On the one hand, to be resurrected means to put everything negative to death; on the other hand, it means to release all the positive things, to uplift what has been put to death and resurrected. Strictly speaking, in God’s economy there is no outward correction, adjustment, or improvement. There is only resurrection, which is the termination of the negative and the release of the positive.
Suppose a certain brother is very proud. The religious way is to teach him to be humble. But this is not God’s way. The way according to the divine economy is to graft this proud man into Christ and to allow the death of Christ to work within him and, eventually, to terminate him. The death of Christ will then open the way for His resurrection power to release something of Christ from within this brother. In this way the life of Christ will swallow up his proud nature. This is not correction; it is resurrection.
In the early years of my ministry, it was my habit to correct and adjust others. But I gradually learned that this is not God’s way in His economy. Because we have the Spirit of holiness within us, there is no need for outward adjustment. If we turn to the Lord and contact Him, we shall experience His death and resurrection. This resurrection is according to the Spirit of holiness. Hallelujah, the resurrection life with the resurrection power is within us!
How absurd it would be to try to help a flower grow by correcting it outwardly! The proper way is simply to water the plant. In the same principle, we should water one another. As 1 Corinthians 3:6 says, Paul planted and Apollos watered, but God gives the growth. We need to water the brothers and sisters and to nourish them. Then the inner life will grow, and eventually a beautiful “flower” will be brought forth. This is resurrection.
In a very real sense, God’s children do not need to know so much doctrine. What we need is the Word and the power of resurrection within us. No teaching or doctrine can replace resurrection. According to the power of resurrection we are being designated the sons of God.
To be designated means that we are being sanctified. Holiness is the substance, but sanctification is the process of becoming holy. Some Christians regard holiness merely as sinlessness. Others point out that holiness denotes separation, a change of position. Neither is a proper or adequate definition. Holiness includes both sinlessness and separation, but it also involves a change of disposition.
Consider once again the illustration of making tea. When tea is added to water, the water is “tea-ified.” This is a picture of sanctification. Christ is the heavenly “tea,” and we are the “water.” The more divine “tea” is added to us, the more we are “tea-ified.” The more Christ is added to us, the more we are sanctified. Sanctification is not simply a change in position, but a change in disposition. In the illustration of making tea, the disposition of the water, even its essence, is changed as the water is “tea-ified.”
Sanctification involves transformation. As the water is “tea-ified,” it is also transformed. Thus, resurrection, sanctification, and transformation are all related.
Transformation is for conformation. According to 8:29, we all shall be conformed to the image of Christ. By conformation, we are brought into the reality of sonship. When we were born again, we had just a small portion of the sonship. Now the sonship needs to spread within us until it saturates our whole being. Eventually, at the time of the Lord’s coming back, even our physical body will be saturated with the sonship. Thus, the saturation of our body with the sonship is the redemption of our body.
Today our spirit is in the sonship, but our body is not. According to the spirit we are sons of God, but according to our physical body, we are not yet in the sonship. The transfiguration, the redemption, of our body at the Lord’s coming back will be the last step of the sonship. At that time, we shall be brought wholly and thoroughly into sonship. In every part of our being—spirit, soul, and body—we shall be the real sons of God. Then we shall be glorified. Praise the Lord that today we are undergoing the process of sonship, the process of becoming sons of God.
Within us we have the Spirit of sonship as a foretaste. When we cry, “Abba, Father,” we have a sweet enjoyment of the Holy Spirit as a foretaste. This Spirit of sonship is now resurrecting us, sanctifying us, transforming us, and conforming us to the image of Christ.
These many brothers, the many sons of God, are the members of the Body of Christ. Because the Body can be built up only with sons of God, not with sinners in the flesh, the sonship is mentioned first and the Body is mentioned later. Romans 12 is the direct continuation of Romans 8. Only after we have been conformed to the image of Christ can we have the reality of the Body, of which we all are members.
The goal of the gospel as revealed in the book of Romans is to transform sinners in the flesh into sons of God in the spirit for the formation of the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul served God in this gospel. We today must also learn to serve God in such a gospel. God establishes us according to the gospel unfolded in Romans (16:25). This gospel is not just for unbelievers, but also for believers. God establishes the believers according to the gospel concerning the Son of God who became a man in the flesh and who in His humanity was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness in power by resurrection. Romans 1:3 and 4 are a summary of the gospel, and the remainder of the book of Romans is the complete content of the gospel. In this gospel God is transforming sinners in the flesh into sons of God in power, by resurrection, and according to the Spirit of holiness.