Union in Christ

Twin Cities Grace Fellowship
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Every person is in one of two unions — in Adam, or in Christ. Not a spectrum, not a matter of degree, but a definite position Scripture names for every one of us. In this ten-week series, we trace both unions to their source: what it means to be in Adam, the operation of God that moves a person from one union to the other, what it means to be in Christ, and how that identity shapes the way we actually live. Our security, our understanding of grace, and even our good works all rest on knowing which union is ours.

Episodes

  1. Nov 1

    The Uses of Identity Outwardly | Lesson 10

    What is the purpose of being made new in Christ? In this final lesson of the *Union in Christ* series, we consider Ephesians 2:8–10 and the truth that while salvation is entirely by grace through faith—not of works—we are created in Christ Jesus *unto good works*. Our identity in Christ is not meant to remain merely inward knowledge, but to work outwardly through a transformed life. The sermon traces how God’s Word effectually works in believers, shaping the will and producing obedience through the mind of Christ. From possessing our vessel in sanctification and honor to yielding ourselves as instruments of righteousness, the Christian life is a call to live out who we are in Christ—in our words, deeds, homes, work, citizenship, church life, and relationships—all to the glory of God.

  2. Oct 25

    The Uses of Identity Inwardly | Lesson 9

    What is your identity in Christ actually for? Not just a doctrine to know, but a truth meant to work in you. In this lesson, Pastor Josh Strelecki turns to the practical, inward uses of our union with Christ—showing how sound doctrine, believed by faith, is meant to produce real peace, joy, confidence, and strength within the believer. Working through Romans 5, Ephesians 3, Philippians 3-4, and 2 Corinthians 12, this teaching explains why so many Christians know the truth about who they are in Christ but don’t experience its fruit—and what it means to actually believe it rather than just understand it. You’ll see how peace with God, boldness in prayer, delight in God’s law, and strength in weakness all flow from the same source: faith laying hold of what God has already declared true of you in Christ. If you’ve ever felt like your theology and your emotions don’t line up—if you know you’re forgiven but don’t feel it—this lesson will show you where the gap is and how God’s Word is designed to close it.

  3. Oct 18

    Glorification in Christ | Lesson 8

    What does it mean that God has already “glorified” believers in Christ, even as we still wait for future glory? In this sermon from Ephesians 2:1–7, we consider the contrast between who we were in Adam—dead in sins, walking according to the world, and children of wrath—and who we now are in Christ: made alive, raised up, and seated together with Him in the heavenly places. This message explores glorification as both a present reality and a future hope. Through passages in Romans 8, Ephesians 1, Colossians 1, and Philippians 2, we see that believers have received the Spirit of adoption, have been translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and are now called to walk as children of light while awaiting the redemption of the body and the full revelation of glory to come.

  4. Oct 11

    Sanctification in Christ | Lesson 7

    Do you know who God says you are in Christ—and how that changes your relationship to sin? In this sermon, Josh Strelecki, Pastor-Teacher, continues the “Union in Christ” series by examining sanctification from 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, showing that believers were once defined by unrighteousness but are now washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. Sanctification means being set apart by God: no longer belonging to the old identity in Adam, but now belonging to Christ with a new standing, purpose, and life. Pastor Josh explains the difference between positional sanctification, which is complete and permanent the moment we believe the gospel, and practical sanctification, in which we learn to possess our bodies in holiness and honor. From Romans 6 and related passages, he emphasizes that believers are dead to sin and alive unto God through union with Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Because sin is no longer our master, we are called to reckon this truth as real, refuse sin’s reign in our mortal bodies, and walk in newness of life by the Spirit through the renewing of the mind.

  5. Oct 4

    Justification in Christ | Lesson 6

    What does it mean to be truly righteous before God? Not almost righteous, not working toward righteousness, but declared righteous in a single, final, irrevocable moment? That is the stunning reality at the heart of what we explore in this message on justification in Christ. Drawing from Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 6, and Ephesians 1, we are walked through one of the most significant legal and spiritual realities in all of Scripture: that the same God who once looked upon us as condemned in Adam now looks upon us as righteous in Christ. The verdict has changed. And it changed not because we improved our record, but because someone else settled it entirely. We examine the courtroom language of justification, understanding that this is not a feeling to be maintained or a status to be earned in degrees. It is a declaration, spoken once, standing forever. For anyone who has ever wondered whether they are truly accepted by God, or who has treated their standing before Him as something fragile and conditional, this message confronts that uncertainty with the full weight of what Christ actually accomplished. We are not almost accepted. We are accepted in the Beloved.

  6. Sep 20

    The Operation of God | Lesson 5

    What actually happens the moment we believe the Gospel? Not what we feel, not what we decide to do differently, but what God does to us in that instant? This is the question at the heart of a profound exploration of Colossians 2 and 2 Corinthians 5. The central insight is both humbling and liberating: the transformation from being 'in Adam' to being 'in Christ' is not something we perform but something performed on us. Using the vivid image of a skilled surgeon, we are walked through what Scripture calls the 'operation of God,' a single, decisive, spiritual procedure that takes place the moment a heart believes. The Holy Spirit, working through the Gospel, first illuminates the darkened heart, reproving it of sin, righteousness, and judgment as described in John 16. Then, upon belief, He carries out a complete spiritual work, circumcision without hands, regeneration, indwelling, baptism into Christ's death and resurrection, and sealing. Understanding this changes everything about how we relate to our own assurance. When we grasp that our new identity was done to us rather than by us, our faith is no longer anchored in our performance but in the unshakeable work of God Himself.

  7. Sep 13

    Alienation in Adam | Lesson 4

    How can someone be blind to God, and be certain they see just fine? In this message, Pastor Josh Strelecki concludes the three-lesson study of man's identity in Adam with alienation — the complete estrangement from God as His enemy, where a darkened understanding is defended as insight and embraced ignorance is mistaken for enlightenment. Preaching from Ephesians 4:17-19, he shows that this is not distance that can be closed by trying harder or learning more, but a total abandonment in which one comes to be identified not merely as producing the works of darkness, but as darkness itself. Three features of that alienation are traced in turn to show how deep the estrangement runs: being under the power of darkness (Colossians 1:13) — a governing force that gives sin its motion and keeps a person content in it; being led by the spirit of this world (Ephesians 2:2), the prince of the power of the air who educates through philosophy and deceit, quoting Puritan William Greenhill on the world as "the devil's instrument" for taking men and women captive; and darkness itself (Ephesians 5:8) — not merely walking in darkness, but full identification with it. The resolution comes only from outside the darkness: Christ as the great Physician who names the disease and supplies the only remedy, reversing a condition no self-diagnosis or self-effort ever could. The message closes looking ahead to next week's study of the Operation of God — the means by which one is actually delivered from Adam into Christ.

  8. Sep 6

    Condemnation in Christ | Lesson 3

    In this message, Pastor Josh Strelecki continues the Union in Christ series with a study of condemnation — the second of three features of man's identity in Adam (alongside abomination and alienation). Preaching from Romans 5:18, he shows that condemnation is not a risk hanging over an otherwise-neutral person, but a judicial verdict already rendered and already in force, inherited from Adam by birth. Three features of that condemnation are unpacked in turn: being under sin (Romans 3:9) — subject to sin's jurisdiction, not merely prone to occasional sin; the wages of sin (Romans 6:23) — a debt already earned and owed in full, including a sobering reading from Puritan writer George Swinnock on the weight of that debt; and being guilty before God (Romans 3:19) — a legal standing unaffected by personal feeling or self-assessment. The sermon closes with application to both the one still in Adam and the one already in Christ, pointing to the substitutionary condemnation of Christ as the only remedy the verdict demands.

  9. Aug 23

    Abomination in Adam | Lesson 2

    What does God say about who we are apart from Christ? In this sermon from Titus 1:15–16, we begin examining our identity in Adam, starting with the sobering reality of “abomination in Adam.” Scripture’s verdict is not that mankind is merely flawed or in need of minor improvement, but that apart from Christ we are dead to God, alive to sin, and enemies of God—defiled in mind and conscience, servants of sin, and unable to produce anything truly clean before Him. Yet this grim diagnosis magnifies the glory of the gospel. Our condition in Adam is so total that only the whole salvation found in Jesus Christ can remedy it: justification, sanctification, and glorification. Like the leper whom Christ touched and cleansed, sinners cannot make themselves clean, but Christ comes to save, forgive, and give righteousness to all who believe in Him.

  10. Aug 16

    State of the Union | Lesson 1

    Who are you—really? Not according to your feelings, your failures, or what the culture around you offers as "identity," but according to what God says. In this opening lesson of a new 10-week series on Union in Christ, Pastor Josh Strelecki lays the foundation for one of the most vital yet neglected truths in Scripture: every person is either in Adam or in Christ. There is no spectrum, no in-between—only a fixed, definite position established by God Himself. This lesson distinguishes that settled identity from the ongoing, progressive work of spiritual growth, showing why so many believers live with a wavering, borrowed sense of who they are before God. Walking through Galatians 3, Romans 5–8, Ephesians 1–2, and more, this teaching unpacks what it means to be a child of God, sealed, justified, and secure in Christ—not because of performance, but because of what God has already done. You'll see how this doctrine strengthens eternal security, anchors believers in suffering, guards against both legalism and license, and provides the true foundation for good works. Whether you're wrestling with guilt over repeated sin or searching for a stable sense of self, this lesson points to the unchanging truth: your identity in Christ is fixed, finished, and cannot be taken away.

  • 10 Episodes

About

Every person is in one of two unions — in Adam, or in Christ. Not a spectrum, not a matter of degree, but a definite position Scripture names for every one of us. In this ten-week series, we trace both unions to their source: what it means to be in Adam, the operation of God that moves a person from one union to the other, what it means to be in Christ, and how that identity shapes the way we actually live. Our security, our understanding of grace, and even our good works all rest on knowing which union is ours.

Information

  • Creator
    Twin Cities Grace Fellowship
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Twin Cities Grace Fellowship
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    Union in Christ