in christ or the believers union with his lord

8/8/2019 In Christ or the Believers Union With His Lord

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IN CHRISTor ,

THE BELIEVER'S UNIONWITH HIS LORD

byA. J. GORDON

BAKER BOOK HOUSEGrand Rapids, Michigan

1964


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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 64-14563

Reprinted, 1964, byBaker Book House Company

Reprinted from theedition issued in 1872by Gould and Lincoln, Boston

PHOTOLITHOPRINTED BY CUSHING - MALLOY. INC.ANN ARBOR. MlCHIGAN. U NITED STATES OF A M ERICA

1964


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INTRODUCTIONHow great is the privilege of walking withone who has walked with God! To walkand talk with him is to learn, at least, inpart, the secret of his fellowship with theLord.

The life of A. J. Gordon was one "hidwith Christ in God." To read his books an dto sing his hymns is to be saturated withdivine truth, humbled in faith before theSovereign God, opened to the work of theHoly Spirit, conformed more and more tothe likeness of Christ, motivated to spiritualends.

It is most appropriate that seventy-fiveyears after this man gave himself to thefounding of what are now two schools ofJesus Christ and which bear his name,Gordon Co lIege and Gordon Divini tySchool, his description of the mystical un-


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ion between Christ and the believer shouldonce again become available among booksin print.

Perhaps no reader will see the Scripturesexactly as interpreted by the author, butwhat he says will prove provocative an dhelpful. The Word itself, which greets on efrom almost every page, will speak to theready heart an d communicate in living ac-cents the revelation of the Triune God,engraving it upon the fleshly tables of theheart and bringing understanding, life, newvistas and abundant joy an d hope.

Burton L. Goddard


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PREFACE.

InlF this little book should be to any inU reading it, what it .has been to theauthor in writing it, an aid to medita-

tion upon one of the deepest and tenderestthemes of the gospel, it will have served theend of its publication.

It lays no claim to originality in doctr ine,having sought in every line to be in humblesubjection to the word of God, and constantlyto reflect whatever lesser light might fallupon it from the thought and experience ofgood men, since as has been fitly said, "only,with al l saints' can we comprehend what isthe depth and length of that which is pre-sented to us in Jesus Christ."

If subjects have been touched upon whichare still in the list of disputed doctrine, theyhave been brought forward, it is believed, inthe love of the truth as it is in Jesus, and not


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IV PREFACE.in the interest of any sect or party; while tocontroversy, "whose rough voice and unmeekaspect" have perhaps oftener repelled fromthe truth than won to it, no place has beengiven. With the humble prayer that it s pe-rusal may help some to rest in Christ with adeeper assurance, and abide in Him in greaterspiritual fruitfulness, and to wait for his ap-pearing with a more devout watchfulness, thisbook is now committed to the blessing of Godand the use of his Spirit.


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CONTENTS.

PAGSI. IN CHRIST. - INTRODUCTORY. 7II . CRUCIFIXION IN CHRIST 27

I I I . RESURRECTION IN CHRIST 47IV . BAPTISM INTO CHRIST 67V. LIFE IN CHRIST 8g

V I. STANDING IN CHRIST 113VII. PRAYER IN CHRIST. 133VII I . COMMUNION IN CHRIST lS IIX . SANCTIFICATION IN CHRIST 16SX. GLORIFICATION IN CHRIST 183

NOTES 201


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I. INTRODUCTORY.


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rtattb in {)ri$t ~ t $ U $ unto goob1.Uork.a'. Epk. ii, 10.

!lnb 111t art in Il)im tbat i.a' true, enenin bi$ ~ O l t j[t.a'u.a' { ) r i ~ t . I 'Jokn v, 20 .


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I.IN CHRIST.mO words of Scripture, if we excepthose, "God manifest in the flesh,"

hold within themselves a deeper mystery than this simple formula of the Christianlife, " in Christ."

Indeed, God's taking upon Himself humanity, and yet remaining God, is hardly moreinexplicable to human thought than man'sbecoming a part aker of the divine nature,"and yet remaining man. Both are of thosesecret things that belong wholly unto God.Yet, great as is the mystery of these words,they are the key to the whole system of doctrinal mysteries. Like the famous Rosettastone, itself a partial hieroglyph, and therebyfurnishing the long-sought clew to the Egyptian hieroglyphics, these words, by their verymystery, unlock all mysteries of the divinelife, letting us into secrets that were" hidden


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10 IN CHRIST.from ages and from generations." True, wemay not find in them an answer to the ques-tion, "How can these things be?" but weshall see clearly that they can be. Forthrough this "Emmanuel knot of union," asone has quaintly called it, those great facts ofthe Christian life, regeneration, justification,sanctification, and redemption, are drawnup from the realm of the human and theimpossible, and made fast to Him with whom"all things are possible." So that the ques-tion now becomes reversed, and we must ask,"How can it be otherwise i" I f one is inChrist, he must have regeneration; for howcan the Head be alive, and the members dead?I f one is in Christ, he must be justified; forhow can God approve the Head, and condemnthe members? I f one is in Chris t, he musthave sanctif ication; for how can the spot-lessly Holy remain in vital connection withone that is unholy? I f one is in Christ, hemust have redemption; for how can the So nof God be in glory, while that which He hasmade a part of his body lies abandoned inthe grave of eternal death?

And thus, through these two words, we geta profound insight into the divine method of


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IIN CHRIST.

salvation. God does not work upon the soulby itself; bringing to bear upon it, while yetin its alienation and isolation from Him, suchdiscipline as shall gradually render it fit to bereunited to Him. He begins rather by reuniting it to Himself, that through this unionHe may communicate to it that divine lifeand energy, without which all discipline wereutterly futile. Th e method of grace is precisely the reverse of the method of legalism.The latte r is holiness in order to union withGod; the former, union with God in order toholiness. Hence the Incarnation, as thestarting-point and prime condition of reconciliation to God; since there can be, to useHooker's admirable statement, "no union ofGod with man, without that mean betweenboth which is both." And hence the necessity of incorporation upon Christ, that whatbecamepossible through the Incarnation, maybecome actual and experimental in the individual soul through faith.

Nothing is more striking than the breadthof application which this principle of unionwith Christ has in the gospel. Christianityobliterates no natural relationships, destroysno human obligations, makes void no moral


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12 IN CHRIST.or spiritual laws. But it lifts all these up intoa new sphere, and puts upon them this sealand signature of the gospel, in Christ. Sothat while all things continue as they werefrom the beginning, all, by their readjustmentto this divine character and person, becomevirtually new. Life is still of God, but it hasthis new dependency" in Christ." " Of Himare ye in Christ 'Jesus." The obligation tolabor remains unchanged, but a new motiveand a new sanctity are given to it by its rela-tion to Christ. "Forasmuch as ye knowthat your labor is not in vain in the Lord."Th e marriage relation is stamped with thisnew signet, " Only in the Lord." Filial obe-dience is exalted into direct connection withthe Son of God. "Children obey your par-ents in the Lord." Daily life becomes "agood conversation in Christ." Joy and sor-row, triumph and suffering, are all in Christ.Even truth, as though needing a fresh baptism,is viewed henceforth " as it is in 'Jesus."Death remains, bu t it is robbed of its sting andcrowned with a beatitude, because in Christ." Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord."

Thus Christ, in taking man up into Him-self, takes all that belongs to him. Instead


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13N CHRIST.of rending him away from his natural con-nections, He embraces all these with himin Himself, that He may sanctify them all.An d not only is this t rue, but the oppositeand far more wondrous fact, namely, thatChrist, in raising man into union with Him-self, raises him into all that belongs to Him,into his divine life, and into partnership withhis divine work. So that he dies in hisdeath; rises in his resurrection ; ascends inhis ascension; is seated with Him in hissession at the Father's right hand; and livesin his eternal life.

So marked is this latter fact, that it has ledsome to speak of the events of the Christianlife as affording "a striking parallel to thoseof Christ's." But there is no parallel. Par-allels never meet, while the very glory an dmystery of the believer's life is that it is onewith the Saviour's and inseparable from it.I t is not a life running alongside his, andtaking shape and direction from it. I t is hislife reenacted in his followers; the reproduc-tion in them of those events which are im-mortal in energy and limitless in application.

Our Lord's whole earthly career is on econtinuous and living sacrament, of which his


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IN CHRIST.

disciples partake through faith. And if theireyes are not holden, they will discern, in eachgreat event of that life, not only the earnestand symbol of what He works in them, bu tthey will see that only by feeding upon thisBread, can they have any life dwelling inthem. This - the blessed life and work ofour Lord - is his It body given for us ;" a"body of divinity" containing all doctrine,and nourishing with all life; and of everyelement of it - suffering, death, resurrection,and glory-we hear Him saying," Take, eat."

I f we reflect upon the nature of that unioninto which these words which we are cons idering link us, we see that every possible condition and requirement of salvation are me tand answered by it.

I t is a union extending back of time. Wefind it clearly recognized in God's eternalpredestination. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of theworld." "In Him." I t would seem as thoughthis were the focal point where alone thebeams of the Father's electing love met tobless and comfort, while all beyond it wasdarkness and death. So vital is the atonement, that the shadow of the cross is thrown


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15N CHRIST.back into a past eternity, to cover and justifyGod's choice of the sinner; 1 and his verypurpose of grace is wrapped up in JesusChrist.'

I f doubt suggests the query, "How couldthe believer be in Christ when he did not yetexist?" the question can only be answeredby another and deeper, " How could God electand love a soul which He had not yet cre-ated?" Yet that He did, is most explicitlydeclared in Scripture. And what David as-serts of his natural body, not less emphaticallydoes the Son of David assert of his mysticalbody. "Thine eyes did see my substanceyet being imperfect, and in thy book al l mymembers were written, which in continuancewere fashioned, when as ye t there was none ofthem." Is there aught more painful than thesearchings of the soul in the book of God'sforeknowledge? its irrepressible longings toknow if it be written there? If it goes alonein its solemn quest it will find no answer.But joining itself to Him who "was in thebeginning with God," it hears Him saying,"Thou lovest me before the foundation ofthe world," and reverently appropriating the

1 Rev. xiii, 8. 22 Tim. i, 9.


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16 IN CHRIST.words in the secret right of faith, it joyfu llyresponds, "Herein is our love made perfect;because as He is so are we in this world."The Father's eterna l love for the Son, is thepledge and certificate of his eternal love andelection of those who join themselves to thatSon.

But if this union runs back of time, it isnot less really in time a practical and presentreality; practical and present, because eternal.For what is faith, but the suffrage of th e soulwhich ratifies and appropriates that electionof God which was made before creation?Very literally is it

.. An affirmation and an actThat bids eternal truth be present fact."

That which is given only in the divine intentand foreordination, is not ours till we con-sciously and believingly accept it. " Faithcometh by hearing," and possession by faith.God's choice of us lays hold of us only throughour choice of Him. And it is when the soul,waking up to the fact of its sad alienationfrom its Maker, and uttering its earnest " Iwill arise and go unto my Father," joins itselfto that Father by a trusting faith, that theFather, who in the Christ of eternity saw


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17N CHRIST.him "when he was yet a great way off," andin the Christ of time crucified and slain cameout to meet him, becomes completely reconciled to him,

The first link of religion (religo, to bindback) is the Incarnation, God in Chn'st. Thelast is Faith, the soul in Christ. And whenthe last has been joined to the first, the chainis perfect. "I in them, and thou Father inme, that they may be made perfect in one."

Again, the union of the believer with hisLord is a reciprocal union. II Ye in me, and Iin you." Through it Christ both gives andtakes, - gives the Father's life and blessedness, and takes the believer's death andwretchedness. "All that Christ has," saysLuther, "now becomes the property of thebelieving soul; all that the soul has, becomesthe property of Christ. Christ possessesevery blessing and eternal salvation; theyare henceforth the property of the soul. Thesoul possesses every vice and sin; they become henceforth the property of Christ."

In this is most wonderfully displayed thewisdom of the plan of redemption. Who thathas pondered the nature of sin, and thoughthow radical, how ingrained, how thoroughly

z


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18 IN CHRIST.a part of one's self it is, has not almostdoubted whether it could ever be taken away,it s evil principle exterminated, and th e soulcompletely disinfected of its tain t? But whenwe remember that Christ by his Cross dealsnot only with sin, but with the nature in whichall its roots are imbedded, the way is plain jand we see with gratitude how the" body ofsin," that body which holds the germinant andfertile principle of evil, may be destroyed,and yet the sinner saved.

And who, on the other hand, that has contemplated the nature of that" holiness without which no man shall see the Lord," andrealized that it is no mere external morality,no garment of righteousness to be assumedand worn as the covering of a yet unsancti-fled nature j but a divine life penetrating, possessing, and informing the soul, has not askeddespairingly, " How then can I, a sinner, hopeto be holy?" But the gospel answer is allin those three words, " I in you." He whois the All-righteous, "is made unto us righteousness." So that to the soul that thirstsafter righteousness, it need no longer be said,"The well is deep, and thou hast nothingwith which to draw." He is within it, "a


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INCHHIST.

well of water springing up into everlastinglife."

Thus in Christ the twofold want of thesoul is met. It is emptied of self, and it isfilled with his fullness" who filleth all in all."

Can anything be so blessed for the believerto realize, as this gracious interchange of life,and character, and works, between himselfand his Lord? Oh, wondrous mystery! Christbecame the" Son of man," that we might be-come the "sons of God." He took uponHimself our human nature, that we might bemade" partakers of the divine nature." Hewas made sin for us, that we might be madethe" righteousness of God in Him."

And not less obviously do the terms of thisunion suggest its indissolubleness. I f joinedto the Lord by a mere external bond only, thebeliever might well live in fear of being rentfrom Him by the strain of fierce temptation.But so transcendently intimate is this relation,that the Holy Spirit even uses Christ and theChurch as interchangeable terms in the Scrip-tures. Now it is the human body that shad-ows forth the divine mystery. "As the bodyis one and hath many members, and all themembers of that one body, being many, are


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20 IN CHRIST.one body; so also is Christ." 1 "Now ye arethe body of Chris t and members in particu-lar." And will Christ permit this body to bedismem bered ? He can suffer in his mem-bers ; 2 but Faith would feel herself robbed ofall her heritage of assurance, were it any-where written, He can be cut off or perish inhis members. Wounds and mutilations therewill be ; for, in Rutherford's strong phrase,"The dragon will strike at Christ so long asthere is one bit or portion of his mystica lbody out of heaven." But love cannot cher-ish the fear that He will heal the hurts of hispeople slightly, much less sunder them fromHim by an eternal excision. For" No manever ye t hated his own body, bu t nounshethand cherisheth it, even as the Lord theChurch; for we are members of his body, ofhis flesh, and of his bones." 3

How clearly now this relation which webear to the Lord Jesus fixes two things, theChristian experience and the Christian walk,or the inner and outer life of the believer.

Christian experience is the making real inourselves, of what is already true for us inChrist.!

1 Note A. 8 Eph. v. 29, 30.3 Acts xxii. 7. t Note B.


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IN CHRIST. 21" I am the vine, ye are the branches," says

Christ. But the vine furnishes the branchesnot only with the principle of life, but withthe type of life. No pressure or mouldingfrom without is needed to shape them to thepattern of the parent stock. Every minutestpeculiarity of form, and color, and taste, andfragrance, is determined by the root, andevolved from it. A true believer, therefore,will ask no better thing of the Lord, than"that the life also of Jesus may be mademanifest in his body." For such a manifes-tation will, by a necessary law, be the unfold-ing within him of every ~ e e d e d element ofjoy and sorrow, of suffering and triumph.

It is not in any conventional standard offrame and feelings, that the disciple is to findthe measure of attainment required of him.I t is not by any painful reproducing ofanother's spiritual history that he is to ac-quire the true comfort of spi rit which he longsfor. Outward imitation, though it be of thePerfect Example himself, has little place inthe order of spiritual growth ; little placebecause little possibility. "Without me," i. e.,apart from me, in separation from me, " ye cando nothing." To abide in Christ is the only


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22 IN CHRIST.secret of Christlikeness; for only thus is at-tained the likeness of unity, which is perfectand enduring, instead of the likeness of con-formity, which is only partial and transient.

How we misplace our experiences whenwe attempt, as mere copyists, to reproduce ourMaster's life within us, We put joy wherethe divine order would dictate sorrow, andnurse our sorrow, when the Lord would haveus rejoice in Him. We reach after th e un-seasonable fruits of victory, when it is moreneedful as yet that we should endure the dis-cipline of defeat, that so divine str eng th maybe made perfect in our weakness. Our leafwithers in sere and yellow melancholy, whenHe would have it green and flourishing.What we would, that we continually do not,because we lack a true and steadfast hold onstrength. Blessed is he, who, instead of seek-ing to atta in the likeness of Chris t as some-thing only without him, realizes that he hasbeen planted in that likeness. " He shall belike a tree planted by the rivers of water,that bn'ngeth forth his fruit in his season ; hisleaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever hedoeth shallprosper."

Never shall we attain a truly joyful Chris-


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23N CHRIST.tian experience, therefore, till we learn thatholy living is neither the realization of someideal self, nor the imitation of some real saint." For me to live is Christ." Christian prog-ress is a growing towards Christ, by growingfrom Him. And the Scripture exhortationsto high attainment in the divine life seem tobe based on this order. Th e believer is tohave "the mind of Christ" within him, the" spirit of Christ" animating him. His devel-opment is a "growing up into Him in allthings who is the Head, even Christ." Th elimit and boundary of his atta inment is "theperfect man," "the measure of the stature ofthe fullness of Christ." Well may the discipleset the Lord always before him as the idealof perfect attainment, if only he can have Himthus always within him, as the source andprinciple of daily growth.

We have said that our relation to Christdetermines also our Chris tian walk. This isobvious.

A true Christ ian walk is a reproducing inour lives of the righteousness which is a lreadyours in Christ.

Joined to the Lord by faith, we become"partakers of his holiness." But not that


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IN CHRIST.

thereby we may be exempted from th e neces-sity of personal holiness. I t is rather thatsuch persona l holiness may have a new andhigher obligation, since it has a new possibil-ity. Th e double purpose of our union toChrist must never for a moment be forgot-ten, nor its heavenward and earthward as-pects for an instant separated in our appre-hension. I t is in order that we may be asHe is in the reckoning of God, and equallythat we may be as He is before the eyes ofmen. " No condemnat ion to them that are inChrist Jesus," is one phase of this blessedtruth . But, 0 believer, forget not the other,lest you bring upon yourself the curse of adry and barren Antinomianism: "created inChrist Jesus unto good works, which Godhath before ordained that we should walk inthem." 1 Th e branches are the product andthe measure of the roots, the one spread-ing as widely as the other strikes deeply.An d how solemn the obligation resting uponthose who are truly rooted in Christ, to reachforth their branches and cover that area ofgood works which they have underlaid, and,so to speak, preempted by their faith. Our

1 Eph. ii, 10 .


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IN CHRIST.

privileges in Jesus are glorious beyond com-parison. But they are awful when we re-member that they are the pledge and meas-ure of our obligations. Never before on earthor perhaps in heaven was one exalted to utterso great a word as this, I in Christ. Yet ifwe know its meaning, we shall pause lest wespeak it lightly or unadvisedly. "For hethat saith he abideth in Him, ought himselfalso so to walk, even as He walked." 1

Such are some of the germs of doctrine andlife which are hidden for us in these words,and which it will be our purpose to unfold inthe succeeding chapters.

I f now we apprehend either the privilegesor the duties into which this union brings us,we shall no t be willing to regard it as a merenominal thing, or to hold it as a cold doctrinalabstraction.

Nothing could be more real and more vitalthan this relationship.

We may speak of being regarded as inHim, and so having reckoned to us the ben-efits of this atonement. We may speak ofbeing clothed with his righteousness, and sohaving his worthiness imputed to us. But

1 I John ii. 6.


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26 IN CHRIST.true as these expressions are, they do notreach the inwardness of meaning contained inthe words, n Christ, or furnish an adequatestatement of that deep interior fellowship intowhich God has called us in his Son.!

Truly that must be a most intimate bondwhich, beginning in Chr ist and encircling thedisciple with its triple cords of faith, hope, andcharity, ends again in Christ. If From whom"and If into whom," are the words that mark atonce its origin and end, even that one Headwho is the" Alpha and Omega, the Beginningand the End, the First and the Last."

If Here at length I beheld," says one, "thetwofold mystery of love, that the Bride is bothof Christ and n Christ. F or as God tookEve from out the side of Adam, that shemight be joined to him again in marriage,even so He frameth his Church out of the veryflesh, the very wounded and bleeding side ofthe Son of man, that so in the sweet espou-sals of faith, he might 'present her as achaste virgin to Christ.' 2 'And they twoshall be one flesh. This is a great mystery,but 1. speak concerning Christ and theChurch.''' 3

1 I Cor. 1.8. 2 2 Cor. xi. 2. 8 Eph. V. 32 ,


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II. CRUCIFIXION IN CHRIST.


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: l Am crudfieb tuitb q r i ~ t : ntbtr:>lt { ) d t ~ ~ Ime; ptt not :J[, but ~ b r i ~ t libttb in me. Gal. ii , 20 .

JlnOl1.ling t b i ~ , tbat our olb man i crucifitb witb ~ i m , tbat tbt bobp of ~ i mig{)t be bt$troptb, tbat bmcdortb we~ b o u l b not ~ t r b e ~ i n . Rom. vi. 6.

~ l 1 b tl)ep tbat art ~ r i ~ t ' ~ babecrucifieb the fle$b bJitl) tbe a t t e ( t i o n ~ anbI U ~ l ' t 9 ' . Gal. v. 24-

+


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II.CRUCIFIXION IN CHRIST.nT is one of the great principlesM of Christianity," says Pascal, "that

everything which happened to JesusChrist should come to pass in the soul andin the body of each Christian."

I f by faith I am one with my Redeemerthen, that term, "Christ crucified," involvesanother, "I , crucified with Christ." Hencewe by no means reach the true measure ofour inheritance in the Cross, when we regardthe death of Christ as a formal transaction,by which One, eighteen hundred years ago,paid a debt that belonged to us, and thussecured our release from its obligation, wehaving no other connection with the eventthan that of recipients of its blessings. Paulsaw a richer heritage for the saints than this.For with that key, i1t Chn'st, which opens forthe believer all the wards of Christian doc-


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IN CHRIST.3trine and life, he lets us into" tke fellowshipof his sufferings."

The great thought which filled his mindwas his oneness with his Lord - a onenessnot only of the present and the future, butequally of the past. And so he utters thosegrand but awful words, " I have been crucifiedwith Christ,." 1 in which he carries himselfback to the cross, and conceives of himselfas so identified with the Redeemer, that hewas with -Him in his passion and obedienceunto death, sharing, by a mysterious fellowship, not only the virtue bu t the enduranceof the divine penalty.

And what was true for him is true for allwho have come into that condition expressedby the words, "in Christ yesus."That the crucifixion took place centuriesago, does not separate us from it at all.While as a historical event we assign i t to aspecific time and place, as a moral event itbelongs to all time, and is just as near to usas it was to John or the Marys. "God manifested in the flesh," says Coleridge, "is eternity in the form of time." Christ crucified isan eternal fact realized at a cer tain date, but

1 Note C.


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IN CHRIST. 31touching all time with equal closeness. Heis "the Lamb slain from the foundation of theworld." In the eye of the I am, to whom alltime is an ever present now, this central factof the ages, the crucifixion, is an ever presentreality, and all souls that stand in moral relationship to it, stand so and have stood soforever. Hence it can matter little to have"known Christ after the flesh." Spiritualunion is entirely independent of all conditions of time and space. And in depth ofintimacy there can be no difference betweenthe believer of to-day and those who knewour Lord on earth, since "by one Spirit weare all baptized into one body," 1 and thereforeinto one deatk, since "as many of us as werebaptized into Chris t were baptized into hisdeath." 2

How deeply, through the kindredship of theflesh, one could share Christ's crucifixion, weknow. That the mother, watching beneaththe cross the agonies of her suffering Son,endured in her own heart all the sharpness ofhis death; that as the soldiers thrust the spearinto his side, she knew in her own experiencethe bitter meaning of the aged Simeon's

1 1 Cor. xii, 13. 2 Rom. vi. 3.


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32 IN CHRIST.prophecy, " Yea, a sword shall pierce throughthy own soul also," we can easily believe.But since we have learned how nearer akinChrist now is to allhis brethren by the Spirit,shall there seem to be anything less real inthe words of one who, by faith, clasped to hisheart the same cross of redemption, saying,"I am crucified with Christ" ?

Th e mystery of that fellowship by whichwe become sharers in Christ's death, we maynot presume to fathom. And ye t it seemsclear how it must grow out of the terms ofthe incarnation, Christ, in becoming man,took our humanity into partnership in hissacrificial work. Hence, his death is notsomething merely made over to mankind as alegacy of love; it is something accruing tothem in this partnership of being.' But assurely as He must be one with us by incar-nation in order to give us part in his dying,so surely must we be one with Him by faith,that we may take part in his dying.

There is an inner and an outer circle ofredemption, if we may say so, both having acommon centre in the cross, The larger de-scribes th e limits of a possible and provisionalsalvation; the smaller those of an actual and

1 Note D.


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33N CHRIST.realized salvation. The whole world is com-prehended in the one j only those who be-lieve are included in the other: "God whois the Saviour of al l men, especially of thosewho believe." 1 The relation which those inthe outer circle hold to Christ is that of mem-bers of the human race to its second Head.The relation which those in the inner circlehold to Him is that of members of the bodyof Christ to the Head of the Church. Thefirst relation renders Christ's redemptionprovisionally the redemption of every indi-vidual of the race; the second renders it ac-tually such to every true believer. So thatwhen the Apostle says, " I f one died for all,thm al l died," 2 we understand his meaning tobe that all mankind died potentially in theirrepresentative. Such is the blessed provis-ion and stipulation, if we may say so, of theatonement. But while He who could set nolimits to his love, " tasted death for every man,"alas! how many refuse to taste his death, andthrough faith owning themselves one withHim, to taste their own death to sin in his!

As clearly now as we are forbidden by theScriptures to extend the possibility of a vital

1 I Tim. iv. 10. 2 Z Cor. v. 14 ' .3


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34 IN CHRIST.and saving union to Christ beyond the bound-aries of this inner circle of redemption, soclearly should our faith in the reality of theChristian's oneness with his Lord forbid usto admit such words as "nominal" and .. judicial" within the limits of this inner circle.Here we are beyond all1egal fictions. "Weare in Him that is true." An d as fully as webelieve that his death was real, and no vainproffer, so must we believe that our death inHim was real, since we are members of hisbody. The cross deals not with our sins apartfrom ourselves. I t permits us not to lay ourtransgressions upon the Divine victim, andyet stand ourselves afar off, and without personal communion with his sufferings. In thetypical sacrifice, the hands of the offerer werelaid upon the head of the offering, and thuswas declared the identity of the offerer andthe offering. In the antitype, faith lays itshand upon the head of the Lamb of God, notsimply that it may thereby transfer guilt tothe guilt-bearer, bu t that it may join in :;;01-emn unity of suffering, the sinner and thesin-offering. Thus the judgment of the crossis intensely personal. Not sin only, but nature i not nature only, but personality is there


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35N CHRIST.brought to trial. "Knowing this, that ourold man was crucified with Him." 1 The nailthat pierced the handwriting of ordinancesthat was against us to blot it out, wentdeeper, and transfixed also the subjects ofthose ordinances to inflict on them the penalty it prescribed. And now henceforth webehold Christ and his Church scarred withthe same wounds. And they who once couldonly ask of the Redeemer, "What are thesewounds in thy hands?" can now answer theirquestion by showing their own hands andsaying, " I bear in my body the marks of theLord Jesus,"

While now some reject this heritage of thecross by their denial of Christ , many also bydenying Adam's sin deny Christ's death,and thrust it from them! The bitterest repining which the human heart has everknown has been against that utte rance ofthe Spirit, "By one man's disobedience manywere made sinners," 2 But may it not bethat that solemn law which makes the fall ofone involve the fall of many, is the only lawwhich could make the rising of one to be therising of many? A common nature ruined

1 Rom. vi. 6.- 2 Rom. v. [9.


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IN CHRISTwould seem even by its overshadowing curseto proclaim the possibility of a common nature redeemed. Who knows whether, if mencould only have sinned and fallen as separateunits, they must not have been restored by separate redemptions? We will not speculateon such a theme. Rather will we joyfully return to what God has revealed, that as in thesin of one" all sinned," 1 so in the penal deathof one "all died." 2 All died! Wonderfulwords! Christ's death does not supersedeours. I t implies and recognizes it, as, in thecivil compact, the vote of the representativeimplies the vote of the people. What Christdidfor us, was done by us in the divine reckoning, because done by Him who was of usas Head and Surety," We say Chris t diedthat we might live. In a deeper sense it istrue that He died that we might die; mightdie a death painless to ourselves bu t satisfying to the law - a death of such intensityand merit that it should expiate at once thepenalty of our sins, instead of requiring aneternity of woe. 0, blessed privilege! "Yeoshall indeed drink of my cup," is a promiserealized unto us as well as unto the two disci

) Rom. v, 12 . 2 2 Cor. v, 14- 8 Note E.


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37N CHRIST.ples. But it is only a cup of blessing to us.He drank the vinegar and gall of pain andagony. He leaves us only the precious wineof consolation. And thus we enter into communion with his sufferings, and become partakers of his death. " If one died for all, thenall died." But how differently the One fromthe all! He bore the pain of death; theybear only the merit of it. He gives infiniteworthiness to the act by his div inity ; theyreceive the purchase of the act in their hu-manity. And yet nothing is deducted fromthe full assurance that they have died. Such" is the personal initiation into the mysteryof sacrifice" which we receive through faith.

We see at once where this blessed factplaces us - even in perfect reconciliation toa violated law. God has said, "The soul thatsinneth, it shall die." The soul has sinned,and it has died in Christ. The law has said,"Cursed is everyone that continueth not inall things which are written in the book ofthe law to do them." None have continuedin obedience. But Christ hath been " madea curse for us ;" for it is written, "Cursed iseveryone that hangeth on a tree." Hence,crucified with Christ, we have been accursed


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IN CHRIST.in Him. Not one jo t or tittle has thenpassed away from the law, but all has beenfulfilled.'

How affecting this perfect literalness, thisrigid honesty, if we may call it so, in the dealings of our Surety with the law! And withwhat triumphant assurance it enables us totake up and repeat that verdict of ou r acquittal from condemnation, "He that hathdied hath been justifiedfrom sin." 2

But, alas! how slow is our faith to enterinto the fullness of this gospel! As thatdeep hunger for expiation which the sense ofsin begets, begins to gnaw the soul, manyseek to appease it by mere self-crucifixion.I f not with the scourge and sackcloth of theascetic, yet with the vinegar and gall of sharpremorse; with the compunctions of a bleed-ing and unhealed heart, striving to satisfythat law, which, from the soul of man as well asfrom the statute-book of God, proclaims thatwithout the shedding of blood there is no remISSIOn. Nothing is more painful to beholdthan this search for the cross, which endsonly in a wounded self; in a conscience thatis laying on itself the chastisement of its

1 Note F. 2 Rom. vi. 7.


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39N CHRIST.peace, and in a broken spirit that is strivingto heal i tself with its own stripes. The gospelneither demands nor will take any such offering from the sinner. Reversing that wellknown sentiment of legalism, its emphaticdeclaration i s , -

" Th e cross in thine own heart will never save thy soul,The cross on Golgotha alone can make thee whole."

Here, as everywhere, the Master's wordsmeet us, to call us away from all self-help."Without me ye can do nothing." As highas the heaven is above the earth, so faris the distance from the self-crucifixion tocrucifixion in Christ.I To pass from the oneto the other requires but a single trustinglook of faith. But it is to cross" the wholediameter of being" between the spotlessLamb of God and the guilty children of men.That there is a sacrificing of self that is in

1 How vivid a reflection of his own experience do wefind in Luther's pithy comment on these words: .. I amcrucified with Chris t." .. Paul speake th not here of crucifying by imitation or example; but he speaketh of that highcrucifying whereby sin, the devil, and death, are crucifiedin Chri st and not in me. Here Chris t Je sus do th all Him-self alone. But believing in Christ, I am by faith crucifiedalso with Christ; so that all these things are crucified anddead with me." - Commentary on Galatians.


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40 IN CHRIST.separable from the gospel idea of discipleshipis unquestionable. But it is not that whichis wrought for obtaining peace with God, butthat which grows out of a peace already obtained in the crucified Christ. The wholecourse of the divine life is from Christ to self,and not from self to Christ. To begin an expiation in one's own sufferings, hoping that itmay end in fellowship and union with Christ'ssufferings, is not only to transpose, but completely to vitiate the order of grace. Thereis nothing of ours, soul, body, or spirit, that iswithout blemish. And when we understandthat our very tears need themselves to bewashed in the blood of the Redeemer, andour very penitence to be sanctified in his exceeding sorrow, we shall gladly turn whollyto the perfect offering. An d so from that reliance on penance and mortification, which,however sincere, is an obtrusion of self intothat realm of sacrifice which Christ alone canfill; and from that searching in a bruised andexcruciated conscience for peace, which, however honest, is but an attempt to discover inself that sin-offering which can only be foundin the bleeding Lamb of God, how grateful lywe turn to Christ crucified as our only true


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41N CHRIST.resting place for comfort! "Let me knowthat I have repented enough and sufferedenough," is the voice of a faith that is still inbondage to law. The voice of a faith that isfree is, "Let me hear that Christ died in thestead of sinners, of whom I am chief ; thatHe was forsaken of God, during these fearfulagonies, because He had taken my place;tltat on Itis crossI paid the penalty of my guilt.Le t me hear too that his blood cleanseth fromall sin, and that I may now appear before thebar of God, not only pardoned, but innocent.Let me realize the great mystery of the recip-rocal substitution of Christ and the believer,or rather their perfect unity, He in them andthey in Him, which He has expressly taught;and let me believe that I was in effect cruci-fied on Calvary, and He will in effect standbefore the throne in my person; his the pen-alty, mine the sin; his the shame, mine theglory; his the thorns, mine the crown i histhe merit, mine the reward. Verily, thoushalt answer for me, 0 Lord, my Redeemer.In Thee do I put my trust, let me never beconfounded." 1

Do we ask then what our death in Christ1 Bishop Le Jeune,


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42 IN CHRIST.has accomplished for us ? What has i t no taccomplished? Like the flaming swordwhich drove man out of Paradise, and whichturned every way, to keep the tree of life, thisweapon of redemption with which the Captainof our salvation opened the kingdom of heavento all believers, presents a destroying edge toevery foe that stands across our track.

Th e world, whose friendship has been ourdeepest enmi ty to God, because drawing ourbest affections and diverting our truest lifefrom Him, is at last overcome. The cross hassundered us from its enslaving bondage. "Bywhom the world is crucified unto me, and Iunto the world." Allure us for a season itmay; draw us to its pleasures it sometimeswill. But from the moment we know our-selves dead with Christ, its tyranny is broken." How shall we who died to sin, live any longertherein'!" 1 To go back to the world fromwhich we have thus been separated, we mustdespise the cross of our redemption, tramp-ling on the blood of the covenant wherewithwe are sanctified, and compelling our Masterto retrace the Via Dolorosa of his agony, thatwe may crucify Him afresh, and put Him toan open shame.

1 Rom. vi. 2 .-


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43N CHl\IST.Thejlesh, warring against the Spirit, violat

ing every truce with conscience, breakingevery covenant which we have made withGod - behold, this enemy from whom wecannot flee, has yet received his death wound.Christ put a nail through him when He gavehis own body to the smiters. "And they thatare Christ's have crucified the flesh with theaffections and lusts." Wounded unto death,yet struggling for his lost dominion, we shallnever be wholly quit of him, till the gravecloses over him, But in God's reckoning weare even now delivered. " Ye are not in theflesh but in the Spirit." Upon our naturaland guilt-attainted man, justice has executedhis death-warrant, and is satisfied, In wordstraced by the infallible spi rit of truth, we havethe record of his decease: "Ye died, andyour life is hid with Christ in God." 1

When the Judge calls for us now as He didof old for Adam, saying, "Where art thou?"He will no longer seek the living among thedead. Our life, the life of which He nowtakes cognizance, is hid in Christ. In Himwill He find it, and not in the charnel-houseof our dead man. What are these evil habits

I Col. iii. 3. -


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44 IN CHRIST.that are still clinging about us, but the relicsof that old and crucified nature! What arethese sins that pai n us and make us cry outwith sorrow, but the motions and death throesof that body that has been doomed by th e decree of the cross! Confess them sorrowfullyand with shame we must; but we may triumphantly own that H they belong to th e oldman, and we are carrying them to the graveto be buried with their owner." Even Satan,the head and instigator of all other enemies,has been disarmed and doomed. Chr ist tookon flesh that He might destroy him that hadthe power of death, that is, the devil, andH deliver them who, through fear of death,were all their life-time subject to bondage."

Rejoice, then, 0 saint, in your rescue from"the Terrible Captain and his standard-bearer." On Calvary, Chris t triumphed overdeath by becoming the victim of death. Thateternal terror that was once before you, He byhis cross has put forever behind you. I t cannot cast one threatening shadow across yourpathway now. I t cannot wring one pang offoreboding agony from your soul. Deathstung itself to death, when it stung Christ." 1

1 Romaine.


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45N CHRIST.Recognizing now the realness of this union

with Christ in his death, and the fullness ofblessing that grows therefrom, it only remainsfor the believer to make the truth real to hisown experience. Beholding how God has setChrist's death to our account, through ourpartnership with Him, set it also yourself toyour account and take possession of the richesof grace and mercy which are thus madeyours. II In that He died, He died unto sinonce. . . . Likewise reckon ye also yourselvesto be dead indeed unto sin,"

We will by no means say that this reckoning will be painless. Adam's nature dieshard within us; and before we can own thejustice of its sentence, or acquiesce in it s condemnation, there will doubtless be wroughtwithin us, by the Holy Spirit, some bitter experimental fellowship with Christ's sufferings.Our sins will find us out, and the death thatis by sin. We shall feel the terrible dealingof our Judge with our consciences. Therewill be strong crying and tears; perhaps thedarkness of desertion, the rending of therocky heart, and the sense of deserved wrathpiercing the soul as with a two-edged sword.It may be long before we can yield up the


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IN CHRIST.ghost of the natural man and renounce alltrust in him forever. But once enabled to ac-count ourselves dead in Him, what a deliver-ance is ours!

Standing by the cross now, we discern inthe gloom and power of darkness that gatherround it, that "outer darkness" which hadbeen ours forever out of Christ. In thatplaintive" Eloi, Eloi," we hear what had beenour cry of despair unanswered forever, exceptwe had been found in Him. In that dread-ful rending cry which delivers up the spirit,we own the due reward of our deeds, whileconfessing that this man hath done nothingamiss. But now all these things are passedforever both for Hi m and for us, as soon asthe " It is finished" has been spoken. An dlo! the foregleams of the resurrec tion breakupon us. The light of a certain and triumph-ant hope enters our heart. Rememberingthat we are joined to Him who said, "I laydown my life that I may take it again," wecease from tears and follow Him, saying aswe has ten onward, " Now if we be dead withHim, we believe that we shall also live withHim."


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III. RESURRECTION INCHRIST.


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~ pe tbcn be nseu \tIitl) b r i ~ t t ~ C t k t b o ~ e t b i n l l ~ 1tlbicb are abobet l1lberc b r i ~ t ~ i t t ( t b on tbe rillbt baltb of ~ o b .

Col. iii. I .

~ b \tIbo i ricb in mmpt for b i llrtat lobe \tIbere\tlitb ,e lobeb us, eben\tIbet1 \tie were brab in ~ i n ~ t batb quick;:rnrb u tOllctber \tIitb b r i ~ t ; (bp gracepe are ~ a b r b ; ) allb batb r a i ~ t b u UJtogetbert anb maae U ~ i tOllrtber inbmbettlp p l a c e ~ t in b r i ~ ~ e ~ u ~ . Eph. ii . 4-6.

~ l t b pOUt brinll bcab in pour ~ i n ~ altbtl)e unemumnstcn of pour ftr$bt batbI!}e quicket1tb tOllctljer \tIitb I}imt b a b ~ illa forgibcn pou aU t r c ~ p a ~ ~ r ~ .

Col. ii . 13.


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III.RESURRECTION IN CHRIST.DIONE with Christ in his dying. we mustbe one with Him also in his resur

- rection, For the bands of this mystic union are not dissolved or weakened whilethe Saviour lies in the tomb. Joined to hispeople, that He might carry them with Himthrough the pains and penalties of death, Henow in the same gracious partnership of being brings them up again from the dead.And so "He spreads the mighty miracle ofhis own regeneration from the dead, alongthe whole line of-history. He repeats it inevery true believer. The Church's is an everlasting Easter." 1

There is doubtless the same theoreticaldifficulty i conceiving of the believer as having been raised in Christ's resurrection, asthere is in conceiving of Him as having died

1 Archer Butler.


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50 IN CHRIST.in his crucifixion. And hence, as some readthat very striking and explicit word of theSpirit, " I f then ye were raised together withChrist," 1 they find it much easier to remandthe expression to the realm of metaphor, thanto accept it literally and without condition.

But we are to remember that the resurrec-tion is not merely a historical fact, the trans-cendent miracle and mystery of the apos-tolic age. Certainly it is all that . But it ismore. I t is a moral event, a principle ofspiri tual energy, as well as a fact of humanhistory. While to those therefore who seeChrist only from the outer court of knowl-edge, and whose faith ends in the bare beliefthat "He died and rose again according tothe Scriptures," the mystery may remain:to those who press into the inner sanctuaryof fellowship, praying that they may "knowHim and the power of his resurrection," itwill be more and more laid open to them asthey advance. What the power of Christ'sresurrection is, we may infer from the close-ness of its relation in the gospel to spiritualrenewal and justification, as well as to phys-ical reanimation.

1 Col. iii. I . -


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51N CHRIST.It is a judicial power, and it is a regenera-

tive power. The first only as crowning andsealing the judgment of the cross, so thatwhereas Christ's death was our justificationprocured, his rising was our justif ication jus-tified. And the second only as related to theSpiri t, so that while it is the Holy Ghost thatrenews, it is clearly only from the risenChrist that the soul derives its life in renewaL" Because [ live, ye shall live also."

Le t us trace these two thoughts into thei rdetails. How clearly our resurrection islinked with Christ's, for the assurance of par-don, in this passage: "And you, being deadin your sins and the un circumcision of yourflesh, hath He quickened together with Him,having forgiven you al l trespasses." 1 Thatforgiveness was fully accomplished when Hehad pronounced the "It is finished" on thecross. For then had He blotted out thedark score of disobedience that was againstus, having nailed it to the cross. And thisverily was decisive and final, "a nail fastenedin a sure place." But the pardon thus writ-ten in his blood waited to be sealed and at-tested by his resurrection. For though He

1 Col. ii. 13.


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IN CHRIST.had spoiled principalities and powers by hisdeath, only by bursting the bars of the gravecould H e" make a show of them, openly tri-umphing over them in Himself."

And so, while in the blood of the dyingChrist we see the title of our pardon, we waitfor a luminous glance from the risen Christto bring it out into full distinctness and sig-nificance. An inheritance may be ours andyet not ours ; ours in effect, because the deedof it has been executed; but not ours tocertain knowledge and apprehension, sincewe have not received it. The heritage ofpeace which became ours by the death of theTestator, faith cannot take while He lies inthe grave. We must see our Eliakim, whoopeneth and no man shutteth, returning fromthe tomb with the key of the House of Davidlaid upon his shoulder.' before we can enterwith Him into our purchased possession.So vital is this to our assurance of faith, thatPaul says, " I f Christ be not raised, yourfaith is vain, ye are ye t in your sins." 2 Yedied with Christ, ye in Him and He in yoursins that were upon Him; ye were buriedwith Christ, ye in Him still, and He in your

1 Isaiah xxii. 22 . g 1 Cor. xv. 17 .


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IN CHRIST. S3sins still. If He lies yet in that dark un-opened grave, ye lie there yet, in your sins,because in Him who went down into the tombwith those sins upon Him. Faith cannotplace the disciple above his Master. I t canonly make him to be as his Master, a sharerin his condition, a partner in his destiny.Now while our Lord's sufferings in the fleshwere completed when He yielded up theghost, He was not disentangled from ourguilt so long as He lay in the tomb. Howthen shall our faith outrun Him, and reachthe vantage ground of the resurrection, whilethe grave still holds Him in its g rim impris-onment ? How shall we break the bands ofcondemnation and cast away its cords fromus, if it be possible for Him to be "holden ofdeath?" And yet He is so holden, if a sin-gle item of the debt of sin is left uncanceled." The wages of sin is death; " and that wagesmust be paid to the full. "Thou shalt by nomeans come out thence till thou hast paidthe uttermost farthing," says an inexorablelaw; and if He is holden, we are holden withHim, because of that faith that has linked usinto indissoluble partnership with his destiny.Such is the certain inference from that drearyhypothesis, ., I f Christ be not raised."


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54 IN CHRIST... But now is Christ risen from the dead."

And since we are risen with Him, we are notin our sins. In his renewal from the dead,we were lifted forever from their dark enfolding condemnation. They cannot bind a single fetter on us now ; they cannot remand usfor a single instant to the prison-house ofdespair. Because .. the God of peace hasbrought again from the dead our Lord JesusChrist, that great Shepherd of the sheep," allthe flock folded in Him by faith, ar e safe... They shall never perish, neither shall anyman pluck them out of his hands."

That the remains of sin are still clingingto us, we are only too painfully conscious.Not like the sinless Lord have we pu t off allthe cerements of our body of death. Walking with Him in the same resurrection, weare as yet like Lazarus bound hand and footwith the grave-clothes - the habits of sinthat still cling to us, the power of evil thatenthralls us; and we wait in eager expectancy the last resurrection word that shallsay, .. Loose him, and let him go." But notthe less truly are we alive with Christ fromthe dead, and death, the penalty of sin, canhave no more dominion over us.


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55N CHRIST.This truth is most strikingly told again in

those words of the Apostle, " Who was deliv-ered for our offenses, and raised again for ourjustification," -literally, "delivered becauseofour offenses, and raised becauseof our justifi-cation." 1 So enwrapped was He in our sinsthat were upon Him, that he could not escapefrom death. But when the justification ofus who are in Him had been accomplished,He could not be detained by death. And sobecause our justification was completed, Hewas raised again. What an affecting empha-sis is here again laid upon the doctrine of ourLord's union with his people! Their causeis so thoroughly his own that He cannot out-strip them a single step in the path of re-demption. Opener of the prison doors tothem that are bound, He yet waits till thelast demand of justice has been satisfied, be-fore He comes through the gate of the graveto lead them out. The members must bewith their Head. They are his fullness, andwithout them He cannot be made perfect.He waits till the weary hours of their prisonservice are completed in their Surety. Hecannot accept deliverance while they are un-

1 Note G.


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IN CHRIST.der condemnation. But when the full acquittal has been secured, the glorious prom-ise is fulfilled, " The: third day I shall be per-fected." Aye, thou mighty Captain of ourSalvation, thou first Begotten from the dead,because thou wilt then have "peifected for-ever them that are sanctified."

I am aware of a certain holy jealousy forthe honor of the cross, that restrains somefrom ascribing justifying efficacy to th e resurrection of Christ. But let it be markedthat it is not atoning justification which weattribute to it, but "manifestive justifica-tion," as Edwards so exactly names it. An da guilty conscience needs this as well as theother. Th e prisoner does not know himselffree, though he has served out to its last dayand hour his term of sentence, if the prisondoors still remain shut upon him. Prisonersof hope, bound with Christ under the law, weare not fully assured of our deliverance, whenwe can reckon ourselves dead with Him,though justice is thereby satisfied. We waitfor the angel to descend from heaven - messenger of peace to us because deputy of justice to Hi m - to roll back the stone from thedoor of the sepulchre. The wounded hands


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57N CHRIST.and feet, the dying cry that yields up theSpirit, and the lifeless body at l ast lying inthe tomb, are the tokens of the price paid.But the empty tomb, the folded napkin, andthe linen clothes laid by themselves; theseare the tokens of the price accepted, of theprisoner's discharge, and the loosing of thepains of death forever, from all who died inChrist. And so to all questionings of a timidor doubting conscience, the answer now is,It Who is he that condemneth? It is Christthat died, yea rather, that is risen again, whois even at the right hand of God, who alsomaketh intercession for us." 1

But not only does our resurrection inChrist raise us out of condemnation; it alsolifts us into a new life in Him. In Christcrucified we put off the old man, in Chri strisen we put on the new man. Th e crosswas for the destruction of the body of sin;the resurrection was for imparting to us the

1 Rom. viii. 34"Le Chretien eclaire sur la resurrection de notre Sau

veur jouit de I'assurance d son salut; il en es t aussi sur,qu'il est slir que Jesus Christ est ressuscite ; et pour Iefaire dourer de son esperance eternelle, il faudrait commencer par le faire douter que Jesus Christ est ressuscitedes morts;" - Adolphe Monad.


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58 IN CHRIST.principle of divine life. By his crucifix ion,our Redeemer accomplished a twofold deathfor us. He condemned sin in the flesh,1 exhausting at once the eternal penalties thatwere menacing the soul of man, and inflictingon the body that death sentence which willbe fully consummated for every believer whenhe lies down in the grave. By his resurrec-tion He makes us the subjects of a twofoldregeneration - the regeneration of th e soulin this life. and that of the body in th e life tocome; both of which are expressly said tomake us sons of God, because th e one onlycompletes and consummates the other; andin both of which we are" the children of God,being children of the resurrection."

For the renewed body we still wait withall saints in eager longing till we be clothedupon at the resurrection. The renewed soulwe already have in Christ. "Blessed be theGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,which according to his abundant mercy, hathbegotten us again unto a lively hope, by theresurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 2Wonderful words! It is not merely a poten-tial renewal that is here indicated, the laying

1 Rom. viii, 3. 2 I Pe t i. 3'


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59N CHRIST.of a basis for a possible but still future regen-eration. We that believe, are already" risenwith Him, through the faith of the operationof God." The old life, with its kindredship toAdam, with its heri tage of his curse, with itsclinging incubus of his death, is put off at hisgrave. In the second Adam we now live.And" as He is, so are we in this world." Heis "the first fruits of them that slept." 1 "Andif the first fruits be holy, so also is the lump."He is "declared to be the Son of God withpower by the resurrection from the dead."In the same divine recognition do we likewisereceive the adoption of sons. Willingly as Heendured the cross, despising the shame, didHe say, "My God, my God, why hast Thouforsaken me," making no mention of us forwhom He was forsaken. But now, as He isabout to sit down at the right hand of thethrone of God, bringing all the members ofhis mystical body to be seated with Hi m inthe heavenly places, we hear Him saying, " Iascend unto my Father and your Father, untomy God and your God," thus suggesting withthe most exquisite tenderness their onenesswith Him in his now recovered fellowship.

1 I Cor. xv. 20 .


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60 IN CHRIST.What a place then does the sepulchre of

Jesus occupy! I t is the border line andmeeting place of law and grace. I t is thesolemn pause, "the divine ellipsis" in thework of redemption, whence we look backupon the' old nature, the old sin, and the oldcurse, and forward upon the" all things" that"are become new." Standing here an d looking either way, we see how Christ's workdivides itself into what he did as the Sin-bearer, and what he did as the Life-giver.In his Crucifixion, In his Resurrection,

He wa s - He was "Delivered for our of

fenses."" Put to death in the flesh.""In that He died, He died

unto sin, once."" He was crucified through

weakness."

"Raised again for our justification." (Rom. iv. 25.)

" Quickened in the Spirit."(I Pet. iii. 18.)

"In that He liveth, Heliveth unto God." (Rom. vi10.)

" Yet He liveth by thepower of God." (2 Cor.xiii, 4.)

By his death, He became the "end of thelaw to everyone that believeth;" by his resurrection, He became" the beginning, the firstborn from the dead." There the root of thefirst Adam was wounded unto death. Here


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61N CHRIST.humanity springs up anew, and from a newand incorruptible seed. "1 am the true Vine,"says Christ. All the culture and pruning ofJudaism had failed to bring the stock of thefirst Adam to any satisfying fruitfulness. " Ihad planted thee a noble vine," says Jehovah,"wholly a right seed; how ar t thou turnedinto the degenerate plant of a strange vineunto me." 1 Christ risen from the dead wasgiven to be a new stock, the elect and best ofall the vineyard of heaven. The crucifixionwas the uprooting of the old; the crushing ofits very roots as well as the clusters of it sgrapes in the wine-press of the wrath of God.The resurrection was the upspringing of thenew, the true vine. And all who are trulyrenewed, are shoots and branches of that. Tobe incorporated upon that vine, - to abide init, - this is the only way of life, because theonly way to become a partaker of the divinenature. And yet how many are trying to-dayto revive the old, digging about that scathedand unfruitful stump of Adam's nature, hopingto restore i t . -The sacramentarian, sprinklingit with the "baptismal dew," thinking that"through the scent of water it may bud and

1 Jer. ii. 21.


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IN CHRIST.2bring forth boughs like a plant;" not remem-bering that by the death and burial of ourLord, the "root thereo f has waxed old in theearth, and the stock thereof has died in theground." - The moralist, lopping off deadbranches and pruning away excrescences,hoping to make it nobly productive; not remembering that by the crucifixion of Christ,"the axe has been laid at the root of th etree."

To be in Christ the risen man, then, is tohave eternal life. We no longer trace ourgenealogy back to Adam now. That registryhas been annulled for those whose names arewritten in the Lamb's Book of Life. Thenight that covered Joseph's tomb was the lastof the old dispensation. Th e resurrectionlight that broke at length upon that tombwas the day-dawn of the new. Only fromthat day does the Church of the redeemedbegin. "Date it rather from the day of Pen-tecost," does some one say? But Resurrec-tion, Ascension, and Pentecost would seem tobe only successive stages of the same greattransaction, the bringing of the Church intothe fullness of the divine life. Fo r Christ'sascent bodily marks his descent spiritually;


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IN CHRIST.his taking our nature up unto God the bring-ing down of God's life to us, and the com-mencement of his dwelling in us by his Spirit.

And this is our risen life, however we con-ceive or speak of it, that we are in Him andHe in us. I t is a life as far removed fromthat of Adam as the heaven from the earth,the constant partaking of Christ who is theLife. And this is our righteousness, not thename or the credit of holiness merely, but therighteousness of God perpetually upon us,because of our Identification with Him whois made unto us righteousness.

The Resurrection of our Lord then is notmere!y a pledge of our own; it is our own ifwe are his.' All that it did for Him, we mayboldly say it did for us if we are in Him.True, in experience much of its blessing isyet future and embryonic to us, as it is not to

1 And our unbelief is naught else than a guilty forfeitureof what has been graciously bequeathed to us by Christ, arefusal to be embraced in that resurrection which has al-ready in the int ention and provision of God embraced us.George Herbert touches this thought very delicately in thoselines, -

" Arise sad heart; if thou dost not withstand,Christ's resurrection thine may be ;Do no t by Ildnging down brl1aR from t l.. hand,WhUh, as it risdh, raisdh tlul1."


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IN CHRIST.Him. But because of our perfect identitywith Him, with Him to whom the possible andthe actual are ever the same, all is countedas present to us. With Him we are" not inthe flesh, but in the Spirit." With Him weare" seated in the heavenly places." Hencethat same strenuous demand which the Scrip-tures lay upon us for realizing our death inChrist: "Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed," they lay upon us for realizing our resurrection in Him: "Seek those things whichare above, where Christ sitteth on the righthand of God."

And can we conceive of any more effectivemotive to Christian attainment, than this?In Christ Jesus we work no longer for life,but from life. Our high endeavor is not toshape our actual life in the flesh into conformity to an ideal life that is set before usin Him. I t is rather to reduce our true lifenow hid in Christ, to an actual life in ourself And so the summons of the gospel is,not that we behold what is possible for us inChrist, and reach forth to it; but rather thatwe behold what is accomplished for us inChrist, and appropriate it and live in it.Risen with Christ, the first-fruits of our


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IN CHRIST.spirits already carried up with Him intoglory, our life hid with Him in God, howshall not our heart be where our treasure is ?How shall not our love be ever kindlingand burning upwards, purging itself of allearthly dross, till it is wholly intent on Him?Why hang the damps and corruptions of thegrave about us still, earthliness and sinfulaffections, and all these clinging accompani-ments of moral death, from which our Lord hasransomed us? It is ours even now to walkwith Him in white, and to be ever" breath-ing with Him the freshness of the morn-ing of the resurrection and of endless life."Risen with Him, how shall we not more andmore recognize our life as in heaven, and bewaiting for Him who is our life to appear?Not as the sorrowing Man of Nazareth, notas the sinless sufferer of Calvary, do we waitto see Him now. "The root and tke offspri1tgof David," for awhile" cut off, though not forHimself," He comes again to sit upon thethrone of his father David. "The bright andmorning star," hidden now behind that cloudthat has for a little time received Him out ofour sight, He soon shall startle the world bythe "brightness of his coming." And be-

5


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66 IN CHRIST.cause we are seated with Him now m theheavenly places, we shall be seated with Himin the earthly; because our life is one withhis now, his manifestation shall be our manifestation. "When Christ, who is our life, shallappear, then shall ye also appear with Him inglory."

And so we wait patiently till the "daydawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts."


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IV. BAPTISM INTO CHRIST.


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for a manp ofpou a babe been bap;:;ti3dJ into ~ b r i ~ t , babe put on ~ b r i ~ t . Gal. iii. 27.

)tnow pe 110t tllat ~ manp of us a were bapri3dJ into ~ J ) r i ~ t , mere bap;:;ti3en into b i neatll ? '1)ertfore We areburien mitb !Jimbp b a p t i ~ l l l into neatb,tbat like a t t l J r i ~ t w a r a i ~ e n up fromtbe bean bp tile gIorp of tbe fatber, eben~ We a l ~ o ~ 1 ) o u l n walk in l l c \ t l n c ~ ~ oflife. Rom. vi. 3-4

;1Zurienwitb !Jim in b a p t i ~ m , itJljcrr;:;in a l ~ o pe are r i ~ c n Witb !Jim, tbrougbtbe faitlj of tbe operation of ~ o n , tubobatb r a i ~ c n !Jim from tljc nean.Col. ii. 12 .


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IV.BAPTISM INTO CHRIST.

with Christ, and risen withIJ]E A Da Christ! How perfectly has the Spiritenshrined this twofold doctrine forus in the initial ordinance of the gospel!Baptism is at once the rite in which the be-liever gives token of his union with Jesus inhis death and resurrection, and in which hereceives in germ all those deep kindred truthswhich are to unfold with his daily growth infaith and knowledge; the sacrament whichthe Church holds as a perpetual trust fromher ascended Lord, and which holds for theChurch in perpetual preservation this doc-trine in which her life is bound up.

I f we have assented then to what has beensaid in the foregoing chapters, and if we have"obeyed from the heart that form 1 of doc-trine" to which we are thus committed, we

1 Note H.


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70 IN CHRIST.shall have now no hesi tating answer for thequestion of the Apostle, "Know ye no t thatso many of us as were baptized into JesusChrist, were baptized into his death'!" Norhaving assented to this shall we be uncertainas to his conclusion, "Therefore we were bu-"ied ! with Him by baptism into death, that likeas Christ was raised up from the dead by theglory of the Father, even so we also shouldwalk in newness of life." 2

An d so we look back to that solemn moment when, in the name of the Trinity, wewere immersed beneath the water, 'and thenraised again from the parted wave, and we seein the act the divine credential which ourLord gave to our consenting faith of ourunion with Him in his dying and rising; or inthe expressive phrase of Chrysostom, "thesign and pledge of our descent with Himinto the state of the dead, and of our returnthence."

How far we must ever keep from ascribingany saving efficacy to the water, or to theritual act of baptism, will appear when weconsider how wonderfully framed th e ordinance is for disclaiming all meri t for the be-.

1 Note I. 2 Rom. vi. 3, 4-


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71N CHRIST.liever's obedience, in the very act of helpinghim to render tha t obedience. Fo r not onlyis here a sign which is empty and worthless,without the accompanying faith, but onewhich shows how empty that faith is withoutits object, Christ crucified and risen. Re-pentance, belief, obedience, what are theseapart from the Redeemer, and except asmethods of appropriating his redemption?God reads them, and will have us expressthem in the terms of the Saviour's atone-ment. And therefore side by side with therequirement of faith He has placed that ofbaptism, giving us thus the synonym ofdeath and resurrection as the language inwhich we must utter our confession of faith,that we may never forget how we were re-deemed.

Thus baptism is the divinely appointedmethod of translating our obedience and faithinto the phraseology of our Lord's death andresurrection. By it the disciple says to God,not, "I have believed and obeyed the gospel,therefore accept me;" bu t rather, "It isChrist that died, yea rather that is risenagain," 1 and I hereby declare my conformity

1 Rom. viii. 34-


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72 IN CHRIST.to his death, and my fellowship with his res-urrection.

Noting more minutely J;he features of thisapostolic ordinance, we shall see how it an-swers in every particular to the doctrine un-folded in previous chapters.

Here is first the burial, which confirms andseals our crucifixion in Christ. The Spiritdeclares " The body is dead because of sin," 1and the water opens now its mystic tombto ratify that verdict. And how, as for amoment the prostrate form of the discipledisappears beneath the wave, is the wholesolemn story of our death in Christ silentlyrehearsed! Here is no sparing or reprievingof our guilty nature. The inexorable purposefor which "our old man was crucified withHim," is proclaimed without equivocation,"that the body of sin might be destroyed."Judaism, that trial' of man in the flesh, thatsystem for his cleansing in his carnal state,had as its ordinance, circumcision, the typicalrite of the punfication of the flesh. ButChristianity, starting upon the axioms that" The carnal mind is enmity against God," andthat> " They that are in the flesh cannot pleaseGod," 2 has a far different ordinance, even

1 Rom. viii. 10 . 2 Rom. viii. 7,8.


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73N CHIUST.baptism, the typical rite of the burial of tkeflesh, in order to a better resurrection. Circumcision is u the putting away of the filth ofthe flesh ; "1 baptism is" the putting off ofthe body of the sins of the flesh.":.1 Thereforeby this confession do we not only, as EdwardIrving expresses it, "sign the death-warrantof our natural man which has been issuedfrom the court of heaven," but we sign it literally with the "sign of the cross;" thesimilitude of our Lord 's death being the appointed and permanent vehicle of this confession, that so we may be constantly reminded not only that we must die to sin inorder to live to God, but except we die witkHim we cannot live with Him.

And can those who realize the greatness ofthose two dangers which are always threatening the Church, namely, a bloodless moralism on the one hand, and a spiritless ceremonialism on the other, be too grateful for theform of this ordinance which the Spirit hasthus fixed? Substitute, as has been done,the sprinkling or pouring of water upon theperson, for burial in the water; thus le tthe cleansing only of the soul be signified

11 Pet. iii. 21 . 2 Col. ii , rr .


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74 IN CHRIST.in the rite, with no symbolic designationof the method of that cleansing, death inChrist. I t is easy for the moral ist now touse the ordinance without ever having hismind turned to the sacrifice of Calvary. Aye,d-esiring not to see that sacrifice which meansdeath to the carnal man, he comes readily toview the rite as a k ind of Christian circum-cision, marking the sanctifying of human na-ture, and bringing that into covenant withGod. And so, "as many as desire to make afair show in the flesh" will readily be con-strained to adopt it, when both their heart andtheir flesh would cry out against that baptisminto Christ's death which marks the cruci-fying and putting off of the old man. An don the other hand how easily the idea of mys-tical efficacy becomes attached to the elementof water, unless the form of its use be such asto carry the thought immediately and certainly to Christ crucified and dead. Ho wvitally important then that "form of doctrine" prescribed by the Scriptures, namely,the sacramental burial, which, while it so distinctly signifies our union with Him "whocame by water," as distinctly adds the savingclause, "not by water only, but by water and,blood."


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75N CHRIST.As we have intimated already, such a seal

of doom to the natural man will not be likelyto find much favor in this world. Why shouldit? It is the cross translated into symbol,and the cross gets little human approbation.Th e old offense and ignominy lurk even in it sshadow. Doubtless many a true believer hasturned back to circumcision from finding howmuch deeper the gospel cuts than the law;and doubtless many another, who has gonedown with Christ into. the mystic grave,would have star ted back affrighted had herealized all that he was showing forth.

But sorrow can have no place at this tombif we stop to consider how much is pu t off inthis putting off of our old man; how the sinthat roots itself in that nature, the curse thatclings to that nature, and the condemnationthat rests upon that nature, are all swallowedup in the sepulchre of Jesus Christ. Thecross condemns and brings death indeed, bu tjust beyond is the tomb where the condem-nation is buried, and the death is swallowedup in victory. "So I saw in my dream," saysBunyan, "that just as Christian came up withthe cross, his burden loosed from off hisshoulders and fell from off his back, and be-


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IN CHRIST.gan to tumble, and so continued to do #ll itcame to the mouth of the sepulchre, when itfell itt, and 1 saw it no more." And does notthis word, I saw it no more," answer thedeepest note in the longing and groaning ofour sin-burdened humanity? That Christiancry, "Who shall deliver me from the body ofthis death?" and that heathen cry embodiedin the fable of Lethe, whose waters of forgetfulness the dead are ever thirsting to drinkthat they may enter into rest, are strangelyakin in this, - that it is the pain of an aching conscience, the sighing for ease from thesting of sin, that is told alike in each. Andwhere have these cries been answered but inthose sacramental waters, which in a figureare at once the grave where the body of sin isburied, and the river of forgetfulness wherebygone guilt is overwhelmed and its memoryswallowed up? And when was ever God'sancient promise, H Their sins and their iniquities I will remember no more," written in solarge letters as here? Not surely in that lawthat stood in divers washings ; " 1 for in thatthere was a remembrance again made ofsins every year." 2 Not in that pseudo-gos

1 Heb. ix, 10 . 2 Heb. x, 3.


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77N CHRIST.pel which places our hope in some cleansingor betterment of human nature; for in that,hope dies, and bitter memories awake withevery fresh reviving of the evil principle.But here is found an ordinance that says tothe believer "n o condemnation," and "nomore conscience of sins."

Say not then with a Romish Father,' that"The true penitent never forgives himself."Say rather that he is one who has learned tosee in the grave of his Lord the burial of allhis sins, with their burning remembrances,their bitter accusations, and their stinging reproaches, and so,entering into God's thoughtconcerning him, has learned to forgive himself in God's forgiveness of him. "Blessedis he whose transgression is forgiven, whosesin is covered." "Blessed is the man to whomthe Lord imputeth not iniquity."

And if there is a signing of the death-warrant of the natural man in this rite, there isjust as clearly the making over of a quitclaim upon him by a satisfied law. Fo r whendid the law ever pursue a culprit into hisgrave? To have died with Christ is to havedied to the law.2 No avenger of blood can

1 J. H. Newman. 2 Rom. vii. 4.


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78 IN CHRIST.pursue his victim within the guarded precincts of this city of refuge, the sepulchre ofJesus. And to the fact of the believer's having entered here, the water is a perpetual witness. " I buried him with Christ ," it says." I rolled my wave like a stone against thedoor of his sepulchre. I set the seal of thenew covenant inscribed with the triune nameupon his tomb:' And so every taunt of asuspicious conscience, and every rising terrorof a broken commandment, is silenced.

I f now it seems to any believer that he canafford to lose the letter of this commandmentbecause forsooth" the le tter killeth," it mayappear upon deeper reflection that this is justthe reason why he needs it. Confidence inthe flesh, and bondage to the law, are enemiesthat we may rejoice to have killed; and ifthe letter of baptism can show them to ourfaith as cut off and utter ly destroyed in thegrave of Christ, it has done a "blessed workfor us. Oh, would that all seekers after peacemight discover this - that there can be noentrance into" the power of Christ's resurrection," except through conformity to hisdeath. Would that the tomb of Jesus mightbe seen to be as it is, the only shelter from


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IN CHRIST. 79the law, the only stronghold from the perse-cutions of conscience, Then, the preciousnessof the doctrine being discovered, the pre-ciousness of the symbol would be felt. Andhow would they who have learned to say u Iam crucified with Christ," also

" Joy to undergoThis shadowof his cross sublime,

This remnant of his woe."But the buried form is raised up again from

the water in the likeness of Christ's resurrec-tion. It should remain submerged, if Christbe not risen. As it is, the momentary disap-pearance from sight, and the brief suspensionof the breath, vividly suggests that fearfuldoom which were ours in such a case. Butno sooner is the "buried with Him in bap-tism " spoken, than the "Now is Chrtst risenfrom the dead" is answered and echoed backby the joyful announcement, "wherein alsoye are risen with Him through the faith ofthe operation of God which hath raised Himfrom the dead." 1 Blessed is he who, nowlooking into the grave where he was buriedwith Christ, sees what God sees, what theangels see, the winding sheet of Adam's

1 Col. ii. 12.


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80 IN CHRIST.curse put off from him and folded up forever,and the linen clothes of a legal righteousnesslaid by themselves. And thrice blessed is hewho hears concerning himself the glad announcement, "H e is not here, but is risen,"and so is enabled to go forth in the joy ofthe resurrection, to "walk in newness of life."And this is what the Spirit by the water aswell as by the word would certify to us, - ourstanding in union with our risen Head beyond the executed sentence of an injured law,our complete security in Him, and our rightand duty to rejoice evermore in this grace.

The value of the ordinances is in theirpower of bringing truth within the apprehen-sion of all our senses, physical and spiritual.Thus do they not only intensify our experience of doctrine, but they serve to put itbeyond further question, as that" which wehave heard, which we have seen with oureyes, which our hands have handled of theWord of Life." 1

How vividly in the momentary chill anddarkness of the grave of baptism do we tastehis death who suffered for us all ! And in theexultant uprising, the quick recovery of the

1 I john i, I.


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IN CHRIST. 8rbated breath that follows, how fully do weseem to enter into the joyful experience ofhis quickening! So closely does the sym-bol thus press upon the reality, tha t Paul inthat bold "Know ye not," 1 seems to appealto the believer's baptism as the experience ofhis Lord 's death and resurrection, and asmaking it thus a subject of memory as wellas of faith.

So by this memorial let the Christian knowand remember that he has been quickenedwith Christ; that henceforth his place is onresurrection ground, and he can fix it nowhereelse without dishonoring his Lord. If, for-getting that his life is hid in the risen Christ,he is tempted to find it in Adam, let him hearall the floods of baptism lifting up their voicein rebuke, saying, "Why seek ye the livingamong the dead?" "Are ye so foolish, hav-ing begun in the Spirit, are ye now madeperfect in the flesh?" 2 If, unmindful of hisaccomplished justification by faith, he yetlingers under the law, let him hear the bridalvow, which in baptism sealed him to the LordJesus, condemning him, "Ye are become deadto the law by the body of Christ that)le

1 Rom. vi. 3. 2 Gal. iii. 2.6


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82 IN CHRIST.should be married to another, even to Himwho is raised from the dead, that ye shouldbring forth fruit unto God." Every return tothe law now as a ground of justification, istreachery and infidelity to the Bridegroom ofthe Church; and any righteousness or trustbrought forth from it, is only the fruit of acriminal and forbidden relationship.

But above all must this memory serve as amost tender and pathetic plea for a holy walk.Sin now takes on added gui lt, that of crimi-nal inconstancy. It s stain is of a darker hue,falling on that resurrection mantle. It s of-fense is a " crucifying of the Son of God afreshand putting Him to an open shame." Andso no possible dissuasion from sin can be sostrong as this. "Neither yield ye your mem-bers as instruments of unri

in christ or the believers union with his lord

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