Hoekema-Union with Christ and Justification

Yesterday I listened to a lecture by Anthony Hoekema entitled Union with Christ and Justification. It was worth listening to. I have an mp3 that I got free from wordmp3.com. It is still available on the free mp3 page, if you’re interested. Here are some quotes…

In his book, Dr. Stewart [James Stewart, A Man In Christ] expands in eloquent language the various ramifications of this thought. He says, and I quote again, “The conviction has grown steadily upon me that union with Christ rather than justification, or election, or eschatology, or indeed, any of the other great epistolic themes is the real clue to an understanding of Paul’s thought and experience”. And so he finds union with Christ central in the teachings of the Apostle Paul. I think that we too must keep this thought centrally in our minds. And I believe that we touch here a weakness in reformed theology. I think that we tend often to think of the work of Christ in purely impersonal or commercial terms. Or forensic terms. For example, a common conception of the atoning work of Christ is something like this: “Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt for us. He satisfied the justice of God for us. He suffered the wrath of God against our sins. And by doing so, He enabled God to forgive us our sins.”

Now all of this is true. I agree with every bit of it. But it’s quite inadequate to describe the work that our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us. Sometimes we think of the work of Christ after the analogy of the way we pay a bill. We write a check, we put the check in an envelope, and send it to the store without ever stepping inside the store. Without ever talking to anybody. Without having fellowship with anybody. And if we think of the work of Christ in this way, we have, I think, a most inadequate conception of His work. This tendency to think of the work of Christ almost exclusively in terms of the paying of a debt, or the satisfaction of justice in a kind of impersonal way, is, I think, part of our western theological tradition.

After discussing briefly some western theologians and their views of the atonement, and the lack of emphasis on union with Christ, he goes on to say how eastern theologians had an emphasis on the more mystical aspects of the work of Christ. That Christ saved us by becoming one of us.

Then, near the end of the lecture, he says…

A family can be supported in two ways, by alimony payments and by the support of a loving husband. Now, I am saying that justification is not like an alimony payment made by a husband that has abandoned his family. But rather, it is like the support given by a husband who lives in loving fellowship with his family. Jesus does not justify us on the alimony payment analogy, but on the loving husband and father analogy. Christ gives us the blessing of justification only by bringing us into and keeping us in union and fellowship with Him. And we can only continue to enjoy the blessing of justification as we continue to abide in Him.

As the preacher whom I heard yesterday morning put it, “God” he said, “is not like a vending machine.” You put a quarter in the slot and out comes the forgiveness of sins. There’s nothing mechanical about justification. Justification is not received in that way. Justification is only received along the way of a living faith. And a living faith, as James reminds us, must always be accompanied by works. James is not suggesting that we are justified by merit when he says that a man is justified by works. Rather, he is saying, that the faith by which we are justified must be a genuine faith. And a genuine faith can only reveal itself in works. A dead faith, James is saying, never justified anybody. And never will justify anybody.

So the very point I am trying to get at this afternoon when I stress that justification is received only in union with Christ. Though we usually say that justification is a once for all act rather than a process, our appropriation of it must always be by means of an ongoing, continuing, living faith. No one has any right to say, “because I accepted Christ for justification many years ago, I will always continue to enjoy this blessing whether I continue to abide in Christ or not.” Paul puts it very strikingly in Colossians two verses six and seven, “As therefore ye receive Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and builded up in Him, and established in your faith.” John Calvin once put it this way, “we are justified by faith alone, but faith whereby we are justified is never alone.”
When we thus continue to grasp Christ with a living faith, we enjoy a most wonderful assurance.