Our Individual Oneness with Christ

Jesus called Himself the whole vine—which includes each of the branches—not just the root or the trunk of the vine. Thus, we are one with Him as the branch is one with the vine. We are each a part of Him, just as he is the life of each of us.... if we live in Christ and His words live in us, anything we ask will be done for us, because the Father is glorified when we bear fruit.

            The New Testament teaches our individual oneness with Christ, without reference to each other, in eight passages. However, these passages also clearly teach that this oneness has real, practical application. Only two of these passages—John 14:20 and Colossians 1:27—even arguably teach oneness as only an academic, positional truth. The others assume our oneness with Christ and argue that, because we are one with Christ, we ought to practice that oneness in some tangible way.

            In John 14:20 Jesus states that, in the day when the world no longer sees Him, we His people will “know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” Thus, it declares what we now are able to inwardly know—that we are one with Christ, being individually “in” Christ and Christ “in” each and all of us (note that in the Greek the “you” is second person plural)—without stating any outward application of this truth. Two things can only be contained “in” each other—the primary meaning of the Greek preposition here (ἐγὼ ἐν τῷ πατρί μου καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν ἐμοὶ κἀγὼ ἐν ὑμῖν)—if they are one. In fact, it should be noted that the language here is not discussing recipes—such as 1% alcohol in water is (a little) alcohol “in” water, and 1% water in alcohol is (a little) water “in” alcohol.  It is instead talking of two entities, each complete in itself, being “in” each other.

Historically, and in generally-accepted (“orthodox”) Christian theology, this concept that God the Father and Jesus the Son are each fully “in” the other is key to both the doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of the “hypostatic union” of the divine and human natures of Christ. (For more discussion of these doctrines, as classically formulated, and the wars that have been fought over them, see the links in the previous sentence, and these links: The Trinity and the “hypostatic union.”) And, in the historical context of the development of both of these orthodox doctrines, for political reasons that will be discussed in a later post, both of these doctrines–but particularly the doctrine of the “hypostatic union”–were used to argue that Jesus’ had a unity with his Father in which no other human can ever share–that is to say, Jesus is not like us in his humanity.

But Jesus then goes on just a few verses after John 14:20 to declare that both Jesus and his Father will make their home in anyone who “loves” him–that is, anyone who pays attention and obeys when he speaks (“keeps my word”). John 14:23-24. Similarly, Colossians 1:27 states that the riches of the glory of God’s mystery among the Gentiles is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (ὅ ἐστιν Χριστὸς ἐν ὑμῖν). This states half of the equation—Christ contained within each of us—without immediately drawing a practical conclusion, though one is drawn later in the letter to the Colossians–namely, “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Colossians 2:6.

            The other six references to our individual oneness with Christ draw clear, definite practical conclusions from that oneness. For instance, Romans 6 shows that our individual oneness with Christ—being buried with Him through baptism and raised with Him into newness of life—is a potent argument that we both can and should stop living life for ourselves and start living to God:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:1-11 .

            Note first this entire passage is written in the plural.  “We”—all of us who are in Christ—died with Christ, and all of the other things said here are also true of “us.”  While this passage certainly may (and should) properly be personalized, it is written as applying to all of “us.”  Thus, while I can personalize the statement “so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death,” by observing that I also have been baptized into Jesus Christ and concluding that I have been baptized into his death, Paul’s statement started with all of “us.”  It applied to Christ’s body first, then to me as a member of the body.  We died with Christ, we were buried with Him through baptism, we are dead with Him to sin, and we have been raised with Him to lead a new life—His life. The language is not merely that of identification with Christ, in a death similar to His, but of oneness with Him in His death and oneness in His resurrection. In Jesus’ death, the “old self,” the “body ruled by sin,” died, and we are one with Him. See, Romans 6:4-6. As a result, we are dead to sin and should not continue in it. Instead, having been raised from death with Christ, we should give our bodies as slaves to Jesus, letting him live through us, in the same way we used to give them to sin.See, Romans 6:10-15.     All of these statements apply to me personally, but only as a member of Christ.  We have all been made one with him, therefore we are each one with him, therefore we are each dead to sin with him and alive to God. 

            Galatians 2:15-21 and Colossians 2:8-13 present our oneness in Christ’s death and resurrection as an argument against following false teachers who would add the requirements of the old Law or the teachings of worldly traditions and philosophies to grace as a means of salvation. “I have been crucified with Christ,” Paul wrote, declaring oneness with Him in death. Galatians 2:20. What is in view here is once again not merely identification with Christ’s death, but oneness with Christ in His death. Because I am one in Christ’s death, I am dead to the Law.¹ Nevertheless, Paul continues, even though I died with Christ, I live—but it is Christ who now lives in me. Therefore, the life which I now live I live by faith in the Son of God.²  In this passage, Paul personalized the teaching to himself (“I”) as an example to us—we should say the same things. The context of Galatians 2 shows that, because I am one with Christ, I am to live entirely by faith in Him and not by my own efforts to keep the Law.

            The passage in Colossians 2 is written in the second person plural, as a warning first to the Church, and, therefore, to each of us against permitting any man to “make spoil of” (KJV) us by deluding us with persuasive speech, through philosophy and empty speech, after the traditions of men.³  Although most modern translations render the graphic Greek phrase (estai o sulagōgōn), in verse 8 “take you captive,”  in this instance the archaic KJV translation “make spoil” of us more adequately captures the horror of what is being said: if we are deluded in this matter, we are allowing false teachers to make us prisoners of war and sell us as slaves to their own profit.  The kinds of human philosophies about which we are warned include false humility, false spirituality—such as the worship of angels—preoccupation with visions, and all sorts of rules about religious observances and about all the things one must not taste, touch or handle if one wants to “please God.” See, Colossians 2:16-23. However, these ordinances have no value, and were nailed to the Cross with Christ.⁴ In truth, it is only our faith in God that pleases Him, see Hebrews 11:1-6, not any philosophy we hold, not any rules we keep, and not any good things we do on our own, apart from him.

We need not keep rules in order to please God. Instead, the passage declares that Christ blotted out these rules on the Cross and that we are now one with Christ in five ways. Just as all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ’s body, even so He has made us full.⁵ We were (and continue to be) circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, which removes from us the body of the flesh with its otherwise inescapable bondage to sin.⁶ We were buried with Christ in baptism, and then raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.⁷ Finally, God made us alive together with Christ.⁸ Therefore, as Paul argues, we should trust God to forgive our trespasses apart from our own works, based solely on what Christ has done in us. We should not be persuaded by liars who want to control us that anything more is needed.

            Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, which is again written in the second person plural, Paul urges us to avoid being “unequally yoked” (KJV)—the NASB says “bound together”—with unbelievers because we are the temple of God, and God has promised to dwell in us, walk in (as well as among) us and be our God. Therefore, we have no basis for agreement with unbelievers in their way of life, and we should not be yoked together with them.  A “yoke” is an agricultural implement, still used where plowing is done by animal power.  It fits around the neck, and keeps control of the animal, forcing it to use its strength doing the farmer’s work.  Animals are commonly yoked in pairs, one wooden yoke having holes for two animals’ necks.  The metaphor of an “unequal” yoke is the yoking of two different kinds of animals together—for instance, a horse with an ox.  One of the two is going to end up pulling most of the load. This passage thus warns us against allowing ourselves to be put in the same yoke with unbelievers, trying to pull their loads under their yokes. We are one with Christ, who is not in them. We should, in fact, be wearing Jesus’ yoke—which is easy—pulling his burden with him⁹. We are not going in the same direction as the world, and, just as was argued in Colossians 2, we should not be accepting the world’s burdens. We should avoid their way, not touch the unclean thing—meaning not unbelievers themselves, but the burdens they try to place on us—and God will be a father to us.

             By contrast, 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 declares our oneness with Christ—in body and in spirit—as the reason we should avoid immoral behavior. Paul asks, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself?” (v. 15a, NASB). How, then, can we justify taking Christ’s members and joining them to a prostitute? Paul then goes on to explain that one who has sexual intercourse with a prostitute becomes one in body with her. (Prostitution is, in fact, a perversion of the marriage relationship, in which the husband and wife become one flesh as a picture of Christ’s oneness with the Church¹⁰.). In a similar way, one who “is joined to the Lord is one spirit” with Him. Therefore, the body of one who is joined with Christ is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, our bodies are parts of Christ’s body on earth, the premise of Paul’s argument. We therefore have no right to take the Holy Spirit’s temple, one of Christ’s members on earth, and join it to a prostitute. Paul’s argument in this passage is very practical and is wholly dependent on our oneness with Christ. The fact that I am—in body and spirit—a member of Christ governs what I may do with my body.    

Finally, in John 15:1-8, Jesus states a beautiful picture of our individual oneness with Him. He is the vine, He said, and we are the branches.¹¹ All of the branches are part of a single vine. Jesus called Himself the whole vine—which includes each of the branches—not just the root or the trunk of the vine. Thus, we are one with Him as the branch is one with the vine. We are each a part of Him, just as he is the life of each of us. Moreover, while our oneness with each other can be inferred from this passage, in that we are all parts of the same vine, the focus in the passage is clearly on our individual relationship with the vine. “He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”¹² Anyone who chooses not to stay in Christ is cast away from the vine, withers, and is thrown in the fire and burned.¹³ By contrast, if we live in Christ and His words live in us, anything we ask will be done for us, because the Father is glorified when we bear fruit.¹⁴