Much More (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this message, we examined the great gospel doctrines of substitution, justification by faith and reconciliation. We talked about how Jesus, as the first and only responder to our perilous condition, placed himself above us, and on his Cross endured on our behalf the blunt force trauma of God's wrath toward sin. We talked about how God declares a believer righteous solely on the basis of his faith in the Lord Jesus. We examined the truth of reconciliation and how, on the basis of faith alone, God brings us into full agreement with himself in terms of life and righteousness.  The most sanctified human mind is incapable of fully comprehending such marvelous grace, such unmerited favor on God's part toward us sinners. 

As much as those three foundational doctrines thrill the souls of the saved, there is still much more for which to be thankful and rejoice. Let's once again consider our text in Romans 5:6-12:

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. MUCH MORE then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” 

As we can see, there is MUCH MORE to our salvation than justification and reconciliation. As great as these truths are, they are but the foundation for salvation in our future. Jesus said: “I am come that they [sheep] might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). It is never enough for a believer in Jesus to experience justification, reconciliation and eternal life. It is the desire of Jesus that his sheep go on to experience fulness of salvation. Our text teaches us this salvation includes being (1) saved from wrath through him, and (2) saved by his life. Each of these truths represents so MUCH MORE for the child of God. 

I.  Saved from WRATH

The scripture says “we shall be saved from wrath through him” (5:9). Wrath is divine indignation. In the  scriptures, the wrath of God has three expressions: (1) the wrath that abides on all unbelievers, (2) the day of God's wrath in the Tribulation period, and (3) the Lake of Fire. 

First, there is divine indignation that rests upon unbelievers. In John 3:18, Jesus said: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is CONDEMNED ALREADY, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” In 3:36, John adds: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the WRATH OF GOD abideth on him.” An unbeliever lives 24/7/365 with the wrath of Almighty God resting upon him. This is why Paul could describe them as “the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3). Few if any of the lost have any idea they live under the wrath of God on a daily basis. 

Secondly, there is divine indignation that will express itself toward a sinful and rebellious world during the Great Tribulation period, also know as Daniel's Seventieth Week, which is yet to come. In the book of Revelation, we find these two phrases: “the WRATH of the Lamb” (6:16) and “the great day of his WRATH” (6:17). There are eleven more mentions in Revelation of God's WRATH being poured out upon the earth in full measure. 

Thirdly, the final manifestation of God's wrath is the Lake of Fire, where unbelievers who lived their entire lives under the WRATH of God will experience that WRATH first hand for all eternity with all their senses engaged. Jesus described it as a “furnace of fire” where there will be “wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:42,50). Isn't this reason enough to evangelize the lost? 

If you have been justified by the blood of Christ and reconciled to God by his death, there is NO wrath of ANY kind in your future! In First Thessalonians, Paul taught that Jesus had “delivered us from the WRATH to come” (1:10) and “God hath not appointed us to WRATH, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (5:9). Our salvation in Christ includes total deliverance from divine indignation of any kind in our future. We are truly saved from wrath through him!

In the Greek, “wrath” is preceded by the definite article. It is literally “THE wrath.” The Greek text reads: τῆς ὀργῆς. There are two interpretive possibilities. First, it could be a reference to the Lake of Fire, THE wrath that is the most severe of the aforementioned three types of wrath. Secondly, it could be a reference to Divine wrath in contradistinction to every other form of wrath on a human level. The second meaning makes the most sense to me—saved from Divine wrath of ANY kind. 

II.  Saved by HIS LIFE

The believer in Jesus Christ, having been justified and reconciled to God, shall be “saved by his life.” These four words encapsulate the entire Christian experience. Christianity is not acknowledgment of historical facts. It is not having the proverbial 'get out jail free' card in your wallet. Christianity is Christ IN you, living IN you by his indwelling Spirit. It is the gift of the Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, that enables the believer to experience Christ. Christianity is Christ living in his people!

I wish somebody had explained this fundamental truth to me in my youth. But it was years after God called to preach that I began to understand and experience the daily salvation that the life of Christ within me provides. The sad fact is there are preachers with seminary degrees filling pulpits across the nation that do not understand this basic truth of the Christian life. 

The NT scriptures define the nature of the Christian life. The Christian life is the life of Christ. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal LIFE, and this LIFE is in his SON. He that hath the SON hath LIFE; and he that hath NOT the SON of God hath NOT LIFE. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the SON of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal LIFE, and that ye may believe [keep on believing] on the name of the SON of God” (1 John 5:11-13). The apostle Paul described his own Christian experience: “Christ LIVETH in me” (Galatians 2:20). And for every believer, he affirmed: “CHRIST, who is OUR LIFE” (Colossians 3:4).

It is worth noting the things that do NOT constitute the life of Christ, things from which no life can be derived, things that have no power whatsoever to save. 

1. Material things – Jesus said a man's life does NOT consist in the THINGS that a man has in his possession (Luke 12:15). In other words, prosperity does NOT constitute life and cannot be the measure of the degree to which a believer experiences the life of Christ. 

On four occasions in the Psalms, David said the LORD God was his “portion” (inheritance or allotment) in the land of the living (Psalm 16:5; 73:26; 119:57; 142:5). David believed his God was his prime possession, the very essence of his life. As the eighth son of Jesse tending sheep on the hills, God was enough! As king of Israel, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men alive, God was enough! David never measured his spiritual wealth by his material wealth. His son Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes to expose the “vanity” of such a pursuit.

2. The Mosaic Law – No degree of compliance to the Ten Commandments or Mosaic Law (feasts and ordinances) can produce the life of Christ. The Law has NEVER been a source of spiritual life. One CANNOT experience the LIFE of Christ by compliance to Mosaic LAW. Scripture tells us there is NO LAW that can give LIFE or righteousness to the compliant (Galatians 3:21). This is a bedrock fundamental of grace! There's nothing wrong with the Law. But its role is one of schoolmaster to bring men to Christ, the TRUE source of spiritual LIFE! The schoolmaster is incapable of life, righteousness or salvation. It's biblical purpose is to bring sinners to Christ, who then becomes the believer's life. 

Discipleship is nothing more than growing believers more and more into Christ-likeness. It involves a progressive transformation of the mind. The transformation of a believer's thinking as he reads, studies and meditates on the Word of God coupled with time in prayer is the foundation upon which the Spirit of Christ within him transforms his living. Paul described this life-long quest as knowing and winning Christ (Philippians 3:8-10). 

True discipleship CANNOT take place through MONEY or MOSES. It is necessary to make this point because of the many websites and related entities that believe and teach genuine discipleship is rooted in a mixture of Mosaic Covenant and New Covenant in Christ's blood. It is a law-keeping approach to the Christian faith. This is a lie from Satan! Those who believe it are deceived, seduced and bewitched! 

First of all, discipleship is the incremental manifestation of Christ's life in the believer. Since Mosaic Law is incapable of generating spiritual life in any way, shape or form, Mosaic Law and compliance thereto CANNOT produce a dicsiple of Christ. Secondly, the belief that Mosaic Law was integral to our salvation was soundly defeated by the apostles and Holy Ghost at the Jerusalem Council (A.D. 51) as recorded in Acts 15. The conclusion of the Council was stated thusly: “But we believe that through the GRACE of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Jews] shall be saved, even as they [Gentiles]” (15:11). 

The scripture has a warning for anyone (believer or unbeliever) who thinks righteousness or the life of Jesus Christ is attainable through compliance to Mosaic Law: “Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised [attempt to obtain righteousness by compliance to Mosaic Law], Christ shall PROFIT you NOTHING...Christ is become of NO EFFECT unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from GRACE” (Galatians 5:2,4). If a believer succumbs to the satanic lie that discipleship and growth in Christ is somehow related to compliance with Mosaic Law, GRACE has ceased to be an operating principle in their life. This does not mean loss of salvation for a believer. 

But if an unbeliever buys into the lie of Mosaic comliance to be saved, they will never experience grace. For faith in Jesus ALONE can produce salvation for the lost and spiritual growth for the saved. If you find a website that calls itself “Yahweh Restoration” or “Torah Compliance”—any entity that advocates compliance to Mosaic Law as instrumental in discipleship or experiencing the life of Christ—count them as the enemies of Christ and his cross!

Since scripture teaches we shall be saved by his life, from what then does the life of Christ save us? In a word, the life of Jesus saves (delivers) the believer from EVIL in all of its forms. The Hebrew word for “evil” has a variety of negative meanings, such as “bad, malignant or disagreeable.” It essentially refers to anything that a Holy God finds disagreeable to his infinite holiness. The Greek word for “evil” refers to that which is wicked, troubling or hurtful, whether in essence or effect. 

A panoramic view of scripture will help make this point. Consider these passages: 

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only EVIL continually” (Genesis 6:5). Here we learn that the source of all EVIL in the world is the wicked imaginations and thoughts of men. 

“And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done EVIL in the sight of the LORD, was consumed” (Numbers 32:13). In this case, we know the evil done by Israel was a spirit of unbelief in his promise. 

The Psalms are full of references to EVIL and God's abhorrence of it. “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall EVIL dwell with thee” (Psalm 5:4). “Depart from EVIL, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it” (34:14). “The face of the LORD is against them that do EVIL, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (34:16). “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do EVIL” (37:8). “Depart from EVIL, and do good; and dwell for evermore” (37:27). “Ye that love the LORD, hate EVIL: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked” (97:10). “I have refrained my feet from every EVIL way, that I might keep thy word” (119:101). “The LORD shall preserve thee from all EVIL: he shall preserve thy soul” (121:7). 

Three more references to evil come from Jesus himself in the Sermon on the Mount and his dialogue with Nicodemus. As part of the model prayer, Jesus said: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from EVIL” (Matthew 6:13). Later in that same discourse, he said: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the EVIL thereof” (6:34). Jesus taught Nicodemus: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were EVIL” (John 3:19). 

Finally, two more admonitions from Romans. “Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is EVIL; cleave to that which is good” (12:9). “Be not overcome of EVIL, but overcome evil with good” (12:21). When scripture says the believer shall be “saved by his life,” we can say with certitude, based on biblical evidence, that EVIL in all of its forms, anything that is disagreeable to the holiness of God, is exactly what Paul had in mind. Only the life of Jesus within the believer has the power to deliver us from EVIL, as Jesus said we should pray. 

Just how does that deliverance take place? It happens:

Daily – Jesus said that sufficient for the day is the evil thereof. The same life that did combat with Satan in the wilderness is the same life with which God equips his people to combat the world, the flesh and the devil—ONE DAY AT A  TIME!

Dynamically – Eternal life is CHRIST'S life! It's not static, but DYNAMIC! The gift of eternal life is brought to the believer by the Holy Spirit. You cannot get one without the other. God's primary gift to believers is his Spirit. Eternal life is NOT a commodity, but the result of having God himself taking up his residence in us.

Dependently – Jesus taught his disciples that he was the VINE and they were the BRANCHES (John 15:1-5). They were totally dependent upon his life for the ability to bear spiritual fruit. He concluded with this: “For without me, ye can do nothing.” The dependent believer is a dynamic believer!

Designedly – This means there's a specific effect the life of Jesus in us is designed to produce, and that is conformity to his own image, to become more and more like him as we travel this life. It's the design of predestination (Romans 8:29). The believer who understands God's grand design in saving him will want to cooperate with God in getting that done. 

Deliberately – Enjoying the salvation the life of Christ provides us does not happen by accident. It is deliberate. The believer MUST structure his life in a manner that habitually exposes him to the Word and prayer, time wherein he deliberately meets with his Lord. The believer must yield himself on a daily and perhaps hourly basis. Growth in Jesus requires deliberateness of will and purpose of heart. 

In closing, we must note the verbs for justified (ones having been justified) and reconciled (ones having been reconciled) are PASSIVE voice. The verbs shall be saved from wrath and shall be saved by his life are also PASSIVE. It signifies that God does ALL the saving: past, present and future. A sinner that believes the gospel is the recipient of God's grace. He can neither justify nor reconcile himself nor live the Christian life apart from Christ's life. It's totallly God's work on our behalf. But in 5:11, Paul uses the ACTIVE voice with the past tense: ”we have now received the atonement.” In addition, there is a sixth verb that is ACTIVE voice, PRESENT tense: “we also joy in God” (5:11). Of the six verbs in our text, five are past tense. Only “joy” is present tense, signifying continuous, ongoing action. In other words, once we are justified and reconciled, one time for all time, we KEEP ON rejoicing over the fact we are SAVED from wrath (no wrath in our future) and SAVED by his life on a daily basis! 

There are two basic elements of the gospel: the PROVISION and the APPROPRIATION! God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself and shedding his blood for our sins. That's the provision. But it's up to the sinner, awakened to his need by the Holy Spirit, to appropriate the provision. In this aspect of our salvation, the believer is active! John summed it up in John 1:12-13:

“But as many as RECEIVED him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that BELIEVE on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

The crucial question the sinner needs to ask himself is: “Have I received (appropriated) the atonement (provision)?” For the saint, he or she should ask themselves: "Am I experiencing the MUCH MORE salvation of Jesus' life that God promised those who put their trust in him?"

 
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