Because of our fellowship with the Triune God believers are also joined to each other (1 John 1:3). We “are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5). From Christ the head “the whole body” is “joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped” (Ephesians 4:16).

The visible church is an institution. Like any other organization the church has structure. Anyone who takes the Bible seriously realizes that the gathered community of God has leaders, doctrine, and rules for membership. As unpopular as it might be to say, Christianity is a religion and the institutional church is an essential part of that faith (see Chapter 25).

But Christianity is also essentially relational. The God-ordained organization of the church is also a living organism. And the religious and relational aspects of the church are not at odds. Scripture calls the church a body (1 Cor. 12:12); a human body has an intimate connection between its various parts and the head as the command center. To live well the parts must cooperate. The church is also a family (Mark 3:34, 35); in any well-functioning family there is both a form of government and loving communion.

To put it more personally, it isn’t enough to belong to the organization of the church—to be a member of what the Apostles’ Creed calls “the holy catholic church.” Within the church we must also practice “the communion of saints.” This raises two questions.

How Is Communion Possible?

Sin fractures every relationship. The works of the flesh are like acid that corrodes our mutual bonds; people given to enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions and envy do not make good friends (Gal. 5: 20, 21). To fellowship righteously we need to be changed. This means our most fundamental relationship needs to change. The key to holy communion is union with Christ. Nothing but the righteousness of Jesus could bring together people so naturally given to hatred and quarrelling (Titus 3:3-5).

Believers “are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by his Spirit, and by faith.” The call of faith is not simply to believe that Jesus is the Christ but, by believing, to gain life in his name (John 20:31). The gift of salvation is the gift of the life of Jesus. He has come to represent us, granting to us all that he possesses (Phil 3:10 Rom. 6:5, 6). Believers are also mystically united to Christ, like spouses who are no longer two but one. We are like branches that draw real life from our vital connection to Christ the vine (John 15:1-8). Jesus’ experiences are shared by believers. Baptism symbolizes our partnership in Jesus’ death and resurrection (Rom. 6:4). If we suffer with him, we will also be glorified with him (Rom. 8:17). And while Jesus is physically absent from us he is spiritually present. The faithful God gives his children the Spirit of Christ making us share his thoughts and desires and confirming that we are his children.

Union with Christ does not mean that believers are “partakers of the substance of his Godhead” or are “equal with Christ in any respect.” But by his promises we truly “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) in the sense that we share his “divine and blessed immorality and glory” and become “one with God as far as our capacities may allow.”^[i]

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