Outline
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.
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