Beliefs about the Afterlife (xxxi)

How would you describe a Utopian society? Is paradise a wishful myth? Is it a possibility? 

Of course, what Utopia would be for one person would not be so for another. Is it not commonly believed that it is a society in which everyone's needs are met and society's ills have been eliminated? As mentioned in a previous chapter, an example of a Utopian society is the futuristic world depicted in the Star Trek series and movies. The world of Star Trek still has conflict, but everyone's needs are met by society. Many define it, on the other hand, by the kind of government or culture that characterizes societal life. Others describe Utopia by the kind of people who populate it and how they treat one another in it. Others define it by the people in such a state, being perfectly happy and free from all unhappiness. What are the most common ideas of men about what constitutes a human utopia, a perfect society? To Karl Marx, the perfect society was one alluded to in the motto of Socialism - "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

Many movies dealing with science fiction and life in the future attempt to give a portrait of life in the perfect social system. The Star Trek movies and their ilk attempt to show the human race as a near perfect world where disease, poverty and crime are eliminated. These secular views of Utopia are the result of believing in a quasi "social Darwinism" philosophy. Man, or mankind, is evolving upward, and perfection must be the end of that evolutionary process. When man has evolved fully, he will live in a perfect world with little or no death, no sickness, no poverty, no problems. Said one source (here): "...political Darwinism was present in the intellectual origins of American administrative theory...The application of Darwinian evolutionary biology to politics was a vital element of Wilson’s reconceptualization of the state as a living organism."

So, not only is the single human race evolving, but so is the bureaucracy or administrative state of governments (which the extreme liberal Woodrow Wilson promulgated and is now the position of the liberals in the Democrat party). We could therefore say that the bureaucracy of the body politic, or social system, like a living organism, is evolving and becoming superior so that the bureaucracy we have today in government is superior to what existed a century ago. It is more efficient (thanks also to evolution in technology and scientific knowledge) and streamlined. 

(However, this looks at the bureaucratic state positively and ignores the evils which also comes with this evolution, such as "red tape," and gives the word "bureaucracy" a negative connotation. Also many see the administrative state today as "the swamp," as does President Trump and his supporters) 

All tyrannies also are governed by the theory of Social Darwinism and use it to argue for genocide and murder, as did Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc. If the rulers of state, or the tyrants, want to get rid of a person permanently, they could kill you in the name of saving the body politic. If you are judged a subversive, or unproductive, they can kill you because you are judged to be a parasite in the body politic. It is one of the steps towards a perfect society to get rid of the bad gene pool, the handicapped, those who oppose the state.

The bible declares that there will never be a Utopian paradise on earth without the presence and rule of Christ Jesus the Lord. All previous attempts by man to establish his own universal rule or empire have been unsuccessful in bringing Utopia, as was Nimrod's attempt, and as was Lucifer's vain attempt. Each of the empires in the vision of Daniel expected to become a Utopia that would last a thousand years (the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome). Hitler expected his "Reich" to last a thousand years. Of course, the kind of Utopia that these desired did not involve the equal well being of all, but one where they ruled as tyrants over the rest who served the tyrant and his government. 

Christ has promised to come to earth a second time and to put an end to the world as it now is, and to bring on first a thousand years of Edenic conditions and a new age of peace, safety, and prosperity. It will be a government of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, and his saints will have the reins of power under him and will administer affairs of state with him. Followed by that thousand years there will be a short time of new apostasy of some of the nations and peoples as a result of Satan being let loose for a short season from the place he was imprisoned at the start of the Millennium. Following the final overthrow of Satan after the little season of rebellion and apostasy, the Lord will "make all things new." There will be a baptism of fire for the earth and all the things of man's creation and doing will be destroyed by the general conflagration. This will be followed by the creation of new heavens and a new earth and the establishment of the holy city of God, New Jerusalem, and the Temple of God, and the constitution of a new human race. 

Many of the questions about life in eternity, as glorious immortal human beings, that were stated in the previous chapter, will be addressed in the course of these closing chapters. In organizing the material for these closing chapters, I think it best to begin with the last three chapters of Revelation, and which we alluded to in the previous paragraph. 

In chapter nineteen we see the coming of Lord Jesus Christ and the destruction of the wicked in the battle of Armageddon, of all who supported Antichrist. In chapter twenty we see the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ and his people. In chapters twenty one and two we see a description of life in the new heavens and earth. Those chapters will be the framework for our investigation into life in eternity, and we will adorn that framework with references and discussions of other texts dealing with the same, such as what Paul taught in Romans 8 about the redemption of the whole creation, of what Peter said about the present earth being "dissolved" by "fervent heat" (or as Jesus said, "cast into the oven") in II Peter chapter three, and what Paul taught about the resurrection bodies in I Corinthians chapter fifteen. It will be in our detailed look at those chapters that we will answer many of the questions we have raised in the previous chapter. 

Eternal Vital Union

The belief in what is called "eternal vital union" was a key integral belief by those known as "Two Seed" Baptists, the forerunners of today's "Primitive Baptist" or "Hardshell" church, along with those known as either "Two Seed in the Flesh" or "Two Seed in the Spirit," "Predestinarian Baptists." Following the previous entries on union with Christ, I thought it would be good to have information on this heresy of those known as "Two Seed" Baptists, which was a large faction of those who began to go by the name of "Primitive Baptist." 

For my previous writings on Two Seedism's belief in "eternal vital union" see (here) and (here). I also have numerous articles showing how "Two Seedism" was a leading view of many of Parker's followers among the anti mission Baptists, who called themselves "Primitive" or "Old School," or sometimes simply "Regular." 

It was Parker who was the first and foremost to expound his view of "two seeds," but a great many others took up its defense and much debate and strife concerning it occurred between the time of Parker's first promotion of it via his books on the subject, until near the close of the nineteenth century, over the leading ideas in that system of belief. Elder Daniel Parker promulgated that system at the time of the debates and divisions over mission societies, theological schools, Sunday Schools, revival methods, church autonomy, etc. Many historians see him as the one who may be well considered the head of the anti mission movement, though men like Alexander Campbell, John Taylor, etc., were leaders in that movement (that gave birth to two twins, the Hardshells and the Campbellites, and contributed to the birth of other cults or schisms). Parker wrote two books of which we will speak shortly. 

In 1845, shortly after Parker's death, the Two Seed Primitive Baptists cult experienced its first major schism. Central Kentucky's Elder Thomas P. Dudley, a member of a church of the Licking Creek Association (Bryan's Station, oldest in the state), produced a work on "Two Souls" to supplement Parker's on the two seeds. But, it was also promoted by others, Gilbert Beebe, editor of "The Signs of the Times" periodical, defended that doctrine's main idea of "eternal vital union." 

Elder William Conrad of Kentucky,  fought against the Two Seed views of Dudley. I will cite from him shortly. Anyone studying the "Primitive" or "Old School" Baptists from the 1830s till the 1880s will find out how big a civil war there was over that issue, and other important issues which it generated. The following are some citations from the Hardshells themselves taken from my previous writings.

Testifies Elder Lemuel Potter

I am at a loss to understand why Potter would name his paper after the leader of Two Seedism while supposedly opposing it. Well, if one reads Potter's book "Life And Travels Of A Poor Sinner" (here) he will find Potter saying this:

"When I first joined the church and began to preach, there was a great deal said about the Two Seed doctrine, and the most of our preachers of southern Illinois believed it. It was nothing uncommon to hear a minister speak out in favor of that doctrine in his sermons. It seemed that in our immediate connection, it had the ascendency (sic). Some of the Associations in our correspondence passed resolutions that the belief or disbelief of that doctrine should not be a bar to fellowship. For several years after I commenced preaching, I rather favored it, enough to accept it at least, and without any investigation of the matter, I did not know but what it was the doctrine of our people generally. I finally began to study the matter for myself, and I soon became satisfied that if it was the Baptist doctrine I did not believe it. After trying to discourage the agitation of it for a few years, I studied the matter so much that I finally concluded to write on that subject, which I did, and put out a small work, giving my objections to it, in the year 1880." (pg. 262) (See here)

In the debate that Potter had with W.P. Throgmorton, Dr. Throgmorton said (See here )

Is Brother Potter responsible for the two-seeders among his people? or is Dr. Watson? He admits that they have a considerable party of two-seeders among them, in their denomination; and so does Dr. Watson. I will read some about them. This will not be so funny to the old brethren. O, no! They will not like to hear this. What do those two-seeders among the Hardshells believe? Dr. Watson's Old Baptist Test, page 292:

2. They believe there is an uncreated-self existent, eternal evil spirit, or devil, intelligent, wicked, cunning and antagonistic to God.

3. They say that the soul of Christ is uncreated and eternal.

4. They fancy that the souls of the children of God, or the elect, are uncreated and eternal and were always in actual union with God."

Now, Brother Potter talks pretty hard against that doctrine in his book. But I think they have quite a respectable portion who believe it.

8. "They deny the resurrection of the bodies of the just and unjust."

These two-seeders do, and there is a considerable party of them, among Mr. Potter's people, mark you. And what does Potter say about those that deny the resurrection? He says that they virtually deny the whole Gospel of Christ; they do not only say that Christ did not rise, but that we are yet in our sins." (166)

Testifies Elder and Historian Sylvester Hassell

"...the heathenish perversions of Scriptural truth set forth by Eld. Daniel Parker, of Tennessee, about 1835, in his pamphlet called "My Views on the Two Seeds," have corrupted Primitive Baptist doctrine more, and rent off more members and churches from our fellowship, than any and all other causes combined." (See here)

Testifies Elder (Dr.) J. M. Watson

"In expressing our tenet of the eternal union between God and the Church, we proved that this expression should only be used in a qualified sense, as we then pointed out; but our opponents (Two Seeders - SG) use it in its most unqualified signification, and affirm that the souls of the elect existed eternally with God, and were infused into Adam at the time of his formation, and have always under all circumstances, whether "dead in trespasses and sins" or not, whether defiled with sin or not, before or after the new birth, have been in actual union with God! Moreover: we showed that all the human family, elect and non-elect, were by the fall involved in one common actual union with Satan, and that union only began actually at the fall, and exists on the part of all until "born again," as we fully explained; but they say that there is a different union between Satan and the non-elect; that they did not fall in Adam; that they, contrary to the elect, have a Satanic seed inborn, with which Satan has been eternally and actually united, just as God has been with the souls of the elect." ("Old Baptist Test" page 232 - here)

Testifies Elder Grigg Thompson

From "The Measuring Rod" by Elder Grigg Thompson, who was one of the leading founders, along with his father Wilson, of the "Primitive Baptist" church, we have these important words (published 1860 - see here):

"But there is, at this time, three large and distinct organizations claiming to be Baptists, and also claiming to be the apostolic church, to wit: the Missionary (or more correctly the machinery) Baptists, which is the largest division, and the Two Seed, or Arian Baptists, which in numbers, perhaps, stand next, and the Primitive Baptists, which are, perhaps, in the United States numerically the weakest of the three."  (pg. 20-21) (See here)

Testifies Elder Hosea Preslar

"From that time forth I was persecuted by some of those people, but I thought, perhaps that Divine Providence had sent me to Tennessee to defend the truths of the gospel, with others of like calling; and that we should suffer together for His sake.  To speak of all the distress this doctrine caused, within my knowledge, would be too tedious.  But for the satisfaction of those that are not acquainted with it, I will endeavor to give the reader a short, but plain sketch of their doctrine, though they, among themselves, seem at times to have it almost every way, any way, and as it were, no way at last.  Some call them the "Sadducees," some "Non-Resurrectionists," but mostly the "Two-Seeders."  Now if there is any system to their doctrine, or if they preach any system, I understand it to be about as follows:

First:  they hold that the foreknowledge of God amounts to a decree, because (say they) it could not be any other way, and therefore denounce the idea that Adam was able to stand, but liable to fall. 

Secondly:  They hold that the Church of God was in eternal union with Him, (not in purpose, but actually so); and that the church is composed of a family of eternal children, that was in eternal union with God. 

Thirdly: That when Adam transgressed the law of his Creator, and fell under its curse, that those eternal children fell in him; but not in the same like sense that the children of the devil fell. 

Fourthly: That the devil is a self-existent devil, or wicked spirit, and that, after Adam had transgressed the law of his Creator, the devil and his children, through Eve, began to make their appearance; and from them came another set of children that they call the children of the devil, or the seed of the serpent.  And that those wicked children are a wicked spiritual family that dwell in mortal bodies; and are therefore called children of the flesh, and that this wicked generation of children constitute the non-elect; and that those eternal children that were in eternal union with God, constitute the elect of God or the church. 

Fifthly: And as they had fallen under the law in Adam, that Christ came and redeemed them back again, and that the Holy Ghost makes manifest this to them in time, and that they are now renewed in the spirit of their mind, that is in the enjoyment of that eternal union they had with God; for (say they), there is nothing the soul receives in time, but a manifestation of what did before exist, not in purpose, for purpose (say they) amounts to nothing, but actually so.

Sixthly: That the gospel never was designed for anything else, but for the edification of the body of Christ, and that believers are the only subjects of gospel address.

Seventhly: That everything must return back again to its origin, and hence, these mortal bodies of ours must return to the dust, and never will be resurrected any more.  They contend for (what they call) a spiritual resurrection, and a spiritual body, that was eternally prepared of God for them; and that this was the kind of body that Jesus ascended into heaven with, and not in the one that was born of the Virgin Mary, crucified upon the Roman cross, and laid in the sepulcher; adding that it is none of our business what became of that body.

Eighthly, and lastly: They say that all other doctrine outside, or differing from this, is unsound, is Arminianism, etc.

"The above is a correct and concise account of the items or tenets of doctrine, I understand them to hold forth.  And as I consider their system to be heresy, and having suffered much, as well as many others on account of it, I here give my reasons in a brief way, hoping that Divine Providence may make it a blessing to His church and people hereafter, for of all the systems of heresy that ever I have encountered with yet, I abhor it the most."  (pages 179-80) (See here)

Testifies Elder William Conrad

"Now, the different sentiments on this point may be classed thus, and we stand on one or the other:

1st. There is a vital, actual eternal union; not virtual, treasured, or purposed in Christ before the world began, but a real, actual eternal union, and of course those who are thus united are in actual eternal existence, and are as old as eternity, and a transplantation is substituted in the state of regeneration, and that-the infusion of a new eternal creature does not change the person in soul or spirit; does not illuminate, make rejoice, make hope, make believe in Christ to the saving of the soul; does not produce faith, hope, nor charity, but its production is a war between itself and the old man, soul and spirit; and that Jesus Christ died and arose again for the purpose of resurrecting this body and soul, which has never been renewed in the spirit of the mind nor tasted of the grace of God, a vital or actual eternal union, and a new eternal creature are collateral or equal terms; they both stand or fall together. This position is outside of the bible, and therefore cannot be admitted." (from my second article mentioned above)

"Now, to us it is made manifest from what we, ourselves know that the recent or late heresy in its original shape, as first published in 1849, by Elder Thomas P. Dudley, in his circular on the origin, nature, and effects of the Christian Warfare, will not again appear. When it was first published, Elder Dudley sent me three or four copies of his circular. I soon parted with all the copies but one, wishing all to read and see for themselves; that the worst of all heresies to me it was plain."

"...I am quite confident I know more about the introduction of above heresy as embraced in the circular on the warfare-so often named in this history, than any other now living except its author. And, besides my own personal knowledge I have in possession the printed minutes, circulars, and other printed documents, mostly from 1808, before Licking was organized."

"While as yet not separated from Elkhorn Association, and feeling a conviction that unless I made some record-history of said heresy as above named, it might not be known, certainly fifty years hence, how introduced and by whom.

And hence, the historians that may be writing up church history and showing of the strange doctrines and heresies that troubled the Zion of our God near the middle of the nineteenth century, (as Brother Ross and myself?) and still continues to be a matter or subject preached and taught in some of the many forms hitherto presented to the hearers."

"We will venture to remark that there is not a Christian in all the universe but was shown by the spirit of grace in due time that he was in league with Satan, and that his soul and body was sunk under the destruction of sin, and so far from being actually united to Christ... the people of God are not only united to him as their representative from eternity but to him as their shepherd, husband, prophet, priest, king, redeemer, Emanuel, everlasting father and Jehovah, our righteousness; on this stand and plead your union not only by decree or purpose, but vitally or actually by the grace of faith in his name and for the merit and worth of thy divine surety." (See here)

Testifies Elder Gilbert Beebe

"Perhaps the means renders will try to make some capital of the words “with the word of his power,” construing the word of his power to imply instrumentality. One of two things must be intended by these words: “With the word,” they were begotten by the Father of lights, spoken of in the context. Christ is the only begotten of the Father; but as a begotten emanation from the Godhead, he is the life of his people, head of his body, the church, mediator, &c.; as God he is self-existent, equally with the Father; but as the life and immortality of his spiritual body, he is the beginning of the creation of God, and the first born of every creature; and in this sense he only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, [not even by the magic Power of means,] whom no man hath seen nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting’. Amen. Now the one production of spiritual life was what we understand to be the begetting of both the head and the body, so that if Christ as the Word is intended by James, the saints have a common origin with Christ their head, and both be that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren." 

Gilbert Beebe and Samuel Trott, the two leading writers for the "Signs of the Times," here promote their own version of Daniel Parker's "Two Seedism." Who would have ever interpreted James 1: 18 in the absurd fashion of these Two Seed Hardshells? (See here)

A library source citing Albert W. Wardin Jr. (professor emeritus of Belmont University, Nashville, Tenn., where he taught history from 1967 to 1993) says this (see here):

"Parker was known for his opposition to innovations, which put him in the camp with other Primitive Baptists, and for his distinctive doctrine of the Two Seeds. In 1826, he began to propound this view in a pamphlet, Views on the Two Seeds, which was soon followed in the same year by A Supplement or Explanation of My Views on the Two Seeds and The Second Dose of Doctrine on the Two Seeds. He claimed that the elect were born with the good seed, implanted by God in Adam and Eve, and the nonelect were born of the evil seed which came from Satan. He felt such a view absolved God from predestinating the non elect to hell since at birth one's destiny was already determined. He claimed that he gained this view from an old fellow Baptist in Tennessee around 1811 and that at first he had rejected it as heresy."

"Missionary Baptists, of course, rejected this doctrine as well as most Primitive Baptists. Two-Seedism evolved into a gnostic sect, taking even more extreme positions never advocated by Parker himself. It started opposing all means in salvation, denying the non elect had souls, and rejecting a bodily resurrection and a literal hell, spiritualizing both. In 1847, John M. Watson, a leading Primitive Baptist in Tennessee, wrote a pamphlet condemning Parkerism. Later in his book, The Old Baptist Test, which appeared in 1855, Watson included a section, "A Refutation of the Manichaeo Parkerite Heresy."

So, it is a fact that I have pointed out (as have other historians such as Crowley), and as the above testimonials confess, that there were several issues involved in the theological system known as "Two Seedism." The Hyper Calvinism of the Two Seed Baptists, with its rejection of the means of the gospel for the eternal salvation of the elect, is still evident in many of those who call themselves "Primitive Baptists," though they have cast off the idea of "eternal vital union" and some other tenets of that system. 

Elder Gilbert Beebe wrote: 

 

"We now speak of his spiritual or mystical body. If it be admitted that they are one with Christ, even as is Christ one with God the Father, we can no more deny the eternal vital union of Christ and his members than we can deny the eternal identity of the Father and the Son in the Godhead." (As cited by me previously here)

Some of the names of men who espoused the doctrine of "eternal vital union," or the preexistence of the souls or spirits of the elect, or children of God, are Gilbert Beebe, and his son William Beebe, Thomas P. Dudley, Samuel Trott, and many others. In our day, we see that teaching continued in a book titled "Eternal Vital Union Of Christ and His Body: the Church" by Stanley C. Phillips (2012), recently deceased, and those few remaining believers in it. Wrote Phillips and his brethren at their web page (See here) as an introduction to a sermon by Gilbert Beebe on the subject from 1858:

[The union of Christ with His people is a theme which covers the whole of the New Testament, yet it is neglected almost entirely today among modern Christians — even including our own people. This union is effectual and essential in regeneration, sanctification, justification, pardon, and the resurrection from the dead. It joins together in one both Christ and all His members— the general assembly and church of the first-born whose names are written in heaven. All of our eternal and timely blessings, in one way or another, are related to this blessed union. We offer this selection from the new reprint of the Editorials of Gilbert Beebe Volume 4, page 149 in hope that it will give each of our readers many pleasant thoughts to contemplate through the days to come. — Ed.]

"ROMANS 8: 38.39 Eternal Vital Union and Its Blessings" By Gilbert Beebe (emphasis mine)

"Consequently if there ever was a period in time or eternity when any of the members of His church were NOT IN HIM, then there has been a period when His body was not full. But to imagine the existence of a Head without a body, or a body without a Head, or a perfect and complete Head, and an imperfect and deficient body, does not suit our understanding of the declaration that it pleased the Father that in Him all fulness should dwell. (Col. 1:19)" 

"All the members of Christ are IN HIM, even as the eternal Father is in Him. He is the dwelling place (not of one-third part of the Godhead, as some seem to understand it,) but of ALL the fullness of the Godhead. “That they all may be one, as thou Father art in Me and I in Thee, that they also may be one IN US.” “I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect IN ONE,’ &c. (John 17:21-23)."

"If the church is in Christ as the eternal Father is in Him, must they not have been in Him from everlasting?"

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He [Christ] also Himself likewise [or in like manner I took part of the same.” (Heb. 2:14) His children partaking of flesh and blood, shows that their relationship to God as children was perfect before they partook of flesh and blood; and that participation of flesh and blood no more constituted them children, than Christ’s coming into the world, and “also Himself likewise partaking of the same,” constituted Him the Son of God, or the Head of Immortality to His body, the church."

Beebe believed that "Christ" was eternally begotten by the Father (and this is not to say that he is God by this begetting), or produced (created) in the manner believed by the Arians. The term "Son of God" does not denote Christ's divinity, but his composite nature, as part divine, part human, and a third part, a hybrid mixture of the two (thus three natures). Many held to the belief that this created Christ involved the preexistence of the human soul and body of Christ, and that all the elect were created in Christ when he was created before the world began. So, not only did Christ preexist before his incarnation (being made flesh) but so too did the elect preexist in Christ, and had a vital or seminal union with him.

In "ETERNAL VITAL UNION," Beebe wrote the following things on the subject. [Republished by request of brother Isaac N. Moon in The 1880 volume of The Signs of The Times, page 81-82] (See here)

"But the question still may arise, how, or in what sense, we the saints in Christ Jesus before the world began?"

"As the seed of Abraham existed in him before any of them we born; and being thus in him, unto them God gave the land of Canaan, before any of them were manifested by generation. God made Abraham the father of many nations, long before any of these nations were developed. Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living; and that too, before any of her children were born. But the life of all the posterity of which Abraham was the father was in him, and though not manifested to men, they were personally identified by God; for Levi paid tithes unto Melchisedec, when he was yet in the loins of his great-grandfather Abraham. If the life of all the human family had not been in Adam, how could their development by generation and birth been regarded as a multiplication of Adam? God blessed Adam and bade him be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth. And in this, Adam is the “figure of Him that was to come,” which is Christ. And in covenant with Abraham, God said, “Surely blessing I will bless thee; and multiplying I will multiply thee.”"

"Our being born into the natural world did not make us the sons and daughters of Adam; but our original creation in him as his posterity, is that which constitutes the relationship, and our birth is but the manifestation of it. Our generation is the manifestation of that life which was given us in Christ, and makes us manifest as the children of God."

"Thus to be IN Jesus Christ seminally, as the spiritual embodiment and progenitor of “a seed that shall serve Him, and be counted to the Lord for a generation,” according to Psalms 22:30; Isaiah 53:10-12; I Peter 2:9, involves the Bible doctrine of eternal Union. A union of life, love and immortality. One with Christ even as Christ is one with the Father." 

"A birth is not the creation or origination of life, but the manifestation of life by what is called procreation. Our earthly nature which in Christians is called the old, or outward man, was created in Adam, but pro-created by natural generation. But that immortality which is in the Christian, and which is denominated the new, or the inward man, was given us in Jesus Christ, and is manifested by spiritual generation when born of God."

That is interesting about the view of Watts. It shows that others, non Hardshells, believed some of the leading ideas involved in Two Seedism. Many held to this view because Christ said that he came down from heaven, and they apply this to his human soul or spirit, or perhaps even to his flesh and blood. 

Of course, as the opponents of eternal vital union showed, no one has an existence prior to his creation and birth in the womb. Yes, they were foreknown, loved, and chosen, but only because God foresaw them before they existed. Yes, all men were "in" Adam not only by representation, but seminally (physically), as containing or contributing the seed of later generations. That all souls or spirits were created in Adam is not an indisputable fact. Were the souls or spirits of the elect created in Adam or in Christ before the world began? It seems the Two Seeders cannot logically have it both ways. 

But, it is not appropriate to say that the elect were "in" Christ seminally when he was begotten (either in eternity past or in the womb of the virgin). The way one is joined to Christ vitally, according to the new testament, is to be born again by faith. So Jesus taught that one must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have him to enter into the heart, mind, and spirit. (John 6: 53-57) This partaking of Christ is done in the mind when it receives the message of the gospel of Christ. 

Also, the begetting of the Son of God was not a creation of Christ. Christ, as man, did not exist till he was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary. One of the oft cited scriptures of the Two Seeders was those which speak of Christ as being the "beginning of the creation of God." (Rev. 3: 14; Col. 1: 15). They interpret such verses in an Arian fashion, except that they say it involves him being a mediator, having both a God nature and a human from the time he was created or begotten. The doctrine of eternal vital union, and the preexistence of souls, is interwoven with serious errors on the doctrine of the Trinity.

One of the verses that has been cited to disprove that the elect preexisted with Christ in eternity past, or were "in him" before the world began, is the one from Paul who said of two named Christians that "they were in Christ before me" (Rom. 16: 7). If all the elect were literally in Christ from eternity, then how can one be in Christ before another? 

Further, there is much misunderstanding of what is involved in being "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world." Several inferences by the Two Seeders and those who believe in eternal vital union are not warranted.

1) the choice was made in eternity from those who existed in eternity in Christ

2) the existence of the elect was not merely virtual or in the mind of God

3) the choice was of those who were already in Christ, and not to bring them into Christ

I believe that Paul's use of the prepositional phrase "in Christ" in the words "chosen you in Christ" carries the same meaning as in the words "in love having predestinated." Christ was foreknown by the Father (I Peter 1: 20). His existence as a man, in his incarnation, began with his conception in the womb of the virgin mother. Christ, as God foresaw him, was the context for God's choice and predestination. In fact, we may say that "all things" are "by him" and "for him." (Col. 1: 16)

Beebe's idea that each of the elect come down from heaven in an incarnation, as the Son of God, is ridiculous and is why it has been rejected by all except a very small cult. 

So, in conclusion I say that though there is a union between Christ and the church in eternity past, it is not an actual union of persons then existing but an ordained union to be effected in time. It is a representative union and not a vital union. Vital union with Christ occurs by being joined to Christ by faith and being born again.

On The Priority Of Union With Christ

There is much debate between Arminians and Calvinists over the arrangement of the "ordo salutis" and I have chimed in on this debate many times over the years. The debate focuses on whether faith precedes the new birth or follows it. Let me say here at the outset that I get very agitated when men on both sides say - "Calvinists believe that regeneration precedes faith." Many times I have had to say to both Arminians and Calvinists that such is not true. That some Calvinists or "Reformed" theologians put regeneration before faith is not doubted. But to put all Calvinists into that category is a gross falsehood. In my writings I have cited many Calvinists, such as Calvin and Booth, who did not aver that regeneration precedes faith. I am Calvinist but I do not put regeneration or the new birth before faith and conversion.

Let me also say that the older Calvinist writers did not make conversion something different from regeneration, seeing rather that evangelical conversion is regeneration. A man was not viewed as regenerate or born again before be believed in Christ.

In all the writings of those on this issue, over the past several hundred years, I have noticed a gross inconsistency by those who affirm that regeneration precedes faith. How so? Because even those who espouse such will often affirm that 1) union with Christ is the first requirement, preceding all other graces and aspects of salvation, and that 2) "vital union" is "by faith." Now, if these two propositions are true (and they are), then regeneration, rebirth, justification, forgiveness, sanctification, etc., must all follow this union; And, faith must be before these things, for it is what unites the soul to Christ. Therefore, union with Christ by faith must precede regeneration, justification, etc. Don't you see?

So, with that in mind, we cannot but hold to this order:

1. Faith
2. Union with Christ
3. Justification
4. Regeneration
5. Sanctification

Now let me cite from some Calvinists on the priority of union with Christ by faith.

The following citations can be found (here) and all emphasis is mine:

On this subject Dr. John Gill wrote:

"In a word, union to Christ is the first thing, the first blessing of grace flowing from love and effected by it; hence, [it] is the application of all others. “Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus”—first loved and united to Christ—and then it follows, “who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1Co 1:30). So Dr. Goodwin observes that “union with Christ is the first fundamental thing of justification and sanctification and all. Christ first takes us, and then sends His Spirit; He apprehends us first; it is not my being regenerate that puts me into a right of all these privileges; but it is Christ takes me, and then gives me His Spirit, faith, holiness.”"

In "FAITH UNITES US TO CHRIST," William Cunningham (1805-1861) wrote:

"LET us now…shortly consider the effect of faith as uniting us to Christ, and thus saving the soul. There is a great deal spoken of in Scripture on the subject of faith—of its great importance and of its indispensable necessity to salvation. We read, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mar 16:16). It is faith that makes a man a Christian, that produces all those things that accompany salvation, that salvation which is the turning point of a man’s existence, that salvation which delivers him from the authority of the devil and translates him into the kingdom of God’s dear Son.

Faith occupies this important place in our salvation because it unites us to Christ. We are expressly told this by the Apostle in Ephesians 3:17, where it is written, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” This union of believers to Christ, effected by faith, is indeed frequently spoken of in the New Testament. The nature of it is set before us by every mode of expression and description fitted to convey the strongest impression of its closeness and its importance.

Now when a man believes in Christ, he is, according to God’s appointment, united to Him. There is a union formed between them. God regards him as if he were Christ and treats him as if he had suffered the punishment for his sins that Christ endured in his room—as if he had in his own person performed that full and perfect obedience to the Divine Law that our Savior's conduct exhibited. It is this imputation of Christ’s sufferings and of His righteousness, or, as it is often called, His active and passive obedience—it is this communion of suffering and of merit in which the union of believers with Christ mainly consists. This union and communion with Him is the foundation of their salvation in all its parts and in all its aspects. When they believe Him, God regards them as one with Him—as if they had offered what He has suffered, as if they had done what He has done, as if they had paid the penalty for their sins and had gained a title to His favor.

Viewing them thus as united to Christ—as one with Him—God bestows upon them the blessings that Christ purchased for all who should believe on His name. They obtain through faith the forgiveness of their sins, acceptance with God as righteous persons, the renovation and sanctification of their natures, and, finally, an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Christ is the great Head of influence: all spiritual blessings are the fruits of His purchase. It is only by abiding in Him that we are enabled to bring forth fruits unto eternal life; as it is written, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit” (Joh 15:5).

You see now the great importance of faith in the salvation of sinners. It is the instrument by means of which we receive everything necessary to our peace. None can be saved without it, and everyone who has it will assuredly be saved. It is connected in the statements of God’s Word with almost every blessing that is mentioned as important and valuable, as the origin from which they are all derived, the instrument by which they are all received. It is the Holy Spirit that forms the union between Christ and believers, and faith wrought in their hearts by His almighty power is the tie that connects them together and forms the bond of union.

While salvation is thus through faith, it is, at the same time, “by grace” (Eph 2:5, 8). It is to be traced wholly to God’s free and unmerited favor. There is nothing whatever in faith as a grace or virtue, as an act of ours, to merit anything at God’s hands [or] to deserve anything for us…Faith, viewed as a work or act of ours, could not itself procure for us the pardon of sin any more than repentance, if that too were in our power. Far less—[even if] we could believe by our own strength—could it ever merit for us any reward at God’s hands.

It is not indeed, then, as a work or a grace that faith saves: it is merely the instrument of uniting us to Christ. His work is the sole ground of our salvation and of all that is connected with it. We owe it all to Him. He purchased it for us by His own sufferings and obedience, and He bestows it upon us by His Spirit. Therefore, we must beware, friends, of giving to our own faith, in the work of salvation, the place that belongs only to Christ. When salvation is ascribed to faith, this is so far from attaching merit to faith that it is just expressly renouncing it. We are saved indeed by faith, but it is faith in Christ Jesus. Our faith is that which carries us out of ourselves to Christ, transferring our whole dependence, as it were, from our own doing to what He has done and suffered for us. And it is a constant act of trust, a confidence in Him for everything pertaining to another world. It bears at all times upon it a declaration of our utter inability to do anything for ourselves. Hence, not only is salvation by faith quite consistent with being by grace, but further, as the Apostle tells us, it is of faith that it might be by grace. Not only are they consistent with each other, but the one affords the most striking illustration of the other. Nothing could have more fully established or more clearly illustrated the free grace of the Gospel than making our salvation depend upon faith; for faith, besides being originally God’s gift, is a constant appeal to His agency: it is both in form and in substance a casting [of] ourselves entirely and unreservedly upon His mercy through Christ and resting upon Him alone. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and are saved."

These are my sentiments exactly.

In "JUSTIFIED IN CHRIST" Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) said:

"This relation or union to Christ, whereby Christians are said to be in Christ (whatever it be) is the ground of their right to His benefits. This needs no proof: the reason of the thing, at first blush, demonstrates it. It is exceeding evident also by Scripture: “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1Jo 5:12). “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us…righteousness” (1Co 1:30). First, we must be in Him, and then He will be made righteousness or justification to us. “He hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Eph 1:6). Our being in Him is the ground of our being accepted. So it is in those unions to which the Holy Ghost has thought fit to compare this. The union of the members of the body with the head is the ground of their partaking of the life of the head. It is the union of the branches to the stock that is the ground of their partaking of the sap and life of the stock. It is the relation of the wife to the husband that is the ground of her joint interest in his estate.

As there is nobody [who will not agree] that there is a peculiar relation between Christ and His true disciples by which they are in some sense in Scripture said to be one, so I suppose there is nobody [who will not agree] that there may be something that the true Christian does on his part, whereby he is active in coming into this relation or union…Now faith I suppose to be this act.

I do not now pretend to define justifying faith or to determine precisely how much is contained in it. [I will] only determine thus much concerning it: [justifying faith] is that by which the soul, which before was separate and alienated from Christ, unites itself to Him. [The soul] ceases to be any longer in that state of alienation and comes into that forementioned union or relation to Him. Or, to use the Scripture phrase, it is that by which the soul comes to Christ and receives Him. This is evident by the Scriptures using these very expressions to signify faith.

God does not give union with or an interest in the Savior to those that believe as a reward for faith, but only because faith is the soul’s active uniting with Christ. [Faith] is itself the very act of unition on their part. God sees it fit that in order to a union being established between two intelligent active beings or persons, so that they should be looked upon as one, there should be the mutual act of both that each should receive [the] other as actively joining themselves one to another. God, in requiring this in order to a union with Christ as one of His people, treats men as reasonable creatures, capable of act and choice.

It is [in this way] that faith justifies or gives an interest in Christ’s satisfaction and merits and a right to the benefits procured thereby, that is, as it thus makes Christ and the believer one in the acceptance of the Supreme Judge. It is by faith that we have a title to eternal life because it is by faith that we have the Son of God by whom life is. The Apostle John in these words, “He that hath the Son, hath life,” (1Jo 5:12) seems evidently to have respect to those words of Christ of which he gives an account in his Gospel: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (Joh 3:36). And where the Scripture speaks of faith as the soul’s receiving or coming to Christ, it speaks of this receiving, coming to, or joining with Christ as the ground of an interest in His benefits. To as many as received Him, “to them gave he power” to become the sons of God. Ye will not come unto me “that ye might have life.”

Can I get an amen?

(The above is a reprint from my blog "The Baptist Gadfly" - see here; I post it here so it will be closely connected with the previous recent posts on Union With Christ By Faith)

Is Faith The Effect Of Union?

The answer to that question is not either yes or no, but both, depending upon how we define the terms of discussion. In my previous two postings on Union With Christ By Faith I held to the proposition that the scriptures teach that vital union is by faith in Christ and all aspects of salvation follow that created union. But, I also acknowledged that there was another kind of union, a representative or covenantal union, and acknowledged that it preceded actual vital union. We are joined to Adam in two ways. 

First, by representative union (See Romans 5 and I Corinthians 15). Second, by vital union. All are the physical descendants of Adam, of his seed through Eve, "the mother of all living." (I will not go into the question as to whether all the souls of men were created in Adam or individually at the time of conception) In either case, whether Traducian, or Creationist, all have at least a physical and soulish connection with Adam. 

Believers are joined to Christ in two ways, one representative and one vital. Even unbelievers are in some sense represented by Christ, and have that connection with him, though they have not a vital saving connection or union with him. 

For purposes of this writing, I will not get off topic on the question of who are the elect and why were they elected to salvation. We will simply say that the elect are they who are believers. 

Said one source, citing others (See here, emphasis mine):

"Augustus H. Strong positively describes the nature of the believer's union with Christ with five adjectives.[27] This union is: 

 

An organic union – in which believers become members of Christ and enjoy a mutual, reciprocal dependence on Christ for life and He on them for expression (Eph. 5:29–30). 

A vital union – in which Christ operates within believers as their life and becomes the dominating principle within them (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3–4). 

A spiritual union – that is, a union originating from and sustained by the Holy Spirit in their spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; Eph 3:16–17). 

An indissoluble union – that is, a union which, by virtue of Christ's eternal, divine, and incorruptible power and grace, can never be dissolved (Matt. 28:20; Rom. 8:39; Heb. 7:16). 

An inscrutable union – that is, a divine and mystical union of knowledge-surpassing intimacy and value (Eph. 3:19; 5:32; Col. 1:27)." 

Now, that is probably too many categories for we can say of vital union that it is spiritual, indissoluble, and inscrutable. For the purposes of this short posting, I only speak of two kinds of union, one representative and the other vital (or the joining together of two hearts, souls, or spirits). However, Strong did say they were all "adjectives" of union rather than different kinds of union. If that is so, then we could add other adjectives to describe the nature of the union. 

Said the same source (citing others):

"According to the narrower sense of the phrase, used in Christian theology, union with Christ is a step in the ordo salutis ("order of salvation"), and the basis of the believer's justification.[5] In this sense, union with Christ follows faith and precedes adoption (Galatians 3:26-27). Augustus Strong describes it in this way: "union with Christ logically precedes both regeneration and justification; and yet, chronologically, the moment of our union with Christ is also the moment when we are regenerated and justified."[6]"

This is what I believe and have contended for, that "union with Christ logically precedes both regeneration and justification." And that "union with Christ follows faith." 

Said the same source again:

"Sinclair Ferguson distinguishes six categories of union with Christ. Union with Christ is federal or covenantal in the sense that Christ's obedience is accounted to believers. It is carnal or fleshly in the sense that Christ became incarnate and thus became one with humanity. Union with Christ is also a faith union in which by faith Christians depend on Christ for nourishment. It is a spiritual union because Christians are united to Christ by the agency of the Holy Spirit. It is an extensive union in that Christians are united with Christ in everything he has done, including his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session. It is finally a union of life because Christ lives in Christians and he is visible in their lives.[11]" 

Vital union, or union that brings life, spiritual and eternal, is by faith, or by possessing Christ and the Holy Spirit, and both Christ and the Spirit are received by faith.  

Said the same source again:

"As a step in the order of salvation, union with Christ was seen by John Calvin to be the basis for both justification and sanctification. Alister McGrath notes that while Martin Bucer suggested that justification causes (moral) regeneration, Calvin argued that "both justification and regeneration are the results of the believer's union with Christ through faith."[12]"

Again, this is my position, and it is the true Calvinist or Reformed position, being what was believed by Luther, Calvin, and the first generation following them. Those "Reformed" Calvinists today, among Baptists and Presbyterians and their ilk, do not believe that both regeneration and justification are by faith. 

Said the same source again:

"Some Evangelicals see union with Christ as a discrete stage in the "order of salvation."[13] The evangelical theologian William Shedd comments "The impartation of Christ's righteousness presupposes a union with him."[14] Robert Dabney, while avoiding deification, said that the bond of the union is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.[15]"

Not only can we say, however, that the impartation of Christ's righteousness (imputation or justification) presupposes union, but also say that union presupposes faith. Shedd believes that faith follows regeneration (about which I recently have written) and yet in the above he says that union with Christ precedes imputation or justification. This is inconsistent. He obviously, like others, such as the Hardshell Baptists, say that union with Christ is not by faith, but rather is before and without faith. He would deny the proposition that vital union with Christ is by faith. 

Dabney's statement, "the bond of the union is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit," is true. But, let us remember that the Spirit is received by faith (Gal. 3: 1), as we demonstrated in the two prior postings on "Union With Christ By Faith." Further, Dabney agrees. Another source giving the writings of R.L. Dabney on union with Christ (See here) has Dabney writing the following in proof of this:

"It is through this union to Christ that the whole application of redemption is effectuated on the sinner’s soul...When made one with His Redeeming Head, then all the communicable graces of that Head begin to transfer themselves to him. Thus we find that each kind of benefit which makes up redemption is, in different parts of the Scripture, deduced from this union as their source; Justification, spiritual strength, life, resurrection of the body, good works, prayer and praise, sanctification, perseverance, etc., etc. Eph. 1:4, 6, 11, 13; Col. 1:24; Rom. 6:3–6, 8; Col. 2:10; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:9; John 15:1–5." 

Dabney also wrote:

"The instrumental bond of the union is evidently faith—i. e., when the believer exercises faith, the union begins; and by the exercise of faith it is on his part perpetuated. See Eph. 3:17; John 14:23; Gal. 3:26–28. First God embraces us with His electing and renewing love; and we then embrace Him by the actings of our faith, so that the union is consummated on both sides. One of the results, or, if you please, forms, of the union is justification. Of this, faith is the instrument, "for being justified by faith, we have peace with God." The other form is sanctification. Faith has the instrumental relation to this also; for He "purifieth our hearts by faith;" "faith worketh by love;" and it is the victory which overcometh the world."

Said the previous source again:

"Eastern Orthodox theology emphasizes the incarnation as the starting point for our union with Christ.[16] "In Christ God becomes one with us in order to make us one with him; he stooped to take our nature, in order that we might be restored to become partakers of his nature."[16]"

Of course, the key word in that paragraph is the word "emphasizes." Certainly, as we will see, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, in becoming human formed a union with the the race, with all men. The apostle Paul says that Christ is "the head of every man" (I Cor. 11: 3) and also is "the head of the body which is his church." (Eph. 1: 22-23; 5: 23) He has a union with every man by his incarnation, as well as lordship. That is a necessary union for the salvation of any man. However, though that union is necessary for the salvation of any man, it does not signify that all men will be saved merely by the incarnation itself. 

Further, as we will see, there are benefits that come to all men as a result of Christ becoming man and being "the head of every man." We could give lengthy examples of this truth. For one thing, men would be without hope, and the wrath of God against them for their sins would be demonstrated by them instantly being sent to Hell without mercy. 

It is necessary that a sinner join himself to God and to Christ as Savior and Lord to have vital union with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. From this attachment to Christ flows all that pertains to salvation and "things which accompany salvation" (Heb. 6: 9). There is no realized salvation in anyone until that one is joined in heart and soul to Christ. Salvation in its beginning, in its continuance and progression, and in its consummation in the eternal ages to come, is all the result of vital union with Christ. Two things are necessary for this union, which are penitent faith and a birth of the Spirit.   

Said the same source again:

"In Christian theology the union of Christ is built on the a priori assumption of Adam's union with humanity (Romans 5:12-21).[17] Also according to the Apostle Paul, Christ's death and resurrection is a prerequisite for believers to be identified with Christ (Romans 6:8-10).[18] In other words, the vicarious death of Jesus is the basis for incorporation into Christ.[19]"

But we must not err in thinking that vital union with Christ is something Christ (or Father or Spirit) merely does to us and for us (objectively), but such union that we are active in creating. Union with Christ is the union of two wills, the effect of two choices, one on the part of Christ and the other on the part of the believing sinner. So, not only does Christ identify with us via his incarnation, but also by his death on the cross, and by his resurrection.

Said the same source again:

"The New Testament teaches that union with Christ is precipitated by faith and baptism, i.e. we believe and are baptized "into" Christ (John 3:16, Romans 6:3). Both the apostle John and Paul employ the Greek preposition eis rather than en in these passages to convey the notion of union with Christ. The ESV Study Bible explains the use of this particular preposition in its note on John 11:25, "The preposition translated “in” (Gk. eis) is striking, for eis ordinarily means “into,” giving the sense that genuine faith in Christ in a sense brings people “into” Christ, so that they rest in and become united with Christ. (This same expression is found in 3:16, 18, 36; 6:35; 7:38; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 1 John 5:10.)"[20]"

I would agree with this but would say that both water baptism and the Lord's supper (communion) are pictures of our union with Christ by faith. Water baptism is a picture of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and of our participation in it by faith. It is a picture of the mystical or spiritual incorporation into Christ and his body. It is a picture of our own spiritual resurrection in our conversion. It is a picture also of the total cleansing of the spirit that occurs in the union effected. The Lord's Supper pictures how Christ enters the heart and spirit of a believing and penitent sinner. As the message of Christ is brought to the mind of a sinner and the sinner by the work of the Spirit and the word believes the message and calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is then joined to Christ and receive all the blessings of salvation.

Now, before going further, let me state the problem with the view that says vital union with Christ is by faith (my view). 

The Problem

If all spiritual blessings flow out of vital union with Christ, and such union is by faith, then faith cannot be a blessing produced from union. Does that not show that union precedes faith? Or, to state the same thing another way, doesn't regeneration precede faith? Do not the words "faith is a fruit of the Spirit" (Gal. 5) say that faith is a fruit of regeneration? A fruit of a vital union? 

My answer is to say:

1) If vital union precedes faith, then it would be wrong to assert that union is by faith. Yet, the scriptures say union is by faith. 

2) The text does not say that faith is a fruit of regeneration, but a fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit produces thoughts and actions in the elect before they are regenerated, such as conviction of sin, belief of certain truths, the Father's "drawing," and "teaching," etc. (John 6: 44-45) These pre regeneration things can be said to be the effect of the Spirit's working. Also, the word for "fruit" is also used to refer to a child in the womb ("fruit of the womb"). And, it is not denied that faith and love are begotten when the sinner is begotten. 

3) The proposition that vital union is by faith does not negate the proposition that it is the fruit of the Spirit. Both the means (faith) and the end (vital union) are "of" the Spirit. Those two propositions are not incongruent. 

4) The faith that is produced by the Spirit in order to effect a person's being "born of God" does spring as a blessing from Christ, as a result of representative union with him. Further, I believe, that Christ in one sense represents all men, yet in another sense, represents only the elect. 

5) Finally, we can best answer the question with a question. Is vital union with Christ a blessing resulting from vital union? The answer of course is "no" because something cannot be the cause of itself nor can it be the effect of itself. 

So, faith is the gift of God and is the result of his effectual working (Eph. 1: 19) and of his drawing and teaching (John 6: 44-45), and comes as a pre regeneration, pre vital union blessing. It is a blessing resulting from God's eternal covenant regarding the elect, from the new covenant, from his gracious promise in the gospel.

Is Your Theological House In Order?

"In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live." (Isa. 38: 1 kjv)

In my recent series on the afterlife I dealt much with interpreting what Paul means by believers building their doctrinal or theological house upon Christ (and the facts about him) as a foundation. (See here)

I think that elderly Christians who are at the end of life as Hezekiah should not only get their secular and family affairs "in order" but should get their doctrinal house in order too. The text I discussed was I Corinthians 3: 9-15 and we saw how Paul said that each Christian will be judged by what kind of theological house he or she has built. 

If we discover that something is amiss in our house of beliefs, in our own private systematic theology, we should seek to change it (repentance) before we are judged by the Lord. If we built with the wrong materials or built with faulty workmanship, we should stop and remove the bad material in our buildings before we are finished building, and redo our work the right way. We will be rewarded for doing so and lose reward for not doing so. I have had to alter my beliefs through the years and have a better building now, I believe, than ever before. I am also open to be corrected by any good spiritual building inspector. 

Union With Christ By Faith (ii)

In Paul's writings "in Christ" is a term denoting union between Christ and the believer. But, those who believe that one is born again before he believes in Jesus Christ believe that one is "in Christ" apart from faith. They often will speak of faith union, but then turn around and put union before faith. 

When we believe the gospel, we believe "eis" ("unto," or "into" but "on" in KJV) Christ. In the New Testament the phrase "eis auton" (into him) is used frequently. Notice these texts:

"And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and is believing on him (eis-into him), may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:40) 

 

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you may be believing on him (eis-into him) whom He hath sent." (John 6:29) 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that is believing on (eis, into) Me is having everlasting life. I am that bread of life." (John 6:47-48) 

The Greek word "eis" has various shades of meaning yet its base meaning carries the idea of motion towards, of movement out of or from one thing into or to another thing. I have written extensively on this before, on the words "Believe (eis) Christ." (See here, here, and here)

How do we enter into Christ? Answer: By believing in Christ. Therefore, believing is a means or condition for entering into Christ and having vital union with him.

"In the flesh" vs. "in the Spirit"

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." (Rom. 8: 1-2) 

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." (vs 8-10) 

 

There is no doubt that regeneration is alluded to in this passage. It is connected with becoming "in the Spirit," and that is defined as having "the Spirit of God dwell in you." To be "in the Spirit" is to "have" or possess "the Spirit of Christ." How does one who is in the flesh become no longer such? To become "in the Spirit"? If it is not by faith, then we must conclude that unbelievers may have the Spirit and be in the Spirit. But, Paul always taught that both Christ and the Spirit were received by faith. It is when Christ enters into the believer that the believer's own "spirit" is quickened ("is life"). Wrote Paul to the Galatian believers: 

 

"This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (3: 2) 

If we receive the Spirit by faith (that comes by hearing the word - Rom. 10: 14-17), and it is the receiving of the Spirit that constitutes one as being "in Christ" and "in the Spirit," then regeneration is by faith. Paul also says in the same chapter - "that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." (Gal. 3: 14) Those who say that regeneration precedes faith must say that the Spirit is received "before" faith, and not "by" faith. Of course, "received the Spirit" and "received Christ" speak of being regenerated, converted, or born again.

Further, the context of Romans chapter eight shows that believing is the way and means for exiting the flesh and entering Christ and the Spirit. He says in chapter six:

"But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."  (Vs. 17-18)

"Made free from sin" speaks of justification, but "became slaves of righteousness" speaks of regeneration or rebirth. That being so, we can say 1) that both justification and regeneration follow believing (obeying) from the heart the gospel of Christ (form of doctrine), and 2) that justification logically precedes regeneration. The moment that they were made free from sin is the moment they became "in Christ," and "in the Spirit," and were reborn.

Paul talks about being "in the flesh" and "in Christ" (or "in the Spirit") in his epistle to the Ephesians. He writes:

"Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." (Eph. 2: 11-13 kjv)

There is no doubt in my mind that the time alluded to by the words "at that time" and "now" are allusions to  points in time, the former (at that time) to a time in the life of the Ephesian believers when they went from being "in the flesh" to being "in the Spirit," and "now" references the time after having received Christ. And, of course, to be "in the Spirit" is also to be "in Christ." This point in time, this demarcation point, is the time when the Ephesians believed the gospel of Christ, and when they "received" Christ and were converted. Until a man believes in Christ and is converted he is in the flesh, but once he receives Christ, he is received by Christ, and they two become one.

United To Christ

To be united to Christ is also to be united with the Father and Spirit. 

"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." (I Cor. 6: 16-17 nkjv)

This is a good text on our subject of union (or oneness) with Christ. There is a reference to the marriage union in the text. It is the same "joining" that Paul spoke of in his letter to the Romans, where he says -

“ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to (married KJV) another, even to him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God.” (Rom. 7: 4)

In a marital union, it requires both parties to agree to the covenant that will formally constitute union, which will be followed by communion (or union of bodies in sexual relations). Union of heart precedes formal union and physical union in the paradigm. The assent to be married is equivalent to that act of placing faith and trust in Christ, and in "cleaving" to him as a husband does his wife, or "joining" oneself to him. So we read such verses as these in the old testament:

"...the son of the foreigner Who has joined himself to the LORD" (Isa. 56: 3 nkjv)

"And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee." (Zech. 2: 11 nkjv)

"But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day." (Deut. 4: 4; see also 10: 20, etc.)

"For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear." (Jer. 13: 11 kjv)

Jesus spoke of how a husband cleaves to his wife and how she and he become one. (Matt. 19: 5)

So, how is one joined to Christ? Answer: By an act of the will in choosing Christ and cleaving to him.

Christ In You Through Faith

“...that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...” (Eph. 3: 17)

The overwhelming majority of commentators rightly see this verse as supporting our premise number two that says "union with Christ is by faith." Those who say one is regenerated before faith are affirming that Christ enters the sinner before faith. 

Notice the place where Christ specially dwells. It is in the heart, which includes your mind. So the picture at the top of this posting illustrates.

I like how Kenneth Wuest, Greek scholar, translates the words as "that the Christ might finally settle down and feel completely at home in your hearts through your faith." 

I think too the words "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith" carry the idea of "that Christ may continue to dwell in your hearts by faith," for the Ephesians were already saved and thus already had received Christ. Or, Paul not taking anything for granted (for there are hypocrites and deluded ones) in essence says "that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith if he isn't already." 

Receiving Christ

"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1: 11-13 nkjv)

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." (Col. 2: 6)

"I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me." (John 5: 43)

We have already spoken of how "receiving the Spirit" is by the "hearing of faith." Here is a similar text, but it speaks of receiving Christ. Of course, all who receive Christ receive the Spirit and vise versa. So, if Christ must be received in order to possess or to have him, to be one with him, then regeneration is by faith. Those who say Christ is in a person before that person has received him is simply like a dog chasing his tail.

Christ condemned some who refused to receive him as Lord and Christ, as Savior and Teacher. This shows that both receiving Christ and rejecting Christ are acts of the will. 

Of course, as a Calvinist, I believe that God is the one who works in a person to make him willing. (Psalm 110: 3: Phil. 2: 12-13)

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: 

if any man hear my voice, and open the door, 

I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." 

(Rev. 3: 20)