Doctrine of Union with Christ Bible Study Series: Identity, Grace, and New Life

Series Index

Union with Christ: Identity, Grace, and New Life

A six-week Bible study on the believer’s identity through union with Christ, grounded in grace, shaped by Scripture, and aimed at living from what God has already done.

Series overview

Many Christians know the language of salvation, but still live from old identities. We may belong to Christ and still measure ourselves by failure, usefulness, reputation, fear, shame, achievement, or the approval of others.

Scripture gives us a better foundation. The believer’s identity is not invented, earned, or maintained by effort. It is given by God in Christ.

In Christ, we are chosen, united to Him, forgiven, adopted by the Father, made new by the Spirit, set apart as God’s people, and called to live in agreement with what God has already done.

Anchor verse

Your life is hidden with Christ

“For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.”

Colossians 3:3, NIV

How to use this series

Read these in order

Each study can be read on its own, but the series is meant to build week by week. The first studies establish what God has done for us in Christ. The later studies show how that identity changes the way we live.

This series is not mainly about self-image or confidence. It is about reality. If we belong to Christ, the deepest truth about us is not found in our sin, wounds, success, weakness, or past. Our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Reading path

The complete Union with Christ study path

Chosen and Loved in Christ — Week 1
Begins with God’s gracious initiative. Before Christian identity becomes something we live from, it is something God gives in Christ.
What Does Union with Christ Mean? — Week 2
Explains union with Christ as the Spirit-created bond by which believers, through faith, belong to Christ and share in the saving benefits of His death and resurrection, including freedom from sin’s dominion and newness of life.
No Longer Condemned — Week 3
Explores Romans 8 and the freedom believers receive through justification, adoption, life in the Spirit, and assurance grounded in Christ.
A New Creation — Week 4
Shows that God does more than improve the old life. In Christ, believers are reconciled, made new, and sent into the world as ambassadors of reconciliation.
Set Apart as God’s Own Possession — Week 5
Examines the corporate side of Christian identity. Believers are living stones, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and a people who belong to God together.
Putting On the New Self — Week 6
Brings the series to its practical conclusion. Because believers have died and been raised with Christ, they put sin to death, put on His character, and pursue grace-driven obedience.

Identity received

Christian identity is not invented, achieved, or maintained by effort. It is given by God in Christ.

Grace before obedience

Obedience matters deeply, but it does not create our identity. It grows from the identity God has already given.

Belonging in Christ

Union with Christ means believers are forgiven, made new, set apart, and gathered into a people who belong to God.

Common questions

Questions this series helps answer

What does it mean to be united to Christ?
Is Christian identity something I earn or something God gives?
What does it mean that believers are chosen and loved in Christ?
How does union with Christ answer shame, fear, and condemnation?
What does it mean to be a new creation?
Why does Peter call believers a royal priesthood and holy nation?
How does obedience flow from grace instead of earning grace?
How should Christians learn to live from who they are in Christ?

Begin the study and live from what God has made true

Start with Week 1, explore the broader Union with Christ hub, or continue into related studies on identity, grace, doctrine, and the gospel.

Begin with Week 1 Union with Christ Hub Recommended: Why Do Good Things Still Leave Us Unsatisfied? Bible & Theology Doctrine of God Series Series Library Trust in Christ