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Scripture Reading: Rom. 5:17; 8:2, 5b, 4
The full salvation of God to us is revealed in the book of Romans in two sections. The first section is God’s redemption through the death of Christ, and the second is God’s saving in the life of Christ. Hence, 5:10 says, “If we, being enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled.” The main significance of what is covered in Romans 1 through 4 is the redemption of Christ (including reconciliation) in God’s full salvation, and the main significance of what is covered in Romans 5 through 16 is the saving of Christ in God’s full salvation. In this book we will see only the main significance of the second section of Romans, that is, how Christ saves us in His divine life.
Many readers of the book of Romans appreciate chapter 5 because it contains many wonderful matters, such as justification, peace, joy, boasting, and glory (vv. 1-5). But few have paid attention to the matter of reigning in life in verse 17. Romans 5:17 says, “If, by the offense of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” In this verse the abundance of two things is mentioned: the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness. Grace has been given, and out of the abundance of grace, the gift of righteousness has also been given. The righteousness of God has been given to us as a gift. This gift of righteousness is one of the highest gifts that God gives to us. Many of us may have realized that God has given us His Son, His eternal life, and the Holy Spirit as precious gifts. But very few of us may have realized that God has also given us His righteousness as a crucial gift.
Paul’s presentation of the righteousness of God in the book of Romans is very strong, clear, and irrefutable. He presents the righteousness of God as the base of our faith and shows that this righteousness of God is based upon God Himself. This righteousness of God is the foundation of God’s salvation in the book of Romans.
God’s salvation in the book of Romans is a matter mainly in life. But His salvation has a base. In the Gospel of John the base of God’s salvation is love (3:16). In the book of Ephesians the base of God’s salvation is grace (2:5, 8). In Romans God’s love (5:5) and grace (vv. 2, 15, 17, 20-21) are mentioned, but the base of His salvation in Romans is righteousness (1:17). The base of righteousness is God Himself. Without God, there is no righteousness. God Himself is the base of His righteousness, and His righteousness is the base of His salvation. His salvation has the solid foundation of His righteousness, and upon this foundation of righteousness we are saved. Only God’s righteousness, not man’s righteousness, including the Jew’s righteousness, can be counted on.
God’s righteousness is the very foundation of His throne (Psa. 89:14; 97:2). God’s throne is standing on His righteousness. If you were to take away the righteousness of God, everything in the universe would collapse. Concerning His righteousness, God is tested, examined, and judged (Rom. 3:4). In this testing, examination, and judgment, He has already won the victory, and no one is able to defy God in His righteousness.
Due to the problem of man’s fall, the redemption of Christ was needed. Therefore, after presenting the fact of man’s fall (Rom. 1:21—3:20), Paul presents Christ’s redemption (3:21-26). Christ came as our Redeemer in order to accomplish redemption. God can justify us based upon Christ’s redemption (v. 24) because all of God’s righteous requirements have been fulfilled by Christ’s death on the cross. Because of Christ’s redemption, He has a strong base according to His righteousness to justify us and to declare that we are approved by Him. His justification is not merely a matter of love; it is a matter of righteousness. The justification that God has given to us is based upon the fulfillment of His righteous requirements by Christ’s all-inclusive death. Hence, God’s justifying us is a matter of His righteousness, and His righteousness never changes.
God’s gift of His righteousness matches His grace. First, God’s grace is given; then out of God’s grace, there is God’s gift. This gift is the righteousness of God. Because we have received the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness, we can reign in life. After we have been justified, we should reign in life.
The crown of our enjoyment of all the items in chapter 5 is reigning in life. We are kings enjoying the kingship, but our kingship is not one of authority or power. Our enjoyment of the kingship is in life. Life should be the crown of our enjoyment of God’s salvation. Our enjoyment of God’s salvation should come up to the standard that we are kings reigning in life.
By reigning in the divine life of Christ, we are saved from all kinds of insubordination. To be saved in life causes us to reign as kings. According to Romans 5:17, those who receive the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness, those who are justified, will reign in life. A justified person should reign because he has the divine life, a kingly life, with which to reign. Without the kingly life, no one can reign. When we were redeemed by Christ, forgiven of our sins, and washed by the blood of Christ, we were justified. In addition, we were regenerated with a divine, spiritual, heavenly, kingly, and royal life. Thus, we are now able to reign in life as kings.
The gospel that is commonly preached today does not include the matter of reigning in life. We may have heard only that we were sinners and that if we believed in the Lord Jesus, God would forgive us; then we would be redeemed and regenerated in order to have the divine life. This is right, but according to Paul’s word in Romans, there is much more. Paul tells us that we were saved with a life that is not only divine but also royal and kingly. It is a life that is able to reign (5:17). We have received a life that not only gives us the ability to be spiritual, heavenly, and divine but also gives us the ability to reign. In this life we reign over all the negative things.
When we were saved, we were put into the position of a king in order to reign in life. We may have been saved for a number of years, and yet we may have never experienced reigning over anything. In a family, if the parents are away from home, an older sister who is thirteen years of age may exercise to reign over the younger brothers and sisters who are only five and six years of age. Sometimes the husbands like to reign over their wives. A brother may say to his wife, “Don’t you know that I am the head?” This means that the brother is exercising to reign over his wife. These are examples of reigning in a natural way, but are we experiencing reigning in life? We need a revelation of what it means to reign in life.
Reigning in the divine life of Christ saves us from all kinds of insubordination (v. 17). It saves us from many kinds of negative things. We reign over sin, the world, Satan, the natural man, self, and individualism for the accomplishing of the building up of the organic Body of Christ in fulfilling the New Testament economy of God.
To reign in life is to reign over such things as sin, the world, Satan, the natural man, the self, and individualism. These things are all part of today’s rebellion. Everything is in rebellion. Sin is rebellion within us, and the world is rebellion outside of us. Satan is in rebellion, being the top rebel. Our natural man and the self are also very rebellious. Even within the church, the natural man rebels. Individualism is the rebellion of our natural man. Our natural man is altogether rebellious. As long as we live in our natural man, we would not agree with our wife, our husband, our parents, or the other members of our family. In our natural man we would not be one with the brothers and sisters in the church life. Our natural man always rebels. When we behave ourselves in Christ, in the status and position of saints, we are nice and agreeable with everyone in nearly everything. But when we are outside of Christ, especially when we lose our temper, we forget our status and position as saints. In such a condition we are unhappy with everyone, and nothing is agreeable to us. If we are living with other brothers and sisters, we may think that the arrangement of the dining table with its chairs is wrong, that the kitchen is wrong, and that all the saints with whom we are living are also wrong. This kind of experience indicates that our natural life is one of rebellion. In order to reign in life over our temper, we must exercise our spirit to say, “Satan, stop your activity. You must be under me. I am the one ruling and reigning here.” When we say this, we are actually speaking to ourselves.
We must learn to exercise our kingship. We all have been crowned to be kings in life to reign in life. We must learn not to say any word that expresses anything of rebellion. This means that we are learning to reign. Many times something of sin or of the world rises up within us. When this happens, often the best way to reign over this thing is to say to sin or the world, “Stop! Don’t go any further.” Some may say that this does not work. But according to my experience, this really works. Simply to pray concerning the negative things in order to rule over them is not very effective. When your temper is rising up, you may pray, “Lord, I don’t like to lose my temper. Lord, help me to not lose my temper.” I prayed this kind of prayer in the early days of my Christian life. But I discovered that this kind of prayer does not work very well. Today, when I feel my temper rising, I say, “Stop! Temper, you are not the king. I am the king. Don’t try to overcome or overrun me. I am ruling over you. Don’t go any further.” To speak a word of command to your temper really works. When you give such a command, sin stops not only within you but also within your wife and your children. Sin stops because you rule over it.
We have received the abundance of grace and the abundance of the gift of righteousness in order to reign in life. We have been crowned by God as kings in life. But it is not easy to know this experience. In Acts 3 Peter said to the lame man, “Silver and gold I do not possess, but what I have, this I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene rise up and walk” (v. 6). We should learn of Peter. He did not have silver and gold, but he had the name of Jesus. Peter did not spend silver and gold; he spent the name of the Lord Jesus. In the matter of reigning in life, we should not exercise any kind of authority over our wife or husband. Rather, we should spend the divine life as Peter did. We have the divine life, and we are kings in the divine life to reign in life. When there is a time of turmoil or rebellion in the church life, we should just tell the turmoil or rebellion that we do not agree with it. This is to reign in life.
To reign in life over so many rebellious things, we must first be obedient and submissive to the Lord. If we are not submissive to the Lord, who is our Master and our God, no one will be submissive to us. If we are going to reign, we must first be under someone. When we are submissive to the Lord, taking the position of one who is submissive to the Lord, immediately we have the deep sensation of grace within us. When we have the serious consideration that we are submissive to the Lord who is our Master, we feel the abundance of grace within us. When we have this sense of abundant grace, this is a sign that we are submissive to the Lord. At such a time, we reign in life. The way for us to receive the abundance of grace is to be submissive.
In Numbers 16 when Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rose up against Moses and Aaron, Moses fell on his face (v. 4). In falling upon his face, Moses submitted himself to Jehovah. Because of his submission, Jehovah was able to come in to deal with the situation (vv. 23-24, 31-35). It seemed that Moses was ruling and reigning. Actually, Jehovah was reigning. Jehovah’s reigning came out of Moses’ submission. Surely Moses enjoyed the abundance of grace, in figure, when he submitted himself to God. The abundance of grace is just the fullness of the enjoyment of Christ. Our submission to our Master will cause the Master to come in to rule over the rebellious ones. To the rebellious ones, it is a kind of ruling, but to the submissive ones, it is the enjoyment of the abundance of grace.
Your rising temper is actually a “rebel.” As you submit to the Lord, all the “rebels” are subdued. You should tell the Lord, “Lord, I am submissive to You. I don’t agree with my rising temper, which is just a rebel. I am submissive to You.” In this way you rule over your temper.
Our experience of the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness corresponds to Christ’s redemption and God’s application of Christ’s redemption in justifying us. Christ’s redemption is a matter of grace. God’s justification is a matter of the gift of righteousness. In Christ’s redemption we receive grace. In God’s justification we receive the gift of righteousness. The issue of these two things is eternal life (Rom. 5:17, 21). Eventually, eternal life becomes the means, sphere, and element of our kingship. We are kings in the eternal life. This eternal life comes from the abundance of grace in Christ’s redemption and the abundance of the gift of righteousness in God’s justification.
Whenever there is a turmoil or rebellion surrounding you, you should not deal with it or confront it directly. Rather, you should stay in the grace of the redeeming Christ and in the gift of righteousness of the justifying God. Thus, you can say, “Lord, my Master and my God, I submit myself to You. Lord, You know the entire situation. The entire turmoil is before Your eyes. I don’t like this kind of situation, and I surely do not agree with this situation. Lord, I like to submit myself to You.” When you say this to the Lord with a serious consideration, you have the definite and rich feeling that you are full of the abundance of the grace of Christ and the abundance of the gift of righteousness of the justifying God. At such a time, the Master, the very Lord and the very God, goes out to deal with the situation. He is ruling and reigning. His ruling and reigning will be accounted to you as your ruling and reigning. This is the way to reign in life.
We also are saved in the divine life of Christ by the dispositional sanctification of the indwelling Spirit. Sanctification in the New Testament has two aspects: positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification. Positional sanctification also has two aspects: before and after we were saved. Before we repented and believed, the Holy Spirit came to us to sanctify us, to separate us from sin and the world (1 Pet. 1:2). Our repentance came from the positional sanctification of the Spirit before we repented. Then, after we repented and believed, we were sanctified positionally (Heb. 10:10; 1 Cor. 1:2; cf. Matt. 23:17, 19; 1 Tim. 4:3-5) with a view to dispositional sanctification. Then the Spirit continues to sanctify us dispositionally, day after day. This sanctification is to transform our being. Positional sanctification is objective, outside of us, but dispositional sanctification is subjective, within us (Rom. 15:16; Eph. 5:26; 1 Cor. 1:30).
According to Romans 15:16, Paul, as a laboring priest of the gospel of God, offered to God the nations who had been sanctified in the Holy Spirit. Paul offered to God only that which had been sanctified, wholly separated, unto God. He would not offer anything common to God. His offering had to be something that was separated wholly unto God, something that was not only holy in position but also holy in disposition. The offering of the nations is in three steps. First, those who preach the gospel offer the newly saved ones to God as spiritual sacrifices (v. 16; 1 Pet. 2:5). After the new believers grow and begin to understand what it is to be a believer in Christ, they are encouraged to offer themselves to God as a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1). This is the second step of offering. Then, as the believers continue to grow unto maturity, those who labor on the believers present them full-grown in Christ (Col. 1:28).
Dispositional sanctification is to prepare us to be an adequate offering, or sacrifice, to God. This sanctification is to save us from our disposition, which has been soaked with the element of the world. We love the world because our disposition has been soaked with the element of the world. There is not one person on this earth who does not love the world. Everyone loves the world. All the modern things of this world can easily be sold because the things of the world fit in with the inner disposition of human beings, which has been soaked with the element of the world.
Thus, after we are saved, we need to be sanctified. Sanctification implies separation from the world. It also indicates that something is to be made holy, not common. God is holy. He has nothing to do with the world; He is altogether separate from the world. But we are very common, very worldly. Therefore, we need to be sanctified. We need to be sanctified not only in our behavior and living outwardly but also in our disposition inwardly. We need outward, positional sanctification because our outward living is altogether worldly. We also need dispositional sanctification because our disposition has been soaked with the element of the world. Even young boys and girls know how to choose the worldly things. This is because worldliness has already saturated their disposition since the time they were born.
Sin is in our nature, and the element of the world is in our disposition. For this reason all men love the world and want to be modern according to the current fashion of the world. This is because the world has saturated our disposition since the time we were born. Thus, we all need to be dispositionally sanctified. Our nature is contaminated by sin, and our disposition is contaminated by the world. The only thing that can save us from the contamination of the world is the dispositional sanctification by the indwelling Spirit.
This dispositional sanctification by the indwelling Spirit takes place through our cooperation by presenting ourselves as slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:18). In order to be sanctified, we must be righteous. God can never sanctify anyone who is unrighteous. God sanctifies only the redeemed and justified ones; therefore, first, we must be redeemed and justified in order to be righteous. Then we are able to be sanctified. Sanctification is based upon righteousness. Thus, if we want to be sanctified dispositionally, we must present ourselves as slaves to righteousness.
We are dispositionally sanctified through our cooperation by presenting our members as slaves to righteousness (v. 19b). In order to participate in gambling, we must first give our members, our hands, to play the game. But if we have presented our hands as slaves to righteousness, we cannot gamble, because it is not righteous. We need to present each one of our members, not just ourselves as a whole, as slaves to righteousness.
When we present our members as slaves to righteousness, we are able to overcome many things. Many of the saints cannot overcome the practice of “window-shopping” at the department stores. Often, not having any extra money in the bank saves some from shopping. Although they have very little money in the bank, they still would go window-shopping. Apparently, window-shopping is not unrighteous. But because many items within the department stores are sinful and worldly, window-shopping is actually not righteous. As we walk through the department stores, many items attract us and cause us to present our eyes to these unrighteous things. In order to be sanctified, we need to pray, “Lord, I present my eyes as slaves to righteousness.” Then as we present our eyes as slaves to righteousness, the indwelling Spirit prevails to sanctify our eyes. In Romans 6 Paul is very detailed. He not only tells us to present ourselves as a whole but also tells us to present every member of our body to righteousness. We need to present our whole being, our entire body, and each member of our body, not only to God as the divine person but also to righteousness. As we present our members to righteousness, we are righteous. As a result, God can come in to sanctify us in our disposition. If we present ourselves and our members as slaves to righteousness, the issue is dispositional sanctification (v. 22).
We must present ourselves and our members as slaves to righteousness. This righteousness is Christ Himself. To present ourselves and our members to righteousness means to present ourselves and our members to Christ as righteousness. In the book of Romans grace (5:17, 21), righteousness (vv. 17, 21; 6:16, 18-20), and sanctification are all Christ. To present ourselves to righteousness is to present ourselves to the all-inclusive Christ. He is our righteousness, and He is the foundation, the base, for our being sanctified. Without Christ as a base in life, we cannot be sanctified in our disposition.
