Union with Christ doesn’t begin after we have reached a certain point of spiritual maturity. Jesus doesn’t wait until we know Him “well enough” to unite Himself with us. Our union with Him was decreed by the Father in eternity past and is experienced by every Christian from the moment of conversion, through every scene of life, upon death, and into our eternal rest.
Focusing on Ephesians 1:3-4, Dr. John Snyder and Acey Floyd put on their thinking caps (make sure to check out the YouTube channel!) to discuss this glorious mystery. Whether you want to use the word foreknowledge, predestination, or election, the reality the duo discusses this week is like a mountain whose peaks are obscured by clouds too high for us to see clearly. We cannot understand every aspect of it. However, God has revealed enough for us to know His choosing is sourced solely in Himself.
This gracious choosing of the Father should drive us to worship Him and tell every person united to Adam to turn to Christ as their only hope.
 
Show Notes:
Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
Blog Post: https://www.mediagratiae.org/blog/union-with-christ-iii-the-origin-of-our-union
Scripture to meditate on after this podcast:
Luke 22:22
Acts 2:23
Acts 4:27-28
1 Peter 1:2
Ephesians 2:8-10
2 Timothy 1:9
John 6:37
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

The Scriptures are filled with metaphors and descriptions of the Christian’s union with Christ. Each of them expresses a different reality of that union. But even with all the words dedicated to explaining and describing that union, it still holds a mystery that escapes even the best theologians.
But the existence of the mystery should not stop us from taking our time to study, examine, and meditate on our union with Christ. In fact, it should motivate us. So this week, Dr. John Snyder and Acey Floyd spent time doing exactly that, discussing what we can know of our union with the second Person of the Trinity.
We pray this episode will lead you to a time of sweet worship and communion with our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.
Show Notes:
Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
Blog Post: https://www.mediagratiae.org/blog/union-with-christ-ii-the-nature-of-our-union

Dr. John Snyder is joined this week by Acey Floyd, co-elder of Christ Church New Albany and Media Gratiae’s Office Manager, to start a new series discussing the Christian’s union with Christ. This doctrine is central to the letters of Paul in the New Testament and should therefore be central in our lives.
Union with Christ can be seen as the central hub of the wheel that is the Christian life. If we put that hub as anything else, the wheel will become warped and our progress will be slowed.
For this first episode, John and Acey focus on the Who we are united to. We are united to the only Being in history to have two distinct natures. Jesus Christ is truly the Godman. If He is not God, as some have claimed, our union with Him would be worthless. If He is not human, as others have claimed, our union with Him would be impossible.
Show Notes:
Redemption Accomplished and Applied by John Murray
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Jeremy Walker, pastor of Maidenbower Baptist Church in Crawley, England (a town just south of London) is a long-time friend of Media Gratiae. We turn to him when we have difficult questions and value his wisdom and godliness.
Several months ago, while Jeremy was preaching in Lusaka, Zambia, he was approached by a man who was burdened for the orphans on the streets of Lusaka. This man had been seeking a way to help educate, evangelize, and disciple these children. After a short conversation, Jeremy understood the need and decided he had to become involved in the ministry himself.
Currently, The Hope Project is seeking to provide education so the children can learn to read Scripture for themselves. While meeting their spiritual needs, the team behind The Hope Project is also working to meet their physical needs.
We pray this special episode of our podcast will pique your interest, and you will begin praying for The Hope Project. If the Lord enables you to financially support the ministry, a link to where you can do that is provided below.
 
Show Notes:
Project Hope
Go Fund Me – Help the Hope Project Care for Vulnerable Children
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-the-hope-project-care-for-vulnerable-children
Learn more about The Hope Project here:
https://hopeprojectzambia.org/the-great-commission/
See more from Jeremy Walker here:
From the Heart of Spurgeon: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon
A Word in Season: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/a-word-in-season
Through the Eyes of Spurgeon: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/products/through-the-eyes-of-spurgeon-feature-edition-dvd-package

This week, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James will wrap up our series on a talk given by Hudson Taylor to several missionaries in the late 19th century. His main emphasis throughout the talk was the significance of the missionaries living a life that aligns with their teaching.
While we are focused on living consistent lives, we also have to be aware of the contradictory nature of the Christian life. But the contradictions aren’t between teaching and life. They are between what is happening to us and how we respond.
As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:8-10, “We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”
So, as we strive for consistency in our lives, let us also embrace those contradictions the Lord brings for the glory of His name and the growth of His kingdom on earth.
And if you haven’t taken the time to read Hudson Taylor’s short talk to his missionaries, let us encourage you to do so at the link below. We pray you will find it beneficial.
Show Notes:
Days of Blessing in Inland China: Being an Account of Meetings Held in the Province of Shan-Si
Digital: https://www.brethrenarchive.org/bookshelf/missionary/china/days-of-blessing-in-inland-china/
sPhysical: https://www.amazon.com/Days-Blessings-Inland-China-Meetings-ebook/dp/B00MW7YMRG
Hudson Taylor Biography
https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html
Poor Richard
https://issuu.com/omf_international/docs/poor_richard_gospel_tract#google_vignette
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

This week we continue discussing a talk Hudson Taylor gave to a group of missionaries in the late 1800s. His talk was grounded in 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 and focused on the importance of leading a life consistent with the teachings of Christ.
There is so much to highlight, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James couldn’t fit it all into one episode (or even two). So today they take a deep look at what it means to commend oneself to the world. We do not do so to bring glory to ourselves, but to show the world our message is true and can be lived upon.
There are other fruits beyond evangelism. By living in the power of Christianity before those we love, we protect them from false teachers. Heresies are not powerful enough to live upon. Only the gospel is. So if we want to teach others the true gospel and give them answers to the false teachings, we must lead holy lives.
Show Notes:
Days of Blessing in Inland China: Being an Account of Meetings Held in the Province of Shan-Si
Digtal: https://www.brethrenarchive.org/bookshelf/missionary/china/days-of-blessing-in-inland-china/
Physical: https://www.amazon.com/Days-Blessings-Inland-China-Meetings-ebook/dp/B00MW7YMRG
Hudson Taylor Biography
https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html
Poor Richard
https://issuu.com/omf_international/docs/poor_richard_gospel_tract#google_vignette
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Hudson Taylor is no stranger to anyone who has been through a Media Gratiae study. He was a pioneer missionary to inland China and founded the Inland China Mission. There is a great deal we could say about his life and ministry, but Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James wanted to spend the next two weeks walking through a particular talk Taylor gave to his missionaries in the 1880s.
The talk is recorded in “Days of Blessing in Inland China” and the story of its creation is worth noting, as John does in the podcast. But the heart of his focus is 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 where Paul is teaching that Christians do not have to rely on the same tools and deceitful approaches of the world for success. We do not have to alter the truth of the gospel to affect change. We use His means and trust His hand.
While Taylor’s talk is aimed at missionaries, his applications speak to the pastor, the Sunday school teacher, the parent, or the Christian friend witnessing to a lost soul. Because we wanted to give a brief biography of Taylor in this episode, we only get through the first major point of his talk. We will finish it next week. If you would like to read it for yourself, find the link below.
Show Notes:
Days of Blessing in Inland China: Being an Account of Meetings Held in the Province of Shan-Si
Digtal: https://www.brethrenarchive.org/bookshelf/missionary/china/days-of-blessing-in-inland-china/
Physical: https://www.amazon.com/Days-Blessings-Inland-China-Meetings-ebook/dp/B00MW7YMRG
Hudson Taylor Biography
https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html
Poor Richard
https://issuu.com/omf_international/docs/poor_richard_gospel_tract#google_vignette
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

his is the final episode of our series focusing on Christians fulfilling our responsibility to speak God’s words carefully, accurately, and timely.
We started last week looking at our ultimate example in our Lord Jesus Christ. He perfectly spoke the words the Father gave Him to speak. He spoke comforting words to the hurting, convicting words to the lost, and glorifying words to the Father. We are called to do the same.
But how was He able to do that? This week Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James look at the tools Jesus used to learn how to glorify God in His life. How did He know what would please His Father? How did He know the words to say, the path to walk? It wasn’t a mystical, magical power. He didn’t have a secret antenna through which He heard the Father speak. He had the same Scriptures, the same prayer, and the same indwelling Holy Spirit available to us. Now, He was able to study with an uncorrupted mind and heart. But He had a fully human mind and heart, the same as us. How can we know those things will be enough for us? Because God promises they will be.
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

In what was supposed to be our final episode of the current series, John and Teddy are in the studio again discussing the type of person who can be trusted with God’s words.
The conversation begins by asking how we should view conversations on the Internet. Are we commanded as Christians to answer every question we see on social media? Are we to respond to every criticism of Christianity? Or are we merely adding to the noise by doing so?
After this, John and Teddy move to the central point of the episode: following the pattern of Christ in being a person entrusted with God’s words. Jesus had the perfect word for every situation. He knew how to apply the Scriptures to every circumstance. And He spoke experientially, not from secondhand knowledge. This is an important distinction.
But is His path one that a redeemed sinner can walk? Can a believer in today’s world have such wisdom and speak such words? The answer is yes. We will not do it perfectly, but we can do it faithfully.
Though we hoped to make this the final episode, there was too much to say for a 30-minute conversation, so we decided to add one more. Next week, we will conclude the series by diving deeper into Jesus’s path and how we are to follow in His footsteps.
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
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See the new study here: https://shop.mediagratiae.org/collections/christ-our-treasure
 
We have spent the last four episodes dealing with the types of people God will and will not entrust with His words. But how can we, a fallen, weak, and sinful people know that we are capable of accomplishing the tasks or delivering the messages God has entrusted to us?
God leads His children to difficult, and even impossible, situations every day. This is nothing new. In this week’s episode, Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James come together again to share three such examples from Scripture.
God led Moses, a man of slow speech, to deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. He chose David, the leader of a weak nation, to devote materials for the building of the Temple. He chose Paul, a blasphemer and murderer, to become an Apostle and missionary to the Gentiles.
Each of these men had to ask two vital questions: Who am I? and Who is sending me to accomplish this task?
Those are the questions every Christian must ask throughout the day-to-day tasks of life. Whether we are in the midst of the mundane or overwhelmed by the impossible, we must keep in mind Who it is that sends us, and who it is we are in Him.
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app