Gospel Identity (Part 1)

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Identity controls destiny. Whether we realize it or not, each of us spends our life acting like a novelist: selecting courses of action (our plot) for our main character (ourselves) based on who we think that character is. It is here, at this central narrative of our existence, that the gospel meets us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is an identity, defined by a destiny, that overflows into activity.

Over the next three posts, we will unpack each of these phrases. Let’s begin today with the first: the gospel is an identity.

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,” (1Cor 15.11, ESV). The key word in both parts of this sentence is ‘in.’ It is shorthand for “in union with.” All humanity starts out in union with Adam. We are identified with Adam, and we face the consequences of his rebellion against God.

But the gospel offers us something better than the old identity in union with Adam. It offers us union with Christ. Union with Christ is a central concept in the New Testament. Theologian John Murray wrote, “Nothing is more central or basic than union and communion with Christ…. Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation.”[1] Is this an exaggeration? We are to consider: how often does the Apostle Paul speak of being “in Christ Jesus”, “in him,” etc.?

Union with Christ connects us to the work of Christ. Supernaturally conceived and born of a virgin, Jesus Christ is the only son of Adam who is also the Son of God. As such, he alone did not inherit Adam’s guilt or corruption. On the contrary, he was perfect: in his birth, life, crucifixion, and resurrection. As such, Jesus was uniquely qualified to rescue rebels and restart the human line. How so? Because Jesus is God, his work is of infinite value. And because he is also a perfect man, his life and death provide something unique: a substitute record that can count for others.

How can the work of Jesus, now over two millennia past, count for people today? The answer is that God, in eternity past, elected in advance those whom Jesus would represent.[2] And just as a team captain scores goals for his team, so Christ’s life and death accomplished salvation for God’s elect.[3] Yet this decretal union does not become an existential union[4] – redemption accomplished does not become redemption applied – until we are actually united to Christ.

Actual union begins when God the Spirit regenerates and brings a person to trust in Jesus Christ. This is called ‘conversion’ or “effectually calling.”[5] When this happens, the new Christian is “spiritually and mystically, yet really and inseparably, joined to Christ as their head and husband.”[6] And it is in this united-to-Christ state that Christians “partake of justification, adoption, and sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.”[7]

Union with Christ thus gives the Christian a new identity. Instead of being identified with Adam in his rebellion, we are identified with Jesus Christ in his obedience – and in his destiny. Do you have this new identity? Do you desire it? All you have to do is entrust yourself to Jesus. Are you unsure? There is an easy way to discard your uncertainties: stop wallowing in doubt and surrender to Jesus right now. Simply believe, and he will put his name on you (Acts 15.17, Rev 14.1). There is no need to be unclear about your identity – or your destiny.

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[1] John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1955), 161.

[2] Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC), #31.

[3] Robert Letham, Union with Christ: in Scripture, History, and Theology (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2011), 58.

[4] The present author is indebted to Rev. Jody Morris for the terms “decretal” and “existential” union.

[5] Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC), #30.

[6] WLC #66.

[7] WSC #32.