I’m taking much comfort and encouragement from Romans right
now, even as I write this. There are
some awesome words in Romans, specifically in chapters 5, 6, and 8 where I am
spending some time. Of course, there are
the big words like justification and sanctification and propitiation, but there
are also some small words that are great to understand and dwell on. That’s what I’m up to. I’ll use all caps for the little words that
have BIG significance.
FOR:
First, the Gospel:
For while we were
still weak, at the right time Christ died FOR the ungodly.
Romans 5:6
Jesus died FOR us. He
died in our place. He did something
unique because He was uniquely capable of dying FOR us. This is Good News. Without the FOR there would be no IN or
THROUGH or WITH Christ. But since He
died FOR us, we can now see what is true IN and THROUGH and WITH Jesus.
IN Christ:
Romans 6 is all about being dead to sin and alive to God IN
Christ Jesus. Being IN Christ is extremely
important. If we are still IN the flesh,
we are condemned sinners waiting for the righteous judgment of God. But, as Romans 8:1 says, there is no
condemnation for those who are IN Christ.
Being IN Christ means we get all of the benefits that rightly belong to
Jesus alone. We share His righteousness,
the unchanging love His Father has for Him, His inheritance, His Spirit, His
joy, His obedience. We get
reconciliation with God because we are found IN Him. And the only reason we get any of those benefits
is because we are IN Christ.
Why? The answer lies
in another preposition. Romans 5:17
says, “For if, because of one man’s (Adam’s) trespass, death reigned through
that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free
gift of righteousness reign in life THROUGH the one man Jesus Christ.”
Because Jesus gave His life as a ransom and took our
punishment on Himself being the perfect, spotless, innocent Lamb of God who was
a worthy sacrifice for many because He is Himself God, God’s justice is
satisfied IN Christ for all who would repent and trust in Jesus for the
forgiveness of sins. Because of that,
THROUGH Jesus we get grace instead of judgment and the free gift of righteousness
instead of receiving a guilty sentence.
THROUGH Christ:
We have peace with God THROUGH our Lord Jesus Christ. (5:1)
THROUGH [Christ] we have also obtained access by faith into
this grace in which we stand (5:2)
More than that, we also rejoice in God THROUGH our Lord
Jesus Christ… (5:11)
…THROUGH whom we have now received reconciliation. (5:11)
…leading to eternal life THROUGH Jesus Christ our Lord.
(5:21)
Jesus isn’t just one way to experience these treasures like
peace, eternal life, grace, reconciliation.
He is the only way to experience them.
How important is Jesus? Eternally
and infinitely important. No one will
ever overestimate His worth! No way, no
how!
WITH Christ:
We can turn to Romans
6:8 to see the mysterious truth:
Now if we have died
WITH Christ, we believe that we will also live WITH Him.
We’ve been buried WITH Jesus by baptism into death. (6:4)
Whose death? Christ’s death. (6:3)
And Paul tells us that the death He died He died to sin (6:10), but not
just for Himself but for all. And since
we are IN Christ and associate WITH Him, we have died to sin as well. And because Jesus was raised from the dead,
we too have new life WITH Him: a new
life of pure motives and joyful obedience and humble submission.
Isn’t this amazing?
More than that, isn’t Christ Jesus amazing? How could we ever praise Him enough for His
wonderful work?
Well, there is one more preposition we should look at
because of what is true about us IN, THROUGH, and WITH Christ.
It’s the renewal of our minds out of obedience and allegiance
TO Christ.
Here is where Romans 6 gets super helpful on a very
practical level. At the end of the
chapter, Paul asks a question. What were
you getting out of life during the time that you were doing all of the things
that you are now ashamed of? He answers
it himself by saying that we were headed towards death. But being set free THROUGH Christ we now have
to concern ourselves with a right response TO Christ.
Paul offers this charge to us:
Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members TO sin as
instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves TO God as those who
have been brought from death to life, and your members TO God as instruments
for righteousness. For sin will have no
dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.
Romans 6:12-14
Present yourself TO God as one who has been raised from the
dead. Present your members TO God as
instruments for righteousness.
How? We do this
simply by living to what is true about us IN Christ. We have died to sin because Christ has died
to sin. We have been raised to new life
just as Christ has been raised to new life.
No matter what it feels like is true, God’s Word is true and Romans 6 is
true.
We can present ourselves TO God because Jesus has already
done it for all who are IN Him. We just
need to live TO that truth.
When we start believing the Good News, we begin to be
empowered to live TO righteousness. The
Gospel tells us that Jesus has measured up FOR us, that Jesus has won FOR us,
that Jesus has died FOR us. And because
we are now found to be righteous in the sight of God THROUGH Christ and IN
Christ, we can live FOR Him and TO righteousness. Jesus makes it possible because Jesus makes
it a reality. We are righteous. We are redeemed and forgiven. We are loved perfectly as Jesus is loved
perfectly. This is grace and this is the
power to present ourselves TO God THROUGH Christ.
How amazing! To be
found IN Christ is to possess everything necessary FOR life and godliness. To be found IN Christ means that we are
counted righteous THROUGH Christ. To be
found IN Christ means that we will live WITH Christ forever. And to be found IN Christ means that we ought
to present our lives TO Christ FOR His glory.
For IN Him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and THROUGH Him to reconcile to Himself
all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace BY the blood of His
Cross. And you, who once were alienated
and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled IN His body of
flesh BY His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above
reproach before Him…
Colossians 1:19-22
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