"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (John 17:21).
Though it be secret and mystical, yet it [our union with Christ] is real; because a thing is spiritual, it doth not cease to be real. These are not words, or poor empty notions only, that we are united to Christ; but they imply a real truth. Why should the Holy Ghost use so many terms; of being planted into Christ? Rom. 6:5, 'For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection;' of being joined to Christ? 1 Cor. 6:17, 'He that is joined to the Lord is one Spirit;' of being made partakers of Christ? Heb. 3:14, 'For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.' Do these terms only imply a relation between us and Christ? No; then the emphasis of the words is lost. What great mystery in all this. Why is this mystery so often spoken of? Christ is not only ours, but 'he is in us, and we in him.' God is ours, and we dwell in God: 1 John 4:13, 'Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit;' and ver. 15, 'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.' It is represented by similitudes, that imply a real union as well as a relative, by head and members, root and branches, as well as by marriage, where man and wife are made one flesh. It is compared here with the mystery of the Trinity, and the unity of the divine persons. It is not a notion of scripture, but a thing wrought by the Spirit.
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Thomas Manton was an English Puritan clergyman.
Born at Lydeard St Lawrence, Somerset, Manton was educated at Blundell's School and then at Hart Hall, Oxford where he graduated BA in 1639. Joseph Hall, bishop of Norwich, ordained him deacon the following year: he never took priest's orders, holding that he was properly ordained to the ministerial office. He was then appointed town lecturer of Collumpton in Devon. In the winter of 1644-1645, he was appointed to preach at St Mary's Church in the parish of Stoke Newington in Middlesex, where in 1646 he was joined by Alexander Popham as the parish's ruling elder and began to build a reputation as a forthright and popular defender of Reformed principles.
Although Manton is little known now, in his day he was held in as much esteem as men like John Owen. He was best known for his skilled expository preaching, and was a favourite of John Charles Ryle, who championed his republication in the mid-19th century. His finest work is probably his Exposition of James.