Union & Communion

Taken from a WayForward training in 2022.

The Greek work kοινωνία means the act of partaking, sharing, or participating in. An alternative translation is to be joint-partakers with other. We could even say it means communion. As Christians, we often forget we have a common-union which is different than our union. We must be clear because they are not synonymous. First, we must breakdown the word Union before we can tackle Communion. Communion is not so much about seeking after a thing as it is about seeking after a person, Jesus Christ.

5 “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 6:5-11

Kevin DeYoung, in The Hole in our Holiness, states: “Union with Christ is the…work of the Spirit.” Full Stop. Resurrection Theology gives you certainty and assurance about our salvation. We read further in Galatians:

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are Sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

Gal. 4:4-6

Kevin DeYoung goes on to say: “Once united, nothing can separate us from Christ. Nothing can make us a little more or a little less united. Communion with Christ, on the other hand, can be affected by sin and unresponsiveness to God’s grace. It’s like marriage: you can’t be more or less married (union) but you can have a stronger or weaker marriage (communion). Our relationship with Christ can also deepen when we attend to the divinely appointed means of grace. Or to put it somewhat paradoxically, we who enjoy saving fellowship in Christ ought to cultivate a growing fellowship with Christ.

“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 15:13

Baptisms is used metaphorically to refer to the Spirit’s work within the believer. What is that work? Union. The Spirit works to unite him or her to the body of Christ, which is also the corporate body of believers. To quote my friend Joshua Gardner: “To say yes to Jesus is to say yes to his church.” Why, because it’s a union with the body of believers and union with God. It’s a marriage of continuity.

“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 Cor. 1:9

Here I like to use the analogy of marriage. The covenant of marriage made through the vows spoken to a couple is the grounds of union. So a covenant made with your spouse and God is what we would call union. But years later when difficulty sets in or feels and love grows cold, it doesn’t mean you are no longer married. Just because you don’t feel married doesn’t mean you are not married. That is communion. Communion must be fostered and developed over the years.

As Christ follower, we must ask ourselves…” Are we living out our union with God today? Without union with Him rooted in a steadfast communion secured by Him, we shall become like a branch cut off from the vine that dies (John 15:5-6).

Jesus himself says “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.” John. 5:39. The scriptures do not impart union life in itself, but bears witness to the One who has union life and gives it freely.

J.I. Packer, in Puritan Ideas of Communion with God (pg. 116), states communion between God and man “is the end to which both creation and redemption are the means; it is the goal to which both theology and preaching must ever point; it is the essence of true religion; it is, indeed, the definition of Christianity.”

If you want communion, it’s probably a more mundane process than you think. If you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit and indwell by Him, you already have union with God! Simplicity here is our friend. Perusing communion must be done on God’s terms with the channels of grace God provides. You cannot keep a love for God without paying careful attention to your identify of who you are and a diligent obedience to his commands. To be clear, obedience is not the grounds or basis for salvation, it is the result! The result of salvific union in the gospel is communion, and then obedience.

6 Ways to Commune with God

Commune with God in God’s Word
Commune with God in Devotional Prayer
Commune with God in Spiritual Disciplines
Commune with God in Sowing the Seed of the Kingdom
Commune with God by not communing in the World
Commune with God with healthy balance