The Romance of Romans-Part 33

Romans Chapter 6 cont'd

Before you "couldn't even relate" to what was holy. Now you look back on your shameful and fruitless old life realizing that it only leads to death.
So now, in Christ, we "can't even relate" to living in sin because we are love-slaves of God and we enjoy the fruit of living whole and holy lives, which leads to everlasting life. For death is the paycheck for sin; but God's free gift is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Comments:
In Romans Paul expounds on the nature and scope of "salvation" in God's kingdom...and the term covers a lot of territory...it's a "large" word in theology. In evangelicalism we have often reduced the word and the concept to refer to the crisis experience of being "born again"...and there is certainly a lot to say about personal justification. However, "salvation" in
Romans relates to everything from the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham...to the vindication of God's integrity...to the historical Person and Work of Jesus...to the future full and complete release of all creation from the effects of the fall in Eden when Christ returns.

On the personal level, "salvation" involves not only the crisis of regeneration, but also refers to what the theologians have tagged as "sanctification" and "glorification". In the NT, "sanctification" is used in two primary ways: "to be set apart for God" and/or "to be made holy". Given these two uses of the term, there is a proper sense in which sanctification both precedes and follows "justification"...and there is a "seamless" connectivity between them. Again...we have too often separated justification and sanctification in our teaching and understanding, but they are deeply wedded...and our ultimate glorification in Christ is also connected to them both, to the point that, in God's sight...it is a done deal.

Here at the end of Romans 6, we see that personal justification, naturally, bears the fruit of sanctification in our lifestyles and relationships. In our quest to become like Christ, we must continually connect justification and sanctification and not allow them to become separated in our thinking and teaching. They are in a symbiotic relationship and they fuel one another. Moreover, "holiness" (same word as sanctification), must not be divorced from "healthiness" or "wholeness". These concepts are also connected linguistically to the word for "salvation". Many "holiness" groups and movements throughout history have focused on getting their followers to adopt a rigid set of "beliefs and behaviors" without reference to becoming "whole" people or engaging in "healthy" relationships. But this kind of conformity does not do justice to the kind of abundant life that Jesus came to bring us. And this kind of religious conformity will not be powerful enough to give the kind of compelling witness to a watching world that is worthy of the truly good news of Jesus.

May God give us the grace to become the "whole and holy" people that flows freely from that amazing miracle that has already occurred in our deep heart through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.