Communion & Union

John Owen, (following the Scriptures), maintains an essential distinction between union and communion.

Believers are united to Christ (married to Him) in God by the Holy Spirit. This union is a unilateral action by God, in which those who were dead are made alive, those who lived in darkness begin to see the light, and those who were enslaved to sin are set free to be loved and to love. When one speaks of union, it must be clear that the human person is merely receptive, being the object of God's gracious action. This is the state and condition of all true saints.

Communion with God is distinct from union.

Those who are united to Christ are called to respond to God's loving embrace. While union with Christ is something that does not ebb & flow, one's experience of communion with Christ can fluctuate. This is an important theological and experiential distinction, for it protects the biblical truth that we are saved by radical and free divine grace.

--Kelly Kapic in introduction to John Owen's 1657 work "Communion With the Triune God"