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Disciplines of Devotion
Distinguishing Between Our Union with Jesus and Our Communion with Jesus
Fixed Union
Our union with Jesus, as we understand it, brings into sharper focus so much of the Christian life. In terms of our daily, ongoing walk with Jesus, Jesus says in John 15 that we’re to remain in him, to abide in him.
Over the years, Christians have distinguished between our union with Jesus and our communion with Jesus. Our union is fixed. We can’t change that. We don’t float in and out of it. But in our own communion with Jesus, in our own relating to him, there are all kinds of ups and downs. There are seasons of more spiritual intimacy. There are seasons of being distant or even disobedient. So, we do need to constantly attend to our communion with Jesus, but our union with Jesus is secure.
One with My Lord
Sam Allberry
Brief, compelling devotionals by Sam Allberry help believers understand what it means to be “in Christ” and how unity with Jesus shapes their daily lives.
It’s a bit like my relationship with my parents. If I go several weeks without ever talking to them or calling them, that doesn’t mean I’m not their son. It just might mean I’m not a very good son. Similarly, if I don’t read my Bible, if I don’t pray, if I’m not trying to hear the voice of Jesus and be conscious of his presence in my life, it doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian, but it’s probably going to mean that I’m not a very good Christian.
Part of how we express our union with Jesus is by hearing his word, being obedient to what he calls us to do, coming to him in prayer, being conscious of him in our lives, relying on him, depending on him, and trusting in him. All of those things will help us be healthy as Christians.
My union with Jesus actually helps me to do all of those things because it means that the foundational things are all in place and I’m simply unpacking what I’ve already been given and availing myself of this spiritual privilege of being united to Jesus by actually relating to him—and knowing that I can because I’m in him.
Sam Allberry is the author of One with My Lord: The Life-Changing Reality of Being in Christ.
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Scripture clearly says that Christians are united to Christ, but it is not intuitively obvious what this means. Union with Christ is a vague term.
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