作者： Philip Ryken 译者/校对者: Maria Marta/骆鸿铭
与基督联合是基督信仰核心的神学原理之一。这个观念遍布在新约圣经中，特别可以从「在……里」（in）这个字看出来。这个简单的介词有着深远的涵义。
信徒常被人说是在基督里：「若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人。」（林后五17） 有时候这句话会很容易被人忽略，以至于我们可能完全没有注意到，就像保罗的开场白，写给「凡住腓立比在基督耶稣里的众圣徒」（腓一1） 。但即使是这类不经意的表达，也是基于我们与基督在信心上联合的深刻属灵真理。我们之所以被称为「在基督耶稣里的圣徒」，是因为我们真实和最终的身分只能在祂里面找到：「因为你们在基督耶稣里都成为一了。」（加三28）
在其他地方，圣经教导主耶稣也在信徒里面的互惠原则：「现在活着的，不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着」（加二20 ） 。同样，保罗写到，福音的奥秘是「历世历代所隐藏的奥秘，但如今向祂的圣徒显明了。」（西一26）这荣耀的奥秘是什么呢？ 「就是基督在你们心里，成了有荣耀的盼望。」（西一27 ）
基督在我们里面，我们在基督里面。这种相互关系的两方面有时会一起出现在圣经中。例如，主耶稣在教导门徒葡萄树与枝子的比喻中——一个与基督联合的比喻——主耶稣说: 「你们要常在我里面，我也常在你们里面。」（约十五4）同样，使徒约翰描述与基督的联合是圣灵双重的居所：「从此就知道我们是住在祂里面，祂也住在我们里面。」（约壹四13）
凭着这种属灵内住的相互关系——我们与基督联合——我们领受上帝所有的救赎恩福。因着我们与基督的联合，我们不仅接受基督自己，也接受祂的恩惠。所有属于基督的就变成我们的，因为上帝「在基督里曾赐给我们天上各样属灵的福气」（弗一3）。 因此，我们看到，加尔文说，「我们的整个救恩和其所有的部分都包含在基督里面。」的确，与基督联合是福音的核心，当使徒保罗「为福音和福音的好处下定义时，他说，我们被召与主耶稣基督有分，与祂成为一体，且住在祂里面，祂也住在我们里面；我们不可分割地结合在一起。」
当加尔文思考我们怎样「领受父上帝赐予祂独生子的恩惠」时，他的回答是：我们通过与基督联合承受这些恩惠。基督必须「把自己呈现给我们，并邀请我们进入这种真正联合的关系，祂以这样的方式住在我们里面：所有属于祂的都属于我们。」 因此，加尔文将与基督联合，视为他的救恩论或是救恩教义中最主要的原则之一。
离开与基督的联合，我们就不可能有别的渠道领受上帝任何救赎的福分。除非我们和基督联合，否则连十字架和空坟墓也救不了我们。加尔文强调：
「我们必须明白，只要基督还留在我们外面，我们还是与祂分开，那么基督为人类所作、所受的一切苦难，就仍旧毫无用处，对我们没有价值。因此，基督为要把从父上帝所领受的与我们分享，祂必须变成我们的，且要住在我们里面……在另一方面，我们是被『移植到祂里面的枝子』（罗十一17 ），『要披戴祂』（加三27）；因为正如我所说，除非我们和祂连为一体，祂所拥有的一切就与我们无份。」（加尔文，《基督教要义》三.1.1）
简单地说，如果我们不是住在基督里，我们就无份于基督十架的死所成就的救赎，也无份于祂的死里复活。那么，我们就没有被称义，没得到儿子名分，不能成圣，不能得荣耀。 「我无法明白」，加尔文写到，「人怎么可能会有把握，他会拥有基督十架的救赎与公义，与祂的死所带来的生命——除非他主要依靠的是真正参与在基督自己里面。因为那些恩惠并不会自动跑到我们身上，除非基督让祂自己属于我们。」 因此，与基督联合，乃是攸关灵命生死的大事。
节选自伯克帕森斯（BURK PARSONS）着，《约翰?加尔文：对委身、教义，和赞美的热爱》（John Calvin: A Heart for
Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology）。
Union with Christ: A Matter of
Spiritual Life and Death
FROM
Philip Ryken
Union
with Christ is one of the central theological principles of the Christian
faith. Its pervasive presence in the New Testament typically is indicated by
the word in, a simple preposition with profound implications.
Believers
often are said to be in Christ: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation”
(2 Cor. 5:17). Sometimes this phrase passes by so rapidly that we may hardly
notice, as in Paul’s opening address to “the saints in Christ Jesus who are at
Philippi” (Phil. 1:1). But even such passing expressions are grounded in the
deep spiritual truth of our faith-union with Jesus Christ. The reason we are
called “saints in Christ” is because our true and ultimate identity is found in
Him: “you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).
On
other occasions, the Bible teaches the reciprocal principle that Jesus Christ
is in the believer: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me”
(Gal. 2:20). Similarly, Paul wrote of the gospel mystery that has been “hidden
for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints” (Col. 1:26). What is
this glorious mystery? “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
Christ
is in us and we are in Christ. The two sides of this mutual relationship
sometimes appear together in Scripture. For example, in teaching His disciples
about the vine and the branches—a metaphor for union with Christ—Jesus said,
“Abide in me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Similarly, the apostle John described
union with Christ as a double habitation by the Holy Spirit: “We know that we
abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit” (1 John
4:13).
By
virtue of this mutual relationship of spiritual indwelling—our union with
Christ—we receive all the saving blessings of God. In being united to Christ,
we receive not only Christ Himself, but also His benefits. What is His becomes
ours, for God “has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing” (Eph.
1:3). Thus we see, said Calvin, that “our whole salvation and all its parts are
comprehended in Christ.” Indeed, union with Christ is the heart of the gospel,
for when the apostle Paul “defines the Gospel, and the use of it, he says that
we are called to be partakers of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to be made one with
Him, and to dwell in Him, and He in us; and that we be joined together in an
inseparable bond.”
When
Calvin considered how “we receive those benefits which the Father bestowed on
his only-begotten Son,” his answer was that we receive them by our union with
Christ. Christ must “present Himself to us and invite us into such a
relationship that truly we are united to Him, that He dwells in us in such a
way that everything that belongs to Him is ours.” Thus Calvin made union with
Christ one of the controlling principles of his soteriology, or doctrine of
salvation.
Apart
from union with Christ, it is impossible to receive any of the saving blessings
of God. Not even the cross and the empty tomb can save us unless we are joined
to Jesus Christ. Calvin was emphatic:
We
must understand that as long as Christ remains outside of us, and we are
separated from him, all that he has suffered and done for the salvation of the
human race remains useless and of no value for us. Therefore, to share with us
what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within
us…. We also, in turn, are said to be “engrafted into him” [Rom. 11:17], and to
“put on Christ” [Gal. 3:27]; for, as I have said, all that he possesses is
nothing to us until we grow into one body with him.
Simply
put, if we are not in Christ, we have no part in His death on the cross to
atone for sins and no share in His resurrection from the dead. We are not
justified, adopted, sanctified, or glorified without being united to Christ. “I
do not see,” wrote Calvin, “how anyone can trust that he has redemption and
righteousness in the cross of Christ, and life in his death, unless he relies
chiefly upon a true participation in Christ himself. For those benefits would
not come to us unless Christ first made himself ours.” Union with Christ,
therefore, is nothing less than a matter of spiritual life and death.
This
excerpt is taken from John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
edited by Burk Parsons.
