In its widest sense, the phrase union with Christ refers to the relationship between the believer and

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. In this sense, John Murray says that union with Christ is "the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation". The expression "in Christ" (''en Christo'', ''en kyrio'', ''en Christo Iesou'', ''en auto'' etc.) appears frequently in the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

: according to

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

, "'being-in-Christ' is the prime enigma of the Pauline teaching: once grasped it gives the clue to the whole." Given the large number of occurrences and the wide range of contexts, the phrase embodies a breadth of meaning.Demarest, B. A. (1997), ''The Cross and Salvation: the Doctrine of Salvation'', Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books According to the narrower sense of the phrase used in

Christian theology Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

, union with Christ is a step in the '' ordo salutis'' ("order of

salvation Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

"), and the basis of the believer's justification. In this sense, union with Christ follows

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

and precedes

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

(Galatians 3:26-27). Augustus Strong describes it in this way: "union with Christ logically precedes both regeneration and justification; and yet, chronologically, the moment of our union with Christ is also the moment when we are regenerated and justified."

Theological content

Basis

In Christian theology, the union of Christ is built on the ''

a priori ('from the earlier') and ('from the later') are Latin phrases used in philosophy to distinguish types of knowledge, Justification (epistemology), justification, or argument by their reliance on experience. knowledge is independent from any ...

'' assumption of Adam's union with humanity (Romans 5:12-21). Also according to the

Apostle Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

, Christ's death and resurrection is a prerequisite for believers to be identified with Christ (Romans 6:8-10). In other words, the

vicarious Vicarious may refer to: * Vicariousness, experiencing through another person * Vicarious learning, observational learning In law * Vicarious liability, a term in common law * Vicarious liability (criminal), a term in criminal law Religion * Subst ...

death of Jesus is the basis for incorporation into Christ. The expression "in Christ" (''en Christo'', ''en kyrio'', ''en Christo Iesou'', ''en auto'' etc.) occurs 216 times in the Pauline letters and 26 times in the Johannine literature. Paul uses the phrase "''en Christo''" as a synonym for a Christian ( Romans 16:7) and the phrase "''en emoi''" to describe the intimate identification of Christ with the believer ( Galatians 2:20). The New Testament teaches that union with Christ is precipitated by faith and baptism, i.e. those who believe are baptized "into" Christ ( John 3:16, Romans 6:3). Both the apostle John and Paul employ the Greek preposition ''eis'' rather than ''en'' in these passages to convey the notion of union with Christ. The ESV Study Bible explains the use of this particular preposition in its note on John 11:25, "The preposition translated "in" (Greek: eis) is striking, for eis ordinarily means "into", giving the sense that genuine faith in Christ in a sense brings people "into" Christ, so that they rest in and become united with Christ. (This same expression is found in 3:16, 18, 36; 6:35; 7:38; 12:44, 46; 14:12; 1 John 5:10.)"

Nature

There are a number of ways of describing the nature of the union with Christ. Roman Catholic theology holds that believers actually imbibe the physical body and blood of Christ when they partake in the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

. Reformed theology using the model of federal headship, where humanity is covenantally represented by Adam, sees Christians represented covenantally by Christ. Pietist theology see a union with Christ as mystical, "hidden" in the spiritual dimension. Evangelical theology contains the idea of an experiential union, where Jesus having gone through life, death and resurrection, shares these experiences with believers. Both Reformed and Evangelical theology acknowledges that union with Christ is the subjective application of God's objective work in Salvation. In Protestant theology the phrase union with Christ means a mutual indwelling ( John 14-15), of Christians and the triune God, without affirming that Christians are absorbed into God. Several biblical themes are expressed within concept of being "in Christ." For example, the Old Testament notion of God dwelling among the Israelites ( Exodus 25:8) is expressed by Jesus in the New Testament as the triune God dwelling with believers (John 14:23). Augustus H. Strong describes the nature of the believer's union with Christ using five adjectives. This union is: # An organic union – in which believers become members of Christ and enjoy a mutual, reciprocal dependence on Christ for life and He on them for expression (Eph. 5:29–30). # A vital union – in which Christ operates within believers as their life and becomes the dominating principle within them (Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3–4). # A spiritual union – that is, a union originating from and sustained by the Holy Spirit in their spirit (Rom. 8:9-10; Eph 3:16–17). # An indissoluble union – that is, a union which, by virtue of Christ's eternal, divine, and incorruptible power and grace, can never be dissolved (Matt. 28:20; Rom. 8:39; Heb. 7:16). # An inscrutable union – that is, a divine and mystical union of knowledge-surpassing intimacy and value (Eph. 3:19; 5:32; Col. 1:27).

Denominational interpretations

Roman Catholic

Traditional Roman Catholic theology centres the union with Christ in a substantial sense on the unity of the institutional church, past and present. "The communion of saints is the spiritual solidarity which binds together the faithful on earth, the souls in purgatory, and the saints in heaven in the organic unity of the same mystical body under Christ its head." Christians, according to Roman Catholic theology, are united to Christ through the sacraments. Medieval conceptions of union with Christ were influenced in large part by mysticism, such as in the preaching of St. Bernard of Clairvaux. St. Bernard applied the concept of bridal love in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

to a "mystical union" with Christ, wherein Jesus was bridegroom and the worshipper/church (humanity) was His bride. In this conception, Jesus’ love for humanity was manifested in his sacrifice on the cross, something that was reenacted everyday in the Eucharist. In medieval mystical union theology, the sacrament of the Eucharist was the foremost conduit with which humanity found union with Christ. Adopting the theology put forward by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

reflects that the believer's union with Christ transcends all boundaries of time and space: believers can be "with" Christ at the hour of his redemptive sacrifice on the cross as well as united with the risen Jesus who now reigns in heaven.

Reformed

Reformed theology Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

, union with Christ is understood to be a comprehensive category that runs through the entire doctrine of Salvation. John Murray observes: "Union with Christ is a very inclusive subject. It embraces the wide span of salvation from the ultimate source in the eternal election of God to its final fruition in the glorification of the elect." Sinclair Ferguson distinguishes six categories of union with Christ. Union with Christ is federal or covenantal in the sense that Christ's obedience is accounted to believers. It is carnal or fleshly in the sense that Christ became incarnate and thus became one with humanity. Union with Christ is also a faith union in which by faith Christians depend on Christ for nourishment. It is a spiritual union because Christians are united to Christ by the agency of the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

. It is an extensive union in that Christians are united with Christ in everything he has done, including his life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and session. It is finally a union of life because Christ lives in Christians and he is visible in their lives. As a step in the order of salvation, union with Christ was seen by

John Calvin John Calvin (; ; ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French Christian theology, theologian, pastor and Protestant Reformers, reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of C ...

to be the basis for both justification and

sanctification Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

. Alister McGrath notes that while Martin Bucer suggested that justification causes (moral) regeneration, Calvin argued that "both justification and regeneration are the results of the believer's union with Christ through faith."Alister E. McGrath, ''Reformation Thought: An Introduction'' (3rd ed; Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), p. 125.

Evangelical

Some Evangelicals see union with Christ as a discrete stage in the "order of salvation". The evangelical theologian William Shedd comments "The impartation of Christ's righteousness presupposes a union with him." Robert Dabney, while avoiding deification, said that the bond of the union is the indwelling of the

Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox theology emphasizes the

incarnation Incarnation literally means ''embodied in flesh'' or ''taking on flesh''. It is the Conception (biology), conception and the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form or an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic form of a god. It is used t ...

as the starting point for our union with Christ.Baker 'Union with Christ,' p. 698. "In Christ God becomes one with us in order to make us one with him; he stooped to take our nature, in order that we might be restored to become partakers of his nature."