In the preceding chapter we saw that the Lord who accomplished redemption is the Spirit of life today. He died on the cross to redeem us who were fallen, to quicken us who were dead, to restore us who were damaged, and to cleanse us who were defiled. In this way He accomplished redemption. This is shown in the section before Romans 5:10. From 5:10 on, the book turns from redemption to life, showing us that the redeeming Christ is the Spirit of life today. Formerly, on the cross He was doing the objective work of redemption outside of us. Today He is doing the subjective work of salvation in us. Therefore, Romans 5:10 may be considered the key to the entire book. This verse says that we were reconciled through the death of God’s Son, that is, through His work of redemption on the cross, and that having been reconciled, much more we will be saved in His life. This being saved refers to the saving work that is being carried out today by the redeeming Lord who has come into us as the Spirit of life.
Redemption is objective; salvation is subjective. Redemption has already been accomplished; salvation is still in progress. Redemption is altogether a matter of position; salvation is totally a matter of experience. Formerly He was the Redeemer; today He is the Spirit of life.
The subjective salvation by the Spirit of life in us consists clearly of five steps: setting us free, sanctifying us, transforming us, conforming us to the image of God’s Son, and blending us together to produce the Body of Christ.
As those who have been redeemed by Christ, we were forgiven of our sins, we are no longer under condemnation, and we are saved. From now on, however, we still need to have the various experiences of salvation in life. We still need the Spirit of life in us to daily set us free from sin. Of course, sin involves the flesh and the world. Therefore, to be freed from sin is to be released from the flesh and from the world that we may be delivered out of all the things that contradict and oppose God. Furthermore, the Spirit of life sanctifies us. This is not only an objective, positional sanctification but even more a dispositional sanctification. Once we are sanctified, we are transformed. This life saturates, permeates, and transforms us. As a result, we are sanctified.
Suppose you have a glass of water and a glass of orange juice. If you pour the orange juice slowly into the water, then the water will gradually turn yellow, and eventually it is “yellowed.” Originally, we were like a glass of water, and the Lord as the Spirit is like the orange juice. The more the Spirit fills us, saturates us, and permeates us, the more He sanctifies us. This sanctification is not merely carried out by His hand but by His own divine nature. This is salvation in life.
Today when those who are in Christianity talk about sanctification and holiness, they only tell people, “You should not be defiled by sin, nor should you lose your temper. Otherwise, you become unholy. You have to be gentle, proper, and well-behaved, and then you are considered holy.” This is what today’s Christianity teaches about holiness. Actually this is not the holiness taught in the Bible. When the Bible speaks about holiness, the emphasis is not on our being cleansed but on our being made holy. In order to make us holy, God does not simply separate us by using a certain method. Rather, He saturates and transforms us completely with Himself.
After we have been set free and sanctified, we are transformed. The “water” has become “yellow.” This is not the result of adding color on the outside but the issue of a change from within. Furthermore, there is conformation, that is, being conformed to the image of God’s Son. Moreover, He wants to blend us together. This is because His desire is not only to gain many precious souls or many pieces of living stones. His desire is to have a building, a Body. Therefore, it is not enough that we are transformed and conformed to His image. He also wants to build us together.
The ultimate manifestation as seen at the end of the Scriptures is not a group of separate pieces of precious stones but a holy city, New Jerusalem. It is not enough for us just to be spiritual; we need to be spiritual and also built up together. Therefore, we need to be saved from being independent. This also needs the life within us to do a saving work. The life we have is the life of the Body; the more this life grows in us, the more we will grow together as one. We are not only being coordinated and built together, but we are also growing together into one entity.
Our physical life is a body life, not a member life. If the hand is detached from the body, the hand loses its life. It is the same with the spiritual life. The salvation carried out by this life eventually will save us from being independent so that we may become one Body. Therefore, in chapter twelve, the final section of Romans, we see the appearing of the one Body.
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