{"id":59,"date":"2025-03-01T04:55:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T04:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cssigniter.com\/demos\/eclecticon\/?p=59"},"modified":"2025-04-24T21:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T01:31:11","slug":"union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/union\/","title":{"rendered":"Vi. Union"},"content":{"rendered":"

#Values<\/a>: Values are definitions of what we hope will identify us. These articles are primarily intended for those who wish to join us in this project\u2014whether through prayer, donation, or collaboration.<\/p>\n

Salvation is not only the forgiveness of sins, but a union with Christ in a covenant relationship. <\/b>Jesus Christ reveals the loving character of God, who seeks us out and calls us to be reconciled to Him.<\/p>\n

Beta Values #3: Union with Christ<\/b><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

It is urgent to understand that salvation is not a mere isolated event, but a process of participation in the story of Christ. As the apostle Paul says: \u201cI have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me\u201d (Galatians 2:20). This is the true meaning of eternal life: as we respond to God\u2019s love and grace, we return to Him through faith in His being, His love, and His promises. God sees us through His perfect Son, in whom we find both our identity and our destiny. As Martin Luther affirmed: \u201cIt is impossible to be a Christian without having Christ. If one has Christ, one has all the benefits of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scripture teaches us that the Holy Spirit\u2014God Himself present among us\u2014unites us to Christ. Therefore, new birth occurs precisely in this union with Christ, for in Him we enter into a new relationship with God. We are children because we are united to the Son. We are restored to our original purpose because we are united to the one who is the perfect image of God\u2014by whom, through whom, and according to whom we were created. In Jesus, we see God\u2019s desire for us to be as united to Him as Jesus is to the Father. Jesus Himself expressed this when He prayed for us:<\/p>\n

\u201cI pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one\u2014as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us\u201d (John 17:21).<\/p>\n

This union with Christ can be summarized in a simple yet profound truth: \u201cYou are in Christ, and Christ is in you.\u201d<\/b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, salvation should not be conceived as a one-time event in the past, like a simple prayer of conversion, but as a continuous process that spans the entire Christian life. Just as marriage is not limited to the ceremony but involves living together and growing in relationship, our union with Christ does not end with a first step of faith\u2014it consists of abiding in Him in order to bear fruit, as taught in John 15.<\/p>\n

Salvation, then, is more than the forgiveness of sins\u2014though that is its starting point. Its goal is holiness: to be restored to the image of God, that is, for Christ to be formed in us. In the words of John Wesley, salvation is \u201cthe entire work of God, from the first dawning of grace in the soul to its consummation in glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

We can therefore understand salvation as a process with three dimensions:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    The beginning:<\/b><\/span> We enter into relationship with God when we respond to His love and the call of His Spirit by believing in Him and repenting. This is the first step: recognizing our need for God and opening our hearts to His grace.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Communion with Christ:<\/b><\/span> We don\u2019t just cross the door of faith\u2014we remain in Him, living in His love and being transformed into His likeness, as the next point explains.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    Formation in Christ:<\/b><\/span> We learn to live according to His will, and with the help of His grace, we are shaped by His Spirit to reflect His character in the world. Grace is not only love that covers our sins, but active love that calls us to live according to Him\u2014loving God and living as Christ lived (1 John 4).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    John Wesley illustrated this process with the image of a house: first we come to the door and cross it through repentance, then we enter and are united to Christ, and finally we learn to live according to the values and ways of that house.<\/p>\n

    Salvation, then, encompasses past, present, and future: <\/span>we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be fully saved in glory.<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

    Ultimately, salvation is the moment we stop running from God and cling to Him with the assurance that He will never let us go. It is the decision to trust in Him completely, so that we can say with full confidence: \u201cLord, never let me go.\u201d<\/b><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    Salvation is something God does in us\u2014it is not something we do. Faith is something God gives us. He has produced the conviction that God saves us\u2014even us. By His grace, He seeks to draw every individual to Himself, yet He gives each one the responsibility to accept or reject that salvation.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 Book of Discipline, Free Methodist Church, 2023<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

    Salvation is a living relationship with God in Jesus Christ, giving the believer a legal standing of righteousness and thus affirming the assurance of all who continue in communion with Him.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 Book of Discipline, Free Methodist Church, 2023<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

    We are no longer separated; our relationship with Him is restored\u2014we are at peace with God \u201cForgiven and filled, we approach life with the confidence that we are accepted by God, even as He continues to transform our character and behavior to become more and more like Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u2014 Book of Discipline, Free Methodist Church, 2023
    \n\"\"
    \n<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

    \"\"
    \nIn Jesus Christ\u2014in His life, death, and resurrection\u2014God acted decisively on our behalf. God opened a way toward us, confronting our rejection and bloody betrayal, doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. Our justification came when God restored the divine-human relationship we had broken.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 William H. Willimon in<\/i> This We Believe<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    The heart of the gospel is that we find salvation in Christ. But Jesus Christ is more than someone who came to proclaim the character of the saving God. Rather, <\/span>Jesus Christ is salvation. <\/b><\/b>In His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, salvation has come.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 Jared Lett in<\/i> <\/span>Essential Beliefs<\/b><\/p>\n

    The Sacrifice of God is a gift\u2014an act of worship by which we are purified and prepared to serve God.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 William H. Willimon in<\/i> This We Believe<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

    Through justification, we are saved from the guilt of sin and restored to God\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

    Sanctification frees us from the power and root of sin, thereby restoring the image of God.<\/p>\n

    \u2014 John Wesley in Sermon 85, II.1
    \n\"\"
    \n<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Salvation is not merely the forgiveness of sins, but a union with Christ in a covenant relationship. Jesus Christ is the one who reveals the loving character of God, who seeks us out and calls us to be reconciled with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-values"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1149,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/1149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.church\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}