Mystical Union Quotes

“Christianity was originally called good news. It used to be a happy message that people wanted to be a part of. The original version of the gospel seemed too good to be true. That’s why it spread like wildfire. Heaven as a free gift. Your sinfulness abolished. Effortless union with God. Amazing benefits! Easy, instant soul purge. Let me tell you, if the gospel you’ve heard is not too good to be true, it probably isn’t. The frequency of the gospel always inspires, always brings life and hope. The flavor and sound of the true gospel never puts rule and regulation and heavy trips on you. Never makes you feel you have to live up to any systematic expectations for acceptance. It always encourages, always hopes, always trusts, and always loves.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“We completely affirm Christian growth. Even Jesus grew in wisdom and favor. We grow in lots of things. We are going from Glory to Glory. From light to light – for in His light we see light (Ps. 36:9). The expression of His faith is always growing in us. And primarily, we are growing in the renewal of the mind. What does that mean, to have the mind renewed? It is being continually awakened to the truth of what Christ has already accomplished. It is being renewed to something. And that “something” is a Reality that has already arrived. We are realizing Him in us. We are realizing what He has done.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“He didn’t just give you a pretty screen saver, ignoring all the viruses, porn and spyware on your hard drive. He wiped the whole hard drive out.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Though He may allow you fellowship in them at times, stop seeing the sufferings of Christ as something you are called to imitate. He suffered for you. Embrace humility and admit your need for Jesus to become your substitute in all things. He became sin so you could be holy. He was broken so you could be whole. He was a man of sorrow, so you could have joy. He was bruised for your iniquity. He fasted so you could feast. By His stripes, you were healed. He bore poverty, so you could righteously prosper. He felt orphaned so you could be adopted as sons.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“In divine union, work and play should rise to meet together as one. This is your calling. “To me, work that does not rise to the level of play is flawed work and play that is simply an escape from the expenditure of effort is flawed play,” says Capon. “Play is the sovereign category, not work. If we have any final vocation, any ultimate calling, it is into that play.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“As we, the branch, drink in the sweet sap of the Vine – that nectar being Holy Spirit – fruit just happens. Your only job is a passive one – abide. Rest in faith and love.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“You are not falling in love with God. You fell into Mr. Love. You are united to Love. Love is a Person. Now, just as the sap flows effortlessly through the vine into the branch, so is there a continual infilling of Holy Spirit – a continual infilling of Love Himself. You grow in Love, just as the branch grows.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Can one truly get closer to God? Has Christ only brought us part way? Consider the analogy of a vine and a branch. It is impossible for a branch to grow any closer to the vine than it already is. The two are physically connected. There is no breach that is progressively being filled. Now, does the branch continue to grow? Yes! It even flourishes, buds and bears fruit. But is it growing toward union, or because of union?”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Let’s look at the Spirit’s role in union. Our lives are not moving from sinner to saint. Our lives are now moving from Glory to Glory. There is a massive difference. You are starting on a full tank, and it never runs out. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s Glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing Glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18, NIV). This verse is not an admission of your present lack. You have already been restored to His image. This verse speaks of a greater and greater manifestation of what you already possess. This transformation literally means “metamorphosis” or “transfiguration.”65 You are already a son, and the world is waiting for the sons to fully manifest the Glory they carry in Christ. Manifestation is not a work. It is an effortless byproduct of believing. Shining forth who you are. We reflect Him best by gazing at Him continually. You can’t even hold the gaze on your own – you’re locked into a tractor beam of irresistible grace!”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Christianity is perfectly easy or perfectly impossible. It depends on who’s running the ship.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The Old Testament prophet points out the sins of the people. The New Testament prophet points to righteousness of Jesus inside you. The Old Testament prophet speaks from Mt. Sinai. The New Testament prophet speaks from Mt. Zion. The Old Testament prophet tells you hope is coming. The New Testament prophet tells you your hope has come. They say financial breakthrough is on its way. We say it’s here. They say healing is in His wings. We say those wings have touched down. They ask for revival. We are revival. They ask for open Heaven. We carry it.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“He is most glorified when you receive what He has done for you. He did not say, “This is the cup of the New Covenant, now go tread some more grapes.” He simply said, “Drink ye all of it” (Matt. 26:27-28). Your job description is not helper, assistant or even co-laborer as much as it is drinker. As John Piper often says, God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“He became sin so you could be holy. He was broken so you could be whole. He was a man of sorrow, so you could have joy. He was bruised for your iniquity. He fasted so you could feast. By His stripes, you were healed. He bore poverty, so you could righteously prosper. He felt orphaned so you could be adopted as sons. Let us begin to see Him not so much as a teacher or moral guide, but as one who stepped in and took our place.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The human will is one of the biggest idols of the church. Will power fuels religion.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“As in all of these disciplines, there’s one key ingredient that helps keep the religion out – fun. Religion, by nature, demands your serious attention. It is the anti-play. Capon writes: For while it is a truism that nothing that is fun can be done without some measure of discipline, it is practically an eternal truth that nothing that calls for discipline will be kept at very long (or very well) if it is not fun.44”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The person of Jesus is not simply a door into experience, He is the destination.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“I’m not pressing in anymore. I’ve been pressed into. I’m not contending anymore. I’ve been contended for. I’m not a God chaser anymore. I’ve been chased down, roped, hogtied, bagged and dragged. I’m not appropriating what I have. It’s mine. I’m not getting closer to God. He’s like a Siamese twin. I’m not even seeking God anymore. He found me.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Joy is not just a substance or an emotion – it is a person. Christ has become our inexhaustible joy.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“We have to see the entire Bible through Pauline eyes. It is the message of grace. A message of righteousness that comes through trusting, not from striving or contending. Furthermore, it is a message that the cross does more than forgive sins. It eradicates the inward propensity toward sin. It does not put you on a road toward union with God. It accomplishes that union in one ultimate stroke. This is the scandal.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“People must realize that the Christian begins from the finish line. Robert Capon says brilliantly, “the flat announcement of the Gospel turned out to be that the saints were home before they started. God saves us single-handedly!”19 We are already inner healed. Just turns out that most folks don’t know it. It is all a completed work of grace.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The fruit of a healthy emotional life comes from recognizing and believing that the old corrupt emotional life has been done away with. If a process is involved, it is only a process of recognizing something that has already taken place. We are not “peeling the onion” so to speak, through an endless removal of layer after layer of sin. Let’s face the facts. The very core of that old man was rotten to the very center. The whole onion needed to be thrown away. Instead, you have to see the process of maturation and Christian growth as one of opening your Christmas presents! You’re not peeling back layers of garbage from 1982. You are plunging into the never-ending joy of discovery. Discovering the glorious gift that has been deposited within you.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“I don’t know much about your principalities, but I know a lot about mine. Colossians 2:10 continues to tell us He is: The head of all principality and power (KJV). The fountain head from which all dominion and power proceed (KNOX). The authority over all authorities, and the supreme power over all powers (PHI). He is the highest ruler over every other power (TAY). This is the Godhead who lives right inside of you! You have an inexhaustible and eternal source of power, dominion and exhilarating joy living inside of you. All of God lives within you thanks to your union with Christ. The devil is not a bit scared of your shofars and worship banners, but the blood of Christ did a tremendous job of defeating him.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Paul told the Colossians that in Jesus Christ, the whole fullness of the Godhead lives in bodily form (Col. 2:9). That means Holy Spirit was in Jesus; the Father was in Jesus; and of course, there was Jesus Himself. The entire triune God. Paul continues to write: And, by your union with Him, you also are filled with it (Col. 2:10, TCNT). What are you filled with? Just Holy Spirit alone? No. Your mystical union with Christ fills you with the entire Godhead. That means Jesus is in you. It also means the Father of Lights lives within you – the One who breathed the very stars into existence. He’s right here, fully inside of you! You don’t just have a little portion of God. Not just one percent of Him. Not just a little Bobby or Suzy sized version. You have the fullness of the Godhead in there. All thanks to your union with Christ. If you started to actually believe how much heat you’re packing inside of you, you could change the world in a single day.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The Lord tells us in the book of Ezekiel that, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek. 36:26, NIV). God removed the old, hardened heart that was cold and unloving. He gave you in its place a new, tender, touchable heart. Now, wouldn’t God be a cruel masochist if your entire life were a long, bloody open-heart surgery, where He removed your heart bit by bit? This heart transplant was a one-time transaction. The old is gone; the new has come.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“He is your sanctification. Any system that tries to draw your attention away from the person of Christ and onto your own efforts is antichrist in nature. Your union with God is not an incomplete relationship that comes progressively. Time is not the magic formula that makes you holy. Jesus’ sacrifice made you holy. Christ’s work was enough to purify you, spirit, soul and body.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“You need to know who you are. You are a pure, holy child of God. There is no effort or work involved for you to be who you are. A tree does not labor or strive to be a tree. In the same way, you do not labor or strive to be holy. Holiness is simply your first and primary nature. Just be yourself. In the same way, your union with Christ is an effortless state of being. It takes no more work for me than being a natural born citizen of America. Being an American is simply who I am. The moment you decide to do something to be holy, you have trusted in yourself, instead of Christ, for salvation.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“Here is the secret source of my joy: I simply realized that I have been crucified with Christ! Nothing strange or elusive about it whatsoever! Everything that separated me from God (Mr. Pleasure) was abolished once and for all. No matter what I’m feeling at the moment about myself or my circumstances, this single truth trumps it all. When I wake up everyday, I just know that my old depressed self went into the grave with Jesus. It is difficult for a dead man to be worried about his bank statement or a bad doctor’s report. No circumstance can dictate my emotional state. The gospel tells me that my old critically religious self no longer exists! If I’m feeling bored with my Christian walk, the message of the gospel quickly snaps me out of that lie. My old boring self is dead. The new me is intoxicated on the wine of the New Covenant. I can “reckon myself dead” with Christ … simply realizing that I do not own those negative feelings any longer. Simply stated: we drink by faith! The way you drink the wine of the New Covenant is just to believe it is flowing freely to you right now.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“God is never looking at your performance as the indicator of His pleasure toward you. So many people live on an emotional rollercoaster ride. They think God is happy with them one day, then disappointed with them another day. It depends on whatever subjective rubber ruler they judge themselves by at the moment. Perhaps you didn’t read your Bible enough this week, or lead enough people to Jesus. Oops! You were a little too lazy this week! People tend to judge themselves by all manner of silly criteria like this then project those feelings onto God. If they are having a bad day, they assume God is upset with them. All of this is irrelevant. God is continually looking at one thing, and that is the perfect sacrifice of His Son. Even if you have committed a gross sin, it is acknowledging Christ’s mercy toward you that picks you up and moves you forward. Not beating yourself up and trying to change yourself.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“You were united with Him in a mystical death that took place. The thing that died was your old wicked heart. This is also called the “old man” or the “fleshly nature.” How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (Rom. 6:2-3, ESV) You “died to sin.” This means it is no longer a part of you. You are not a “sinner saved by grace.” You are a saint. Take the word sinner completely out of the equation now. Grace transformed you from one thing into another. Consider the following translations of the previous verse: How is it possible for us, such persons as we are, who have been separated once for all from the sinful nature, any longer to live in its grip? (Rom. 6:2, WET) We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? (Rom. 6:2, NCV) God did not just pull you out of sin. He pulled sin out of you! You are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. This is much more than the forgiveness of the old self. This entails the complete annihilation of the old self. God sank the whole ship.”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union

“The cross is the center and mother lode of all joy and satisfaction, because it is there that your old self has already died with Christ. Everything that hindered you from God was eradicated on the cross. Death to your old crooked self was a past-tense occurrence that already took place on His cross. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal. 2:20, NIV).”
― John Crowder, Mystical Union