Romans, the first Epistle, is a very basic book. As we have seen, the four Gospels present Christ as the Head, and the Acts shows us the spreading of the Head, which is His Body, the church composed of many members. Romans tells us how these members come into existence that they may be composed as the Body of Christ. This book gives us a clear picture, showing us that all the members of the Body originally were sinners under God’s condemnation. Then these sinners were redeemed, being justified by faith in Christ through His redemption.
Only through the first part of chapter 5 of Romans is the justification of sinners covered. After justification there is something deeper and further that is accomplished, not by the death of Christ but by His life. Verse 10 of chapter 5 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.” Were reconciled is in the past tense, but will be saved is in the future tense. Reconciliation by the death of Christ has been accomplished already, but salvation by His life is still going on. We have been reconciled by His death, and now by His life we are being saved. Not only are we saved in His life, but verse 17 goes on to say that we can reign as kings in this life. Following this, 6:4 says that we walk in the newness of this life, and 7:6 says that we serve God in newness of spirit. Having been reconciled to God, we will more and more be saved in His life, reign as kings in this life, walk in newness of life, and serve in newness of spirit.
Romans 6:4 speaks of newness of life, and 7:6 of newness of spirit. It seems that life and spirit are two things, but chapter 8 puts these two together. Verse 2 uses the title the Spirit of life, and verse 10 says, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans mentions life, then spirit, then the Spirit of life. We should not think that spirit and life are two separate things. Rather, these two are one. The Spirit is the Spirit of life, and our spirit is life. To be saved by His life means that we are saved by the Spirit of life.
Verses 9 through 11 tell us who this Spirit of life is. These verses say, “You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Yet if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” According to this context, the Spirit of life is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. Moreover, this Christ is in us. We should underline or highlight this short phrase, Christ is in you, in verse 10.
In order to read the Bible in the best way, we sometimes should pick the important words in a passage, write them on a separate piece of paper, and carefully consider them. All the above phrases in Romans are very meaningful. First we have life, then spirit, the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and finally Christ. The spirit is life, the Spirit is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of life is the Spirit of God, the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. Eventually, Christ Himself is life (John 14:6; Col. 3:4).
Romans 8:14-15 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery bringing you into fear again, but you have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” The spirit of sonship is our regenerated human spirit mingled with the Spirit of the Son of God. Sonship is the reality of being a son; thus, the spirit of sonship is the spirit of the reality of being a son. Verse 16 says, “The Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.” The Spirit of the Son of God witnesses with our spirit that we are the sons of God.
Verse 23 says that with this Spirit of life and of sonship there are the firstfruits, which are a foretaste, just as the firstfruits of an orchard are the foretaste of the harvest. The firstfruits of the Spirit indicates that the Spirit of life, the Spirit for our sonship whom we enjoy, is the foretaste and not yet the full taste of our full enjoyment of God. While someone is cooking in the kitchen, before she brings the meal to the dining table, she may taste a little of what she is making. This is a foretaste. Later the full taste will be on the table. Today we are enjoying the Spirit of life and the Spirit for our sonship very much, but even this is only a foretaste. In the future we will have the full taste of the Spirit. In addition, verse 26 says that the Spirit helps us by interceding, and in verse 29 it is the Spirit that conforms us to the image of the Son of God.
All of the above items are included in the one phrase saved in His life. To be saved in His life is to be saved in Christ Himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b). The first part of Romans tells us that Christ redeemed us on the cross. Now the middle part of this book tells us that this very redeeming Christ today is within us. “Christ is in you” (8:10). The One who died on the cross to redeem us is now within us. In the past He was on the cross for redemption, but now He is within us for life as the Spirit. Now the redeeming Christ is one with the redeemed sinners. He is in us redeemed ones as our life, the life-giving Spirit, to do many wonderful things for our salvation.
We must be very clear that the Christ in Romans is one with us because He is in us. If Christ had not been made flesh, He could not have died on the cross for our sins as the Lamb of God. He needed to become flesh to be the Lamb of God. If Christ were not the life-giving Spirit, He could not be within us. Today Christ is the life-giving Spirit within us to be our life. In Romans 8 this Spirit is called the Spirit of life, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit mingled with our spirit to be a spirit of sonship.