Union with Christ with Kyle Worley
Today we’re chatting with Kyle Worley about the topic of union with Christ. This conversation is rich with gospel-reminders of what Christ’s life, death, and resurrection achieved, and how it continually impacts our relationship with him. We pray that as you listen you are encouraged to continue searching Scripture and learning more about your position in Christ!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
What does it mean when we say we as Christians are "united with Christ," and where do we see biblical evidence for that?
How does the concept of union with Christ impact our everyday lives?
How does this tie into the idea of faith?
Can you talk about justification and what God gives to us when we are made alive in him?
If we experience all these things from being united with Christ, what does Christ experience from being united with us?
How is it that I can be in Christ, and yet here I am on earth facing this present suffering?
How does our union with Christ impact how we engage with the challenges we’re facing in our day-to-day lives?
How does our union with Christ fuel our rest? How does understanding this doctrine help us understand our security as a believer?
How does the concept of union with Christ impact our relationship with others and the way we engage with a lost and dying world?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Union with Christ is the idea that Christians are in Christ Jesus.”
“This means that by grace through faith we enter into Christ Jesus, and we now make our home with God through Christ. This means that every saving benefit God has for the Christian is in, with, and through Jesus Christ. How are we made righteous? In Christ Jesus. How are we conformed to be righteous in sanctification? In Christ Jesus. How are we regenerated? It’s in Christ Jesus. All of the saving benefits of God are in Christ Jesus.”
“Union with Christ is really the New Testament’s carry-over of the concept of covenant.”
“Covenant is God’s binding of himself to his people; the doctrine of the union of Christ is an expression, a clearer expression, of covenant love and loyalty in the New Testament.”
“When we come to God in salvation, we come to God in Jesus, where we remain as his people forever.”
“All of the saving benefits of God are in Jesus.”
“We can confidently walk into every day knowing that whatever may come, the one thing that cannot be removed from us is the love of God in Jesus. It’s there. It’s irremovable, it’s irreplaceable, it’s unbreakable, it’s unshakeable. Nothing can remove you from there. Nothing can break that union. The worst day and the best day are merely days upon which you’re going to get to live out that union.”
“Part of the good news about the doctrine of union with Christ is that fundamentally it’s about Christ’s faithfulness to you, not your faithfulness to him.”
“Christ will hold us even when we loosen our grip.”
“We can’t lose Christ because he won’t allow us to be lost.”
“Union with Christ is where all the saving benefits of God are secure. Communion with God is our enjoyment of those things. Union with Christ cannot be deepened or disrupted.”
“Faith leads to faithfulness.”
“Faith doesn’t make Christ’s work effective. Faith receives the efficacy of Christ’s work.”
“Faith is how we receive the saving benefits of God through Jesus.”
“Righteousness is the foundation of what we’re doing, not simply something that has been credited to our account that absolves us of past sin.”
“When we enter into Christ Jesus, we are now justified because we are in the righteous one and we can never be removed from him.”
“Christ Jesus is the justified one, the righteous one, and we are made righteous because we take a fundamental share in that identity by grace through faith.”
“Our faith with Jesus actually pulls us into Jesus, and now God is viewing us in the Son.”
“What a glad heart Christ has that he has chosen to share the bounties of heaven’s inheritance with strangers made sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters to Christ?”
“What Jesus possesses by divine right, by nature as the son of God, we are given over by grace in adoption.”
“Part of living in Christ Jesus is constantly trying to find your life in the life of Jesus.”
“The doctrine of union of Christ cannot be ‘concepted’ into your heart, it must be prayed in. This doctrine doesn’t get into your bones any other way but prayer.”
“Father, today I am in Christ. Yesterday I was in Christ. Tomorrow I will be in Christ. And one day I will be with Christ in heaven forever.”
“Try to find your life in the actual historical life of Jesus… The doctrine of union with Christ will always remain ethereal if we don't tie it back to the actual historical Jesus.”
“It’s so easy to hear your view of you as God’s view of you.”
“We often talk about ourselves in ways that God the Father would never talk about us.”
“It is very holy and healthy to set aside something that you can say to yourself in those moments, some truth that you can repeat to yourself to remind yourself of what's true in this moment.”
“I am in Christ and I am fully loved forever.”
“Will God love me if I make the wrong decision? Yes. Yes he will.”
“The Father is not holding your future failures against you.”
RESOURCES
J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Christ, by Paul Miller
Paul and Union with Christ, by Constantine Campbell
Rejoicing in Christ, by Michael Reeves
Delighting in the Trinity, by Michael Reeves
Start memorizing Romans 8:31-39
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
HYMN
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What does it mean to you that you are united with Christ?
How does your union with Christ affect your day-to-day life?
Describe how you understand Christ’s heart towards you. What verses can you look to in Scripture to support this?
Read Romans 8:31-39 and explain how these verses impact your understanding of Christ’s love for you. Consider memorizing this passage.
What are you going to do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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