Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 18

Since God does not need to be reconciled to man – but rather man to God – Scripture does not present reconciliation as we know it today in the modern sense of the word. (It is used in our days in connection with two parties that were separated, and that come together with some degree of compromise, so that relations between them could return to what they were before.) Reconciliation, as presented in the gospel, never sees God and man meeting at some point in the middle, but man (the believer) being “brought” to God (1 Pet. 3:18; Eph. 2:13). To avoid this mistaken idea, the Scriptures never say that we are reconciled to God. Such a statement could convey the idea that there was some compromise on God's part, as well as on man's part. The Scriptures carefully state that believers are reconciled “to” (JND) God (Rom. 5:10; 2 Cor. 5:20; Eph. 2:16; Col. 1:20). That is why Paul says that “we” (believers) have obtained “the reconciliation”; he does not say that God obtains the reconciliation (v. 11).

The apostle states that we were once “enemies” of God. An enemy is one who has enmity and bad feelings toward the one he hates and, consequently, keeps himself away from him. This is the condition of fallen man in relation to God. His bad feelings toward God are driven by the presence of a bad conscience that condemns him as a sinner. This gives him the sense of having done something wrong and leaves him uncomfortable in meeting with God. The enmity in man's heart began with his fall (Gen. 3:15), and has worked to keep men far from God ever since.

Despite such a condition prevailing over the human race, God took on the task of removing it and bringing men (believers) back to Himself. In this fifth chapter of Romans, Paul showed that God took the first step toward man's reconciliation, offering a sacrifice for sin, in order to bring man back to Him. Paul says: “But God proves His love for us, in that Christ died for us, while we were still sinners” (v. 8).

Father, Thy sovereign love has sought Captives of sin, they far from Thee; The work that Thine own Son hath wrought Has brought us back to peace and set us free.

Hymn The Little. Flock. No. 331

Paul explains how God removes the enmity in a sinner's heart – it is by “the death of His Son”. This refers to the fact that God's love for humanity was so great that He would even give His own Son to bring men back to Himself! Note that the Scriptures do not say “the death of Christ” or some other title of the Lord Jesus. They say “the death of His Son”. This emphasizes the affection that existed in His relationship with His Son. God had only one Son, and He loved Him very much, but He gave Him to save sinners! The cost to accomplish this sacrifice is therefore incalculable. When this great fact – that God offered His beloved Son to bring men back to Himself – reaches the sinner's heart by the power of the Spirit, his heart is constrained. Then, to learn through the gospel that God's disposition has been favorable to the sinner throughout his life (even though he has harbored bad thoughts toward God) is more than his heart can bear. God's love and compassion conquer the sinner's heart in such a way that the enmity that once rested there is dissipated. All these bad feelings and hatreds are driven from the soul, and the love of God floods his heart. Thus his thoughts toward God are all changed, and His Son, who willingly gave Himself, becomes the most wonderful and attractive Person to him. He once felt uncomfortable with the idea of meeting God, but now as a believer, he is very comfortable in His presence and truly delights in being there. J. N. Darby observed regarding reconciliation: “I feel at home with God. All His gracious feelings are toward me, and I know it, and my heart is brought back to Him.” As a result, the believer exults in his new relationship with God. “Glorying in God” – which is the happy state that reconciliation produces in the believer – is truly the believer's proper attitude toward God. With this, we truly reach a high point in the epistle!

We rejoice in our God, and we sing of that love, So sovereign and free that made His heart move!

When we lost our condition, all ruined, dissatisfied, He saw with compassion and did not spare His Son!

Hymn The Little. Flock. No. 135

Paul says: “we have now obtained the reconciliation” (v. 11). This indicates that the believer's reconciliation is an accomplished fact; it is not something waiting for when he arrives in heaven. In man's salvation, it is God who receives propitiation and the believer who receives reconciliation.

Four Aspects of Reconciliation

There are four main places where reconciliation is mentioned in the New Testament in relation to believers:

• Colossians 1:20-23 presents the side of God – being brought back to Him in a condition in which all the Godhead can delight in us, being made “holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable before It” (JND). All for His pleasure and the satisfaction of His heart.

• Romans 5:10-11 presents the side of the believer (individually) – the removal of the enmity that once made us enemies. Through such removal we are made comfortable in His presence and thus we “glory in God”.

• Ephesians 2:11-16 – presents the side of the believer (collectively) – the unity that exists among the members of the body of Christ, whether they were Jews or Gentiles.

• 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 – presents the testimony of this great truth to the world in the gospel.

The Difference Between Justification and Reconciliation

We also see in these things that reconciliation is different from justification, although both involve a change of mind.

Justification has to do with a change of mind in the mind of

God. God considers (“thinks to be as such”) the believer as righteous.

• Reconciliation has to do with a change of mind in the mind of the sinner who believes. His thoughts of enmity toward God, resulting from being an enemy of God, are replaced by rejoicing in God.

The Blessings of the Gospel Revealed in Chapters 3:21-5:11

Thus, in this subdivision of the epistle (chaps. 3:21 to 5:11), the apostle Paul revealed the blessings of the gospel in an orderly manner, with reconciliation being the culmination of it all. This subsection ends with the believer in a happy relationship with God, enjoying His company. Thus, the righteousness, love and grace of God triumphed over all the ruin that sin caused in man! The believer has:

• Redemption (chap. 3:24) – We are bought and delivered from judgment, from sin, from Satan and from the course of this world.

• Forgiveness (chap. 4:7) – The guilt of our sins has been removed from our conscience.

• Justification (chap. 5:1) – We have been absolved of every accusation against us, because we are brought into a new position before God in Christ, where God no longer sees us as sinners.

• Reconciliation (chap. 5:10-11) – We have been brought to God with changed thoughts and feelings toward Him, and then we delight in being in His presence, and He delights in having us there.

DELIVERANCE FROM THE POWER OF SIN Chapters 5:12-8:17

In this next subdivision of the epistle, Paul reveals the second aspect of the deliverance announced in the gospel – deliverance from the power of sin. This has to do with God's way of delivering the believer from the activities of his old sinful nature (“the flesh” – Rom. 7:5), so that he is able to live a holy life for the glory of God. This subdivision, therefore, could be called “God's Way of Practical Sanctification,” because it presents God's way and God's power for holy living (See chapter 6:19, 22 “sanctification”. Chapters 3:21-5:11 and chapters 5:12-8:17 can be differentiated as:

• JUSTIFICATION – makes a person judicially righteous.

• SANCTIFICATION – makes a person righteous in practice.

The Difference Between Sins and Sin

Up to this point in the epistle, Paul has spoken about “sins” and God's deliverance from their righteous judgment. But now he changes to speak of “sin” and God's deliverance from its power. (H. Smith points out that the word “sin” appears only twice in chapters 1-5:11, but in this next section of the epistle it occurs no less than 34 times!) Knowing the difference between these two terms is essential to understanding this aspect of deliverance.

“Sins” (plural) refer to the evil actions we have done. God's remedy

for sins committed is in Christ's death for us.

That is, by faith in the blood of Christ, by which we are redeemed (Rom.

3:24; Eph. 1:7), forgiven (Rom. 4:7; Heb. 9:22), justified (Rom. 5:9) and

reconciled (Rom. 5:11; Col. 1:20-22). (Note: the blood of Christ is

mentioned in each of these references.)

• “Sin” (singular) refers to the fallen nature in man (the flesh). God's remedy for the activity of sin in a believer's life is in our death with Christ. That is, the application of Christ's death by faith, by which we are delivered from being connected to sin (Rom. 6:7) and delivered from the power of sin's activity by the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:2).

Therefore, “sins” are evil actions and “sin” is the evil nature. The first is what we did and the second is what we are. It can be said that “sins” are manifestations of “sin”, or that “sins” are the product of “sin”, or that “sins” are fruits of an evil tree and “sin” is the root of that evil tree. Let us also remember that “sin” is more than just the old sinful nature; it is that evil nature with a will of its own, determined to satisfy its lusts. Another difference between these two terms is that “sins” can be “forgiven” by God's grace (chap. 4:7), but “sin” is not forgiven, but rather is “condemned” under God's judgment (chap. 8:3). In stating these distinctions between sins and sin, let us keep in mind that the subject in this section of the epistle is not deliverance from the presence of sin in us, but deliverance from the power of sin over us. Deliverance from the presence of sin in us will only happen if we die or if the Lord comes – the Rapture. The great thing we learn here – which should come as good news to every believer who struggles against the sinful nature – is that the salvation announced in the gospel not only promises deliverance from the judgment of our sins, but also deliverance from the power of sin working in our lives.

“Through,” “With” and “In” Christ

As we move forward in this new subdivision, there is another interesting difference to highlight. In chapters 3:21-5:11, we are told what we have “through” (JND) (sometimes translated as “by” in the KJV) Christ (chap. 5:1, 2, 9, 10, 11). While in chapters 5:12-8:17, Paul tells us what we have “with” and “in” Christ.

The Need for Deliverance from Sin

Not long after being saved, the believer will discover his fallen sinful nature imposing itself in his life in some sinful way. Thus, he will discover that he still has the same carnal nature he had before believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Often, it will be a considerable shock when a new convert realizes that he is still capable of committing all kinds of evil. However, he must learn that being forgiven, justified and reconciled does not mean that Christians can no longer sin. Contrary to what he may have thought, his fallen nature was not removed or improved by his conversion to God. He must learn that, if he gives free rein in his life, he can commit every kind of sin imaginable.

When God saved us, He could have glorified us immediately and thus we would have been delivered from the fallen sinful nature and would never sin again. He could also have taken us straight to heaven the moment we believed, and we would be spared many painful and humiliating experiences with the flesh. However, divine wisdom chose to leave us in this world to walk the path of faith with the fallen sinful nature in us, but with a means of rendering it inactive.

Favor and Freedom

It is not God's intention to leave in this world those whom He has forgiven, justified and reconciled, under the dominion of their fallen sinful natures, without power to walk uprightly and in freedom before Him. The gospel does not offer only an exemption from the penalty of sin, and then leave the believer to continue in this world under the power of sin. In this next section of the epistle, Paul shows that God has provided for the believer a means of total deliverance from the operation of the inward sinful nature, thus enabling him to live a holy life for the glory of God. This is included in the good news of the gospel. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, this subdivision presents us with God's way of practical sanctification.

In chapters 3:21–5:11, we saw the believer placed before God in a position of “favor” (chap. 5:2 – JND); now in chapters 5:12–8:39, God's way of “deliverance” from sin is revealed to us (chap. 6:18). One thing is to stand before God in all the favor of the new position in which justification places us, and quite another is to walk before men in deliverance from sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. The truth revealed in these two sections of the epistle leads the believer from the depravity of sin to God's salvation – but from different perspectives. It is not that the believer is saved twice; the truth developed here is one. It is dealt with in the epistle consecutively because these things, which concern experience, are generally learned separately. Moreover, if Paul took them up at the same time, the reader would probably be confused; God's way is to go over it twice. W. H. Westcott stated: “These two sections of the epistle, properly speaking, run together as parallel lines; although the Spirit of God takes each one separately. The second section is always necessary for a continuous enjoyment of the first. Yet they are not often learned at once and at the same time” (A Letter to Rome, p. 10).

Sinless Perfection

Some have misunderstood this aspect of deliverance and imagined that Paul was teaching that a believer can reach a state of sinless perfection while here on Earth. The Scriptures definitely teach that sinless perfection will be the portion of every Christian, but this will not occur until the coming of the Lord (the Rapture). At that moment, the fallen sinful nature will be eradicated and “this mortal will have put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54). Therefore, let us understand that no believer can have deliverance from the presence of sin while we are on Earth, but deliverance from the power of sin, we can all have through the application of the principles Paul is about to reveal.

A Brief Summary of the Deliverance from the Power of Sin Presented

In This Subdivision

• Chapters 5:12–7:6 present the doctrine of deliverance from sin.

• Chapter 7:7-25 – A PARENTHESIS – illustrating the experimental process a person goes through in learning to apply the doctrine of deliverance.

• Chapter 8:1-17 presents the proper results that flow from the application by faith of the principles of deliverance.

THE DOCTRINE OF DELIVERANCE FROM SIN Chapters 5:12–7:6

The doctrine of deliverance from sin involves: understanding some things that were accomplished in the death of Christ, reckoning those things by faith, and yielding ourselves to God in the sphere of life where Christ lives to God, by which we are enabled to live a sanctified life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Origin of the Sinful Nature

Chap. 5:12 – Paul begins his dissertation on deliverance from sin by going back to the beginning and explaining how the human race initially became afflicted by the fallen sinful nature (the flesh). He says: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death passed to all men, because all sinned”. In this way Paul traces the origin of the sinful nature of the human race back to Adam's transgression in the garden of Eden. He and his wife (Eve) were created without sin, but with free will. Unfortunately, they exercised their wills and chose to disobey God, and thus became sinners possessing fallen sinful natures. Thus, “sin (the nature) entered the world” at that moment.

Why Did God Allow Sin to Enter the World?