To be saved in the divine life of Christ is something which is progressive. Many times fundamental Christians will ask people, "Have you been saved?" When I was asked this question more than fifty-five years ago, I would respond very emphatically by saying, "Yes, I certainly have been saved." But if you ask me this same question today, I may say, "Well, it is hard to say. Yes, I have been saved in some areas, but there are still too many areas where I have not been saved." We have been eternally saved from eternal perdition, eternal judgment, and eternal death in the lake of fire. But in terms of being released from the law of sin, we still have not been fully saved.
In Romans 7:15, 17, and 20, Paul said, "For what I do, I do not acknowledge; for what I will, this I do not practice; but what I hate, this I do...So now it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells in me....But if what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that do it but sin that dwells in me." These verses indicate that the evil Paul practiced was due to the indwelling sin. Romans 7 is a matter of the indwelling sin, and Romans 8 is a matter of the indwelling Christ. Sin is the embodiment of Satan, and Christ is the embodiment of God. These two embodiments are within us. Christ as the embodiment of God is in our spirit, and sin as the embodiment of Satan is in our flesh.
Our loss of temper is an indication that we have not been released from the law of sin. We may seem to be very holy one moment, but after only a few minutes, we may lose our temper. When we lose our temper, the law of sin is operating within the members of our body. Thus, we have not been completely saved from the bondage, the slavery, of sin, the law of sin. On some occasions, we experience being saved from the bondage of sin. But at other times, we are defeated by the law of sin. At such times, we, like Paul, may say, "Wretched man that I am" (Rom. 7:24). When we have a more thorough knowledge of ourselves and the Lord's way of saving us, we cannot boldly say that we are saved in everything. We can only say that we have been saved in some things. There are still many other things in which we have not yet been saved. Thus, the Christian life is a life of being saved continually.
Romans is a particular book because it contains many particular terms and subjects which are not covered in the other books of the New Testament. Justification, sanctification in life, transformation, and conformation are subjects which are unique to Paul's Epistles. These subjects are stressed very much in the book of Romans. Phrases such as "present your bodies" (12:1), "present your members as weapons" (6:13), and "crush Satan under your feet" (16:20) are also unique and are used only in the book of Romans. It is very useful in studying Romans to collect all of these particular terms, subjects, and phrases and to study them.