Union with Christ is a spiritual union, not one merely that is declared or imputed, such as justification. Mystical, real, and spiritual union with the Lord Jesus occurs when one is “in Christ.” 

Thomas Manton began his exposition of Romans 8 by telling his hearers “what condemnation importeth.” The world stands under condemnation because of sin—that black backdrop has made this chapter’s “No condemnation!” all the more precious to the believer. Manton next turns the reader’s attention to union with Christ as the means by which “exemption from condemnation” occurs in the life of the sinner. The sinner becomes a saint through union with Christ.
Extolling the benefits of “no condemnation,” Manton reminds his hearers that these benefits are only for those who are in union with Christ. “This privilege is the portion of those that are in Christ (Works of Thomas Manton, 11.388).” The Westminster Shorter Catechism, written by the Westminster assembly, of which Manton was a clerk, wrote, “How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?” The answer they gave is, “The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling (WSC, 30).” Manton knew that union with Christ was central to the benefits described in this chapter.
“Late Cavils”
Confusion over union with Christ is not new to our day. Hearing objections and disagreements over how this union occurs became common in the theological milieu of Manton’s social context. Manton said,
I shall here show you what it is to be in Christ…the phrase noteth union with him. There is certainly a real, but spiritual union between Christ and his members… But late cavils make it necessary to speak a little more to that argument (The Works of Manton, 11.389).
“Real” and “spiritual” union is central to the relationship with Christ in the union theology of Thomas Manton, but these ideas were pushed against in his time. “Late cavils” references current disruptions and objections to biblical truth surrounding the doctrine of union with Christ.[1] Manton described the greatest of these cavils as those propounding “political” union.
According to Manton, union with Christ “is more than a relation to Christ as a political head.” Manton was not the only one concerned about the “late cavil” of political union. John Owen, a colleague of Manton’s in the chaplaincy of Cromwell, also saw political union as a threat to the union with Christ taught in Scripture. Owen wrote:
That there is such a union between Christ and believers is the faith of the catholic church, and has been so in all ages. Those who seem in our days to deny it, or question it, either know not what they say, or their minds are influenced by their doctrine who deny the divine persons of the Son and of the Spirit. Upon supposition of this union, reason will grant the imputation pleaded for to be reasonable; at least, that there is such a peculiar ground for it as is not to be exemplified in any things natural or political among men (Works of John Owen, Justification, 5:209).
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Written by Michael F. Bird |
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is striking in how it exemplifies Jesus’ overall mission and message. For Williams, Jesus was more than a religious talent and literary master. His teaching was part of a messianic career, climaxing in his death and resurrection, a career that was part of the story of God’s plan to create and renew the world. As Williams suggests, Jesus’ genius if rooted in both his identity and his origin: he came from God and he is God. 

It’s wrong to reduce Jesus to a moral teacher or mere philosopher. Jesus was not a wordsmith selling word salads, nor a crank peddling new ideas, nor a sophist showing off his rhetorical verve, nor an intellectual establishing his own academy à la Plato. Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, even “Immanuel.” Be that as it may, while Jesus is more than a teacher, he is certainly no less than one, and his teaching remains poignant, powerful, and challenging even today. This is where The Surprising Genius of Genius: What the Gospels Reveal About the Greatest Teacher by Peter J. Williams comes in. Williams’ thesis is that Jesus is just as much a genius as Aristotle, Mozart, or Einstein. Jesus’ teaching contains “impressive factual knowledge” along with an “impressive depth of insight, coherence, and simplicity.” For Williams, the Christian revolution that rocked the Roman world and birthed western civilization goes back to the “genius” of Jesus.
Williams takes as Exhibit A Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11–32. The genius of Jesus is evident, claims Williams, by virtue of three things found here. First, the sheer cleverness of the parable itself. It’s the third of three parables about lost things: lost sheep, a lost coin, and then a lost son. These parables serve to defend why Jesus dines with the “deplorables,” sinners, and tax collectors, much to the consternation and disapproval of the Pharisees and scribes. Williams points out that the story is both brief and beautiful, creates tension, and mentions family, a farm, famine, pigs, poverty, and a fattened calf. The ingratitude and indulgence of the younger son makes us angry; we’re then shocked and surprised by the mercy of his father, and even sympathetic to the anger and jealousy of the older son. Yet, as Williams notes, the story is not really about the prodigal but about the older son, because he, just like the Pharisees and scribes, refuses to join the celebration that someone lost has been found, as in Jesus’ fellowship with sinners. The lost son’s redemption is not the main point; he is but a prop to show the hard-heartedness of Jesus’ critics, who think they possess “a greater share of God’s favor”—a brilliant narrative bait and switch.
Second, the parable alludes to and echoes various Old Testament stories. Jesus was no trained scribe, but he was able to weave in allusions and echoes of the Old Testament in ways that might have impressed even the “experts.” In particular, Jesus’ parable rehearses many themes and key motifs from the Book of Genesis. To begin with, there are a number of OT characters who had two sons, most notably Isaac (Esau and Jacob).
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We should all admire Kirk Cameron’s principled, brave outspokenness. He’s willing to use his platform and his celebrity to advance biblical truth. We should be cheering him on. Actors are trained to play to a crowd and seek the applause of their public, but it’s clear that the kid we once knew as “Mike Seaver” in Growing Pains is laser-focused on using his time to bring honor and glory to God, and Him alone.

Christian evangelist and ‘80s heartthrob actor Kirk Cameron was trending on Twitter on Tuesday, as critics pounced on comments he made ahead of the release of his new movie, “The Homeschool Awakening.”
“The problem is that public school systems have become so bad. It’s sad to say they’re doing more for grooming, for sexual chaos and the progressive left than any real educating about the things that most of us want to teach our kids,” he said in a recent interview.
Cameron called out “those who are rotting out the minds and souls of America’s children” and suggested they were “spreading a terminal disease, not education.”
“And you can take your pick. Just go down the list. The things that are destroying the family, destroying the church, destroying love for our great country: critical race theory, teaching kids to pick their pronouns and decide whether they want to be a boy or a girl, The 1619 Project,” he said.
He continued:
“If we send our children to Rome to be educated, we shouldn’t be surprised if they come back Romans. If we want them to love God and love their neighbor and feel gratitude and thankful that they live in the United States of America, the freest country on earth, then you’ve got to teach them those things. I realized that there was no better way for our family to do that than to bring them home and join in with this rich, robust community, with tons of curriculum to be able to have the flexibility and freedom to raise our kids the way we wanted them to be raised.”
Cue the Twitter dumpster fire.
Antagonists responded in a flurry of thousands of profane and rude tweets, attacking Cameron’s devout Christian faith and beliefs, his socially conservative views, his acting abilities and, not surprisingly, homeschooling itself.
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