Scripture Reading: Rom. 1:17; 6:19, 22; 8:2, 6, 10-11, 18, 21; 9:23; 11:36; 12:1-5; 16:27
Ⅰ
God’s eternal economy is to dispense Himself as the law of the Spirit of life into man so that His divine attributes of righteousness, holiness, and glory would become man’s human virtues for God’s corporate expression as the reality of the Body of Christ in the local churches to consummate the New Jerusalem as the city of righteousness, holiness, and glory—Gen. 2:9; John 10:10b; 14:6a; 1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:2; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:2, 9-11:
A
God’s desire is to work Himself into us to the extent that He becomes us and we become Him, that we and He become completely identical in life, nature, and image; this is the pinnacle of His economy—John 1:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:4; 2 Cor. 3:18.
B
Man was created in the image of God as a living vessel to receive and contain God as life for the reproduction, the duplication, of God in life—Gen. 1:26; 2:7; Rom. 9:21, 23; 2 Cor. 4:7; John 12:24.
Ⅱ
Christ died on the cross to satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory and was resurrected to become the life-dispensing Spirit as the reality of the tree of life to be our righteousness, holiness, and glory—Gen. 3:24; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 1:30; cf. Eph. 5:25-27:
A
The life of the Triune God dispensed into our tripartite being makes us men of life to be God’s sons and the members of Christ to constitute the Body of Christ for His expression, thus fulfilling God’s original intention—Gen. 2:7, 9; Rom. 8:14; 12:5:
１
“The law of the Spirit of life [Gk. zoe] has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death”—8:2.
２
“If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life [Gk. zoe] because of righteousness”—v. 10.
３
“The mind set on the spirit is life [Gk. zoe] and peace”—v. 6.
４
“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 [Gk. zoe] to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you”—v. 11.
B
The three primary colors of the rainbow around God’s throne are blue (the color of the sapphire throne, which signifies God’s righteousness—Ezek. 1:26; Psa. 89:14), red (the color of the sanctifying fire, which signifies God’s holiness—Ezek. 1:4, 13, 27; Heb. 12:29), and yellow (the color of the glowing electrum, which signifies God’s glory—Ezek. 1:4, 27; Heb. 1:3).
C
The rainbow around God’s throne signifies that God is the covenanting God, the faithful God, who will keep His new covenant to impart the newness of life into His chosen ones to make them the New Jerusalem while executing His judgment upon the earth—Gen. 9:8-17; Rev. 4:3; 21:2; Rom. 6:4; Ezek. 1:26-28; 36:26-27:
１
The rainbow is a sign of God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant that there will be no more judgment of death; we must live under the new covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, darkness, or negative thing; we are the covenanted people, who have a verse of promise to meet every situation—Lam. 3:22-23; Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Tim. 1:10; 2:1; Jude 24; 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 1:9.
２
We may be assured and at peace in the church life, for there is no more death; the more we say, “No more,” the more we realize that we have no death, no failure, no weakness, and no darkness because we are living under God’s covenant, not under our feelings, our convictions, or any environment.
３
We are secured, guaranteed, and protected by the great and precious promises in God’s covenant (2 Pet. 1:4); God’s covenant declares that whenever the sky is cloudy, we must call God’s faithfulness to come, which means that we “call out the rainbow.”
４
God is faithful to His Word, and His Word is the testament, the covenant (1 Cor. 1:9; 1 John 1:9); the church people are a people under the covenant; thus, we can actually be called “the church of the covenant.”
D
The spiritual reality of this rainbow should be manifest in the church today; we need to allow God to fill us with His righteous presence by giving Him the full opportunity to work in us as the sanctifying fire for His radiant expression of glory through our coordination as the corporate Christ—Ezek. 1:5-14, 26-28.
E
Christ Himself, signified by the rainbow of righteousness, holiness, and glory, is the covenant of God given to His people for their “Christification,” which is to make them exactly the same as He is in life, nature, and expression but not in the Godhead—Isa. 42:6; Heb. 8:10-12.
F
Christ is wisdom to us from God, transmitting Himself into us as righteousness (that we might be reborn in our spirit), sanctification (that we might be transformed in our soul), and redemption (that we might be glorified in our body)—1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 8:10; 12:2; 8:23; Phil. 3:21.
G
The transmission of Christ, as the multifarious wisdom of God, into our being makes us the masterpiece of the Triune God as the wise exhibition of all that He is, a poem expressing His infinite wisdom and divine design—1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 2:10; 3:9-11.
H
In eternity as the New Jerusalem (a city whose foundations have the appearance of a rainbow—Rev. 21:19-20), we will be a rainbow to testify of God’s faithfulness to carry out His new covenant in making us exactly the same as He is as righteousness, holiness, and glory—vv. 10-11.
Ⅲ
Romans reveals that in every church there must be the base of God’s righteousness (God’s procedure), the process of God’s holiness (God’s nature), and the goal of God’s glory (God’s expression) to bring us into the heart of God to have the reality of the Body of Christ through the local churches—1:17; 8:10; 6:19, 22; 8:18, 21; 9:23; 11:36—12:5; 16:27:
A
Romans reveals the tabernacle of God as the Body life realized in the church life (chs. 12—16) with the basic structure of righteousness (3:21—5:11), holiness (v. 12—8:13), and glory (vv. 14-39):
１
Justification through Christ’s redemption is in the outer court, sanctification is in the Holy Place, and glorification is in the Holy of Holies.
２
The church life is the Triune God mingled with His chosen people, who are justified, sanctified, glorified, and built together to be the tabernacle, the reality of the Body of Christ in the local churches to consummate in the New Jerusalem, the ultimate tabernacle of God—Rev. 21:3.
３
The dispensing of the Triune God is according to His righteousness, through His holiness, and unto His glory; the ultimate goal of the dispensing of the Triune God as life is glory, the expression of God in and through the church as the Body of Christ—Rom. 5:17; 6:19-23; 8:18, 21; 16:27; Eph. 3:16-21.
B
Christ’s death is for God’s righteousness, Christ’s resurrection is for God’s holiness, and Christ’s ascension is for God’s glory; when Christ comes back, the glorification of His saints will be consummated.
C
As our Substitute, Christ died on the cross for us in order to fulfill God’s righteous requirements for our justification so that He could dispense Himself as life into us—John 19:34; Rom. 1:17; 3:23-25; 5:18; Rev. 22:14:
１
A proper Christian is one who has died with Christ and who conducts himself daily according to this fact; if a believer lives in a natural way, he will be unrighteous, but if he experiences the death of the cross, he will be righteous in everything, with everyone, and in every way—Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 3:9.
２
Only the death of Christ and our death with Christ fulfill the requirements of God’s righteousness and give God the ground to righteously dispense Himself as the divine life into our entire being so that we may be swallowed up by life to be the city of life—Rom. 8:10, 6, 11; 2 Cor. 5:4.
３
To live and serve as a minister of the new covenant is to take the way of righteousness, the living out and genuine expression of Christ, by recognizing that we do not have any qualification to be a servant of God, that as a man in the flesh we are good for nothing except death and burial—Matt. 3:13-17; 21:32.
D
Sanctification is the subjective activity of holiness; it is holiness in action:
１
Sanctification is the resurrected Christ as “the Spirit the Holy,” the sanctifying Spirit in our spirit, working Himself as God’s holy nature into our being to make us the holy city—1 Thes. 5:23; Rom. 6:19, 22; 15:16; 8:4.
２
The divine sanctification is the holding line in the carrying out of the divine economy, the process of God’s organic salvation as God’s move to deify man, making man God in life and in nature but not in the Godhead—Heb. 2:10-11; Eph. 1:4-5; Rev. 21:2.
３
To live and serve as a minister of the new covenant is to walk in newness of life and serve in newness of spirit as a laboring priest of the gospel of God in order to present the saved sinners to God as an acceptable offering sanctified in the Holy Spirit—Rom. 6:4; 7:6; 15:16.
E
The ultimate goal of the dispensing of the Triune God is that God would be expressed through the Body of Christ for His glory in the church—Eph. 3:20-21; Rom. 8:19, 21, 28-30; 16:27:
１
The oneness in John 17 is the church; when the oneness is realized in a thorough way, by the full denial of the self, the Son glorifies the Father in the church—vv. 1, 21-23.
２
This indicates that wherever there is the proper church life, there is the glorification of the Father, for the church life expresses the Father.
３
To live and serve as a minister of the new covenant is to do all to the glory of God for the exaltation of Christ—Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 10:31; Phil. 1:20; 2 Cor. 4:5.
F
The dispensing of the Triune God as life according to His righteousness, through His holiness, and unto His glory is for us to become the New Jerusalem with Christ as our solid foundation of righteousness, our pure constituent of holiness, and our radiant expression of glory—Rev. 21:2, 9-11.
G
Thus, the Spirit, as the processed and consummated God, and the bride, as the processed and consummated church, are joined to become a loving pair of one entity in life for eternity—22:17a; cf. 1 Cor. 6:17.
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death.6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
This term [the Spirit of life] is used only once in the entire Bible. In the book of Romans the term the Spirit of life is not revealed until 8:2. However, before chapter 8 we do have several references to the divine, eternal, uncreated life. The first occurrence of this word life in the book of Romans is in 1:17, which says that the righteous shall have life and live by faith. The word life in this verse denotes the divine life. The second occurrence of this word in Romans is in 2:7, where we are told that “to those who by endurance in good work seek glory and honor and incorruptibility, life eternal.” If we continually seek God, He will give us life eternal. Romans 5:10 says that we will be saved in His life, and 5:17 tells us that, after receiving the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness, we will reign in life. Romans 5:18 mentions justification of life, and 5:21 says that grace might reign unto eternal life. In 6:4 we are told to walk in newness of life. Romans 6:22-23 says that eternal life is the end of sanctification and that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Thus, in the first six chapters of Romans, there are many references to the divine life. Life is the goal of God’s salvation. God has redeemed us, justified us, and reconciled us so that we might share this life. Once we receive it, we should be saved in life, reign in life, walk in newness of life, and be sanctified in life. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 162-163)
Today’s Reading
In Romans 1 through 6 Paul refers to life nine times. Now, in Romans 8:2, he suddenly joins life with the Spirit in the phrase the Spirit of life. The way to have life is the Spirit. The way to be saved in His life is the Spirit. The way to reign in life is the Spirit. The way to walk in newness of life is the Spirit. The way to be sanctified in life is the Spirit. The Spirit is the way. Life belongs to the Spirit, and the Spirit is of life. These two are actually one. We can never separate life from the Spirit, nor the Spirit from life. The Lord Jesus Himself said, “It is the Spirit who gives life…the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). In this word the Lord Jesus connected the Spirit and life. If we have the Spirit, we have life; if we do not have the Spirit, we do not have life. If we walk by the Spirit, we walk in life, but if we do not walk by the Spirit, we do not walk in the newness of life. Thus, the way to experience the divine, eternal, uncreated life is the Spirit.The word life is used four times in Romans 8. Verse 2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life. Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the spirit is life. In Romans 8:10 we are told that if Christ is in us, our spirit is life because of righteousness. Romans 8:11 says the indwelling Spirit will give life to our mortal bodies. The first time life is mentioned in this chapter, it is connected to the Holy Spirit, the second time it is related to our mind, the third time it is associated with our spirit, and the fourth time it is a matter of our body. Romans 8 unveils a fourfold life. First, life is the Spirit. Then the Spirit comes into our spirit to make our spirit life. Then the Spirit spreads from our spirit into our mind to make our mind life. The Spirit even imparts this life into our mortal bodies to make the body of sin a body of life. We have a fourfold life. The focus of it all is the Holy Spirit indwelling our spirit. This life will spread from our spirit into our mind and throughout our whole soul, even reaching all the members of our body. Eventually, our whole being will be filled with life, and we will be a man of life. Have you ever seen this? We may call this the fourfold life. The Spirit is life, our spirit is life, our mind is life, and even our body is of life. Thus, the connection between Romans 8 and all the foregoing chapters is life plus the Spirit. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 163-164)
Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 14
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 8:4 That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is life because of righteousness.
In the book of Romans Paul first covers the subject of condemnation and then proceeds to cover justification, sanctification, and glorification. As God deals with us, He always cares for three of His divine attributes—His righteousness, holiness, and glory…Righteousness is related to God’s acts, to His ways, actions, and activities…Holiness is God’s nature…Glory is God Himself expressed…Therefore, in righteousness we see God’s ways, in holiness we see God’s nature, and in glory we see God expressed. Three of the sections in Romans—justification, sanctification, and glorification—were composed according to these three attributes of God: justification according to God’s righteousness, sanctification according to God’s holiness, and glorification according to God’s glory. (Life-study of Romans, p. 197)
Today’s Reading
In the first stage of God’s salvation [justification], we participate in the righteousness of God…In the second stage we are in the process of sanctification, a process in which God works His divine nature into us… Although we have obtained and participated in God’s righteousness outwardly, God’s holiness needs to be wrought into us inwardly. The second stage of God’s salvation is that He works His holy nature into our being.In order to accomplish this, God has been processed into the available Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2)…Before He was processed, He was able to create the world, but He was unable to enter into His creature. Although He could do many things outside of us, He could not come into us until He had passed through the complete process of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection. Since being processed, He has become and still is the available Spirit of life. Now, like the air for breathing (John 20:22), it is so easy for Him to enter into us…Since Christ, the life-giving Spirit, is in us, our spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom. 8:10). The Lord has made our spirit life by regeneration. Now, as the Spirit of life in our spirit, He is spreading Himself from our spirit into our soul—into our mind, emotion, and will. Eventually, He will even expand into our mortal body. In such a way God saturates us with Himself. This saturation is called sanctification. Through this saturation God works Himself with His holy nature into our entire being—into our spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23). Thus, our whole being will be fully permeated, sanctified, with His holy nature. We are presently undergoing this process of sanctification, the second stage of God’s salvation.
In the next stage we will be raptured and glorified. That will be the redemption of our body. Glorification means to transfigure our vile body into a glorious body (Phil. 3:21). At that time we will be completely and absolutely brought into God Himself as our glory. Then we will be fully glorified.
The first stage of God’s salvation, justification, takes care of our spirit; the second stage, sanctification, mainly deals with our soul, with a slight amount of saturation in our body; and the third stage, glorification, concerns our physical body. In Romans 8:10 Paul says that if Christ is in us, our spirit is life because of righteousness, meaning that in God’s justification we have gained righteousness. Through this righteousness our spirit has been made alive and actually becomes life. However, there is not yet the divine life in our soul. Therefore, we need to cooperate with the indwelling Christ by setting our mind upon the spirit, enabling the Spirit of life to saturate our mind with Himself. Then our mind will be life. If we continue to cooperate, this saturating and spreading One will spread Himself from our spirit even into our mortal body. Then we only need to wait for the time when our body will be brought into His glory. That will be our glorification. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 197-199)
Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msgs. 17, 32, 60
Morning Nourishment
Ezek. 1:28 Like the appearance of the rainbow that is in the cloud on a day of rain, such was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah…Psa. 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
lovingkindness and truth go before Your face.
As a result of having a clear sky with the throne and of experiencing a man who has the appearance of electrum and a consuming fire, we will have the appearance of a rainbow (Ezek. 1:28)…A rainbow is the brightness around the man who is sitting on the throne. This brightness signifies the splendor and glory around the Lord on the throne.
In order to understand the significance of the rainbow, we need to remember the rainbow at the time of Noah. A flood had destroyed the whole earth, and only eight people were spared from that judgment. After that, when people saw storm clouds in the sky, they might have been afraid of being destroyed. Therefore, God made a covenant in which He promised never again to destroy all living things by a flood, and He set the rainbow in the cloud as a sign of this covenant. “I set My bow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And when I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living animal of all flesh, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow will be in the clouds, and I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living animal of all flesh that is upon the earth” (Gen. 9:13-16). The rainbow, therefore, was a sign of God’s faithfulness and promise not to destroy the fallen human race with a flood. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 133-134)
Today’s Reading
In the rainbow there are several different colors, but the basic colors are only three—red, yellow, and blue. When these colors are shining and blending, they produce other colors, such as orange, green, and violet…By their shining and refracting, these three colors combine to make a rainbow.Now we need to see the spiritual significance of these three colors. Blue signifies the throne. According to Psalm 89:14, the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness. This indicates that the blue throne signifies the righteousness of God. Fire signifies the sanctifying, separating, and consuming fire. This means that red here refers to God’s holiness. Yellow signifies God’s glory in the glowing electrum.
Before we were saved, we were kept away from God by His righteousness, holiness, and glory. But the Lord Jesus came, died on the cross to satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, and was resurrected, and He is now our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). He is also now our glory. In ourselves we are short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23), we are under God’s righteous judgment, and we are kept away by God’s holiness. But now, as believers, we are in Christ, and He has become our righteousness, holiness, and glory. Moreover, because we are in Christ, we even bear Christ as righteousness, holiness, and glory. Because we are in Christ, in the sight of God we look like righteousness, holiness, and glory.
We need to experience Christ in such a way that when others contact us, they can sense righteousness, holiness, and glory. This means that they should be able to sense that we have a clear sky, that we have a throne, and that we are righteous and proper, not careless or loose in any way. We should also have the electrum, glowing, shining, and weighty. Then we will have the appearance of a rainbow, and the angels, the demons, and Satan will be able to see it…As those who were fallen but who have now been saved, we have become a testimony of God’s faithfulness in saving us. Every local church should bear the testimony of such a rainbow. (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 134-135)
Further Reading: Life-study of Ezekiel, msg. 12
Morning Nourishment
Gen. 9:16 And the bow will be in the clouds, and I will look upon it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living animal of all flesh that is upon the earth.1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Our Christian life and church life are absolutely a covenant life…In verse after verse of the New Testament, we find God’s promises…We all need to learn how to live under God’s covenant. We should not be threatened or frightened by the clouds of our convictions, feelings, and environments. We are under God’s covenant, fully under His blessing. There is no more condemnation, no more judgment, no more curse. Death has been abolished. In the church we continually enjoy life. Everything is life. Do not be frightened about losing your job or your health. Do not be threatened by any dark or negative thing…We must stand under the covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, darkness, or negative thing. Our destiny is under the blood-sprinkled covenant. Hallelujah, we are the covenant people! There is no cloud and no flood—only life. There is no curse—only blessing. The church life is such a life, and the church people are a people under the covenant. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 437)
Today’s Reading
The New Jerusalem has the appearance of a rainbow. The foundation stones of the New Jerusalem are of twelve layers, with each layer being a different color (Rev. 21:19-20)…From [these twelve layers] we see that the holy city, New Jerusalem, looks like a rainbow. This rainbow signifies that the city is built upon and secured by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant. This rainbow will declare for eternity that when God judged sinners according to His righteousness, He did not destroy everyone but saved many from destruction as a testimony of His faithfulness.We, God’s spared ones, will be this holy city. By His righteousness, holiness, and glory, we will have the appearance of a rainbow declaring to the whole universe God’s saving faithfulness…The experience of the Christian life and of the church life will consummate in such a rainbow.
When this rainbow appears, God will have the fulfillment of His heart’s desire. Throughout the ages, God has been judging fallen man according to His righteous throne, His holy fire, and His glorious nature. Nevertheless, God has saved some to such an extent that they have become a bright rainbow reflecting His glory and testifying of Him and His faithfulness forever. The appearing of this rainbow indicates that heaven and earth have been connected and that God and man have been joined. Around the throne in the New Jerusalem, there will be a group of people who have received salvation because of God’s faithfulness, and for eternity they will be a rainbow reflecting the brightness of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory.
Although this rainbow will be manifested in eternity, the spiritual reality of this bright rainbow should be manifest in the church today. In the church life we need to allow God to work in us, and we need to receive grace to the extent that everything becomes pure, just, and holy. This means that God’s holy fire must burn away everything that does not match God so that God’s nature is manifested as bright gold in and through the humanity of the brothers and sisters. Then the church will be filled with God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. These three characteristics will combine and reflect one another to form a bright rainbow expressing God and testifying for Him.
This should not be merely a teaching to us. Rather, the reality of this rainbow must be wrought into us so that, as God’s spared ones, we will bear the appearance of a rainbow, bearing God’s testimony and declaring God’s faithfulness to the entire universe. This means that we will bear God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory (Life-study of Ezekiel, pp. 135-137)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 32
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 6:19 …So now present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification.8:11 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.
God’s dispensing is according to His righteousness; that is, it is based upon His righteousness. Furthermore, it is through His holiness…Finally, this dispensing is unto God’s glory.
Romans can be divided into several sections. After the introduction (1:1-17) and the section on condemnation (v. 18—3:20), there are sections on justification (v. 21—5:11), sanctification (v. 12—8:13), and glorification (vv. 14-39). These sections are related respectively to God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. Therefore, these three divine attributes are related to the very structure of the book of Romans. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 615, 617)
Today’s Reading
God’s righteousness required that we die because of our sin. However, if we had died, we would have perished. Because God does not want us to perish, He provided Christ as our Substitute…The purpose of Christ’s death on the cross was…to fulfill God’s righteous requirements so that He could dispense Himself into us.In the eyes of the righteous Father, nothing is more righteous than for us to die on the cross. If we die, we are righteous in every way. However, if we refuse to die, we…may treat people unfairly, and we may fail to handle our material possessions properly. Therefore, to be righteous before God, we not only need to be washed—we also need to die. When we die, we are spontaneously justified…If a believer lives in a natural way, he will be unrighteous. But if he experiences the death of the cross, he will be righteous in everything, with everyone, and in every way.
When [Christ] died…we [also] died in Him. This all-inclusive death was for the fulfillment of God’s righteous requirements. Because God’s righteousness has been satisfied, God is justified in dispensing Himself into His redeemed and crucified people.
[Romans 6:19] indicates that righteousness ushers us into holiness, into sanctification. The dispensing of the Triune God takes place through His holiness…Just as the death of Christ is for righteousness, so the resurrection of Christ is for holiness. In fact, the resurrected Christ is the very element of holiness within us. This holiness germinates us, generates us, and sanctifies us. This is wholly a matter of life.
In Romans 8:11 Paul first speaks of Jesus and then of Christ. The name Jesus is related to His death, and the title Christ is related to resurrection and the impartation of life. The death of Jesus was for the fulfillment of God’s righteousness, but the resurrection of Christ was for God’s holiness. Righteousness is God’s procedure, His way of doing things, whereas holiness is God’s nature…When God’s righteousness is upheld through the death of Christ, God is in a position to impart Himself into us through the resurrection of Christ. As the resurrected Christ comes into us, He imparts God’s nature into us…This element germinates us, enlivens us, and then sanctifies us. This is sanctification. Sanctification involves a long process that begins when we are saved and continues throughout our Christian life. In this process we are transformed and even conformed to the image of the firstborn Son of God.
Romans covers not only the attributes of righteousness and holiness but also the attribute of glory. Glorification began at the time of Christ’s ascension, and it will consummate at His coming back. Christ’s ascension is for glory. Therefore, Christ’s death is for God’s righteousness, His resurrection is for God’s holiness, and His ascension is for God’s glory. When Christ comes back, the glorification of His saints will be consummated. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 619-622)
Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msgs. 61—62; CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” chs. 9—10
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 12:5 So we who are many are one Body in Christ, and individually members one of another.16:27 To the only wise God through Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Sanctification is primarily an individual matter, whereas glorification is mainly a corporate matter. Suppose I lose my temper with my wife during the day. This damages my personal sanctification. Although I confess to the Lord and receive His cleansing, I may have no sense of the glory in the meeting that night…However, suppose I stay in fellowship with the Lord all day, even when my wife gives me a difficult time. Everything that happens during the day only helps the process of sanctification. Therefore, in the meetings, I will be able to sense the glory. This illustrates the fact that the more sanctification we experience, the more we will participate in the glorification.
Glory, the expression of God in the church, is God’s goal in His dispensing. However, sanctification is the process, and righteousness is the supporting ground. Therefore, the dispensing of the Triune God is according to His righteousness, through His holiness, and unto the goal of His glory. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 627-628)
Today’s Reading
The tabernacle of the Old Testament shows us that the Triune God is for our enjoyment. There are three parts to the tabernacle—the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. In the outer court is the righteousness of God, in the Holy Place is the holiness of God, and in the Holy of Holies is the glory of God…In the Holy of Holies is God Himself. The Ark of the Testimony is the very embodiment of God, and inside the Ark is the hidden manna, which signifies that God is our enjoyment. At the conclusion of the divine revelation, the New Jerusalem is called the tabernacle of God (Rev. 21:2-3). This tabernacle is the total, ultimate, and central outcome of all the work of God in this universe.The book of Romans…includes the steps of justification, sanctification, and glorification to meet the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. The first step of justification…from Romans 1:1 to 5:11…tells us that we are sinful and under God’s condemnation, but through the blood of Jesus, we have been justified. From 5:12 through 8:13 is sanctification, and 8:14-39 talks about glorification…To be sanctified means to be mingled with God…God has not only justified us but has also put us into Christ. God has identified us with Christ, has grafted us into Christ, and has made Christ one with us. We are now in Christ…Christ is the Spirit, and this Spirit is the Spirit of life [v. 2]. He is in you, you are in Him, and you have to learn to live not by yourself but by Him and in Him. To live by and in the Spirit of life is to be in the process of sanctification. Sanctification means to be mingled with the divine nature. Only Christ in His divine nature is holy. Romans 8:14-39 tells us that after we are justified and sanctified, we will be glorified.
Romans 9—11 is a parenthetical section that talks about God’s selection. Chapters 12 through 16 reveal the Body life. Thus, the book of Romans reveals the tabernacle of God. Justification through Christ’s redemption is in the outer court, sanctification is in the Holy Place, and glorification is in the Holy of Holies. The church life is the mingling of the Triune God with His chosen people. The three stages of justification, sanctification, and glorification embody the church life, the Body life. The church life is the Triune God (God as the source embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit) mingled with His chosen people. These chosen people are justified, sanctified, glorified, and built together to form the tabernacle, the Body, the church. This truth is the seed of all things related to God’s purpose. (CWWL, 1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” pp. 157-159)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1983, vol. 2, “Concerning the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 5; CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” chs. 2, 12