Marcus Peter Johnson - One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

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Theologian Johnson is a Reformed thinker who restates for us Luthers and Calvins Bible-based insistence that union with Christ is the framing fact within which, and whereby, all the specifics of salvation reach us. His book merits careful study, for he does his job outstandingly well.

J. I. Packer, Board of Governors Professor of Theology, Regent College

Johnson has produced an excellent discussion of union with Christ. I am sure it will be consulted widely and contribute effectively to the churchs understanding of salvation.

Robert Letham, Director of Research and Senior Lecturer in Systematic and Historical Theology, Wales Evangelical School of Theology

Evangelicals certainly love Jesus, but for too long they have loved him from a distance. He is the beloved man of the Gospels who did great deeds back then, or the glorious Christ who reigns on his throne up there. Marcus Johnson puts the Savior back where he belongs: in our midst as the one to whom we are truly united. This book is a timely reminder that our union with Christ is actual, mystical, and sacramental. Are we ready for that?

Bryan Litfin, Professor of Theology, Moody Bible Institute; author of Getting to Know the Church Fathers and The Chiveis Trilogy

Inspired by the theology of John Calvin, Marcus Johnson offers up a timely and articulate manifesto on that most central of soteriological mysteries: union with Christ. Christ is beautiful, the gospel is beautiful, and at the heart of that beauty is the reality of our union with Christ by the Spirit. Johnson weaves together biblical, theological, and pastoral theology into a rich tapestry, which deserves a wide reading.

Myk Habets, Head of Carey Graduate School, Carey Baptist College, Auckland, New Zealand

This fine book rightly expounds union with Christ as the heart of Scriptures approach to the Christian life. Every aspect of Christian understanding is formed and informed by it; every aspect of faith, discipleship, and service radiates from it. Johnson reminds us that our proper preoccupation ought always to be the fostering of intimacy with Jesus Christ, who has been given to needy sinners for the sake of including them in his mercy and mission. This book will convince readers that all that the church believes, does, and aspires to coheres in our union with the One who remains the blessing, and whose including us in his life is the definitive truth of our lives.

Victor A. Shepherd, Professor of Theology, Tyndale University College and Seminary; author, Interpreting Martin Luther and The Nature and Function of Faith in the Theology of John Calvin

Thoroughly biblical, historically informed, and practically challenging, this book confronts the misconception that Christians receive the benefits of the work of Christ without taking into account that we receive the person of Christ in faith. Most helpful are Johnsons sections on how the mystery of the believers union with Christ more fully explains our justification and sanctification. This is a compelling work for those in the church and the academy, and, if you are not careful, it might just change the way you think and talk about salvation.

Nicholas Gatzke, Senior Pastor, Osterville Baptist Church, Osterville, Massachusetts

In this historically well-informed, theologically careful, and pastorally sensitive volume, Dr. Marcus Johnson seeks to remedy what he rightly calls the glaring omission of the theme of union with Christ in the soteriological understanding of the contemporary evangelical church. He convincingly demonstrates that the recovery of this central biblical theme helps us as Christians to understand better and more deeply the relation of Christs person and work, the church as the body of Christ, and the glorious unity of our salvation in Christ. I am happy to recommend this book as an important addition to the growing body of literature on this significant topic.

William B. Evans, Eunice Witherspoon Bell Younts and Willie Camp Younts Professor of Bible, Erskine College

Johnson is a master mystery writer. Chapter by chapter, he unfolds the mystery of our new life in Christ. He does not solve the mystery, but rather draws us into its wonders.

Bruce K. Modahl, Senior Pastor, Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, Illinois

Seeking the core of biblical Christianity, Marcus Johnson probes the understanding of salvation, focusing on restoring to keen awareness the reality of believers union in Christ as the essence and foundation of salvation. Among the factors he points to as contributing to the sad neglect of this essential doctrine is a too-timid fear of mystery and a too-bold confidence in reason. And, in describing his own pilgrimage, Johnson considers persuasively that our union with Christ suffers from overemphasis on the work of Christ to the detriment of his person. Likewise, strong emphasis on the legal and forensic dimensions of justification has led to weak recognition of personal and participatory categories. He pays special care to the salutary nature of the church. This book, written from the heart, speaks to the heart.

Charles Partee, P. C. Rossin Professor of Church History, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The tendency in much contemporary evangelical thought is to view salvation as if it were the reception of an abstract and objectified commodity given on account of Christ yet apart from him, as if Christ were the agent and condition of our salvation, but not that salvation itself. Marcus Johnson demonstrates that this is neither the witness of the apostles nor the confession of the Protestant Reformers, who proclaimed salvation to be a life-giving, life-transforming participation in our incarnate substitute. Immensely important and timely, this volume provides a richly textured theology of salvation couched in the only context that allows soteriology to be truly intelligible, pastoral, and doxologicalthe context constituted by the church and her sacraments.

John C. Clark, Assistant Professor of Theology, Moody Bible Institute

One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

Copyright 2013 by Marcus Peter Johnson

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street

Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Cover design: Josh Dennis

Cover image: Lucas Cranach the Elder, The Crucifixion , 1538, oil on panel

First printing 2013

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible ( The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway. 2011 Text Edition. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV 1984 are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.