THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE SAILING

'Life with God is not like a motorbike, where we are in control of the power and direction. But neither is it like a raft, where we just sit back and are carried along. It's like sailing. While we can't control the most important thing - the wind that makes us move - that doesn't mean there is nothing left for us to do. We have to draw the sail to catch the wind. We must labor to be brought near.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.215. 

UNION WITH CHRIST APPLIED

'Christ has made holiness a reality for you (you are in Christ) and a possibility for you (Christ is in you).' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.185. 

UNION WITH CHRIST DOESN'T DESTROY THE INDIVIDUAL

'...our self is not obliterated by our union with Christ; our self is fully realized. God the Creator clearly delights in our unique particularity. From sunsets to snowflakes, he makes endless variations of beautiful things for the sheer joy of it.He never repeats himself and never runs out of ideas.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.162. 

CHRISTIANITY IS THE TRUE HUMANISM

'The Christian doctrine of sin proves to be a remarkable resource in helping us understand ourselves, but it's intelligible only against the background of a profound Christian optimism about the created potential of humanity. The caricatures of Christianity paint it as pessimistic and life denying. But in fact, Christianity is the true humanism. We are royal masterpieces, yet we are marred. The glorious image of God in us needs to be restored, and it is worth the effort of restoration. 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.160. 

YOU FIND YOURSELF WHEN YOU FIND GOD

'Against the prevailing mindset of our day - you are what you make yourself - union with Christ tells you that you can discover your real self only in relation to the One who made you. You are not, you cannot be, self-made. Union with Christ tells that you can only understand who are you are in communion with God and others. And that is a wildly countercultural claim.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.135.  

THE POWER OF THE SUPERNATURAL

'As an odd sort of proof that no amount of scientific or technological advance can eradicate our sense of the supernatural, look at the number of movies and television shows today that contain supernatural or spiritual themes. No sooner does one area of our culture try to convince us nothing exists beyond the visible world than another stream rushes into fill the void.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.119. 

WHAT THE CROSS REVEALS

'...the cross is our best picture of who God is: God providing from within his own life the gift of bringing us back into his life.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.111. 

THE SILVER BULLET OF UNION WITH CHRIST?

'The church is in desperate need of a way to express the grace of the gospel and the demand of the gospel in a way that enhances both without canceling either. If you have ever asked these questions, union with Christ is your answer.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ, p.93. 

UNION WITH CHRIST AS A MARRIAGE

'...becoming a Christian means more than believing Christ did certain things for you long ago. It means that Christ joins his life to yours in such an intimate and comprehensive way that the prevailing metaphor for this union in the Bible is marriage (Eph. 5:32). It's a metaphor, but it's not only a metaphor because the Holy Spirit, the bond of this connection, it is not metaphorical. The Holy Spirit is real, which means if you are "in Christ," Christ has truly made himself one with you.' 

Rankin Wilbourne, Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God, p.71.