KEY ELEMENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IN
ROMANS 5–8
As a result of justification
by faith, believers have been reconciled to God by the death of Christ (5:9-10).
Because of Adam’s disobedience, all are sinners and are under
condemnation (5:18-19). But by the
grace of God, Christ’s death for sin, resulted in our justification (5:18).
An awareness of our union with Christ, which freed us from the power of
sin, should be a motivation to obedience in our Christian life (6:1-23).
Although believers are not under the Law, there is a constant struggle in
the Christian life due to the warfare between the flesh and the new nature
(7:13-25). But believers have been
set free from the law of sin and death by the condemnation of sin (8:1-3).
Therefore, when believers walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of the
law is fulfilled in them by the indwelling Holy Spirit (8:4-15).
As adopted sons of God, believers are heirs of God awaiting their
promised future glorification (8:16-39).
Fundamentals of
Christian Living
The essentials of the
Christian life found in Romans 5–8
are based on the believer’s position in Christ as one who has been justified
(declared righteous), reconciled, baptized by the Holy Spirit into union with
Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, sanctified, and glorified.
The sanctification of the believer is presented by Paul in this passage
as the goal of the Christian life. Because
believers have been declared righteous they are to manifest that righteousness
in everyday life through the power of the indwelling Spirit of god.
But this is a constant struggle because of the sinful nature which is
present within us.
Union
with Christ
By the baptism of the Holy
Spirit, believers are placed in union with Christ (6:5).
Because we are united with Christ positionally in his death, we have been
freed from slavery to sin. His
resurrection gained mastery over death and is a promise to us of eternal life.
Because our old self was crucified with Christ, we are freed positionally
from the power of sin in our lives. Just as Christ gained mastery over death and lives to God, so
believers have been made spiritually alive to God so we can walk in newness of
life.
Spiritual
Warfare
Believers must acknowledge
that we are positionally dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. We must
also stop letting sin control our lives and have mastery over us.
We must choose whether to allow ourselves to become instruments of
unrighteousness or to present ourselves as instruments of righteousness to God,
as those who have been declared to be alive from the dead.
The struggle between the flesh and the Spirit is obvious from Paul’s
description of the conflict within him. Although
he desires to do good, he finds that he does evil.
The sinful nature within each
believer is in constant opposition to the believer’s new life in Christ (6:12,
16; 7:22-25). The presence of the
Holy Spirit produces the tension or conflict in our lives.
This struggle in the life of a believer, rather than being proof of the
Holy Spirit’s absence, is evidence of His work within us.
The Indwelling
of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is given to
believers as a sovereign act of God at the point of regeneration (5:5).
This is clarified in 8:9-11 where the presence of the Holy Spirit is
proof of one’s salvation. Belonging
to Christ, or being “in the Spirit” (8:9), is conditional upon the
indwelling of the Spirit of Christ. The
indwelling Holy Spirit is proof of one’s salvation and a promise of future
resurrection (8:11). The security
of the believer, like one’s positional union with Christ, must not be a
license to sin but a motivation to godliness.
The present ministries of the Holy Spirit are: 1) bearing witness with
our spirit that we are the children of God and, 2) interceding for us when we
pray (8:16, 26).
Sanctification
Sanctification is presented
in this passage in all three aspects. Positional sanctification is the placing of believers at
conversion in union with Christ (6:5; 7:4; 8:1) by the baptism of the Holy
Spirit (6:4), at which time they are also justified and declared righteous,
making them positionally holy before God. This
act of God becomes the basis for progressive or experiential sanctification as
well as the promise of ultimate sanctification.
Progressive sanctification is
the continuing transformation of the moral and spiritual character of the
believer (6:19; 8:4-5). It is the dynamic outworking by the Holy Spirit of
the believer’s union with Christ, which conforms the believer to the image of
Christ producing Christlikeness. The
Holy Spirit who indwells the believer at salvation also provides the power for
his sanctification.
Walking
in the Spirit
However, unlike positional
and ultimate sanctification which are total works of God, progressive
sanctification is a work of God begun at regeneration which takes place as the
believer walks in the Spirit and thereby becomes a vital part of that
sanctification.
Believers cannot produce the
requirement of the law by their own self-effort. Rather God fulfills the requirements of the Law in those who
walk according to the Spirit. The
struggle, which was described in 7:15-25, is clarified in 8:4-7 by the
distinction between walking according to the flesh and walking according to the
Spirit. Progressive sanctification
only takes place when a believer is walking in the Spirit.
The goal of progressive sanctification is for believers to become
experientially, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, what they already are
in position.
Glorification
The
final stage in the salvation process is the ultimate sanctification of the
believer. It is realized at
resurrection when the believer will be transformed into the likeness of Christ
and presented to the Lord as holy. The
indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer is both the promise and
the agency for the believer's future glorification. This
glorification includes the redemption of the body, an inheritance undefiled and
eternal, and deliverance from the future wrath of God.
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© 2002 Biblical Resources, Inc. All rights reserved.
