Category: Cross-Centered Life

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Bible Study Cross-Centered Life Theology

Romans 8:1-4 Justified AND Sanctified

I’m convinced that most American Christians have only a very rudimentary understanding of the relationship between salvation and the cross of Christ. The result of this lack of understanding is a weak and anemic faith and in some cases perhaps even a false assurance of salvation. But it doesn’t have to be so. If only we will look into the Word of God, there is a wealth of truth that reveals what Jesus has accomplished for us through his death and resurrection.

With this in mind, let’s look at Romans 8:1-4 (ESV).

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

This passage helps us to understand the relationship between justification and sanctification. Justification is the term the Bible uses to describe God’s work in saving us from the penalty of sin, while sanctification refers to our salvation from the power of sin. In other words, justification speaks to our legal standing of complete righteousness in the sight of God, whereas sanctification has reference to God’s giving us a life that looks more and more like that legal standing.

Verse 1 is a beautiful statement of the justification we have received in Christ. There is “no condemnation”. To be condemned is to be declared guilty. But for those who are in Christ, there is no guilty verdict, only the glorious “not guilty” that God pronounces over us. This is freedom from sin’s penalty. Have you felt the relief of having the penalty of eternal death removed from you?

Moving into verse 2 we begin to see the sanctification that we have received in Christ. What is it that we are “set free” from? It is the “law of sin and death.” Paul is not talking here about the Law of Moses, but rather about the power of sin that keeps us so bound that it can be described as a “law”. Just like laws must be obeyed, sin is a master that we are not free to disobey. Paul refers to the same thing in Romans 7:23 when he says, “I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”

The law of sin and death (all sin eventually leads to death) is that which holds us captive. But, “the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” The Holy Spirit who applies in our hearts the life of Christ Jesus is an authority and power greater than that of sin. He is able to set us free.

Now here is where we start to see the relationship between justification and sanctification. Notice that verse 1 (justification) is linked to verse 2 (sanctification) by the word, “for” or “because” (NIV). Paul is not trying to say that verse 2 is the ground or basis upon which we are justified. Rather, he is saying that we are indeed free from condemnation and the evidence of that is the freedom from sin’s power that we have received in Christ. It’s as if he is saying, “There is no condemnation…and here’s the evidence that there isn’t”

Now, why would Paul offer the fact that the Spirit empowers us to live free and holy lives as an evidence of our justification? The answer is in verses 3-4.

Romans 8:3–4 (ESV)
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Here again we have another “for” but this time, it is used not to introduce evidence that verse 2 is true but rather to explain how the justification in verse 1 and the sanctifying power in verse 2 have come about. God, through sending his Son to die as a sin offering, has condemned sin. Jesus’ death on the cross as our substitute is the ground or basis upon which we are justified (v.1), but it is equally true that Jesus death on the cross is also the basis upon which we are sanctified (v.2)

You can see this so clearly as you continue reading into verse 4. Why did God send his Son to condemn sin in the flesh? “In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.” In other words, Jesus’ death on the cross is not just to free us from sin’s penalty, but also to free us from sin’s power–to enable us to live the righteous life that the Law of God requires of us. Both justification and sanctification are rooted in what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

So what then is the relationship between the two? Namely this, there is no justification without sanctification. You cannot get justification from Christ without also getting sanctification. If someone claims that their sins are forgiven because they have trusted in Christ for salvation but then lives in sin, evidencing no power over sin, then that person has a false assurance of salvation.

So when Paul says, “…us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit,” he is not contrasting Christians who walk according to the spirit with Christians who walk according to the flesh. It is not that Christians are able to live in some kind of neutral ground with respect to sin and choose whether or not to walk according to the Spirit. There are not certain higher-level Christians who walk according to the Spirit while others haven’t quite figured that out yet. To walk according to the Spirit is the definition of being a Christian.

Lest you think that I am setting the bar too high here, listen to what the respected Presbyterian pastor James M. Boice says.

“…if we are not living a new life in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, it is not simply that we are unfulfilled or defeated Christians. We are not Christians at all! … it is only “those who are led by the Spirit of God” who are the “sons of God” (v. 14). Many who are not living by the Spirit need to awaken to the fact that they are not truly Christians (Boice, J. M. (1991-). Romans (784). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Book House.)

While seeing this relationship between justification and sanctification should be a wake-up call to the lukewarm Christian, it should also be an encouragement to the struggling Christian. The point here is not to heap guilt on a person that is trying very hard to live a sanctified life. Rather, the point is to help that person see that just as they look to Christ in faith for deliverance from sin’s penalty, they can also have every confidence that Jesus will also grant freedom from sin’s power. Indeed he already has granted that freedom! “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” It is past tense. Completed!

This is the gospel for Christians. Look to the cross of Christ. That is your victory over the sin you are struggling with. Put your faith in Jesus today and tomorrow and every day until he comes, just as you did on the day you first trusted him.

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Bible Study Cross-Centered Life Theology

1 John 2.24 Abiding in the gospel

Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you….
1 John 2.24

I have heard Christians pray many, many times, “Lord, teach us to abide in you.” Jesus commanded us in John 15 to abide in him as the branches abide in the vine. But how do we do that? What does it mean to “abide” or as other versions put it, to “remain” in him? This seems to me to be a longing that all believers have—they want to know how they can abide in Christ.

John’s first letter really fleshes out what is involved in abiding in Christ, but I want to specifically point out what he says in 1 John 2.24 “Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you.” The context of this statement is John’s warning that antichrists will come denying that Jesus is the Christ. In contrast to this, John says, the believers should continue in the truth about Jesus that had first been preached to them by the apostles: that Jesus is the Christ, who died, was buried, and then rose from the dead.

John is challenging the believers to abide, or “remain,” or “live in” the simple gospel that they had received in the beginning.

I don’t want to be reductionist and view the concept of abiding in Christ as only this one thing, but surely this is the foundation upon which the whole structure of “abiding in Christ” is built. It is by Jesus’ death and resurrection that we are “in Christ.” Therefore, everything else we do in the Christian life as we continue on in our relationship with Jesus is built on and connected to this gospel foundation.

So let us abide in Christ first by reminding ourselves constantly of this gospel foundation:

Jesus Christ died nailed to a Roman cross, was buried, and then three days later rose to life, never to die again, but ascended into heaven promising to return for his own. Even the calendar marks these events as the center of human history.

This is the gospel, and it is far more important than you probably realize. The gospel is not just the ticket that “got you in” to Christ, it is what sustains your life. You need the gospel like you need air to breathe. The gospel is your daily bread; you cannot live without it.

Because of a growing conviction that Christians need to understand better the centrality of the gospel to their relationship with Jesus, I have rethought the purpose of my blog. I am committing myself to a blog (with at least one post a week) that focuses on applying the gospel message to all of life. I hope to remind myself and anyone else interested in reading that to abide in Christ, I must start with the simple gospel

The gospel is found not just in a few chapters of the New Testament. It is the theme of the entire Bible. It is the duty and the delight of every Christian to seek for it every day as gold, and then to plumb its depths, to trust in it, live by it and to die clinging to it as his only hope.

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Bible Study Cross-Centered Life Theology

Luke 6.20-26 The future nature of the gospel

Something very interesting about Luke’s version of the Beatitudes stuck out to me today. It is the little word, “now”. It helped me to see so clearly the contrast between the present condition of many believers and the glorious future state that is promised in the gospel message.

Here’s the passage…

Luke 6:20–26 (ESV)
20And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
22“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
23Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
24“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
25“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
26“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

You can see this little word, “now” in both the blessings (verses 21-22) as well as the woes (verse 25). And do you see the contrast? On the one hand, those who are blessed don’t look to be very blessed at the moment! They are poor, hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, reviled and spurned as evil. On the other hand, those who are not blessed (“woe to you” is hardly a good thing to hear) are rich, full, laughing and spoken well of.

This is the current condition of these two groups, but then look at the contrast in the future. On the one hand, those who are blessed will in the future receive the kingdom of God, satisfaction, laughter, and a great reward in heaven. While those who are not blessed will be hungry, mourning, and weeping as they face the awful reality that their “blessings” were nothing more than temporary.

How can a “prosperity gospel” which teaches health and wealth to all Jesus’ disciples now, explain away Jesus’ teaching here? The implications of the passage are obvious. Our present circumstances do not indicate at all the blessing that comes from being a disciple of Jesus.

And, even more importantly, let me point out here that being a disciple of Jesus is what makes the difference between these two groups. Jesus is not saying that all poor people now will receive the kingdom of God. Verse 29 is explicit: He is speaking to his disciples. And v. 22 also shows that these disciples are hated and reviled “on account of the Son of Man.” Jesus is talking to those who identify themselves with him, who are his followers, who name him as their Lord, and who are willing to suffer now because of their great confidence in Jesus.

The beatitudes, whether the Matthew version or the list here in Luke are not necessarily meant to be a list of virtues that we aspire to (although there are some virtues mentioned in Matthew) but rather are a description of the current state in which Jesus’ followers find themselves. The heart of the gospel is not that we attain to a list of virtues and thus become “blessed.” Rather the gospel (i.e. the good news of the Bible from beginning to end) is God’s grace extended to us through a promise. That promise, which was the first promise ever given on planet earth (Genesis 3.15) is that through Jesus’ death on the cross the sins of all those who trust in Jesus to save them are fully and completely punished. Jesus’ disciples then are blessed with a future great reward in heaven (v. 23).

On the other hand, those who do not trust in Jesus to save them will themselves suffer the punishment of their sins. The truth of coming judgment for those who do not follow Jesus, which is clearly taught in many places throughout the Bible is implicit in the word “woe” in verses 24-26.

Being rich now; being full now; laughing now and being spoken well of now is not necessarily evil in and of itself (see 1 Timothy 6:17-19), but it should never be taken as an indication of future eternal spiritual blessing–the blessing of forgiveness of sins and eternity in the presence of Holy God. Such temporal, transient blessings are God’s kindness “to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35).

But the day will come when those in this group will have to give an account for failing to see God’s kindness to them in these temporal blessings. Thus the “woe” spoken to Jesus’ disciples here is a warning to them to make sure that they come to him daily by grace, with their eyes on the Son of Man, Jesus, and the promise of eternal reward in heaven (v. 23) that he offers through his death and resurrection.

There is a very real “woe” that is coming for those who fail to follow Jesus now and trust him now, regardless of the suffering that may involve (whether it be poverty, hunger, weeping or scorn). If we make our gods the gods of comfort, wealth, and status, we risk losing our souls. Woe to us if we don’t leave everything to have only Jesus. But blessing is ours when we look to Jesus alone and as true disciples trust him to keep his promise, even when it appears that we have nothing to show for it!