Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

Today, the Doctrine of Salvation Part 9.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonablefaith.org.

We want to wrap up our discussion of the mystical union.

I'd like to say a word first about the relation of mystical union to justification.

Our mystical union with Christ plays a crucial role in the atonement theory of the great

Swiss Reformed theologian, Francois

Turin, whose dates are 1623 to 1887. For Turitin, our sins are imputed to Christ, and his righteousness

is imputed to us in virtue of our mystical union with Christ.

He writes, the curse and punishment of sin which he received upon himself in our stead

secures to us blessing and righteousness with God in virtue of that most

strict union between us and him, by which as our sins are imputed to him, so in turn, his obedience and righteousness are imputed to him, so in turn his obedience and righteousness are imputed to us.

So our mystical union with Christ is the basis of the imputation of our sins to Christ

and of his righteousness to us.

According to Turin, as long as we remain outside of Christ and Christ is outside of us,

then we can receive no benefit from His atoning death.

But God has united us with Christ in a twofold way.

First, naturally, namely, by means of the incarnation we in Christ share a common human nature. And second, mystically, namely our communion with Christ by grace.

In virtue of our union with him, we share in the benefits of his atoning death.

Tudin writes,

having been made by God a surety for us and given to us for a head,

he can communicate to us his righteousness

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