A Vital Union

"And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace" (John 1:16)


We are joined to Christ in a union with Him by means of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. It is a vital union because our spiritual life is drawn directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. We are sustained by Him through the indwelling Holy Spirit. There is nothing more important in the Christian life than to realize that our union with Christ is a vital one. It is a living thing. It is not something mechanical or conceptual; it is not a thought or an idea; it is really a vital, spiritual union.


"And of his fullness have all we received, an grace for grace" (John 1:16). That says it all. That is our relationship to Him, says John; something of His fullness an of His life is passing into us, and we are receiving it.


The trouble with all of us is that we do not realize the truth of these things. But this is the truth given by the Lord Himself. It is His prayer for His people that they may know the meaning of this vital, spiritual relationship. And He does not hesitate to compare it with the relationship that subsists between the Father and Himself: As the Father is in Him, so He is in us, and we are in Him. But consider the statement of this truth that is made by the apostle Paul in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." There is nothing greater than that, and what it does teach is that this is a life-giving relationship; it is a union of life. "Not I, but Christ liveth in me." And then Paul goes on to say, "And the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."


~Martyn Lloyd-Jones~