Daily Reading: Complete In Him

I continue my study of Michael P.V. Barrett's "Complete In Him" in chapter 5...

Chapter 5: Union with Christ (The Security of the Gospel)

"To them [His saints] God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27, ESV)

"For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority." (Colossians 2:9-10, ESV)

We should find our complete satisfaction in Christ. We have been filled with the supreme One... this is no mere fascination; it is consumption. We should be consumed and overwhelmed with Jesus.

"For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:3, ESV)

"Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us." (1 John 3:24, ESV)

"...we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit." (1 John 4:13, ESV)

"regardless of our personal failures, imperfections, and sins, the merit of Jesus Christ encompasses and subsumes all of our service to Him." (p. 94)

IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS

"The fact that our personal behavior neither adds to nor distracts from our acceptance before God in Christ is not license to sin or reason to abandon the pursuit of personal purity... Right thinking about the gospel produces right living in the gospel." (p. 95)

United to Christ Representatively

"Christ is the federal, covenant or representative Head of His people... [He] stands as our legal representative before God" (p. 96)

Adam; a representative man...

"For as in Adam all die..." (1 Corinthians 15:22a, KJV)

"Man needed a new representative who could and woul fulfill the requirements for life. God appointed His Son to that position. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One divinely chosen and qualified to be the Savior of sinners." (p. 96)

"...even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22b, KJV)

"In His Incarnation, the eternal Son of God partook of the same flesh and bloof as those He came to represent—His brethren, the children given to Him." (p. 97)

"For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, Saying, 'I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.' And again, 'I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." (Hebrews 2:11-14), KJV)

Psalm 8...

"a messianic song highlighting the greatness and grace of God and pointing to the Lord Jesus as the only means by which fallen man can come to the enjoyment and experience of the priveleged rank God assigned to man in creation." (p. 97)

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:4-6, KJV)

"The first word for 'man' emphasizes man's fr,ailty and mortality. The second expression, 'son of man' (Adam), also underscores man's inherent weakness and insignificance as earthy." (p. 97)

1 Corinthians 15...

"The apostle speaks of a man ('the last Adam', 'the second man') who, unlike the first man, honorably and unfailingly fulfilled the high station God intended for mankind." (p. 97)

"And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:45-47, KJV)

"the Seconf Person of the Eternal Trinity was temporarily diminished to a position lower than that of the angels [Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7] in order to perform the necessary obedience to merit and restore life to the race of which He was the Head." (p, 98)

"And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." (1 Corinthians 15:49, KJV)

Romans 5...

"unquestionably the most explicit bible exposition contrasting the corporate effect of Adam's disobedience with the corporate effect of Christ's obedience... God's just imputation of our guilt to Christ and His equally just imputation of Christ's righteousness to us are righteously legal acts because Christ is our covenant Head, our representative." (p. 98)

"I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages..." (Isaiah 49:8b, KJV) [see also Isaiah 42:6]

United to Christ Mystically

Mystical Theology: "Spiritual truth that surpasses human comprehension because of the transcendence of its nature and significance..." (p. 99)

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matthew 28:19-20, KJV)

A Spiritual Union

"That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love..." (Ephesians 3:17, KJV)

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." (Colossians 2:12, KJV)

"And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:20-22, KJV)

"As evidence that we have the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit not only that we are the children of God, but also that we share with Christ everything from His sufferings to His glorification (Romans 8:16-17)." (p. 101) [see also Romans 8:9]

A Spiriual Communion

Union with Chris's Death

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, KJV)

"Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Romans 6:4-6 KJV)

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead" (2 Corinthians 5:14, KJV)

Colossians 3...

"For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (v. 3)

"Mortify therefore your members..." (v. 5a)

"put on the new man..." (v. 10b)

Union of Christ's Resurrection

"By His death, our Savior 'abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel' (2 Timothy 1:10, KJV)." (p. 103)

"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:5-6, KJV)

"For if [since] we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection... Now if [since] we be dead [died] with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him" (Romans 6:5, 8, KJV)

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses" (Colossians 2:12-13, KJV)

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1, KJV) [see also John 14:19-20]

"It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him" ( 2 Timothy 2:11, KJV)

"And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." (Romans 8:17, KJV) [see also 2 Timothy 2:12]

Colossians 3...

1. "We are to seek the things that are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God." (p. 104)

2. "We are to set our affections on things above.

Union with Christ's Session

"As part of His earned exaltation, after His resurrection He ascended into heaven and took His seat of honor at the right hand of His Father... inexplicably yet absolutely, so did we." (p. 104-105)

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3, KJV)

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us... hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4, 6, KJV)

"WE OUGHT NOT TO LIVE ANY PART OF OUR LIFE HERE WITHOUT THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT WE ARE IN REALITY THERE." (p. 105

That is all for this week's edition of Daily Reading... Have a great week, worship well... Soli Deo Gloria!

Links...

"Beginning at Moses" (Michael P.V. Barrett's book on Christ in the OT)

Election (an article by B.B. Warfield)

The Principle of Imputation (a sermon/lecture by Phil Johnson)