Federal, vital, and ritual
From the course notes for Bull’s Bible School.
Just as there is a general call in the Gospel and a special calling for Christians and Christian leaders, so also there is a general relationship with Christ as the ruler of the nations (covenant) and a special relationship between Christ and those who are born again (communion). The relationship between these two is like that between the field and the harvest.
Federal union
The general relationship is referred to as a “federal union,” and it means that all people are under the rule of Christ. This includes believers and unbelievers.
The English word federal comes from the Latin word for a league or a covenant. Christ is the head of the New Covenant, so every human being has a lawful obligation to Him. He is the King of Kings, which means that each individual, including every human ruler, is ultimately subject to His throne.
Just as Adam was the legal representative of all mankind, so now Christ is the legal representative of all mankind (1 Corinthians 15:22). He is not only the final judge of all people, but His current ministry of mediation is what withholds immediate judgment from those who are the enemies of God (Matthew 5:45). Just as the sacrifices in the Old Testament held back the wrath of God, so also now it is Christ in heaven whose shed blood holds back that wrath until the Gospel’s work in the world is complete.
“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
Some Christians believe that only those who are baptized are “in covenant” with God, but this is a misunderstanding. They have confused the general relationship, which is merely one of natural life and law (covenant) with the special relationship (communion), which is one of spiritual life and love.
The reason for the confusion is that God made a special covenant with the nation of Israel, but for that nation it was general or federal in nature. Not every Israelite was a believer. For those Jews who did not believe, it was a only relationship of law (covenant). But those Jews who did believe entered into a relationship of love with God (communion). The prime example of this is the faith of Jacob in contrast to the unbelief of his brother Esau (Romans 9:1-13).
What many do not realize is that even while the covenant with Israel existed, the other nations were still in covenant with God, but under the pre-existing covenant with Noah. So Israel’s covenant was made primary, and the Noahic order became secondary. God would generally overlook the sins of the nations while Israel represented them before His throne.
So the covenant with the Jewish people was a temporary miniature of the greater and general covenant with the world made with Noah. The Abrahamic model existed inside the global reality.
Israel had a special ministry for God as a nation, which means that a Gentile believer did not have to become a Jew just because he or she was a believer. Prominent Old Testament examples of believing Gentiles are Melchizedek the king of Jerusalem, the Pharaoh whom Joseph converted, Jethro the priest-king of Midian, Hiram of Tyre who helped Solomon build the Temple, Naaman the Syrian, and even King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. They all understood that the people of Israel had a special ministry on their behalf. There was no need for a Gentile to become an Israelite and join the nation unless they wanted to marry an Israelite. But any Gentile was free to do so, and faithful Ruth is a wonderful example.
Before Christ came, there were four kinds of people:
| GENERAL COVENANT (Noahic) | SPECIAL COVENANT (Abrahamic) |
| 1 Gentile believer – a spiritual man (like Hiram) General/federal: Noahic covenant Special/vital: spiritual communion with God | 3 Jewish believer – a spiritual man (like Jacob) General/federal: Abrahamic covenant Special/vital: spiritual communion with God |
| 2 Gentile unbeliever – a natural man (like Goliath) General/federal: Noahic covenant Special/vital: NO spiritual communion with God | 4 Jewish unbeliever – a natural man (like Esau) General/federal: Abrahamic covenant Special/vital: NO spiritual communion with God |
When God judged Israel under Assyria and Babylon, the natural branches (unbelieving Jews) were cut off under the curses of the Law. This “pruning” within the “special” covenant purified the nation, ensuring that the promises made to Abraham could be fulfilled.
This fourfold classification of people is the reason why Jesus could shame the lack of faith in unbelieving Jews (4) with His references to believing Gentiles (1) such as the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-28), the widow of Sidon, and Naaman the Syrian (Luke 4:20-30). The unbelieving Jews might have been sons of Abraham, but in their unbelief they were not Sons of God.
“And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3:9-10)
They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did…” (John 8:39)
But when Jesus died on the cross, He removed the wall that divided Jews and Gentiles (Ephesians 2:11-22). There is no longer a physical nation mediating for the other nations and shielding them from direct accountability to God. There is no longer an ethnic divide, only a spiritual one—between unbelievers (federal union) and believers (vital union).
Jesus fulfilled the continual Old Testament sacrifices with His once-for-all offering, making the role of Israel and its priesthood redundant. As a result, there is no longer any national or ethnic division. The believers are blessed and the unbelievers are cursed, yet all are subject to the same covenant.
The people of Israel received special obligations and special promises, special curses and special blessings, that the Gentiles did not. But now everybody on earth is subject to exactly the same obligations, promises, curses, and blessings, regardless of nationality, ethnicity, or family heredity. So the New Covenant is universal, like the covenant with Noah was. All are called to repent and believe, and all are promised eternal life.
An example that clarifies this reality is the fact that those who were inside Noah’s ark and those who were outside of it were all in the same covenant. Likewise, the New Jerusalem is a spiritual city that has walls and gates, but those inside it for salvation (vital union) and those outside for destruction are in the same covenant (federal union).
Vital union
The special relationship or “vital union” is that which exists because Christ, by the Spirit, indwells each believer. This connection makes a believer “one spirit” with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:17).
Jesus’ general ministry maintains natural life on earth for all people (generations), but only the believer has the supernatural gift of eternal life (regeneration). There is no spiritual life, and no eternal life, without the indwelling Spirit of Christ.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
Jesus described this living union as that between a branch and the vine that bears it (John 15:1-6). The vine has life in itself but the branch does not. The vine is the source of life, so if the branch is not connected to the vine it dies.
This was the lesson of the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. The man was not immortal. This does not mean that he would definitely die, but that he was not created with life in himself. He was not independent of God, but dependent upon God for physical life. Likewise, since God provides our food, if there is no food in us, then we fade and die.
Obviously, the two trees in the Garden were not normal food. They represented man’s relationship to God (the Tree of Life: submission and dependence), and man’s relationship to the world (the Tree of Wisdom: dominion and authority). Adam cut himself off from God by claiming his independence from God. He became a branch that was disconnected from the true vine. It was only through God’s mercy that Adam’s physical life—and his physical fruit (offspring)—was rescued. But he became spiritually fruitless.
This explains why the believer is spoken of as partaking of Christ as food and drink (John 6:53-58; 1 Corinthians 10:16) and partaking of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The believer is not one who has eternal life in himself, but only as a branch connected to the vine of Christ.
And even Christ Himself is only independent because he is dependent. He is the source of our life because He is connected to the Father.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (John 5:26)
Scripture speaks of Christ as being in the believer (Romans 8:10; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1:27). Jesus declared that both He and the Father dwell in the believer (John 14:23).
However, just as Christ indwells the believer by the Spirit, like the glory of the Lord that inhabited the Tabernacle and the Temple, so also the believer is said to be “in Christ.” Paul writes of believers as being in Christ (Romans 6:11; 8:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 2:11) and John employs similar terminology (1 John 2:6; 4:13).
So there is a mutual indwelling, and this was first announced by Jesus to His disciples in the upper room.
“In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20)
A mutual indwelling is necessary because Jesus’ role as the mediator between God and men works in two directions—from God to Man and from Man to God:
- a) As the Son of God (the second Person of the Trinity), He legally represents the Father to us. In this regard, we have life because He is in us. The direction of this action is from heaven to earth. This is like Moses speaking God’s words to Israel.
- b) As the Son of Man (descended from Adam), He legally represents Man before God as our advocate. In this regard, we are protected from eternal death because we are in Him. The direction of this action is from earth to heaven. This is like Moses interceding for Israel before God.
Besides the union of branch and vine in John 15:1-6, Scripture employs various other figures to illustrate the vital union of believers with Christ.
Regarding the union between Christ and the Church, Paul mentions the organic union of the head and the body (Ephesians 1:22-23; 4:11-16). The head rules and directs the body, and the body carries out the work of the head in the world (1 Corinthians 12:12).
In addition, He compares the relationship to that between a husband and wife (Ephesians 5:23-32), stating that they are “one flesh.” An individual has Christ as his master, but the Church, as a body of believers, is the Lord’s bride (Revelation 21:9-10).
Other Scriptural figures include a building and its foundation (Ephesians 2:20; Colossians 2:7; 1 Peter 2:4), and a shepherd and his sheep (John 10:1-18; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25).
These figures all contribute to an understanding of the nature of the relationship between Christ and those who are regenerate. Importantly, it prevents us from falling into extremes in either direction:
- a) This mutual indwelling does not erase the distinction between Christ and the believer. The life is shared, the participants become “one,” and are identified with each other, yet they remain separate, identifiable individuals.
- b) This mutual indwelling is not merely a moral or intellectual influence. There is an actual spiritual interpenetration of the participants.
However, there are further aspects to our vital union with Christ that the imagery of these natural unions does not express.
- a) This union was predestined (Ephesians 1:4). God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
- b) This union is vital (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3). The life of Christ is now the life of the believer.
- c) This union is spiritual (1 Corinthians 6:17; Romans 8:9, Ephesians 3:16). God has pictured it for us in natural things, but it is supernatural.
- d) This union is inscrutable (Ephesians 5:32; Colossians 1:27). It is a mystery whose meaning is impossible to understand or interpret without it being revealed to us by the Spirit.
- e) This union is indissoluble (John 10:28; Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can separate us from Christ.
Important truths are related to the believer’s union with Christ. The believer is identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11; Colossians 3:1), His ascension (Ephesians 2:6), His reign (2 Timothy 2:12), and His glory (Romans 8:17). This means that God has counted or reckoned the believer as part of Christ. As a result, He has bestowed, and will bestow, the benefits of all these things upon each believer.
Vital union and ritual union
1 Corinthians 6:17 says that whoever is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him, but it does not say how one is joined.
Paul speaks of having become united with Christ in His death by the rite of baptism.
We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:4-5)
Jesus said that those who did not eat His flesh and drink His blood had no life in them. And the disciples were united to Christ in the rite of communion, by partaking of His body and blood in the bread and wine (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
However, while many Christians believe that union with Christ depends upon these rites, the Scriptures are clear that hearing the Gospel, repenting, and believing, must precede participation in them. And in every instance, such participation is voluntary.
Some focus only on what God does in baptism and communion as if these are entirely a work of God, and can be received completely objectively, such as by an infant who does not understand what is happening.
But these rites were given to demonstrate that the will of God and the will of the believer, although distinct, have “become one.” Baptism is a both work of God upon a believer and a submission to God by the believer. Like Jesus who submitted to will of the Father “even unto death” (Luke 22:42; Philippians 2:8), the believer submits his will to the will God.
How, then, are we to understand the “union” that comes via baptism and the Lord’s table if there has already been a change of heart in those who receive these rites?
The answer is found in the rites that were carried out in the Old Testament. The work of the Word of God is carried out invisibly in the hearts of men, but this invisible transformation was to be demonstrated visibly in a symbolic way. Israel was already separated from the Egyptians in Egypt by its obedience to the Lord at Passover before the nation was separated from the Egyptians armies by the Red Sea. So also a believer is first regenerated and united to Christ in heaven by obedient faith, then the believer is publicly united to Christ on earth in baptism.
The key to this two-part testimony is the factor of “word-and-response.” By the Gospel, the Lord has called the believer (Word), and this results in a renewed heart. With this new heart, the believer voluntarily submits to the authority of the Church, which represents the authority of heaven on earth (response). By this means, the believer is first united to the head (in heaven), and then united to the body (on earth). As with a normal, natural human birth, this process of being “born again” happens “head first.”
Baptism is a legal rite carried out before the eyes of heaven and earth. As it was at the baptism of Jesus, this willing submission pleases our Father.
And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (John 3:16-17)
These two related events—union in heaven and union on earth, are “two legal witnesses” whose testimony agrees.
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today…” (Deuteronomy 4:26; 30:18)
However, if a person claims to be regenerate but refuses to be baptized, and/or refuses to gather with the saints and partake of communion, then they are likely not regenerate. The testimony on earth disproves the claimed testimony of heaven. After carrying out the legal process of church discipline described by Jesus (Matthew 18:15-20), the person is to be excommunicated (fellowship is refused), until they repent, are reconciled to God, and are restored to—reunited with—the Church.
This helps us to understand that the union which takes place in baptism and communion is related to but distinct from the union that occurs in conversion.
The word “disciple” means one who binds himself or herself to the teachings of a master, and willingly submits to that master’s authority. So baptism is a rite of voluntarily identification with Christ.
It is helpful to think of trade unions or guilds in order to understand what this ritual union is. The rites not only express, but also ratify (make legally binding) a fellowship that already exists. Baptism and communion state that the participant is of one mind with those of the “union” which he is joining. Such unity of mind and spirit is what Jesus prayed for.
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. (John 17:20-23)
If one truly has the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5), then one will automatically be of one mind with other believers. What one thinks will be demonstrated in what one says and does.
The Greek word for faith (pistis) means belief or trust, but it also carries the connotation of loyalty. As we know, we are not saved by our own works (Ephesians 2:8-9), and yet faith without works is dead (James 2:26). This seems like a contradiction. But if we substitute the word loyalty for faith in James’ statement, it helps us to understand what he is saying.
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also loyalty apart from works is dead.
Living things are known by their activity. If the subject or servant of a ruler says that he is loyal to his master yet does nothing to demonstrate that loyalty, and perhaps even does things that indicate disloyalty, then his loyalty is “dead.”
Baptism is a public pledge of allegiance to the King of KIngs, an oath for which the follower will be held accountable by both Christ and His Church.
But there is more to this pledge. And this is where the fundamental flaw in our understanding of these ordinances (or “sacraments”) is laid bare.
Baptism and communion are not primarily about what we are receiving from Christ. That is entirely the wrong idea. Baptism and communion are about what we are voluntarily giving for Christ. As Jesus said, His disciples had received freely, so they were to give to others just as freely (Matthew 10:8).
With this perspective, it becomes clear that baptism is not only an identification with Christ for our salvation, but also a willingness to die for others as Christ did. This is precisely what many of the first Christians did. They understood that being identified with Christ, being in union with Him and His cause, meant that they were not only now friends with God, but also enemies with His enemies. Baptism makes you a marked man, not only in the eyes of God for salvation, but also in the eyes of men for suffering.
Likewise, when the disciples partook of the bread and the wine at the Last Supper, they understood that not only was Christ making a promise to them, but also that they were making a promise to Him. He was going to die for them, and they were going to die for others. They would give their lives just as freely as they had received their lives from God. Jesus was about to fulfill the ritual of the Passover lamb, but as a result, the disciples would themselves become willing lambs for the slaughter (John 21:15-19).
Just as the vital union imputed to the believers the death, resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the head, this ritual union would take them through the same process as His body. To drink from the same cup that the Father had given to Christ was a blood oath, and the disciples understood this.
Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same. (Matthew 26:33-35)
Yet Jesus knew that, like ancient Israel at Sinai, none of them could keep this covenant oath without the Spirit of God. They would abandon Him and scatter. But then, on the Day of Pentecost, they would be regathered and miraculously empowered for this mission of suffering for the Gospel.
To eat the bread and drink the wine at communion is not only to testify that we have received life from Jesus and are walking with Him; it is also to publicly testify that we are willing to be broken like bread, as He was, and to be poured out like wine, as He was.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
While there has been much confusion concerning this aspect of allegiance in the sacraments, the loyalty to Christ that brings a willingness to serve and suffer has always been understood. Christ was willing to be counted among sinners on our behalf, that we might be counted righteous. And we are similarly willing to be treated as wicked that others might be counted as righteous. An event from the fourth century is a wonderful example of this loyalty and its power.
In 320AD, forty Roman soldiers who had openly confessed themselves to be Christians and refused to sacrifice to idols were tried before a tribunal at Sebaste in Cappadocia. They were condemned to be exposed naked on a frozen pond near Sebaste on bitterly cold nights until they froze to death. The men did not wait to be stripped, but willingly removed their clothes before they prayed together.
Angered by their refusal to submit, the governor arranged a fire and a warm bath on the shore to tempt them to renounce their allegiance to Christ. After one night’s ordeal, one of them did yield, but upon immersion in the hot bath he went into shock and immediately died. Prompted by their courage, one of the guards who was set to keep watch over the martyrs professed himself a Christian and took his place, thus preserving their number.
Friendship with God
Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). With that in mind, he then urged them to purge out the old leaven of pride that they might be a new lump of dough. This has bearing upon those who treat the Lord’s Table as a kind of Christian Passover, that is, as a table that functions in any way as a familial or tribal divide—like the “dividing wall” that separated the Jews from the Gentiles. Doing so is to unwittingly undo the work of reunification that Christ achieved by His death on the cross.
Jesus celebrated the last Passover before His death, at least, the last Passover that God would acknowledge. In His fulfillment of Passover as the Lamb of God, He actually killed Passover. Out of the corpse of a meal that divided people based on ethnicity, He raised the new bread and new wine as a global meal that, regardless of ethnicity, unites people based on
spiritual unity.
Before the Last Supper, nobody had drunk wine with God since Abraham and Melchizedek celebrated their spiritual union with bread and wine in Genesis 14:17-20. The only reason men could drink wine with God once again was because the old familial and tribal divide was utterly abolished by Jesus.
However, there was an equivalent meal in the history of Israel, one that is so striking and yet so overlooked in our focus on the divided order that existed from the time of Abraham to the time of Christ.
In Exodus 24, the people of Israel heard all the words of the Lord and vowed to keep them. The young men made sacrifices, and Moses sprinkled the people with the blood, saying, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”
Jesus echoed Moses’ declaration of that oath of blood when He said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” So the Lord’s Supper was not a transformation of Passover into something new. Instead, it was the permanent institution of the one-time meal that was celebrated with the Lord God on Mount Sinai, where Jews and Gentiles, at least in symbol, dined together.
Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank. (Exodus 24:9-11)
This was the event that established Israel’s mediation for the nations, after which the Tabernacle was constructed and the priesthood was initiated.
The four leaders (Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu) represented the four “corners” of Israel, compass points like the four horns of the altar. Then the seventy elders represented the seventy “Noahic” nations of the world, those listed in Genesis 10. In symbol, this feast was a promise of the global meal of fellowship that is now open to believers of all nations.
Most Christians who practice infant baptism understand that drinking the cup of Christ is a serious business and is therefore not for children. It is withheld until the believer reaches the age of maturity. But this means that baptism becomes a rite for the natural sons, the sons of men, while the table is a rite for the spiritual sons, the Sons of God. There is a divide in the sacraments between the natural and the spiritual. This should not be so.
Some attempt to rectify this inconsistency by including children, even infants, in communion as part of the “body.” After all, children were included in Passover. But this apparent solution contradicts the qualifications for both of these rites that are given in the New Testament: repentance and faith. Moreover, the Book of Acts repeatedly uses the phrase, “both men and women.” Only adults were baptized, in the same way that only adults were considered to be accountable worshipers who were obligated to bring sacrifices under the Levitical Law.
The actual solution is given to us in Exodus 24. Even though all Israel was present for worship, only the legal representatives dined with God on the crystal sea. These men were elders, not priests. And they dined with God as Abraham did, that is, as His friends.
In the Bible, the word “friend” carries the connotation of a confidant, especially in regard to plans and strategy. That is why God considered Abraham to be a friend.
The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do…?” (Genesis 18:17)
Likewise, while the Lord spoke to the people as children in understanding, using riddles and signs as object lessons, He spoke plainly with Moses, speaking with him as one speaks to a friend (Exodus 33:11).
Luke tells us that Herod and Pilate became friends after the arrest of Jesus (Luke 23:12). This does not mean that they were now buddies. Rather, it meant they would be in on each other’s plans as allies.
This is why Jesus told His disciples that they would now be treated by Him as friends rather than as mere servants (John 15:15). Their combat training was over and they were being “invited to the table” as brothers, fellow “knights” in the spiritual war (Ephesians 6:12). The Lord’s Supper is thus the spiritual equivalent of the round table in the court of King Arthur, and its nature was prefigured for us upon Mount Sinai.
Baptism as a spiritual knighthood and communion as the spiritual round table are rites for Jesus’ voluntary representatives. They are for Jesus’ friends, who are in union with Him, vitally and ritually, and are in on His plans.
After the resurrection, these rites included women. The reason is that Jesus, a better Adam, had crushed the serpent (the devil). So the “Garden,” the Sanctuary where God meets with His friends, is now safe for Eve.
And yet, even though not everyone qualifies for baptism and communion, everyone who is present at church is included in worship because, as at Mount Sinai, everyone is represented federally before God.
Conclusion
Christ is identified with the human race in His incarnation, but only true believers are identified with Christ. This identification results in certain aspects of the person and work of Christ being attributed to the believer. This does not extend to possession of the attributes of the Second Person of the Trinity, nor does this erase the distinction between Christ and the believer. The head and the body are one, but the head is not the body, and the body is not the head.
In particular, union with Christ provides security (John 10:28). Union with Christ means fruitfulness (John 15:5). Union with Christ means endowment for service (1 Corinthians 12:4-30). Finally, union with Christ means fellowship with Christ. The believer is taken into His confidence and made acquainted with His purposes and plans (Ephesians 1:8).
