For Spurgeon, the atoning work of Jesus illuminated and enlivened his piety towards a faith marked by good works, and he emphasized the centrality of the cross in our union with Christ, union with one another, and our mission in this life.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892), the famed “prince of preachers,” navigated his life by the reality of the living Christ, the influence of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Even though he grew up in a Christian household, he did not come to faith in Christ until he wandered into a Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1849. Here, he experienced the power of God through Isaiah 45:22—“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!” He believed upon the Lord Jesus, and his life was radically changed.
For Spurgeon, the atoning work of Jesus illuminated and enlivened his piety towards a faith marked by good works, and he emphasized the centrality of the cross in our union with Christ, union with one another, and our mission in this life.
Communion with Christ
Spurgeon understood the Christian faith to be built solely upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith in the atoning work of Christ brought communion with Christ. Jesus is the federal head, and “every redeemed soul is one with the Lord from heaven, since he is the second Adam, the sponsor and substitute of the elect in the new covenant of love.”[1] This unity with the Lord was neither a mystical experience nor an intellectual ascent. It was a life-giving reality that transformed the life of the believer.
Spurgeon believed our union to Christ was all-encompassing. Spurgeon wrote, “We have communion with Christ in His thoughts, views, and purposes, for His thoughts are our thoughts according to our capacity and sanctity. Believers take the same view of matters as Jesus does; that which pleases Him pleases them and that which grieves Him grieves them also.”[2] Unity with Christ directed the life of the believer.
This led Spurgeon to conform his views on cultural issues to the Scriptures. When advocating for the abolishment of the slave trade, he said, “I do from my inmost soul detest slavery anywhere and everywhere, and although I commune at the Lord’s table with men of all creeds, yet with a slaveholder I have no fellowship of any sort or kind.”[3] His experience with the gospel of Jesus Christ altered all of life, even how he navigated controversial issues of the day.
Ultimately for Spurgeon, union with Christ means “Christ is our life.” Spurgeon said as much in his devotion Morning by Morning. He wrote,
