 Union with Christ and Second Corinthians. And this morning, the general question is, how does the book of Second Corinthians reveal Union with Christ? I only have four major points on the handout. It could have been more. There, the places in Second Corinthians where we see in Him, in Christ, is frequent. And could have easily made a longer list. So, like with most of our studies, please don't see this as comprehensive, but somewhat representative and introductory to give you an idea of what Second Corinthians does teach on Union with Christ. And all these things can be encouragement to further study because the handout has related topics with our confession, our catechism, and also some study it for yourself questions. So, beginning this morning on an introduction in the handout, the third question under study it for yourself. There's a typo there. It says, read Second Corinthians 14 through 18. That should say, read Second Corinthians chapter six verses 14 through 18, so you'll have to add a six there. And in beginning with Second Corinthians, it's still like with First Corinthians, the church that is at Corinth. And now with this Second Corinthians, this letter that Paul has written to them, their relationship has changed some and for the better, they have repented. If you see in Second Corinthians seven, he says, for even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it, for I perceive that that same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while. I rejoice not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. Largely, the congregation has repented in reference to one of Paul's severe letter and to that severe letter that's referenced or tearful letter and he's found out about it through Timothy and now he's writing this letter, I think from Macedonia and he wants to come to them and he had a change of his plans though and that's a big deal because even though they've repented, there are still those among them, whether they are believers or not and Paul references some of them as unbelievers because he says separate from them in chapter six, but they are attacking Paul and by necessity attacking the gospel because Paul is the apostle or an apostle of the gospel. So Paul has to give a defense of his apostleship and a lot of Corinthians is revolving around that and then towards the end of Corinthians, he's focusing on exposing the false apostles or the false teachers that are instigating the predominantly current Corinthians response to him in relationship to him and ultimately to God through the gospel. So let's start with chapter one. Paul has this section here from verses three on down, I'd say to maybe 14, but he's focusing early on about being comforted and undergoing suffering. One of the accusations was that Paul suffers too much to be an apostle and that's one of the things that threads that runs through Corinthians. He says, blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ in verse three, the father of mercies and God of all comfort who comforts us in our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us so our consolation also abounds through Christ. So he's just showing there briefly, he's thanking God for those trials because God simultaneously comforts him in it for the purpose that he as an apostle might comfort others who are in trial. But moving on into verse 17, let me read verses 17 through 22 because I'm gonna start actually at 15 and I may read past 22, but I'm just read that section because this is dealing with why Paul made a change of his plans with Corinthians and the way they responded to that. So in verse 15 he says, and in this confidence I intended to come to you before that you might have a second benefit to pass by way of you to Macedonia to come again from Macedonia to you and be helped by you on my way to Judea. Therefore when I was planning this, did I do it lightly or the things I plan? Do I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no? But as God is faithful, our word to you was not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ who has preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus and Timothy was not yes and no, but in him was yes. For all the promises of God in him are yes and in him, amen, to the glory of God through us. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ has anointed us and has anointed us is God who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Moreover, I call God as witness against my soul that to spare you, I came no more to Corinth. Not that we have dominion over you, but our fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand. But I determined this within myself that I would not come again to you in sorrow. For if I make you sorrowful, then who is he who makes me glad but the one who is made sorrowful by me? Okay, this section you can see how Paul is saying in verse 17, when I was planning this that I plan it lightly or do I plan according to the flesh that with me there should be yes, yes and no, no. So they knew his original plan and context was to come to them, but he decided to not come to them. And the way that they in their hearts were being influenced by others or in and of themselves were responding to that decision change was Paul is either deceitful or he plans according to the flesh, he is has fault. And it implicates the trustworthiness of Paul's ministry. So it's a really big deal to make that accusation or to believe in that so Paul's addressing it. They're judging unrighteously and now Paul's correcting that by focusing on why he changed his plans but he doesn't just leave it there, he doesn't just say no, I don't say yes and no simultaneously. You're wrong, he could have left it there. He goes on to his message, which is really God's word to them because there's such a close link or tie between the apostle and the gospel. He's God's representative. So to undermine his character, to undermine the trustworthiness of his plans or his word is to the detriment of your soul because now you're going to interfere with your own trust in the Lord. So he goes into the gospel here and he says in 18, as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no because. So what I want you to see here in verse 18, he's focusing now on our word and then the next verse for the Son of God, Jesus Christ who was preached among you by us by me, Silvanus and Timothy was not yes and no. So verse 18, the subject of that sentence is our word, the word. In verse 19, it's the Son. The Son of God was not yes and no. The Word was not yes and no. The Son was not yes and no. And then in verse 20, for all the promises of God in him are yes and in him, amen. So there the subject is the promises. So we have the Word that they are preaching, the Son and then the promises. And since the promises of God are all yes in Christ Jesus therefore Jesus himself is not yes and no. Therefore the Word that Paul preaches is not yes and no. And you can see that Paul's concerned with their faith. He's concerned with their loyalty to Lord Jesus Christ and that being undermined by this unrighteous judgment of his change of plans. And in here we see the Word in him was yes and the promises of God in him are yes and in him, amen. That's not speaking directly of our particular union. It's referenced how you can see in the context the Son of God was not yes and no, but in him was yes. And all the promises of God are in him, yes. I think that's instrumental, like God reconciling the world through Christ. So the promises are yes through the work of Christ. He's instrumental in bringing out the fulfillment of the promises. But if we go on, we see in verse 21. Now he who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. Now we're getting directly or immediately into the application of salvation and union with Christ. Because he says, he who establishes us, that's God the Father who establishes us with you. So that's Paul and those who are with Paul, with you that's the Corinthians in Christ has anointed us and has anointed us. You see there how he's bringing out union with Christ to remind them that they're incorporated as one body, they're together. In a sense for them to doubt Paul and his decision changes and therefore his word and therefore the word of Jesus Christ and therefore the fulfillment of God's promises and all these implications for them to doubt that has an implication of on their own salvation. So he constantly through second Corinthians uses union with Christ to remind them that you are undermining your own profession. You're undermining your own salvation because God worked through the means of our apostleship. And I think he's just indirectly doing it but he is directly speaking about union with Christ, how they are established with you in Christ and has anointed us. And since he just got done saying the promises of God or yes, I believe that establishment is their establishment of being saved, established as the people of God and also his anointing or his selection from God is from God and it's in Christ. And then he goes on to talk more about who God is. It's what God is, who God is by what God has done, what has God done. He has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. So that union with Christ there is bringing out the realm or their belonging to Christ and the way in which they were established in salvation. It's in Christ. Any questions so far? Do y'all remember those terms that we've used a number of times where it's identification, incorporation and participation? All the promises are yes in him and then he says he who established us with you in Christ, he establishes us with you in Christ. What part or what term best suits that? He establishes us with you in Christ. What is the in Christ informing Paul's word here? I mean, I think probably a couple of the different ones. You know, I think participation because it speaks of them being with one another. So they're established, he established us with you, does speak to their participation together in union with Christ in union with one another. And then also I think incorporation as well because they are being established together. They're being incorporated into the body together. Amen, amen. Yeah, it doesn't have to be, and I don't want to fool anybody with the way I ask the question, but it doesn't have to be one particular category. The main point of the question is just to get you to see these themes, these nuances. Yeah, so because of union with Christ, there is a togetherness and incorporation. And because of union with Christ, there is an establishment, they're identified, but in that identification, they're participating in that salvation. All right. And let me read to you a chapter out of our confession. This is on Christ the mediator. We need to remember too, as we study union with Christ, we're largely focusing, I think I have been, on the union part. But we need to remember that it's union with Christ. The union does not have any benefits if it's not the person and work of Jesus Christ. So the more we are informed about the person of Christ, the work of Christ in our stead and on our behalf, the more we'll understand the benefits that are received by union with Him. So I wanna read to you chapter eight, verse one, because I think it's relevant for this section. It please God in His eternal purpose. See, it's God, and here's why I'm reading this. For all the promises of God the Father in Christ are yes. God makes promises beginning all the way from Genesis 315 to undo what was done in the garden and to crush the serpent's head, to bring amity, that's peace, between those who are now in enmity, to super restore what was lost. And those promises just develop throughout the biblical revelation. And all those promises are fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So that's why I'm reading this. It please God, that's the Father, in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son. According to the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest and king, head and savior of His church, the heir of all things and judge of the world, unto whom He did from all eternity give a people to be His seed and to be by Him in time, redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. God promised to redeem a people. He promised to call a people. He promised to justify a people. He promised to sanctify a people. He promises to glorify a people. And He does it all through Christ. Anybody wanna add any thoughts before we go on? All right, well, let's go to the second point. So if you'll turn to 2nd Corinthians 5, 16 through 21, I titled this Reconciliation and It's Ministry. And I think I'm gonna start a little bit higher. Let's start in 12. Cause this is still in light of the fact that Paul is giving a defense for his ministry, that they be rightly trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and the message of the gospel is not undermined by their rejection of Paul. And he says here, verse 12, for we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God or if we are of a sound mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all, then all died. And he died for all that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sinned for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Where in here can you find, through observation, a reference to union with Christ? Tyler. I think there are multiple places, but for me the most obvious one is in verse 21 with representation where it says so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Amen. Verse 21 is a good place. Any others? Verse 17, Mrs. Leah said, verse 17, so we see therefore if anyone is in Christ, amen, that's a good place too. Those are the two main ones that I have in mind. So let's take a moment though and observe these verses and compare, let's make a list. We have union with Christ and then we have, which is the new. He hits on the new there. And then we have the old, which is not in union with Christ. What are, y'all, feel free to pass the mic around and answer, but when you observe in the text, what are things associated with being in union with Christ or being new in the text? Pastor Michael. Yeah, I just wanted to point out an observation in verse 20. So usually when we think of our identification with Christ, specifically in regards to his work for us or his work on our behalf, like union kind of, union is looked at from that perspective of Christ dying on our behalf, but here it's like reversed. We are employing, Paul is employing sinners to be reconciled to God on behalf of Christ. So there is an identification between the apostle and Christ in that Paul is employing the sinner, be reconciled to God on behalf of Christ. So it's very similar to the on behalf of the on behalf of identification. Oh yeah. You know that the scriptures often speak of when Christ dying on our behalf, but here it's Paul speaking on behalf of Christ. Yeah, amen. That's very helpful. Anybody wanna, Sergio? They're trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. So there's a commissioning of, I would say bringing reconciliation to others. I see anybody else? Mr. Ron? So to clarify, the question again was in what does the newness of life bring? Yes, anything that we see in the text that's associated with being new or in union with Christ and anything in the text that we see associated with being old or not in union. Okay, so on the new side, a very important thing in chapter or sorry, in verse 18, we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Amen. I'll add another one here on the new. He says in verse 17, if anyone is in Christ, then he is a new creation and I know it's up here, but we are a new creation. You can go up too. If you look, there's some contrasts up in verse 15 that those who live, he died and he died for all, then all died and he died for all for this purpose. That those who live should no longer live for themselves so they don't live for themselves, live not for self. And on the other side, that's what those who are in the old or not in union with Christ, they live for self. Also, what's this death here? He died, that if one died for all, then all died. And he died for all. So when they die, what is that death? I would say death to sin. Death to sin. Death to sin, yeah. Death to, and we use those terms that are helpful to remind us of where we are and redemptive history. Peasants of sin, but death to the power. And that means that if you're over here, you're, he says, old things. If you're in Adam and the old things, not in union with Christ, then you're alive to the power of sin. Also, we could talk about the condemnation of sin. If you go down to verse 21 or 20 and 21, I'll just say 21. He made him who knew no sin to be sinned for us. So being in union with Christ means that you have Christ receiving, and I know that this particular union is very broad. And when it comes to our spiritual union with Christ, our being given faith by regeneration and repenting that entering into that union with Christ has begun there. However, through representation in the covenant of redemption and the new covenant, Christ was representing us. Our sins were credited to him and that's what Paul's bringing out. So union with Christ encapsulates as a broader doctrine, even the work of Christ before its application. But we just need to be careful with our distinctions because Christ, we need to be careful to avoid eternal justification. There's some people who believe that we never were in a non-justified state. We were always in a justified state. But no, we're not justified through the means of faith that we put in Christ. Are we declared righteous and have the righteous works of Christ in application of that salvation credited to us? But in a broader umbrella of union with Christ, because the Bible talks about how we were chosen in him before the foundation of the world, we have representation. And in that representation, we have Christ having our sins. I was just gonna add a couple of things. I don't wanna get off topic justification, but so when Paul talks about new creation, usually he's talking about in reference to like new man and putting off the old man. And then also, so it's death to our old self, it's death to the old man, or the old creation because now we're a new creation in Christ. And then also in verse 15, he says, well, it's true, the first part says that we no longer live for ourselves, but the contrast in verse 15, but for him. So we live not for ourselves, but we live for Christ. Amen. So we could say, not only did they live, not only did we and those who do not in union with Christ once live for ourselves, but on the negative side, they do not live for Christ. That's, and if you see somebody not living for Christ and you tell them on the basis of what the Bible says that you're not living for Christ, that by necessity means you're living for yourself. You might not think of it that way and might not even wanna hear that, but as a doctor who cares for his patient, that's necessary for you to hear because you will not see your need for this if you think that you're living, not living for yourself. It's 518, as we consider union with Christ, it says now all these things are from God. So apart from him, we don't become partakers of any of these things. Yeah. So it's just very beautiful. So it's all from God. Okay. That's just to go through an exercise because you can do this on your own when you come across texts that you recognize are dealing with union with Christ to get more familiarity and more comfort with what union with Christ is speaking of back here in the back. At what stage or what point of your life you change from the old man to the new man? When does that happen? When does that transition take place? Yeah, amen. That's a really good question. Let's look at a classic text on that. Let's go to Ephesians 2. It's just to start. I'm sure there's other texts and if someone else would like to add after we read this, feel free. But Ephesians 2 verse one, we see what it was like before salvation and then we see what happens in salvation and we see not necessarily with the context of the Ephesians the what happened, when it happened, I should say when, but it does say what? So if we look here and you, he made alive who were dead in trespasses in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. And we're by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even there's a win, when we were dead in trespasses and sins made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And then also, so to point out there, you were dead, a dead man cannot respond. He does not have the power or capacity to respond to the living. But God does the supernatural. He does the impossible. With men it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. And what does God do? He takes a dead sinner and makes them alive together with Christ. And that's another term for that is the doctrine of regeneration or born again. Born again is not something that you determine where I choose today to get baptized in water. And because I'm choosing this on my own, I know that when I go into the water, God is required by me and my work to give me his spirit and to give me a new heart. And then when I come out of the water, I know it will be true because I chose that time. It says here, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins, he made us alive. If someone's choosing to be baptized in water and then they choose and they are thinking it's in this right, this ritual that I'm going to receive the spirit, there's something within them they believe and in their mind and in their heart that makes them see the glory of God and the need of him and is good in and of itself that it's choosing God. And someone that's in that state, if you think that way, you don't think of yourself as being dead and unresponsive to God. You think of yourself as responding to God and that my response precedes God's making me alive and giving me the spirit. So when I go into the water, I've already chosen God. I'm not dead in my sins. And then in the midst of the water, God gives me his spirit. And that's false because this text says even when we were dead, when did he make believers alive when they were dead in their sins? So it can't be by a choice of the man. If you go to John one and I use baptism because I think most of us would see that obvious nature of the foolishness of that thinking but now apply that same thinking to a sinner's prayer. When are they made alive? When are they born again? And what is born again? Some people believe that born again is simply a change of my life in and of my own strength to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And once I choose that and say this prayer, God gives me his spirit and they misunderstand what that means when they receive the spirit. And therefore I'm saved. Again, like with the baptism, that person does not believe themselves to be dead in trespasses and sins. Because if you ask them, how did you receive the spirit? They'll say, because I prayed. Well, that means your prayer preceded your receiving of the spirit. Your being made alive followed your choice. But the Bible does not teach that. The Bible says when you were dead in your sins and trespasses, he made us alive. And then look at John one. Let's see, verse 12. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God. This reception here is salvific. So as many as received him, that means they put their faith in him. They had saving faith, repentance and faith in Christ. As many as salvifically believed in him. To them he gave the right to become the adopted children of God. And who are these people? They are those who believe in his name, okay? Well, tell us more about these people. They were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Yes, sir. Can you explain Romans six, four and five, please? Yeah, I don't mind going there in a second. We'll go there. And that's, I hope that it will be helpful. But before we go there, let's set that aside for a moment and see if we can see what this is saying. One of the dangers and being too hasty to jump around in the Bible with what we think are refuting things that we're hearing is that we never rightly understand what we hear. So do we rightly understand this text? Because we know that although many verses and many books comprise this Bible, it's one author, it's God, and it's in contradictory. So if we rightly interpret and understand one part of the Bible, in no way will the Bible ever counter that. And that theology can help govern interpretation of other texts. So let's do some exegesis here, but as many as received him. And in context, John's beginning with the eternal word, he's talking about Jesus, the word was with God. The word was God and nothing was made that was made in verse three. But then he goes on in verse 10, he was in the world, that's Jesus, the Son of God, the word was in the world and the world was made through him and the world did not know him. So he was in the world, that's the incarnation, the Son of God came from heaven and took on flesh and came into the world to mankind. And it was that same world that he made and the world did not know him. Now they knew what he said when he was here, but what they mean by he did not know him and the Bible, that word no carries different meanings and it's talking about salvific. The world did not know him, they did not trust in him, they denied him and he goes on to show that he came to his own and I believe that's speaking of the Jews, even in the side texts it says his own people and Jesus in his ministry would say, I'm here to minister to Judea or to Jerusalem or to Israel when a Gentile would come, he would say that and then they would say, well, even the dogs gather, eat crumbs off the table, basically I know I'm not a Jew but have mercy and he showed mercy, but in that text you can see that the Lord's focus, Jesus when he was here was to minister to the children of Abraham. He came to his own and his own did not receive him. So what did the Jews do to him? They crucified him, but as many as received him, whether Jew or Gentile and that salvific reception that's talking about did not know him, well they knew him because they received him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. So there's this adoption that comes logically along with receiving him and to those who believe in his name. So he gave the right to become children of God and to be more clear it's those who believe in his name. That's why I'm saying as many as received him as salvific because here it's saying believed in his name. And look at this relative clause that comes after it. What this is telling us about the nature of their salvation. Who were born, not of blood. So would you thought about their salvation as I'm a child physically of Abraham. I have the blood of Israel. I can track my genealogy back to Abraham. Therefore the promises of God for eternal salvation apply to me and what John's saying is those who believe in his name, they were born but I'm not talking about them being born of blood. That's not what is true that makes them saved. It's not their genealogy. There is a lot of Jews that went to the grave rejecting Christ. And Jesus said if I am the way, the truth and the life no one comes to the Father but through me. And they were born not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man. And these wills is the will of either the person or of others. But the point is that it doesn't matter if it's my dad, me, my wife, it doesn't matter. Anybody's will does not determine my birth in Christ. It's they were born of God. And that runs a lot of counter to decisional regeneration. Some people believe that they are born again by making a choice, their own will. They choose but very clearly here, how were they born? Not of blood, not of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. So Romans six, I have to probably pick this up with you after cause I wanna summarize for the lesson and we have less than five minutes. This is in primarily a doctrinal section of Romans because in Romans 12, Paul shifts to a practice of the gospel, but Romans one through 11, he's focused on primarily the doctrine of the gospel. And in chapter six, he says, what shall we say then? Shall we continue and sin that grace may abound? Meganoita, certainly not. How shall we who die to sin live any longer in it? So he does this very orderly in Romans. He introduces a question and then he proceeds to answer it. And it helps to demarcate a section that's focused on one topic. And the question is the largest indicator of what everything he's about to say is focused on. It helps govern interpretation and does not get carried away with ideas. What is the focus here? Shall we continue and sin that grace may abound? No, so there's an accusation when someone learns that chapter five more of the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life. So Paul's saying that the fact that we sinned and it abounded by the law and then was overcome by Christ only serves to highlight the grace of God in Christ. And when somebody learns that rightly from Paul, they say, well, Paul, you're saying that let's continue to sin that God's grace may abound. And he says, absolutely not. And then he gives an argument why that thinking's faulty. He says, how shall we who died to what? To sin live any longer in it. Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death. That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Look at the next. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we are no longer slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. So here in verse seven, there's this theme of death. He says died, likeness of his death, and then raised. And baptism is, there are some who interpret this as water baptism. But does the Bible ever use the word baptism to reference something other than water baptism? Yes it does. And here this is not a reference to anything related to water. It's all related to our being dead, our becoming dead in Christ, dying with him. For if we die with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him knowing that Christ having been raised from the dead dies no more. And we could talk about it more after and show you where the Bible doesn't always reference water when it speaks of baptism, keep it in context. It's foreign to think that Paul would only now through all these chapters reference water baptism and not do it through the remainder of the chapters when he's so heavily focused on the nature of the gospel. It doesn't cohere with chapter four or three about how we're justified by faith alone. It runs against what Paul teaches in Romans three and four. So it doesn't fit in context and we are then needing to think about ways in which Paul uses the word baptized to reference other things. So let's, in the handout, the separation from believers, if you'll go to your study questions and do that, you'll get a good grasp of it. And then the evidence of salvation in 2 Corinthians 13, Paul's telling them to test themselves because he wants them to see that they're in Christ. And when they see that they're in Christ, they have to by necessity see that that salvation came by the means of his ministry. And when they say, yes, I have a new heart, I'm a new creation. These things are true of me. Wait a minute, God used Paul to do that. Therefore, I can't deny Paul. So that's kind of his argument in 1st, 2 Corinthians 13 because he expects them to test themselves and to affirm that they are believers for the purpose that it would vindicate his ministry and renew their relationship and purge out this leaven of thought that these false apostles are putting in their heads. Who, let's pray. Our gracious Father, we thank you for the lesson and we praise you for union with Christ. I pray that the study would continue to bear fruit and that our understanding of this union would grow, help us to be faithful to your word. And when we get into theology to give it clearly so that our understanding is well informed and I praise you, Lord. Amen.