraments, an undeserved union is
displayed and experienced. As God’s people partake of the cup and the bread, not
only is the love of God remembered, it is also experienced in the body of
Christ, for God’s love is realized rather than simply revealed. Without the
mediation of Christ, any approach to the throne of God would be unmanageable.
Because of Christ’s mediation, however, the church may approach God with
boldness (Heb 4:16), for Christ has obtained a new a better way (Heb 8:6), for
the New Covenant is permanent, as the impact of Christ’s sacrifice is
permanent. Without mediation, union with God and union in the body of Christ
would not subsist. Thus, the sacraments only work because of the mediation of
Christ.
Third, the church’s eternal union is proven as
unbreakable through the sacraments. In the way of assurance, the people of God do
not only participate in the sacramental components but (more) participate and
experience them. All Christians are commanded to share in the sacraments, but they
are also invited by holy God himself to join in the sacraments of Communion and
Baptism.[21]
The church is an eternal and corporeal body—such
reality is exhibited through the sacraments. As Christ commands his people to remember
until his return (1 Cor 11:24-25), the element of eternal anamnesis is
realized. The Holy Spirit is the helper and third person of the Trinity sent by
the Father and Son whom the people of God experiences on earth. Nevertheless, a
day is coming when the church experienced eternal rest with all persons of the
Godhead and will be glorified with Christ. The sacraments, therefore, represent
a piece of what is to come, for the church is eternal and found in eternal
union both with each other and with God.
Further, the church’s union is unbreakable, for no
one may snatch God’s people from his secure grip (John 10:28-30). More than a
mystery, the church’s union is reality. What is experienced on earth is but a
portrait of the eternal union that will be experienced and transcends earthly
life. The church is in Christ and Christ is in the church; thus, the union both
with and in the church and between triune God is indestructible and best
represented in the sacraments of Communion and Baptism.
Reality of
Participatory Mysticism Rather Than Empty Acts
[1]
A seemingly common notion is that all people are invited to the Table of the
Lord, but this thought is wrong and dismisses the truth of God’s requirement of
redemption.
[2]
Rankin Wilbourne, Union
with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God (Colorado Springs, CO: David C
Cook, 2016), 28.
[3]
Wilbourne, Union with Christ, 56.
[4] As a
spiritual reality, believers must live with such a perspective, for
sanctification depends on the certainty of Christ’s literal presence in the
lives of his people.
[5] The
absence of difficulties does not automatically equate to the lack of Godliness,
but the question of such commitment is wise to be asked.
[6] Michael S.
Horton, Covenant and Salvation: Union with Christ (Louisville, KY:
Westminster John Knox Press, 2007), 202.
[7] Edgar Young
Mullins, The
Christian Religion in Its Doctrinal Expression (Philadelphia;
Boston; St. Louis; Los Angeles; Chicago; New York; Toronto: Roger Williams
Press, 1917), 409.
[8]
Wilbourne, 123.
[9] Such
a position is not one about which to boast, for truly, the church is redeemed
in undeserved grace and, therefore, with a realization of humility.
[10]
Wilbourne, 92.
[11]
Walker Percy, in Wilbourne, 103.
[12]
Wilbourne, 117.
[13] While
a common notion is that this Psalm directs the believer to give up what is
desired, on the contrary, the verse is stalwartly connected to desire, for it
is intended that the Lord gives his people the desires themselves, as they are
formed spiritually.
[14] Worship,
Act Of, “Implications of the Ascension,” hosted by Dr. Jonathan
Mivhael Jones, aired May 1, 2024.
[15] Sinclair
Ferguson, The Trinitarian Devotion of John Owen (Lake Mary, FL:
Reformation Trust, 2014), 64.
[16]
Here, the thought is not only of less-than-ideal situations humanity inevitably
faces but those that perhaps face more extreme and dire trials, which are
seemingly undeserved. God’s people must bear in mind that no matter how
difficult circumstances may be, humankind deserves eternal death; thus, any
grace offered by God is offered in love and may not be from any other point of
origin.
[17] Augustine
of Hippo, The Trinity, XII.12 (Hyde Park, NY: New City, 1999), 354.
[18] Wilbourne, 84.
[19] From
Jonathan Michael Jones, “Personal Explanation of the Trinity.”
[20] Wilbourne, 69-70.
[21]
Surely, negligence of the sacraments is wrong, but the realization here is the
invitation from God himself for his people to participate and share with him
and with his body, the church.
