All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.
In the Confession's last chapter we saw how Christ is the head of the church. This paragraph takes up the subject of how this relationship is made manifest.
Our union with Christ can be looked at in three ways:
1. A representative union. Read Romans 5:15-21. Just as Adam was the representative head of the human race (in whom we all fell), so Christ is the representative head of the people of God. These two groups are not identical; some interpreters have misread Paul's statements in this passage to just this effect.
2. A vital union. Three passages are helpful here: John 15:1-6, Ephesians 5:22-27, and 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 and 27. We have a living or organic union with Christ, illustrated by the concepts of the vine and the branches, the bridegroom and the bride, and the head and the body.
3. A mystical union. See Ephesians 5:32. This union with Christ is known by us only through revelation. It is not something we can see, and we can't understand it apart from God's explanation.
Tomorrow: The mechaniscs of the relationship.
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