Pauline Theology ~ Part 2

BAB081

A Study Guide for Pauline Theology Theology for MINTS Students

Rev. Dr. Julian Michael ZuggCovenant PCA, Houston, Texas

Email: Jzugg@mac.com , Web: www.zugg.org

MINTS International Seminary, 14401 Old Cutler Road Miami, Florida 33158 USA

Tel. 786-573-7001, www.mints.edu

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INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

Lesson Nine: The Cross and the Righteousness of God

Lesson Ten: The Cross ~ Reconciliation and Peace

Lesson Eleven: The Cross ~ Propitiation and Redemption

Lesson Twelve: Sonship

Lesson Thirteen: Union with Christ

Lesson Fourteen: New Resurrection Life

Lesson Fifteen: The Law in Christ’s Kingdom

Lesson Sixteen: The Ongoing Struggle

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL

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PREFACE

This course is an introduction to Pauline theology in sixteen lessons. The first two outline Paul’s method, the remaining fourteen lessons detailed development of the various aspects of his theology.

This is an original work, seeking to make a substantial contribution to Pauline Studies by developing Paul through an Historical Redemptive grid.

To God be the Glory. May this course be a blessing to the bride of Christ.

INTRODUCTION

This course was written in two parts. The first course included Lessons 1-8. The second course included Lesson 9-16. This is the second part. Students must do the first course before they do this course.

COURSE CONTENTThis two-part course is divided into sixteen lessons. In this second course we will

consider the nature and implications of the new creation. Due to the length of the material, I have not covered Paul’s doctrine of the church, the sacrament or eschatology. These will be covered in a later book.

As supplemental reading, students are required to read the The Apostle, A Life of Paul, by John Pollock or if the book is not available Julian Zugg The Book of Acts can be substituted. It is available from the Mints website. Students must chose an alternative reading to the one selected for Paul Course 1.

COURSE MATERIALS

The lecture notes are a full exposition for this course. The students are required to read them thoroughly along with the Scriptures, and to supplement their reading with The Apostle, A Life of Paul or The Book of Acts, by Julian Zugg.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

To study Paul with other students;

To acquire a detailed knowledge of Pauline theology:

To develop a deeper understanding of Paul’s method and letters;

To master the Pauline Theology in order to use it in preaching, teaching and pastoral counseling;

To be able to use the material to be able to write a commentary for a Master’s thesis on Projects 66.

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STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE

This course follows course 1 one which covers Lessons 1-8. As it the lessons follow an argument, the course should be studied in order. We begin with lesson 9.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Participate in fifteen hours of common teaching time.

2. Complete the required assignments after select lessons.

3. Read The Apostle, A Life of Paul or The Book of Acts, by Julian Zugg.

4. Write an outline for Galatians or Romans of no more than seven pages at the Bachelor’s level and twelve pages at the Master’s level. Students must choose an alternative outline to the one selected for Paul Course 1.

5. Complete the one exam on Paul that is based upon the questions at the end of the lessons.

COURSE EVALUATION

1. Student Participation (15%): One point may be given for each class hour attended.

2. Student Homework (30%): Points will be given for completing the questions at the end of each lesson.

3. Student Readings (10%): Students will be given credit for completing the required reading.

4. Student Paper (20%): Students will prepare exegetical notes for a sermon/teaching.

5. Student Exam (25%): Students will be tested by one exam drawn from the questions at the end of each lesson.

BENEFITS OF THIS COURSE

This course is intended to explain Paul’s theological grid, to show students Paul’s methods so they can better understand his teaching when reading his letters. It will simplify the process of reading and understanding Paul to able to preach and teach Paul to others.

The course will also prepare students to be able to write a commentary on Paul’s letters for the Master’s thesis, for Project 66 and to assist Doctor of Ministry students to prepare their papers in the areas of biblical theology, systematic theology and New Testament studies.

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Lesson Nine: The Cross and the Righteousness of God The study of Christ’s obedient life takes us to Paul’s doctrine of the cross. Sin and the fall

resulted in different consequences, and so the cross in undoing the effects of both also accomplishes numerous objectives. In the first part of this lesson we will consider the general nature of the cross, and then turn our attention to the cross as part of the revelation of the righteousness of God.

1. The Cross, A Single Event with Many FacetsIn the single event of Christ’s death on the cross, He accomplished a number of

objectives: justification, redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation. The wide range of the effects of the cross is seen in the way that Paul links them in a number of passages in Romans.

In Romans 3:21ff and 5:9,10 Paul speaks of the cross leading to justification, redemption and its being a propitiation by his blood.

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed……even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, … (24) being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, …because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed (Rom. 3:21-25).

In Romans 5:9,10 Paul speaks of being justified through Christ’s blood and parallels this with being reconciled through His death.

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

In His death on the cross, in His death and resurrection, Christ accomplished justification, redemption, reconciliation, and propitiation.

Each facet (justification, reconciliation, propitiation, and ransom) occurred simultaneously in Jesus’ death, and Paul particularly links each with Christ’s resurrection. In the resurrection Jesus was justified (I Tim. 3:16). He paid the ransom and was declared and raised as a son (Rom.1:4). We join Him as sons in His resurrection (Gal. 4:4-6). His resurrection demonstrated the propitiation of God’s wrath is complete (Rom. 3:25), and the cosmos is

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reconciled. By the blood of His cross, Jesus made peace for His people (Rom. 5:10), and in His resurrection He now lives to make intercession. The resurrection makes each facet of the atonement complete at the same time.

Although all the aspects of atonement occur simultaneously, Paul can and does consider them separately and in isolation. The direction of his main argument determines on which aspect of atonement Paul focuses. As we have already seen, in Romans 3:21,24,25, Paul develops the aspects of justification, redemption, and propitiation. Later in Romans 5:9,10, Paul links justification and reconciliation. In the letter to the Colossians, Paul emphasizes the redemptive, ransoming aspect of the cross in Christ’s victory over hostile spiritual powers. He writes that the cross of Christ was canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (15) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Col. 2:14,15).

Paul explains the cross as an objective historical event accomplished by Christ, a corporate figure, at a distinct point in history. He does not develop his soteriology from a personal and individualistic standpoint. The personal forgiveness, ransom, and redemption we receive from Christ flows from or out of the historical, objective nature of His work on the cross.

As an objective historical event, the cross is defined by Paul’s corporate two-Adams theology. Adam’s actions brought condemnation, alienation, wrath, and bondage, but Christ undoes all these consequences. The objective nature of Christ’s work and its relationship to Adam’s sin are illustrated below:

In Adam In Christ

guilt - condemnation justification

alienation reconciliation

wrath propitiation

bondage redemption

Since each representative is linked to the two creations, the cross and resurrection affect the creation itself. In Adam, the old creation was the place of condemnation, the curse, sin’s power, death’s reign, God’s wrath, and angelic hostility. Christ, the second Adam, died to the old creation, and in His resurrection Christ brings in the new creation, one established in righteousness, rulership, spiritual life, sonship, and inheritance, with authority over all spiritual powers.

Since believers are united to Christ in His resurrection, each of His accomplishments is applied to His people. It is in Christ that we are justified, reconciled, propitiated, and raised as sons. In our union with Christ, the cross delivers us from the old creation under judgment, and brings us into the new creation in Christ.

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Christ accomplished each aspect of atonement in a single great event, so in our union with Christ, each of the blessings flows to us in a single great event as well. All of the benefits of the cross flow to Him (and us) at once.

2. The Righteousness of God and JustificationA central theme of Romans is the righteousness of God. In the gospel, God fulfills the

Old Testament promises and provides the righteousness necessary for men to stand before Him. In this action, He also vindicates His own name. In Romans the phrase the righteousness of God occurs seven times (1:17; 3:5, 21, 22,25,26; 10:3 and once in 2 Cor. 5:21) indicating that it is the main theme of the letter.1

2.1 The Conceptual Framework Paul's doctrine of justification and righteousness is based upon the Jewish Old Testament

legal framework in which all men will stand before God in the final judgment. Paul refers to this in Romans 2:16, 2 Corinthians 5:10, and Romans 8:33,34.

…on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus (Rom. 2:16).

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10).

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. (34) Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us (Rom. 8:33,34).

The Jewish courtroom model includes the accused, the prosecutor, the judge, the need for righteousness before the Law, the need for the judge to judge righteously, the verdict, and the sentence.

The Accused: All men will stand before God in judgment. In Romans 1-3, Paul shows that the Gentiles are guilty just as their consciences witness, how the Jews are guilty under the Law, and that both will stand before God in judgment (Rom. 2:16).2 In Romans 5:12ff, Paul makes it clear that all men are legally condemned in Adam, and therefore all will stand under God’s righteous wrath.

The Charge: In Jewish law, the prosecutor brings the charge before the judge. In Romans 8:33,34 Paul asks, Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? He goes on to say, It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us (8:34). In Christ we are acquitted; our position is secure.

The Judge: Christ will judge all men according to their works in the flesh (Rom. 2:16, 2 Cor. 5:10). He judges justly, either by conscience or by the Law. In His role as judge, Christ

1 Its concentration, repetition, and prominence at key places in Romans show that the righteousness of God is the central theme of the book (Moo 70). Paul does not use the phrase outside of Romans and 2 Corinthians.2 On the complexity of Romans 2, see Moo 125-173. For a discussion on righteousness, justice, and the final judgment in Romans 1-3, particularly dealing with the New Perspective, see Mark Seifrid, “Unrighteous by Faith” (105-146). Also useful is his article in the same work on pages 39-46, “Paul’s use of Righteousness Language Against its Hellenistic Background”.

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must be impartial, He must be just (Rom. 3:26), and He must render a righteous judgment according to the Law.

God’s role as judge is multifaceted. At the cross, the Father, as head of the Trinity, took on the role of judge (Rom. 3:21-26; 8:33,34). There the Son, as representative of all believers, was judged for the sins of His people, and through His righteousness, He justifies them. As part of the Son’s reward for His mediatory faithfulness, Christ has been raised to the position of Lord, King, Mediator, Intercessor, and Judge on the Last Day (Rom. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:10). Therefore, both the Father and the Son have the role of judge in Scripture.

This courtroom scene also contains the verdict and the sentence. (The decision as to whether one has obeyed or disobeyed the Law is called the verdict.) If a person has conformed to the Law, or in other words, has obeyed it, that person is said to be righteous according to the Law, or justified, which is the legal declaration by God that one has perfectly lived up to His standards (Rom. 2:13; 3:20; 8:33).3 If the Law has been broken, then the verdict is that the person is unrighteous; he stands condemned (Rom. 5:18,19). The verdict leads to a sentence which is the consequence of having either obeyed or broken the Law. Biblically, the righteous receives life and the unrighteous receives death.

It is a useful analytical tool to separate the verdict and the sentence, yet in Paul they are closely joined. The verb to justify signifies not only to render a verdict, but also the vindicating action that proceeds from it. 4 In this way we say that the sentence and the verdict are linked, not separated, and to be justified is more than a mere declaration; it includes triumphing in the judgment. In Romans 3:24, 4:25, and 6:7 when Paul speaks of being justified, he links justification to Christ’s resurrection (His vindication), and in Romans 8:37 he links justification with the Christ’s broader victory over the world.5 To be justified cannot be separated from the blessing that justification brings, namely resurrection life.

3. The Revelation of the Righteousness of GodIn the gospel, Paul’s great message is that the righteousness of God has been revealed to

sinners. Paul introduces this concept in Romans 1:16,17 and then expands upon it in Romans 3:21-26.6

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. (17) For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16-17). 

This is the righteousness earned by the obedience of Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:15-19), secured in His death, and manifested in His resurrection unto life by God (1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 4:25). Christ’s death upon the cross paid for sin, and sinners can receive His righteousness by faith.

3 The noun form of to justify is a declaration of what something or someone is in respect to an outside standard. A person is seen as justified when he is seen to be in conformity to the Law.4 Seifrid, “Paul’s Use of Righteousness Language” 525 Seifrid, “Paul’s Use of Righteousness Language” 52-636 Paul teaches the revelation of righteousness by faith in Romans 3, and Paul supports his argument by using Old Testament examples in Romans 4.

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This righteousness satisfies God’s will to be both just and the justifier of those who believe in Him. We receive this status of righteousness by faith.7

The phrase the revelation of the righteousness of God is a central theme in Romans. It has been understood in three major ways, depending on its context.8 First, it has been thought to refer to an attribute of God: God’s inherent justice. This was a prominent early church understanding. Second, it has been interpreted as a status given by God.9 Luther and Protestant theologians understood this to be the righteousness that God gives (with the exception of 3:5,25,26) which offers a new legal standing and a new status before God. The gospel is the revelation of a righteous status before God, one that can be grasped by faith, and is enough to satisfy God’s own attribute of righteousness. Third, following the witness of the Law and the Prophets (3:21), the righteousness of God is the activity of God. It is the fulfillment of His promise to intervene at the time of the eschaton to save His people (Mic. 7:9; Isa. 46:13; 50:5-8). Moo notes that this is probably the dominant Old Testament meaning of the term (3). The gospel is then the manifestation of the saving activity of God. These meanings are not mutually exclusive. Paul uses the phrase in different ways at different times. In Romans 3:5 and 3:25,26, the reference is to God’s attributes. In Romans 1:17, 3:21-22, and 10:3, Paul links the righteousness of God with faith. In this case, it indicates that the gift of His righteousness has conferred a status on the one who believes.

Paul’s next major development concerning the righteousness of God is found in Romans 3:21-26.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – (22) the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: (23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (24) and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (25) whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

3.1. But Now – Righteousness Revealed Paul began this section with but now, contrasting the lack of righteousness under the old

creation with the righteousness that God has made manifest in the gospel.10 In the Old Testament,

7 In Lesson Eight, we considered how Christ’s obedience brought righteousness to all in Him, that is, to all who receive Him (Rom. 5:15-19). This righteousness is received by men through believing the Gospel, where the righteousness of God is revealed by faith. 8 Moo 69-76 9 Augustine, in Medieval Theology and Catholicism, saw righteousness as an inward renewal or transformation. Moo notes Magrath’s argument that it was the “deliberate and systematic distinction……between justification and regeneration that distinguishes Protestant from medieval Romans Catholic Theology” (70; fn 38). 10 Paul’s but now statement is often seen as a simple contrast between the Law and the gospel. Although Paul is contrasting those two things, because the Law is part of the old creation, the contrast is also between the Law as part of the old creation, the whole period before Christ, and the new period in which the righteousness of God has been made manifest for sinners. The revelation of the righteousness of God is part of the greater eschatological change that Christ, as the second man, and the New Covenant accomplish. In Paul’s Law-gospel contrast, the principal contrast is historical, between the earlier period of the Law and the later period of the gospel and faith. The same parallel is developed in Romans 10:4, where the contrast is between the period of the Law and the old creation that Christ brought to an end, and the new gospel period, in which God in Christ provides righteousness on behalf of His people. This principal contrast leads to a second important contrast between the works of the Law and the

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God passed over the sins of the saints; in His forbearance He did not deal with them (Rom. 3:25). But now in the gospel, He has finally dealt with sin. The righteousness of God is provided for sinners and sin is finally dealt with.11

New Creation

Christ

Old Creation

No Righteousness Righteousness Of God Revealed

God Deals with Sin In the Gospel Apart from the LawGod Passed Over Sin

For believers, the final judgment upon sin has already occurred on the cross. In the fullness of time, Christ bore God’s wrath and judgment, which those who do not believe will face on the Day of Judgment. Since the church is in Christ, the judgment fell upon her when it fell upon Christ. The church can be sure she will stand in the judgment, for Christ has already been raised from the dead (Rom. 4:25). All of those outside of Christ are already under condemnation and will face final judgment and death on that Last Day.

Final Judgment

Final JudgmentOf all Outside Christ

The Cross is the Judgment of the Church’s Sin

Old Creation-The Wicked

Justification means that the church can have confidence that her righteousness in Christ will be accepted on that day. Her sins were laid upon Christ, and He would not have been raised

righteousness of faith.

11 Paul makes a similar point when speaking of the Gentiles. In Acts 14:16 and 17:30, he states that in God’s forbearance, He allowed the nations to go their own way, but now He calls them to repentance. In past generations, He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:6) . God overlooked the times of ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).

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if He had not suffered the penalty them.12

At the same time, Paul also stresses a future aspect of righteousness in Galatians 5:5, and Romans 5:9.

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal. 5:5).

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9).

Paul teaches that we are already righteous by faith, and yet we still wait for the future righteousness, because at this stage we possess the righteousness of God only by faith; we have not yet been raised from the dead in Jesus. On the Last Day, the Day of Judgment, our faith will be turned to sight, we will be raised, vindicated in Him, and we will openly, formally, and publically be shown to be righteous by Jesus’ formal declaration.13

4. Righteousness by Faith and GraceIn Romans 3:21, Paul stresses that God has made manifest His righteousness apart from

the Law. The common first century Jewish14 position was that righteousness was based upon their individual status in regard to the Law.15 Over time, the Jews twisted that view of the law to make it the means by which they could earn or merit righteousness. Through works, many Jews believed that they could store up treasure for themselves for the Day of Judgment (Rom. 2:5). The Law became the means of righteousness and eternal life, the great privilege of Israel. Ridderbos 16 quotes a Jewish source that states, “God willed to allow Israel to earn merits, it pleased Yahweh to make the Torah big and strong.” And from Hilliel, “…where there is much flesh, many worms, where there are many treasures, many cares, where there are many women, much superstition … and where there is much Law, there is much life.” Crucially, works are related to boasting, since they give the sinner something to boast in before God (Rom. 4:4). In contrast, the gospel asserts that God, through Christ, supplies His own righteousness to men. This righteousness is not based upon anything a recipient has done, nor is it connected to the Law. It is righteousness apart from the Law.

Jewish Righteousness by the Law Gospel Righteousness

1. A Personal Earned Righteousness 1. Christ’s Righteousness

2. Earned through the Law 2. Imputed by Faith

12 The Jews believed that righteousness was based upon their performance, and that since their performance would not be assessed until the Last Day, there could be no assurance until then (Ridderbos, Paul 164). However, we know that we have the assurance of eternal life in Him now, because Jesus has already been raised.

13 This is paralleled in adoption (1 John 3:2), because of which John stresses that now we are the children of God, although it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.14 For an analysis of early Judaism, see Justification and Variegated Nomism, Volume 1. 15 While not all Jews thought this way, the recent works by Sanders, Dunn, and Wright claim that Jews did not take this approach at all. This claim is invalid and is properly critiqued in Justification and Variegated Nomism, Vol.1 and Vol.2.16 Ridderbos, Paul 171, quoting from Bousset, Die Religion des Judentums

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This righteousness can be received only through faith in Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness that the Law and the Prophets bore witness to (Rom. 3:21),to be received through faith. It is a righteousness sufficient to justify them, sufficient for them to be declared righteous and just before God now, in preparation for the Day of Judgment. It is a free gift, as Paul states, being justified freely through his grace as a gift (Rom. 3:24; 5:15-17).

The idea that in Christ’s death we receive the righteousness of God and that we are justified and have a new status before God is confirmed by other Pauline passages:

In Romans 5:8,9, Paul links justification with the shedding of Christ’s blood upon the cross.

[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

In Romans 5:18,19 Paul declares that we are also justified through Christ’s obedience and life. In 1 Corinthians 1:30 Paul writes, And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.

Finally, Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The relationship between faith and justification is a subset of the broader doctrine that says faith unites us to Christ and to His work (Lesson Thirteen).17

It is a righteousness received by faith. It is not faith itself that justifies; rather, faith links us to Christ, whose obedience is the free gift of righteousness that God provides. Faith is the means, the instrument, the way, the foundation, and the channel by which, or on which, men participate in, or are credited with, the righteousness of God. In Romans 1:17, Paul speaks of from faith to faith. Faith itself does not justify; rather, it links us to Christ and to the righteousness of God in Him. Faith unites us to all of God’s works in Christ.18

Faith points us to our dependency upon God. In the context of justification, Paul contrasts faith with works.19 One cannot effectively work to earn righteousness; one must receive it by faith. Paul proves his doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 3 by quoting from the Old Testament in Romans 4 and using Abraham as an example.20

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? (2) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. (3) For what does the

17 This is a short introduction to faith in the context of justification. We will consider faith again later under the heading of the “New Life in Christ”. 18 We should also note Ridderbos’s caution, “On the other hand, one may not speak of it …. as if it was only a question of a fiduciary matter, or of an “alien righteousness,” in the sense of a bare relational reality. We may not detach the pronouncement from the whole redemptive historical context of Paul’s doctrine of justification. The justification of the ungodly is a justification “in Christ”. That is to say, not only on the ground of His atoning death and resurrection, but also by virtue of the corporate inclusion in Him of His own” (Paul 175).19 In other contexts Paul relates faith and works. In Romans 1:5, he speaks of the obedience of faith. Because Paul uses both approaches, one must be careful of the context. 20 Paul uses David as an example in Romans 4:6-8. For more on the relationship between Romans 3 and Romans 4, see the helpful article by Gathercole, “Justified By Faith” 147-184.

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Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (4) Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. (5)And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (Rom. 4:1-5).

As Paul speaks of Abraham’s faith, he contrasts it to men’s works which would imply both a debt God owes them and a ground for men’s boasting. “The distinctive feature of Abraham’s faith is that it stands over “works”, that is, over against any trusting in its own strength or possibilities, and that it utterly entrusts itself to the divine work of redemption” 21. The climax of faith is resting in Christ alone for His salvation.

At its root, faith is trusting in God to fulfill His promises, to provide what we need and cannot do for ourselves. Paul develops this in Romans 4:17-22.

…in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (18) In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” (19) He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. (20) No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, (21) fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (22) That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:17-22).

Ridderbos, commentating on these verses, explains, “…it is first said of Abraham that he believed in that God who gave life to the dead and calls into existence that which is not; a faith that did not weaken even in the face of his (Abraham’s) own impotence and the barrenness of Sarah’s womb (vv. 19,20); in the same way this faith is defined in its present form in which has come with Christ, as faith in Him who raised Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead (v. 24).”22

In Romans 4:23-25, Paul says that justification by faith was not written for Abraham’s sake alone, but also for ours. He repeats that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works (Rom. 4:1-5) and then continues,

But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, (24) but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, (25) who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Rom 4:24,25).

If we believe in God, who gave Christ for our sins and raised Him from the dead, we will share the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.

In Romans 5:15-17, Paul stresses that the righteousness of God is a free gift, given by grace. Since faith is a complete dependency upon God’s promises, Paul can link (1) the coming of Christ, (2) faith in that event, and (3) and grace, as God’s gifts in giving His Son. God graciously sent His Son and we are to respond by faith to that event. Paul writes, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe … (24) and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:22,24). In these two verses, Paul parallels being justified by faith and being justified freely by His grace. In Romans 3, grace refers to the manifestation of God’s Son; whom the Father’s sent. Both faith and grace require a dependence upon God, who in mercy has fulfilled His promises to His people. Romans 4:16 states, That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be

21 Paul 172-17322 Ibid.

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guaranteed to all his offspring. “Faith represents a new mode of existence that has been given with Christ’s advent; it comes with the coming of the fullness of the time (Gal. 3:23; 4:4) and with the manifestation of the grace of God in the death and resurrection of Christ”. 23

5. Imputed Righteousness Righteousness by faith is not our own; it is imputed or reckoned to sinners.24 Jesus died

for sinners, the ungodly. By faith, the ungodly receive the righteousness of God. Paul makes this clear in Romans 3:21ff; Romans 5:8,9; and 1 Corinthians 5:21.

[B]ut God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (9) Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God (Rom. 5:8,9).

At the right time, although we all have sinned, Christ died for us. His death on our behalf is imputed to us as sinners. Christ, who had no sin, was made sin for us, and at the same time, we who are sinners are made the righteousness of God in Him., For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

In Romans 4:3-5 Paul says:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (4) Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. (5)  And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.

In verse 3, the word counted signifies an imputation, a reckoning of something to one’s account that the person does not already have. In Romans 4, Paul develops his argument from Genesis 15:6. Abraham believed God and his belief was counted (imputed) to him as righteousness. In verses 4 and 5, Paul states that if one worked for something, especially in reference to salvation, that person would have the right to wages earned and God would owe that person salvation as his due, rather than its being a gracious gift. In contrast, to the one who believes, his faith is reckoned and accounted as righteousness before God.

If righteousness is imputed through faith, the basis for righteousness is found in God’s gracious gift of His beloved Son for sinners. The idea of imputation must be qualified. The transfer of righteousness by imputation cannot be separated from union with Christ. In justification, Paul links faith, imputation, and union. An ungodly sinner is accounted righteous because he benefits from Christ’s work; at the same time, faith unites the sinner to Christ, and it is only in Him, not apart from Him, that the sinner becomes the righteousness of God.

6. Righteousness and Resurrection

Justification leads to vindication and resurrection.25 The resurrection was also used as

23 Ridderbos, Paul 17424 Some versions do not use the word imputed. The ESV uses the term counted, the NASB and NIV use credited, and NKJ uses accounted to interpret Logizomi. In parallel passages (Rom. 5:8,9; 1 Cor. 5:21) no specific word is used, but the theological construct of imputation is clearly taught no matter what word is used. The same is true in the latter two verses. 25 We have already noted the link between justification and victory or vindication as discussed by Seifrid.

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proof of righteousness.26

Christ’s resurrection was His vindication. It is the demonstration that He Himself is righteous, and since He is a representative and substitutionary figure, it is also an affirmation that He fully paid for His people’s sins, and that they will be raised with Him.

In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul writes that Jesus was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit. Jesus came in the flesh (a reference to the old creation), and then He was vindicated in the Spirit. In Romans 1:3,4 and 1 Corinthians 15:42 His vindication is that He was raised with a new spiritual body, an act which declared Him to be the Son of God. Christ’s transition from the flesh into the realm of the Spirit, His vindication, occurred at His resurrection. It was a clear statement by God that He is righteous.

Christ’s resurrection cannot be separated from our resurrection.27 His resurrection is the proof of our vindication. Paul makes this point in Romans 4:23-25 …it will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, (25) who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Astonishingly, Paul emphasizes that Christ was raised not for His own sake, but for our vindication. The primary evidence of our justification is Christ’s resurrection. Since Christ rose from the dead, all those in Christ are also righteous and therefore will be raised from the dead.

7. The Cross as the Vindication of GodThe term the righteousness of God is also used as an attribute. In Romans 3:25,26 Paul

continues his argument,

[W]hom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (26) It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Through Christ’s redeeming work as revealed in the gospel, God’s attribute of righteousness is upheld. During the Old Testament, God passed over sin and did not deal with it. Since God is holy, He must deal with sin, or He can be charged with injustice. On the cross, God acted, no longer passing over sin. In giving Christ to justify men, to ransom them and make a propitiation for sin, and through Christ’s obedience (Rom. 5:18,19) God’s own justice was satisfied.

The two uses of the term righteousness of God, as a gift given to men and as revelation of God’s own righteousness, complement one another. In the gospel, God is both just and the justifier of all those who believe in Christ.

26 Vos (151), commentating upon Christ’s resurrection, notes, “As long as he was dead, the merit of his work had not been established. His resurrection established that His resurrection was the de facto declaration of God in regard to his being just. The resurrection bears in itself the testimony of his justification. God through suspending the forces of death operating upon him, declared that the ultimate, the supreme consequences of sin has reached its termination. In other words, resurrection had annulled the sentence of condemnation.”27 See 1 Corinthians 15:16,17,22 and Leson Fourteen on union.

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8. The Jew and the Gentile The coming of righteousness apart from the Law and received by faith brings an end to

the separation of Jew and Gentile. Now we have a righteousness apart from the Law, signifying that the old law that separated Jew from Gentile has ended.

For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (29) Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, (30) since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (31) Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law (Rom. 3:28-31).

Since God is one, He has one way of justifying both Jew and Gentile. According to the Jews, the Gentiles could be justified only if they joined Israel through submitting to the Law. In Christ, the righteousness of God has been revealed, and now, by faith in Him, both Jews and Gentiles are justified. In the following chapter Paul made the same point, noting that Abraham was saved while uncircumcised, not while circumcised (Rom. 4:9-12).

Paul’s teaching that the Law is ended in the coming of the Gospel does not deny the validity of the Law; rather, Paul argues that it establishes the Law. He will return to this great theme in Roman 5:20 and Romans 7:1-8:7ff.

9. Justification by Faith and Good Works.What is the relationship between justification by faith and good works? In Ephesians 2:

8-10 Paul links grace, faith, and works. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, (9) not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Paul declares that we are saved by grace through faith. This does not come from within us, but is a gift, and so no man can boast in what he has before God. Salvation is God’s free gift. Paul then plays on the term works, arguing that instead of our works, we are His workmanship created in Christ. In Christ, we have been re-created, and in Him, we are now called to good works, works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Union with and in Christ allows us to do good works, acceptable to God.

In this passage Paul stresses that in Christ we are united to all of His works. If we have Christ, we are justified but we also are united in His new resurrection life, the source of righteousness. In fact, justification and union with Christ necessitates good works; they must flow from our union. (See Rom. 6 and the link between union and works for further explanation.) We do not boast in these works as a basis for salvation, but they must accompany salvation, and God will judge us as stewards of His grace.

We will return to the theme of works when we consider the final judgment, but in Ephesians, grace, faith, union with Christ, and God’s providence allow believers to stand in the Day of Judgment. We are justified by faith in the imputed righteousness of God, but in Him, we are now called to good works, and we will have to give an account for our actions. An absence of good works indicates no union, no faith, no grace, and no righteousness. If we are united to Christ, we are united to all His works, not merely one aspect.

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Lesson Nine Questions 1. What do we mean that the cross is one event that has many facets? Describe the four

aspects that the atonement accomplishes. 2. True or False: All these events first occurred with Christ in history, and then we are

united to Christ and so share in them.3. What is the main theme in Romans? How many times is the theme repeated in the book

of Romans? 4. Explain the Jewish conceptual framework of justification, listing the various aspects.

Explain the difference between a verdict and a sentence. 5. Explain the three understanding of the term, the revelation of the righteousness of God in

Romans 1:17 and 3:21,22,26. 6. Explain when the revelation of God’s righteousness occurs and relate it to the Old

Testament and to the final judgment. 7. What do we mean by imputed righteousness by faith? How is it related to union? 8. Explain the relationship between Christ’s righteousness and His resurrection and our

righteousness and our resurrection. 9. In what way does the revelation of the righteousness of God vindicate God?10. Explain the relationship between justification by faith, union and judgment of a believer’s

works?

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Lesson Ten: The Cross ~ Reconciliation and Peace

The cross brings reconciliation and peace with God. The old creation in Adam was at enmity with God, alienated, and at war with Him. All those in Adam are also at enmity with God. In the gospel, we learn that through Christ, God reconciles men to Himself and so brings peace between Himself and men. Paul links reconciliation and peace, and he speaks of reconciliation, enmity, and peace in Romans 5:1,10,11, Colossians 1:20, and Ephesians 2:15.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (11) More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (Rom. 5:10,11).

[A]nd through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20).

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

…by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace (Eph. 2:15).

1. The Author of Reconciliation ~ The Father

God the Father is the author of reconciliation. He has brought peace through His Son, Jesus Christ, in whom we are reconciled to God. In his turn, Paul was called to be an ambassador of Christ and was given a ministry of reconciliation. Paul was to preach that God in Christ has, through the cross, reconciled the world to Himself. With this the basis of his message, Paul implores men to be reconciled to God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (18) All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; (19) that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (21) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

In reconciliation, Christ is the source and mediator. Reconciliation is through (2 Cor. 5:18; Rom. 5:1) and in (2 Cor. 5:19) Christ, through whom, God is reconciling the world to Himself. Paul declares that, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

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God

ChristReconciliation

AndPeace

Men

Reconciliation has two aspects; two reciprocal movements. God sent His Son as the propitiation to reconcile man, and Christ stands in man’s place to offer Himself up as a sacrifice in order to expiate the sins of His people. Christ represents both God to men and men to God (1 Tim. 2:5). 28 As God and man meet in Christ, they are reconciled and find peace.

1. God

2. Men

SendsChrist

to Men --------Christ Acts

for Men

Christ took our sins, thereby making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:20). For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. (11) More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation (Rom. 5:10,11). Christ’s atonement is the source of reconciliation.

28 Ridderbos, Paul 190

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2. Reconciliation and Justification

Justification and reconciliation occurred at the same time, on the cross. In Romans 5:1, Paul speaks of those already justified as having peace. In 2 Corinthians, Paul defines his apostolic ministry in terms of both righteousness (2 Cor. 3:9) and reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18).29

3. The Objective Nature of Reconciliation and Peace

Like justification, reconciliation is an objective fact, a status, a legal statement of the relationship between God and man, rather than an internal change in man or his feelings. The historical, objective, once-for-all nature of reconciliation on the cross can be seen in Romans 5:10 where Paul writes, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. In the same way, Paul speaks of believers’ being justified and therefore having peace with God. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1).

In Romans 5:1 reconciliation is seen as something accomplished once for all, for us, by Christ. The one who receives Christ is now in a state or a new legal relationship of peace with God, a status that will never change.

Since peace is objective, Paul has been called to go out and preach the word of reconciliation, meaning that men must lay aside their own personal enmity, stop living as enemies, and enter into a reconciled relationship of peace with God.

4. The Necessity and Scope of Reconciliation

The need for objective reconciliation flows from Adam’s original fall in the garden. In the beginning, God and man were at peace (shalom). Peace is far more than a mere absence of hostility. To be at peace with God means that God is actively seeking one’s welfare. Prior to Adam’s sin, God delighted in man and provided for him in every possible manner. The entrance of sin meant that man became and continues to be alienated from God, and God is alienated from man. Man has been cast from the garden and God’s wrath and His enmity toward mankind remains.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds… (Col. 1:21). In Ephesians 4:18, Paul says that the Gentiles are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

29 The exact relationship between justification and reconciliation is complex. On the one hand, justification is a condition of reconciliation. In order for God to enter into a relationship with man, man’s offense must be dealt with. Once the righteousness of God has been satisfied, then the door to a formal reconciliation is opened; peace is possible. On the other hand, we could also say that God’s initiative to reconcile man leads to God’s sending His Son to justify, or in other words, to deal with man’s sin. His desire for reconciliation leads to justification. Ridderbos suggests that justification and reconciliation operate together but in different spheres. Justification deals with the issue of God’s righteousness, His justice, and man’s legal standing and conformity to the Law, while reconciliation concerns the relationship between God and man (Paul 182).

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In the progress of redemption, God separated Israel to Himself, so changing the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles. Paul reminds the Gentiles that they were separated from Christ and from sharing in the blessings of Israel [R]emember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:12). The cross brings peace to Gentiles, reconciling Jew and Gentile in Messiah’s Kingdom.

All things are reconciled in Christ. Paul’s message is both personal and cosmological. He speaks of Christ reconciling us to Himself (2 Cor. 5:18) and also the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). Both the personal and cosmic elements of reconciliation can be seen in Colossians 1:20-22.

…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (21) And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, (22) 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,

Reconciliation occurs in Christ, through His death. Paul links being in Christ with both the new creation and reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Due to the already and the not yet aspects of salvation, the work accomplished in Christ’s death is still being worked out in the creation. The evil forces that rule the present world, although defeated, have not yet been cast out. Although we are at peace with God, there is still tribulation as we wait in hope for Christ to complete His work (Rom. 5:1-5). The full manifestation of peace will come in the final victory when……The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (Rom. 16:20). Christ has defeated the enemy, and in his rule he continues to extend his kingdom, but since Christ has not yet returned, the church has not yet entered into the fullness of the peace He inherited.

Christ’s work in reconciling the world has both positive and negative aspects. Positively Christ’s kingdom invades the spiritual realm, bringing peace to those called into it; therefore, men can say, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13).

Negatively, the cross removed, pacified, and destroyed the hold that the satanic spiritual principalities and powers had over the old creation. One the cross, He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Col. 2:15) (2 Cor. 6:1-3; Rom. 16:20). The evil forces were defeated. The cross is both the place where Christ brings peace and defeats His enemies. Through the cross, hostility is replaced by the peace of Messiah’s Kingdom.

Cosmologically, the pacification of evil powers leads to a positive transformation, and His resurrection is the foundation and basis for the new creation (Col. 1:15,17; 2 Cor. 5:15-18), one that is transformed through His work. The full coming of the new creation will be the Messianic fulfillment of the promised Kingdom of peace (Col. 1:13).

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5. Peace

Reconciliation leads to peace, which Jesus has purchased through his blood on the cross. In the context of the theology of the cross we see that peace is not an inward feeling; it is an objective status or condition before God. In Romans 5:1 we see the objective nature of peace, and that in God’s peace He is working all things for our good. It is not merely an internal feeling. In Romans 5, Paul says we are both justified and have peace with God; then, rather than continuing by saying that all is well, Paul says that we will still have tribulation, but now God will use tribulation to train us up in endurance, character, and hope.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (2)Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (3)More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, (4) and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, (5) and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5:1-5).

In Romans 5 Paul teaches that as we experience this new relationship of peace, God is actively working out things for our good. God’s peace is an active peace, a term derived from the Hebrew word shalom, which emphasizes that God is working for us; He is actively using all things for our good. The peace of God is summarized in Paul’s statement in Romans 8:28: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,  for those who are called according to his purpose. The peace of God (Phil. 4:7), and the parallel expression, the peace of Christ (Col 3:15), stress the objective blessings of peace.

Because peace is an objective new status in which God is actively working out His good purposes in His people, Paul exhorts the Colossians to understand their new position and let that knowledge control them. He commands them to ….let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful (Col. 3:15). As we understand our objective position, so we will experience inward subjective peace. Through faith in God’s promises, our objective peace becomes a subjective internal reality: Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 5:23). The stronger our faith is in the efficacy of God’s plans and purposes, the more subjective peace we will have. Any internal peace we experience is a fruit of the Spirit. (We will consider the fruit of the Spirit under the heading of the same name.). Due to weak faith or the absence of the Spirit there are times when we feel less internal peace, but these subjective feelings are not the same thing as our legal status of peace. By faith we are to remember that we always have peace with God. Our status with Him will never change.

Finally, Paul often links peace with grace in the opening of his letters, reminding the church of her favored status before God. The church is made up of those who enjoy and stand in a relationship of grace, mercy, and peace from God. In 2 Timothy 1:2 Paul writes, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord (Tit. 1:4; 2 Thess. 1:2).

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Lesson Ten Questions

1. What is reconciliation? 2. Who is the author of reconciliation? 3. What do we mean by the double movement of reconciliation? 4. What is the relationship between justification and reconciliation? 5. Reconciliation and peace are an objective legal status before God. What does this mean?6. True or False: Paul had a ministry of reconciliation.7. What are the negative and positive ways Christ reconciles all hostile powers on the cross? 8. In Christ we have a new status of peace, or Shalom. What does this mean? 9. True or false: Peace refers to an inward feeling.10. Why does Paul begin his epistles with grace and peace?

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Lesson Eleven: The Cross ~ Propitiation and Redemption

1. Christ’s Sacrifice

Jesus’ death is the fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Paul uses the Day of Atonement, the Passover, and general sacrifices to explain Christ’s ministry. He explicitly calls Jesus’ death a sacrifice in Ephesians 5:2: And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, the apostle refers to Christ’s death as a Passover sacrifice: Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed. Paul repeatedly declares that Christ shed His blood in death. The blood points back to the Old Testament sacrifices (Rom. 3:25; 5:9; 1 Cor.10:16; 1 Cor. 11:25; Eph. 2:13; Col. 1:20).

…whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood… (Rom. 3:25)

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood… (10) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death… (Rom. 5:9,10).

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 10:16)?

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor. 11:25).

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Eph. 2:13).

The typology of the Old Covenant sacrifices is fulfilled in Christ (Lesson Eight).

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2. Propitiation

Propitiation is a vital part in the Old Testament sacrifices, an act that turns away and

provides a covering from God’s wrath (Rom. 3:25; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Cor. 11:25).

In the Old Testament, the sprinkling of blood on the Mercy Seat turned away God’s wrath. In Romans 3:25, Paul expressly calls Christ’s death a propitiation, …whom God put forward as a propitiation30 by his blood. The Passover sacrifices are also fulfilled by Christ’s death. In the Passover, the blood that was placed upon the doorways of the Israelites shielded them from God’s wrath and judgment. In 1 Corinthians 5:7, Jesus is called our Passover Lamb. The same is implied in 1 Corinthians 11:25 when Christ institutes the Lord’s Supper to replace the Passover: In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood…” The sacrificial days, the Day of Atonement, and the Passover all stress propitiation, which is a turning away and a shielding of sinners from God’s wrath. In Romans 3:25, the setting forth of Christ as propitiation is the great public fulfillment of the Old Testament sacrifices.

In Romans 1-3, propitiation is especially linked to wrath. Paul notes that all men are under the wrath of God, which is the just and righteous response of God to man’s sin (Rom. 1:18; 2:5,8; 3:5). Christ’s death is a propitiation to turn that wrath away (Rom. 3:25).

The Old Testament sacrifices were types, unable to atone for sin, yet pointing forward to the sacrifice of Christ. Paul speaks of God’s forbearance (Rom. 3:25) in passing over the sins previously committed.31 Although sin under the Old Covenant had not been dealt with, God accepted His people by passing over their sins until the effective sacrifice was made. As the one true sacrifice has come in time, no more sacrifices are needed.

30 The Greek term is used in Hebrews 9:5 and it is used twenty-one times in the LXX, where it refers to the top of the Ark of the Covenant upon which the blood was poured out on the Day of Atonement in order to atone for the people’s sins (Lev. 16:2).31 See Hebrews 10:1-4.

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In contrast to the secluded nature of the Old Covenant, in which the sacrifice was witnessed only by the high priest once a year as he entered to sprinkle the blood upon the Mercy Seat, in the fullness of time, Jesus was set forth as a public propitiation before all men (v. 25).

3. Substitution and Expiation

Christ’s death is a substitution for the death believers deserve because of their sins. To be a substitute means to die for us; He died in our place.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption… (1 Cor. 1:30).

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died (2 Cor. 5:14).

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

Christ died on behalf of and in the place of His own. It is Christ, not those belonging to Him, who was delivered up for the sins of His people (2 Cor. 5:21). He became a curse for them (Gal. 3:13). Paul presents Christ’s atoning death without His people being included in His death. 32 He died; they did not. While Christ died for His people, on their behalf, Paul also speaks of them as being joined in Christ’s work. Because He is our corporate head, we all died in Him (2 Cor. 5:14). The old creation was also judged in Him (Rom. 8:3). All those who are in Him, have His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:30). This corporate element is seen in Romans 5:18,19.

Christ is also an expiatory sacrifice. Expiation focuses upon the removal of men’s sin from them. Since sin has been removed, it cannot be counted against them.

4. Redemption and Ransom

In Paul’s theology, Christ’s death is presented as both redemption and a ransom.33

The word redemption is commonly used to describe the whole process of salvation, including justification, reconciliation, and ransom. Paul also uses it in the specific sense of paying a ransom in order to free someone from captivity, thereby releasing him and bringing him into a new status. Moo states, “Christ’s death is a “ransom”, a “payment”, that takes the place of that penalty for sins owed…Sin is the power from which we need to be liberated”. 3435 Christ’s death is a ransom payment, buying back His people from bondage. While justification deals with one’s conformity to the Law, and reconciliation deals with the relationship between man and God, then redemption and ransom stress sinners’ need to be released from captivity and bondage, so to be free to serve God. Key verses include:

32 Ridderbos, Paul 16833 Romans 3:24; 8:23; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 1:7; 4:30; Colossians 1:14 34 Moo, 229, 23035 For a general discussion, see Morris’s work The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross. Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1965. Print..

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For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, (6)who gave himself as a ransom for all… (1 Tim. 2:5,6a).

…who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works (Tit. 2:14).

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, (5) to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4,5).

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (14) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:13,14).

In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace… (Eph. 1:7)

In 1 Timothy 2:5,6, Paul links Christ as Mediator of the New Covenant with the concept of ransom. In Galatians 4:4,5, Paul teaches that Christ redeems His people from their being under the Law. In Him, they are transferred to the new position of sons. In Colossians 1:13, Paul links forgiveness and redemption, and in Ephesians, redemption is linked to sacrifice and forgiveness. In the Gospels, Christ describes His life as a ransom.36

In a ransom, one pays a lesser sum in order to redeem something of greater value. In the case of Christ, the Father sent His own Son. Although He made payment of a life for a life, Paul points out that Christ was sent to redeem not his friends, but His enemies (Rom. 5:9,10). God gave His Son, who is of infinite value, to redeem untold numbers of sinners who are saved despite their unworthiness.

4.1. Redemption and Transfer

Jesus paid the price for our sin. He Himself was the ransom payment.

Redemption has two aspects. First, one person makes a payment to another to buy back, redeem, or ransom another from some sort of bondage or captivity. Second, once free, the person is then brought into a new status, a new position of liberty. Morris says, “In the Scripture we see the price paid, the curse borne, in order that those who are redeemed should be brought into the liberty of the sons of God…” 37

Ransom is linked to union with Christ. Christ acts for sinners, and it is He who initially moves from one realm to another. Those united to Him undergo the same transfer: they are brought from the old creation and bondage into a new status as sons of God.

In paying the price, Christ’s ransom frees men from the three aspects of the old creation that previously held them captive: the reign of sin and death brought in by Adam (Lessons Four and Five), the grip of hostile spiritual forces that controlled the old creation (Lesson Five) and the Law of Moses that held the Jews in bondage (Lesson Seven). Through Christ’s ransom, they are bought, transferred in His transfer, and therefore brought into the new status of free sons. We diagram the payment and transfer below.

36 In Mark 10:45 and Matthew 20:28, Jesus describes His death as a ransom. 37 Apostolic Preaching 62

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There are two ways to change spheres or jurisdictions: one is by death, and the other is by moving into a new jurisdiction. Jesus entered into the old creation, under sin’s power, under the Law, and into Satan’s realm. He died to this realm and was raised into a new realm, His own Kingdom of grace.

Old Creation New Creation

Christ Enters

DiesRansom

1. Sin’s Power Broken(Rom. 6,8)

2. Law’s Dominion and CurseEnded

(Rom. 6:14)

3. Spiritual Forces Defeated(Col. 2:15)

4.2. Ransom from the Reign and Power of Sin and Law 38

In Romans 5:12, Paul explains that sin enters, rules, and reigns as a power in death. Paul speaks of ‘sin’ in the singular, as a power that holds men, rather than focusing on the specific transgressions or sins. He personifies sin, it controls men, holding them captive (Rom. 6:12,20). This power holds both the Jew and Gentile.

In the time of Moses, God gave the Law. Due to sin’s power, the Law given to Israel is weak; it cannot save (Rom. 7). As such the Law is a jailer, guardian, and steward. The power of sin at work in the flesh uses the Law as a means to bring death: For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death (Rom. 7:5). What was good, righteous, and holy is now a source of bondage, something from which men need to be freed. Both sin and the Law hold men captive, and in Christ’s death He redeems us from sin’s powerful rule and the Jew from the bondage of the Law.

In Romans 6:14, Paul shows how Christ delivers from both sin’s power and the dominion of the Law: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. In this verse, Paul parallels being freed from sin’s dominion with being under grace. In Christ, we are no longer under sin’s dominion, nor under the Law; we are now brought into a new realm, under grace. To be under grace is to be in Christ, and it is one part of the clutch of concepts that includes being in Christ, being in the new creation, and being sons filled with the Spirit.

In Moses, Israel was brought under the Law of God. In a sinful world, that Law brought death. In Romans 7:1-6, Paul explains that in the same way, Christ’s death delivers us from the Law.

38 In the earlier sections of Romans, Paul focuses on the deliverance from the penalty of man’s sin, while in Romans 6, he turns to man’s deliverance from the power of sin (Moo 350).

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Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? (2) For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. (3)Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (4)Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God (Rom. 7:1-4).   

The husband and wife analogy is complex, but the principle is clear. Paul asserts that we have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised so we can bear fruit for God. In Christ’s death, believing Jews have died to the Law. Its dominion, jurisdiction, and power are ended. In Christ’s resurrection they are now in His kingdom as sons.

Romans 7 and Romans 8 illustrate the function of the law, and the way we are delivered from its realm into the new status of Sons in him. It is a historical redemptive argument, moving from Israel’s captivity under law to the freedom as sons. Paul summarizes and concludes the argument that he began in Romans 7 in Romans 8:3,4

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3).

Paul makes the same argument in Galatians. He responds to the Jewish demands that Gentile Christians be circumcised and keep the Law by pointing out that the Law only increased Israel’s captivity: The Law held Israel captive (3:22), they were in prison (3:23), and they were as children and slaves (4:1), under stewards and guardians (4:2). They were also cursed (3:13). The Law was not the remedy, for the Law increased sin and it was given to Israel to point them to Christ (3:19). In the fullness of time, Christ came to redeem men. In Galatians 3:13, Paul says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” He gave Himself as a ransom in order to take the curse of the Law upon Himself by his action. His death is redemption, a payment so he might transfer his own into the new realm of sons (Gal 4:4-6). As Sons are a new creation category, they are now in the new creation (Gal. 6:14,15).

We can diagram the transfer as follows:

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New CreationOld Creation

1. The Eternal Son 4. Raised as Messiah, Son of God

2. Born of WomanUnder the Law

3. Death is Redemption

(1) Christ, the preexistent Son, was (2) born of a woman, in the flesh, into the present evil age. He was born under the Law. (3) Christ then died to the Law and all those in Him are ransomed from the Law and the old creation. (4) Christ rose from death as Son, and all in Him are also raised into the new position of son (Rom. 1:3,4). Through Christ’s redemption, they are no longer slaves but sons, free in the Spirit. The death of Christ was a ransom that moves men from under the Law to in Him. For those in Christ, He has paid the ransom. In Him, we died to the old creation and are raised into the new creation (Rom. 7:1-6)

4.3. Redemption from the Dominion of Satan

The ransom paid by Christ’s death also delivers us from the dominion of Satan. In the fall, men came under the influence and dominion of the devil.39 In Ephesians 2, Paul says the Gentiles were dead in trespasses and sin, in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (v. 2). In Colossi, the church was concerned about spiritual forces that were arrayed against them, so Paul reminded them that He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, (14) in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:13,14). The deliverance, the transfer occurs through the redemption, the forgiveness of sin’s that occurs on the cross. Paul develops this idea speaking of Christ’s victory over spiritual powers in Colossians 2:13-15: And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, (14) by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. (15) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Col. 2:13-15). Paul notes that the cross-cancelled the record of debt or the legal requirements, and this cancellation seems to disarm the spiritual powers, thus taking away their hold over men.

Although the nature of Satan’s power is perplexing, it is clear that in the fall, the devil and spiritual hosts gained an inroad into the creation. Adam listened to the devil, sinned, was condemned and in some sense men were brought under Satan’s spiritual power. This authority is

39 This point is taught in a number of other places in Scripture (Job 1,2; Zech. 3:1-5; John 12:31-32; Rev. 12:1-12).

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broken on the cross, and men are now transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of the Son of His love.

The exact relationship between sin, the Law, and hostile spiritual powers is unclear. Paul may be treating the demand of the Law separately or he may be linking the legal requirements of the Law and spiritual powers, the rulers and authorities. If the devil uses the broken Law to hold men captive, then Paul is teaching the Colossians that because of Christ’s finished work, the devil no longer has any means of bringing charges against believers. He can no longer hold them captive. The debt has been fully paid and Christ has triumphed over them. In a similar way, in Romans 8:33,34, Paul argues that in Christ’s death we have been justified and He has been raised to make intercession for us, therefore who can bring a charge against God’s elect?

In either situation, the ransom payment is not made to, or did not enrich the devil; rather, the paying of a ransom disarmed him, broke the hold, power, and authority of hostile spiritual forces, placing them in open shame, never to rise again. 40 John makes this same point about the breaking of the devil’s power in John 12:31,32 and Revelation 12:1-12.

In paying the ransom, we now transferred from Satan’s power (the kingdom of darkness) and brought into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love.

In summary, union with Christ’s resurrection brings us into a new status before God. In His death, Christ died to the old creation, and in His resurrection, Christ entered a new realm or sphere, His own realm, no longer under sin, the Law, spiritual powers, and death. In Him, we also enter that new realm of Christ’s Kingdom, grace, the new creation, and sonship.

40 The coming of Christ’s Kingdom means that Satan’s kingdom has been overthrown. While it still has power, its legal right to rule has ended. Part of the Messiah’s reward is the outpouring of His Spirit to break the power of Satan and sin (Lesson Thirteen: Sonship).

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Lesson Eleven Questions

1. What verses show that Christ’s death is a sacrifice?2. What is propitiation? 3. Explain the relationship between Romans 1-3 and Christ being set forth as a propitiation for sin in Romans 3:25.4. What is expiation and describe how it differs from propitiation? 5. Give two definitions of the word redemption. 6. What are the two aspects of a ransom in 4.1? 7. From Galatians explain how Christ’s death ransoms us from being under the Law? 8. Explain how Christ’s death delivers us from being under sin’s power.9. How does Christ ransom us from Satan? 10. How does the resurrection change men’s status from the old creation to the new creation?

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Lesson Twelve: Sonship

Sonship is the climax, the capstone, and the great aim of God’s salvation in Christ. All of the blessings of salvation culminate in believers’ becoming the sons of God.

Adam was the first son of God (Luke 3:38, Lesson Three). He pointed to Christ, the eternal Son, the greater revelation of the image of God, the head and ruler of the new creation. In Christ, the second man, the last Adam, salvation and sonship reach their climax. Sonship flows from the Christian’s union with Christ. When believers are joined to Christ, they join Him as sons of God.

Our sonship is linked to Christ’s Sonship. In union with Him, believers join in the fullness of Jesus’ eschatological Sonship. He was raised as the great Messianic Son. He rules in His Kingdom, and as part of His inheritance, He pours out His Spirit in the new creation (Eph. 1:11,14; Gal. 4:5,6). With Him, believers are raised to rule (Eph. 1:18-20; 2:6) in His Kingdom (Col. 1:13; 1 Cor. 5:2,3), they share in His inheritance, notably in the Spirit (Rom. 8), and they are part of the new creation (Gal. 6:15). These blessings flow from Christ and His finished work, and together they form a clutch of concepts that define the blessings of salvation. We diagram the blessings of Christ and this clutch of concepts as follows:

1. Sonship, Justification, and Redemption

Logically, sonship flows from justification, reconciliation, and redemption. These works must logically precede sonship because there can be no unjustified or unreconciled sons,41 but we must recognize that Paul does not argue in this way; rather, he sees sonship as linked to Christ’s resurrection in the same way that justification and redemption flow from the cross, so they all are based on the same event at the same time. Paul says explicitly that in the resurrection, Jesus is constituted or declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4).42 In the resurrection, Jesus redeemed or ransomed His

41 The logical approach is used by many theologians when advocating a particular order to the Ordo Salutis.42 If justification is only a bare legal declaration, it does not necessarily lead to a transfer from one realm to another. As we have seen already, Seifrid argues linguistically that justification is also particularly linked to

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people, bringing them out from under the curse of the old creation and the Law, into the liberty afforded the sons of God (Gal. 4:4-7).

In Paul’s theology, sonship is another of the blessing that flows from Christ’s resurrection.

Because in Christ’s resurrection all these events occur simultaneously, believers united to Christ and also receive justification and redemption simultaneously with sonship in the resurrection (Gal. 4:4-7).

2. The Old Testament Background to Sonship

Paul links sonship to Christ’s pre-existent Sonship with God the Father, to Adam as the first created son, with Abraham’s seed, Israel, and with the Davidic Covenant.43

Jesus is the eternal Son of God, elected by God before the foundation of the world, and we are chosen to sonship in Him even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (5)In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will (Eph. 1:4,5). Paul traces the privilege of sonship back to Christ’s own unique, pre-creation, Father-Son relationship. Believers are chosen in Him and so become the sons of God in Him. As sons, they are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17).

Adam was the type, a son who pointed forward to Christ, the greater Son (Lesson Three). Adam did not possess the fullness of sonship. He was a copy, and his sonship was marred by the fall. Christ fulfills Adam’s typology, as both the fuller image and the obedient son. Coming as man, Christ united, in a mysterious way, the eternal Son of God and Adam’s human sonship. The pre-existent Son became flesh, and in His resurrection, His humanity was glorified. He raised sonship and humanity to new heights (Rom. 1:3,4; 1 Cor. 15:44ff).

Abraham and Israel are also types pointing forward to Christ. Abraham was promised a seed, one that had its complete fulfillment in Christ (Gal. 3:16). Israel is also called God’s son. God calls Israel His son, His firstborn amongst the nations, which refers to privilege, rank, and status (Exod. 2:24). God dealt with Israel as a type, as His own son, and to a limited degree, Israel possessed the Spirit.44 Israel’s typology is fulfilled in the full Sonship of Christ and in the outpouring of the Spirit upon the church (Gal. 3:25-29).

resurrection or vindication (“Paul’s Use of Righteousness Language” 52). God raises the justified to new life, and links righteousness with vindication. In Romans 5:15-19, justification leads to life, one effected by union with Christ’s resurrection. Sonship is the embodiment of that life. Reconciliation is linked to sonship in that all are reconciled in His Son, and therefore the reconciled son is no longer alienated (Eph. 4:24,25). 43 Strictly speaking, the covenants made with Abraham and Moses and the Davidic Covenant are all part of the one Covenant of Grace (WCF 7, 3-5). At an exegetical level, each one emphasizes different aspects of that one covenant. The Davidic Covenant was the climax of the old covenants.44 We note that in Numbers 11, God took some of the Spirit from Moses, the mediator of the Old Covenant, and placed it upon the elders in Israel to help them to rule. When the Spirit caused two men to prophecy, Moses’ authority was challenged. He responded by saying that it was his wish that the Spirit would be poured out upon all God’s people. In the New Covenant, the Spirit has been placed upon Christ without measure and He pours out the Spirit upon all God’s sons. In Galatians 3 and 4, Paul implies a contrast between the lack of the Spirit in Moses’ time and the outpouring of the Spirit in Christ, the true Son.

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The old covenants reached their apex in the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7:12-16).45 Paul clearly links Christ specifically to David in Romans 1:3,4;46 2 Timothy 2:8; and in Romans 1:3,4 where he developed the key principles of the Davidic Covenant and applied them to Christ. These axioms form the basis of the New Covenant blessing of sonship. The key aspects of the Davidic Covenant developed in 2 Samuel 7:12-16 are 1) the promise of sonship between God and Abraham’s seed, 2) the reign of that promised seed, and 3) the promise of the Spirit coupled with the promise that God will not remove His mercy (the Spirit) as He did from Saul (1 Sam. 16: 13,14). David’s sons will be secure, and God will chasten them if they go astray, but He will not reject them. Paul draws on these promises in Romans 1:3,4. Christ was raised, as a Son, by the power of the Spirit. These concepts structure the whole book of Romans.47

Christ is the promised seed of David, raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit. In the same way, believers are raised as sons by the Spirit (Gal. 4:4-6).

3. The Transfer into Sonship

Believers become sons by faith. By faith, they are united to Christ in baptism and share His Sonship along with the gift of the Spirit.

For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (27)For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (28)…for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (29)And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:26-29).  

…if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (10)But if Christ is in you…. (14) For as all that are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” (16) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:9,10,14-16)

The Gentiles, who are the lost, illegitimate sons, and the Jews, who are those under tutors and in bondage under the Law, have been adopted in Christ. In Him, they were transferred into the new creation through Christ’s death and resurrection. All those in Him join Him in the new creation (Gal. 4:4-7).

45 “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. (13) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (14)I will be to him a father, and he shall to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the strokes of the sons of men. (15) but my steadfast love shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. (16)And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure before me. Your throne will be secure forever.” The relationship of sonship to the Spirit is developed in God’s reference to Saul. In 1 Samuel 16:13,14, God takes the Spirit from Saul and gives it to David. This is the removing of His mercy, which is His promise that He will not remove His Spirit.46 The positioning of this verse at the beginning of Romans makes it (along with verse 5, the inclusion of the Gentiles) a possible candidate for a theme verse. When we understand resurrection to be vindication, we see that the verse encapsulates most of the main themes of justification, representative theology, new resurrection life, Sonship, and the Spirit, as well as the relationship between Israel and the Gentiles and the practical consequences of salvation. 47 Romans begins with a statement of the reign of Christ in 1:3,4 and concludes with the same in Romans 15:12,13. These verses can be considered an inclusio.

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Sonship is a covenantal change, a once-for-all transfer from being in Adam and the old creation to Christ and the new creation. Like justification, adoption is a legal and forensic declaration. Christ was declared to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4) and all in Him are also declared to be the sons of God (Gal. 4:5,6). It is a new legal status, the change is irrevocable. Once a son, one is a son forever. One is in either one kingdom or the other; there is no overlap. Once the transfer has been made, we cannot lose our sonship (Col. 1:13). The new jurisdiction is called Christ’s Kingdom (Col. 1:13). It is under grace (Rom. 6:14,15), empowered by the Spirit, and marked by love and faith (Gal. 5:6), in the new creation.

The absolute nature of the transfer in sonship means that from the time we believe, we are fully sons. We cannot be more or less a son than we are now. At the same time, in this life, we have only the guarantee, the initial down payment, of our inheritance, which is the Holy Spirit being poured out in our hearts. We do not yet possess the full inheritance (Eph. 1:11-14). We will receive that only when the new creation is fully revealed, when faith turns to sight (Rom. 8:21).48 Since sonship, inheritance, and the new creation are all linked, Paul links the full revelation of the Son with the new creation. [T]hat the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Rom. 8:21).

4. The Fatherhood of God

In having been made His children, God has become our Father, and we receive the Spirit to assist us to live as sons. In Galatians 4:6,7 Paul says, And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” (7) So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

In Christ, we are adopted as sons much as Christ, the God-man, is a Son. As the eternal Son, Christ is and always will be the firstborn, the first-fruits, and yet in sonship we share in Christ’s (the God-Man’s) inheritance. Believers can relate to God as Christ does. We have access to the Father, and are given the Spirit so that we can live as sons, just as Christ the Son was equipped by the Spirit for His work on earth.

By faith, the Christian is conscious that God is now his Father, that he is no longer under the wrath and condemnation of God. We are no longer to think of ourselves as slaves beneath a master; we are to see ourselves as His children. We are to relate to God as Father, strive to please Him, and rejoice in Him even as Christ, the true Son of God does. The nature of the new relationship can be illustrated by our need to confess and ask for forgiveness of our sins. In

48 In 1 John 3:1,2, John echoes Paul by stating, See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (2). Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. Here John says that we are already sons of God, even though the fullness of our sonship has not yet been revealed. We illustrate the distinction between being fully a son and not yet having all our inheritance as follows: A friend of mine adopted a child. At the time of adoption, the child became fully the father’s, since after his adoption the child can never be more adopted. The father can never be more of a father than he is, and the son can never be more of a son than he is. At the same time, the father chooses when to bestow the blessings that flow from sonship upon his son. In most cases the father will give greater blessings over time. As the son grows up, he will be able to handle more of his inheritance. When he turns sixteen, he may be allowed to drive the family car and return home later. The son grows into his inheritance. This illustration also helps us understand the relationship between sonship and chastening.

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justification, we are forgiven once, for the price for our sins has been fully paid. The cross reconciles us and brings peace. Since God is now our Father, if we sin against Him it will affect the peace of our relationship with Him, but not our justification or the fact that He is our Father. We must go to God daily to ask for forgiveness in order to restore the peace of the Father-son relationship.49 Even if we sin, since our debt is paid, and we will always be sons, God will never reject us totally. As God said to David:

 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, (15) but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you (2 Sam. 7:14,15).

God relates to His sons by grace (Rom. 6:14,15). If we sin we sin as sons before our Father, God has the freedom to choose how to deal with us. The Law has no such freedom; it demands that the soul that sins shall die. In this Father-son relationship, the Father is flexible, even as a parent is flexible with his children. He chooses how best to correct our sin. He may choose to ignore it now and deal with it later, or He may discipline us quickly. As a Father, He has a range of options that He uses wisely. Our heavenly Father disciplines us for our good in order to conform us to His Son’s image (Rom. 8:29).

As sons, we undergo trials and suffering as God trains us through afflictions. As our Father, He will make sure that all these things will work for our good, so that He may mold us into the image of His Son.

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (29) For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (30) And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Rom. 8:28-30).

In the passage in Romans 8, Paul also stresses that Christ is the true Son, the firstborn, and the image of God. As the last Adam, the fulfillment of the seed promised to Abraham, the pre-existent Son, and the climax of human history who was obedient unto death, He is the role model and the aim for believers. Believers, as sons, are to strive to be conformed to the image of the eternal Son, and God is working all things for good to make that occur. The believer’s great aim is to be like Christ (Rom. 8:29).

5. Sonship and the Spirit As sons, God has given us the Spirit of His Son. Paul’s historical-redemptive paradigm

means that he develops the doctrine of the Spirit in the context of the gift of sonship (Gal. 3,4; Rom. 8).50 51

49 In the Lord’s Prayer, in Matthew 6, Jesus is teaching sons to pray to their Father. His demand that we pray for forgiveness is in the context of the already existing Father-son relationship. 50 As we have already noted, sonship in its turn, is partially linked to Christ’s resurrection (Rom. 1:3,4 ).51 The extent to which Paul develops the doctrine of sonship and the Spirit in the context of regeneration is considered in Lesson Fourteen (1 Cor. 2:9-16; Tit. 3:5). It is John who makes the clearest link between regeneration and the work of the Spirit in John 3:3-8.

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A great blessing of sonship is the gift of the Spirit, who assists us in fulfilling our calling as God’s sons until Christ returns. In Galatians 4:5,6 and Romans 8:13-17, the principle benefit of sonship is the Spirit, who is given to teach us about our sonship and to equip us to pray.

…. so that we might receive adoption as sons. (6) And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” (Gal. 4:5b-6).

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (14) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (15) For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (16) The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (17) and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Rom. 8:13-17).

Sonship leads to the gift of the Spirit, which all sons must have; those who do not have the Spirit are not sons.52 The outpouring of the Spirit upon the sons of God is part of the coming of the New Age.

The Spirit acts as a substitute, an intercessor, and through Him we cry “Abba, Father.” He aids each son in putting to death the flesh (Gal. 3:16-18). He witnesses to us both through the Word and directly that we are the children of God. The role and function of the Spirit is a gift to help us in our current weaknesses.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. (27) And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God (Rom. 8:26,27).

Since the full weight and power of sonship has not yet been manifest, the Spirit aids the believer until that time. The Spirit is also seen as the first-fruits of the new creation, maintaining the church until the full liberation of the sons of God and the resurrection of the body (Rom. 8:21ff). In this we are led by the Spirit. The Spirit enables us to put to death the flesh and teaches us to cry “Abba, Father.” He reveals the blessings of sonship to us. He helps in our weakness. He makes intercession for us, and He reveals the things of God to us (1 Cor. 2).

6. Inheritance

As sons in Christ, we have a legal right to join with Christ and share His inheritance.

Paul speaks of inheritance in Galatians 3:18; Ephesians 1:11,14,18; 5:5; Colossians 1:12; and 3:24. In Romans 8: 17ff he writes, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs

52 This order has not been typical in the Ordo Salutis in Reformed theology, which has stressed that regeneration by the Spirit precedes conversion and adoption. The difference occurs, not because Paul believes that man’s activity precedes God’s, but rather because Paul’s focus is upon the eschatological movement in history, not an anthropocentric, individualistic, human response to God’s work. The historical view stresses that the Spirit is poured out in the last great age, both now and for the future. Paul also develops conversion through the doctrine of calling; however, he does not treat regeneration in the same manner. For an introductory critique of the systematic approach see Gaffin’s work Resurrection and Redemption: A Study in Paul’s Soteriology. Phillipsburg: P& R Publishing, 1987. Print.

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with Christ. Our inheritance is the riches promised to Abraham which are earned by and fulfilled in Christ (Gal. 3:14). This includes the gift of the Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, and a place in the new creation. Paul sums up the promises to Abraham by saying that Abraham will be the heir of the world (Rom. 4:13).

Sons share Christ’s inheritance. We have access to His Father and the riches, honor, rule, and glory of the new creation. We will share in His resurrection, receiving a resurrection body like His own. These bodies, like the new creation, will be imperishable, incorruptible, and will not pass away (1 Cor. 15:50b). The inheritance includes eternal life (Tit. 3:7) and also His Kingdom (1 Cor. 6:9; 15:50; Gal. 5:21).

Our inheritance will be revealed in the future, when Christ Himself will enter into His own full inheritance (Rom. 8:17). It will be revealed with Him. At His revelation, He will enter into His full inheritance and we will fully and visibly join Him in it as coheirs.

Lesson Twelve Questions

1. In what way is sonship the capstone of salvation?2. What do we mean when we say that we are already sons but have not yet fully entered into our inheritance?3. How do we relate justification, forgiveness, and God the Father in sonship?4. What do we mean when we say God has options in the way that He deals with us as sons? 5. What is the relationship between sonship and the Spirit?6. How does the Spirit help us in our weakness?7. Give a text that shows the nature of our inheritance.8. What is a believer’s inheritance?9. What is the great example and aim for sons in Romans 8:29?10. What is God doing to honor His Son?

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Lesson Thirteen: Union with Christ

Union with Christ underpins Paul’s theology.53 Adam, the type, points to Christ, the antitype, who is the center and fulfillment of God’s work as the Mediator of creation and redemption. Union with either Adam or Christ places us in either the Old or the New Creation. In union in Christ, all of His benefits are gained. In union, she will be raised from the dead to share in His inheritance (1 Cor. 15; Rom. 8:11).

Commonly, union is denoted by in Paul’s in Christ phrase, but it is also taught through baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The essence of baptism is union with Christ and points to our being united to and engrafted into Christ54 (Gal. 3:26,27; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 3:21). The Lord’s Supper also points to union with Christ’s life, death, and resurrection in both His human nature and the New Covenant. As the manna sustained the Israelites in the wilderness, the Lord’s Supper is a picture of Christ’s continuous sustenance for His people. We feed upon His broken body for the forgiveness of sins, and we are quickened in and by His resurrection life (Rom. 6:1-10; Eph. 2; Col. 2:11-14).

Union touches every aspect of Pauline theology. In this lesson, we will limit ourselves to seven elements of union, namely: the importance and scope of union, key terms, Christ’s human nature and the New Covenant, the Spirit, the Ordo Salutis, faith and union, and the timing of union.

1. The Importance and Scope of Union

Every Pauline doctrine finds its basis in union with Christ. Paul explicitly shows Christ to be the center and purpose of all God’s work in Ephesians 1:10 and Colossians 1:20.

…as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph. 1:10).

…and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross (Col. 1:20).

The union of Christ and believers touches every aspect of Christ’s work. In Christ, believers are elected (Eph. 1:4,5), justified (1 Cor. 5:21), ransomed (Gal. 4:4), reconciled (2 Cor. 5:19), and sanctified (Rom. 6:3,4). Believers are baptized into Him (Gal. 3:26-28), are sons and daughters in Him by adoption (Gal. 3:26-28), and share in His body and blood in the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11: 24-28). The church is Christ’s body, baptized into Him in the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13). We are raised in Christ (1 Cor. 15:19-21), and He is both the source and first fruits of the new creation (1 Cor. 5:17). Union is a powerful, all-embracing doctrine that affects every single

53 Calvin makes union with Christ the center of all his soteriology. Calvin states, “As long as Christ remains outside us, and we are separated from Him, all He has suffered and done for the salvation of the human race remains useless and of no value to us” (Institutes 3:1:1). Gaffin states, “….at the center of Paul’s theology as a whole, then, is neither justification by faith or sanctification, neither the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, neither the renewing work of the Spirit. Although justification is important …there is an antecedent consideration, a reality that is deeper, more fundamental, more decisive, more crucial: Christ and our union with Him. …..union with Christ by faith - that is the essence of Paul’s Ordo Salutis” (By Faith 43).54 The external sign points to the internal reality of being united to God in and through His Son.

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aspect of our relationship to God. Ridderbos writes, “Union in Christ is an abiding reality, determinative of the whole of the Christian life, to which an appeal can be made at all times, in all sorts of connections and in respect of the whole church without distinction… it is the objective state of salvation”.55

Union affects both the legal changes which we have already studied, and the new life that we will soon consider. In this union, we cannot separate the legal nature of the work of Christ from its application. If we have Christ, we have all of Him. Union finds its capstone in our adoption in Christ, and in our being remade into His image as the Sons of God.

Jesus’ Life, Death, And Resurrection

UnionAs

Sons

Faith Joins Us To Christ’s Works

Legal Changes Experimental Changes

Justification Reconciliation

Propitiation Redemption

Resurrection Life

New Man

SpiritLife

The complex, complete, and comprehensive nature of our union with Christ is developed in Colossians 2:11-14, where Paul links circumcision, baptism, death, resurrection, and the cross with union. In this example union affects our forgiveness, our legal ransom from sin and our new life.

In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, (12) having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. (13) And you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all trespasses; (14) by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

In these verses, Paul shows that we are united to Christ in circumcision and baptism, having died in Him to the old creation, and we have been really and powerfully raised again into new life. In Christ’s death and resurrection, we have our sins forgiven. Christ pays for our legal guilt, nailing it to the tree. Union is an all-embracing doctrine.

55 RIdderbos, Paul 59.

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2. Key Terms

Paul develops the concept of union principally through the two-Adams structure. As all fell in Adam, likewise, in union with Christ, we receive all the blessings of the New Covenant. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22).

Adam and Christ are both objective historical figures. In union, we share in Christ’s objective historical life, death, resurrection, and the benefits that flow from them. Believers share in His justification and resurrection, which both declared and constituted Him a righteous Son, His new powerful resurrection life, and His exaltation as Lord over creation. In Him, we are taken from the realm of the flesh into the new realm of the Spirit and life (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 2:20; Gal. 5:25)

Christ’s Objective HistoricalLife, Death, and Resurrection

Death

BelieversUnited to Him

Share His Objective Work

New CreationOld Creation

Paul expresses this union in a number of distinct yet interrelated ways. He speaks of Christ acting on our behalf: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3). Paul also describes union with the term in Christ, as in so also in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). In Christ is Paul’s most common expression.56 Additionally, Paul speaks of believers as being with Christ, affirming that we have been raised together with Him. Wright argues that the very term Christ is a corporate concept, including all who are in Him.57

56 For a numerical breakdown of the prepositions linking us to Christ (in, into, with, and through), see Wright, Climax 44.57 Climax 46

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(1) For us

In the phrase for us, Paul designates Christ’s work on our behalf. This phrase expresses something done by Christ alone and for our benefit. Ridderbos notes, “Paul often uses this expression when Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection are mentioned”.58 Texts include 1 Corinthians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:4, 3:13, 1 Timothy 2:6, and Philippians 2:14.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul (1 Cor. 1:13)?

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21).

…who gave Himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father (Gal. 1:4).

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Gal. 3:13).   

(2) In Christ

Although Paul often speaks of what Christ has done and does for us, he also describes us as being in Christ. This phrase is Paul’s principal term for union. This phrase occurs eighty-six times in his letters.59 The term is flexible , principally used to contrast one’s position in Adam with that of being in Christ. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22). If we are in Christ, then Christ’s blessings apply to us. “For us then, to be in Christ, means to belong to Christ as our representative, so that the decisions applied to him apply also to us” .60

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor. 5:17).

…for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (27)For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. (28) There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave   nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:26-28).   

The phrase in Christ expresses the fact that the believer’s life is so closely united to Christ that he shares the blessings Christ won in His life, death, and resurrection.

(3) With Christ

Closely related to being in Christ is to be with Christ, which occurs nine times throughout Paul’s letters (Rom. 6:4,5,8; Gal. 2:19; Col. 2:12,13,20; 3:4; Eph. 2:6); it indicates that we are included in His life and blessings.

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. (9) We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. (10) For the death he died he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives he lives to God.(11) So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin, and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:8-11).

58 RIdderbos, Paul 5859 Ibid. 60 Moo 381

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With Christ, we have been crucified. We were dead, buried, and raised with Him. We are made to sit with Him in heaven and will appear with Him in glory (Moo 392).

(4) Messiah/Christ

As already noted, Wright argues that in Paul’s writings the words Jesus and Christ are distinct names representing distinct aspects of His work. Jesus refers to the man who died and rose again as an individual, while Christ is His corporate name that implies union between Christ and His people. The name Christ refers to His representative capacity; He is the one who acts for His people.61 Wright asserts that Paul makes this distinction in Romans 8:11.

  If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Paul first mentions Jesus to emphasize Jesus’ own resurrection and then changes to the term Christ to develop the idea that all in Him will be raised in the same manner by the Spirit, even as He was.

Each of the prepositional phrases above shows the close relationship between Christ and His people. In union, we begin with Christ’s work for us, but we too participate in these works. Christ’s work for us and our union in Him cannot be separated.

There is the closest relationship between imputation and union, specifically seen in the relationship between the terms Christ for us, we in Him, and with Him. It has been argued that Christ’s legal benefits, particularly justification, apply to us only by imputation (which is the gift of an alien righteousness), rather than by union. The passages in Romans 4 considered earlier, clearly teach imputation. We are not justified by our works but by Christ’s work for us, received by faith while we were still sinners. At the same time, imputation does not exist apart from union. Although the term for us (stressing Christ’s work alone and usually used in the context of imputation) is distinct from the other terms we in Him or with Him (which seem to emphasize our participation and union in Christ), both of the sets of terms express union. Christ’s work for us is as much a statement of union (even though it has a different shade of meaning) as is in or with Christ.

For Us In Him,With Him,Messiah

Expressions of Unity

61 Wright, Climax 46

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Paul moves easily between Christ for us and other expressions of union. He speaks of Christ acting for us and then immediately speaks of our being baptized into Christ; both phrases express union. Paul alludes to this in 1 Corinthians 1:13. Paul asks, Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, Paul joins Christ acting for us (imputation language) with in Him in a single verse. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. He begins by asserting that Christ, who had no sin was made sin, and then goes on to say that in Him, we become the righteousness of God. Paul joins both terms because each expresses union. In the same way, in an earlier verse, Paul stated, [T]hat one has died for all, therefore all have died (2 Cor. 5:14b). Since Christ died for all, we all died in Him. These expressions show that Christ’s death is the death of all those He represents by union. 62 The same is true of the expression with Him. Christ’s work for us and we in Him and with Him should be seen as distinct and yet inseparable facets of our union in Christ.63 Finally, in Romans 5:12-19 where Christ is presented as a corporate figure, righteousness is said to be a free, gracious gift given because of Christ’s obedience.

3. Union - Christ’s Human Nature, and the New Covenant

The exact nature of the union between Christ and the church is a mystery (Eph. 5:23,31,32). Older theologies often spoke of a mystical union a term that was easily confused with a union between a believer and Christ’s divinity or a union in which Christ’s humanity and His divinity are merged, or simply a union by the Spirit without any historical or human link to Christ’s objective work.

Paul teaches that believers are united particularly to Christ’s humanity in and through the New Covenant. In saying this, we are not denying a union with or suggesting a separation between Christ’s human and divine natures; we are merely noting that Paul’s emphasis is on Christ as Messiah, the God-man. As believers were united to human Adam under the Old Covenant, even so in the New Covenant they are united to Christ, the second and the last Adam, in the New Covenant.

Paul links Christ’s mediatorial work to His humanity in the New Covenant in 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Paul follows Jesus’ teaching in the Last Supper and notes that the New Covenant is made effective in Christ’s body and blood, in other words, in and through His human nature. [A]nd when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (25) In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24,25). In Ephesians 5: 29,30 Paul links union with Christ’s flesh, … because we are members of his body.64 Christ came according to the flesh to save those in the flesh. Paul is specific: [C]oncerning his Son who descended from David according to the flesh (Rom. 1:3).

62 Moo 39463 Tipton writes, “Union with Christ and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness therefore remain distinct and yet inseparable facets of what it means to be justified by virtue of faith and union with Jesus Christ” (“The Importance of Union With Christ.” Justified in Christ. Ed. K. Scott Oliphint. Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 2007. Print.24).

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For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, (4) in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:3,4). By implication, Paul regards Christ as the last Adam and the second man, the beginning of the new humanity.

The union with Christ’s human nature has two important qualifications. First, although Christ came in the flesh, He did not have sinful flesh (Rom. 8:3,4). Christ could not sin. The sin He bore was ours, imputed sin (1 Cor. 5:21). Christ’s sinless human nature allowed Him to make atonement for sin in the flesh. He gave His fleshly body and blood under the New Covenant (1 Cor. 11:24,25).

Second, in Jesus’ resurrection, He was raised by the Spirit’s power with a new spiritual body (Rom. 1:4; 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:42-49). It was not only His Spirit that was raised; the Spirit raised and He was given a new glorified spiritual human body. Believers are presently united to His resurrected spiritual body, even though we have yet to be raised in our new resurrection bodies65 (Eph. 1:19,20).

Christ, and as Messiah, He has the Spirit without measure. Christ’s resurrected humanity is now the source of the life-giving Spirit. Spirit. As the risen Christ, He is in full and complete possession of the Spirit. The Spirit rests upon Him without measure. Paul makes this link in 1 Corinthians 15:45: The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 66 The first man became a living being, but the second Man is far greater, he is now the life-giving Spirit.

The connection between the resurrected Christ and the Spirit means that Paul speaks of being in the Spirit or being in Christ interchangeably:

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. (10) But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (11) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (Rom. 8:9-11).

Paul says that if any one does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ, and if the Spirit dwells in a believer, Christ Himself dwells in him.67 “To Paul, the ‘Spirit in you’ is impossible apart from ‘Christ in you’”68 Gaffin asserts “…by virtue of his exaltation

64 See also Romans 9:5; Ephesians 2:15; 5:16; Colossians 1:22; 1:24; and 1Timothy 3:16.65 Paul speaks of union and resurrection life in three aspects: Christ’s resurrection, our physical resurrection, and our current spiritual resurrection. We are particularly linked to Christ’s resurrection life. We will develop this concept in Lesson Fifteen. 66 Gaffin states, “Christ is in such complete possession of the Spirit that He has become “life giving–spirit” with the result that “the Lord [Christ] is the Spirit” (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:15). In view is a functional equation that does not efface personal distinction, a oneness in their activity in giving resurrection life (1 Cor. 15) and an eschatological freedom (2 Cor. 3) so that in the life of the church and with believers, Christ and the Spirit are inseparable, in fact, one” (By Faith, Not By Sight: Paul and the Order of Salvation. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2006. Print. Oakhill School of Theology Series.39).

67 Gaffin, By Faith 3968 Morris, The Epistle to the Romans 309

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(resurrection and ascension), Christ, as the last Adam and second man, has come to such a complete possession of the Spirit that these two are equated in their activity. The two are seen as being made one in their eschatological work in giving life to the church, and that life has its visible first fruits in Christ’s own resurrection”69 Gaffin then goes on to suggest that although Christ’s life-giving work is mainly the future resurrection, it also encompasses the present resurrection of believers. 70

Due to the indwelling of the Spirit, union is reciprocal in nature. “Not only are believers in Christ, Christ is also in them. It is Christ in you (Col. 1:27)”. 71

In union, the Spirit gives believers life, quickening them in this age, and the Spirit will raise and change their bodies on the Last Day. The same Spirit who raised Christ will raise His people with Him. Union, Christ’s human nature, His resurrection life, the Spirit’s work and the new man form a highly integrated clutch of concepts.

In conclusion, union is not only with the Spirit directly as the second person of the trinity. Union is with Christ objectively, with His human, historical life, death, and resurrection, with His person and His work in the New Covenant.72 Since Christ died to the old creation, in His death He condemned sin in His flesh. He then rose again in the new creation, and those united to Him share in that reality. In Him, they too have died to the old and are raised in the new resurrection life. Like Christ’s, our union is also a singular once-for-all transfer conferring a new status, as well as being a continuing source of spiritual power.

In union with Him, the Spirit will raise us up again on the Last Day. As the Father raised

Christ by the Spirit, so He will raise believers in the same manner. (This seems to be a reference to the power of God in Ephesians 1:20.) The Spirit is the vital link between the command of the Father, Christ, and our resurrection.

The gift of the Spirit is a fruit of the union that flows from Christ’s resurrection and His position as Son.73 The position is complex, for it overlaps with 1) the issue of the timing of union (see below), 2) the relationship between Christ and the Spirit, and 3) Paul’s doctrine of calling and regeneration. As a rule, Paul teaches that it is in Christ, in union with Him, that the Spirit is

69 Perspectives 18,1970 Ibid71 Gaffin, By Faith 3972 This view has been criticized because it raises temporal problems with union. Evans notes that Calvin was criticized by Lutheran theologians on this very issue (Imputation and Impartation: Union with Christ in American Reformed Theology. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2009. Print. Studies in Christian History and Thought.67). In defense of this view, we argue that Paul clearly teaches union with Christ’s humanity, but he does not address the situation of the union of Old Testament believers.73 This is an illustration of the tension between the traditional systemization of the order of salvation that stresses regeneration and the work of the Spirit preceding faith and Paul’s approach that ties the Spirit to sonship. When reading Paul we must remember that he follows a historical, rather than a systematic order in his letters. Ridderbos also places union before the Spirit in Paul’s doctrine of the church. He identifies the sequence as Christ ------ the body in Christ ------ Spirit (Paul 372). He writes that the church was given in Christ, this corporate bond unites us to Christ, and now we are to be dead to sin and alive to God by the Spirit. Union is the foundational concept, and the Spirit flows out of and applies the union (Paul 221).

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poured out in the new age. At the same time, Paul also teaches that the possession of the Spirit is a necessary consequence of union. One cannot be united to Christ without possessing the Spirit.

The idea that the Spirit flows from union is the general witness of the historical sections of the New Testament. In Acts, Luke uses the same historical-redemptive model. The Spirit was poured out on Pentecost as a fruit of the resurrected Messiah’s work. The same pattern can be seen in the conversion of Paul and those in Cornelius’s house. Cornelius’s household was first brought to Christ, and then the Spirit was poured out upon them (Acts 10). In Paul’s conversion (Acts 9:4-6), Paul was called, he responded by faith, he was baptized, and then he received the Spirit (9:17). When Paul described his own salvation, he spoke of being called rather than of being regenerated. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me (Gal. 1:15,16a). In a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 1:9, he wrote that the Corinthians were called by the Father into the fellowship of His Son.

In his epistles Paul follows the same approach. In Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul argues that the great work of salvation is due to the Father’s election of us in Christ. He then focuses on our blessing in union with Christ’s work before turning to consider a believer’s inheritance in the Spirit. Paul uses the same approach in the remainder of the epistle. He develops the idea of union in new resurrection life with Christ without mentioning the Spirit in Ephesians 2, and then he returns to the ideas of the sealing of the Spirit and walking in the Spirit in Ephesians 4:30 and 5:18ff. In Galatians Paul does the same thing: he speaks of union in Galatians 3:28,29 and then; discusses the gift of the Spirit as a result of Christ’s work in Galatians 4:4-7, followed by the practical outworking of this in chapter 5 and subsequent chapters. The same pattern is found in Romans 6, where Paul argues for union with Christ without mentioning the Spirit, and he only develops the role of the Spirit only later in chapter 8. Generally, Paul (like Luke) stresses the call of the Father in conversion.74 We also note that Paul teaches we are chosen in him and were crucified with him on the cross, even without the Spirit. At the same time all those united to Christ must possess the Spirit. Paul teaches: Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him (Rom 8:9).

Since Paul teaches that having the Spirit is a fruit of a believer’s union, a mode of existence in the new creation, he does not develop an initial, independent, and personal doctrine of regeneration as it is often expressed in the Ordo Salutis.75

74 John seems to follow a similar methodology (Köstenberger , Andreas J. Scott R. Swain . Father, Son, and Spirit: The Trinity in John’s Gospel. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 2008. Print).75 Contra Gaffin who states, “Better, faith is the work of God by His Spirit, effective in “calling” sinners, otherwise “dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1,5) and thus utterly incapable of faith in and of themselves,” into the fellowship of His Son (1 Cor. 1:9) into that union with Christ….” (By Faith 42). But we note that in Ephesians 2:1,5, Romans 6, and Colossians 2:11-15 Paul teaches new life occurs through union, and there is no mention of the Spirit in making alive. Paul simply says, And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ; by grace you have been saved (Eph. 2:5), with being made alive being linked to God’s act of grace. In 1 Corinthians 1:9, calling is particularly ascribed to the work of the Father, not the Spirit. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Clearly, due to the unity of action in the economic trinity, division cannot be absolute, but Paul does stress the priority of the Father’s act of calling, rather than the Spirit’s work, and our interpretation of Paul’s writings must follow Paul’s specific emphases.

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Some argue that Paul teaches the idea of an initial, independent and personal regeneration by using the term washing (1 Cor. 3:9) and the fuller phrase, the washing of regeneration (Tit. 3:5).

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, (5) he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit (6)whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior (Tit. 3:4-6).

The word washing occurs three times in the Pauline epistles: 1 Corinthians 6:11, Ephesians 5:26, and Titus 3:15. The word regeneration occurs only once in Paul’s writings, and the only other New Testament occurrence is Matthew 19:28. In the Matthew passage, Christ does not use the word to refer to individual regeneration; rather, it is used in a broader sense of the re-creation of the whole world. In the same way, Paul’s stress is not on the initial, isolated change in the individual that begins the process of new life; rather he stresses the fundamental eschatological change that affects every aspect of the new creation. In Titus, the contrast that Paul builds is between our works of righteousness, with which we have tried to earn salvation, and God’s mercy in salvation through the gifts of regeneration and the Spirit. Ridderbos notes that Paul “… puts an end to the “once” of the time before Christ (v.3)” 76. Paul’s expression here is typical eschatological terminology, rather than stressing individual personal renewal (Acts 2:17; Joel 3:1; Rom. 5:5). The terms washing and regeneration emphasize the coming of the new age, rather than a limited personal, initial subjective experience. By using the words in this way, Paul uses regeneration and washing as parallels to baptism, an act of God that joins us to all of God’s works (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27).

Although Paul does not stress individual regeneration, this does not mean that he sees salvation as man’s work. He maintains the priority of divine grace in salvation by emphasizing that salvation flows out of God’s prior choice (Eph. 1:4; Gal. 1:15,16; 1 Cor. 1:9; Rom. 8:28-29), that faith comes from hearing, that preachers are sent by God (Rom. 10:14-15), that salvation is God’s gracious work in the sending of His Son (Gal. 4:4,5), and that salvation comes through God’s effectual, powerful, sovereign call into fellowship with His Son (Gal. 1:15,16; 1 Cor. 1:9; Eph. 2:15; Rom. 8:28-30). Man cannot save himself; it is God who saves. In fact, the whole of Paul’s doctrine shows God’s initiative and sovereignty in salvation, in conforming us to His Son.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (29) For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (30)And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Rom. 8: 28-30).

4. Union and the Ordo Salutis77

In Colossians 2:14,15, Romans 6:1ff, and Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul places union at the heart of the application of salvation; this must control our approach to the Ordo Salutis.78 We

76 Ridderbos,Paul 22677 For a discussion of the Biblical theology and the Westminster Standards, see Gaffin’s “Inaugural Lectures Biblical Theology and the Westminster Standards” (Westminster Theological Journal, Volume 65. Issue 2, (2003): 165-180. Print.164ff). 78 This is the Latin term for the application or the order of the application of salvation to men.

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commonly approach salvation from a personal, subjective human view, independently of Christ. We do this when we ask questions like: “Does regeneration come before faith or does faith come before regeneration?” In both cases, one might focus on a believer’s salvation independently of Christ, which is not a Pauline approach.

Paul develops the application of salvation through union with Christ’s objective work as the God-man in time and space, and then he applies the benefits to believers. First Christ was simultaneously justified, declared a Son, raised to new resurrection life (sanctification), and glorified in His resurrection. In union with Christ’s resurrection, we share in these blessings. We are also simultaneously justified, raised into new life, become sons, and we are certain of glorification in the resurrection of the body. All the blessings flow from union. This warns us against dividing up the application of salvation into a logical or temporal succession of events.

The primary focus of Paul’s doctrine of salvation is Christ and His work; his principle focus is not on God’s decree. Many argue from Romans 8:29, 30 that the center of the Ordo, and so salvation, is the decree of God, particularly in election and predestination. However, while the decree affects all aspects of salvation, the focus of the decree is Christ Himself. The Father made Christ the first object of election and salvation (Eph. 1:4), and the Father then chose us in Him. Christ is always Paul’s center, with the decree being a subtheme. In Romans 8:28-30 the decree is also focused upon Christ and His victory. The decree is meant to conform us to the image of Christ, the center (Rom. 8:29). The wider context of these verses confirms that the believer is to be confident in Christ’s victory. Paul goes on to speak about being found in a living and secure relationship to the risen and victorious Son of God (Rom. 8:33,34). We shall see later that Paul never discusses election in the abstract; it is always a decree of union with Christ.79

The focus on the decree and the separation of the Ordo into discrete units has led to a stress being placed on one or another of the elements of the Ordo, thereby causing other elements to be ignored or considered secondary. In Lutheran thinking, justification is at the heart of salvation, and sanctification has been reduced to a subordinate element that flows from it. In the light of Romans 6 and Colossians 2:11-15 above, this separation is unbiblical. The division of the various elements without expressly relating them to union is a dangerous tendency,

79 The only exception to this is Roman 9 where Paul speaks of the reprobation of Pharaoh.

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isolating and separating Christ’s works, which should not be divided. If one has Christ, one has all the benefits of His works derived from His resurrection.80

In some circles, the rigid separation of the various aspects of salvation has led to a division not only justification from sanctification, but also a separation in the nature of the union itself. Because the focus on union has been upon its individual application to men, rather than beginning with Christ, union has been rigidly divided into a forensic union (imputation and justification) and a spiritual union (transformation, regeneration, and sanctification). In practice, this has led to either the forensic or transformative elements of Christ’s life being emphasized at the expense of others. In contrast, Paul’s focus is on Christ and His resurrection life first, not the individual elements. He consistently begins with Christ’s teaching that we are raised in Him, seated with Him (Eph. 1:19-20), made alive with Him (Eph. 2:5,6), and are seated in the heavenly places with Him (Col. 3:1-4). Only after Paul has considered Christ’s works does he apply those works to us. He does not begin with a believer’s position in isolation from Christ. In Paul’s method, the danger of dividing the union and thus overstressing one aspect is eliminated. Exegetically, Paul uses this model in Ephesians 1:19,20, 2:5,6, Romans 6, Colossians 2:11-16, and 3:1-4.81

By centering salvation on Christ’s resurrection and by linking salvation directly to Him, we see that in Christ, the salvation of the church is already complete, fully guaranteed, and it will triumph in believers’ lives. Nothing can be added to His work; it is certain in Him. “The death and resurrection of Christ includes the death and resurrection of all. The former are accomplished, unalterable facts; so are the latter also”.82 Our salvation is already complete in Him. Our confidence is in the finished work of Christ. Our hope of receiving the fullness of God’s salvation is found in Christ’s resurrection.

6. Faith and Union

Faith in Christ leads to union, and faith maintains our union with Christ. Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Gal. 2:20).

But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, (26) for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. (27) For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:25-27).

Faith is the human response to God’s promise in the gospel. In faith, we are united to Christ and receive His blessings. In the Gospels, as well as in Galatians 2 and 1 Corinthians 1-3, faith and baptism are linked. Faith, baptism, and union form an interrelated clutch of concepts.

80 Making the decree the focus of the Ordo has led to issues of assurance. In many circles, assurance is found by knowing one has faith, and then working backwards up the chain to be assured of one’s election. There is merit in this, but we must be careful because this practice can omit, or fail to stress, that the principal ground for assurance is Christ’s finished work. The confidence of my salvation is in Christ’s resurrection and victory. 81 Each of these difficulties occurs due to the tendency to superimpose systematic theological categories over Paul’s letters, rather than letting Paul’s own historical-redemptive grid control the understanding of his writings. 82 Wrede 104

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If faith leads to union, and union is with the resurrected human nature of Christ and linked to the outpouring of the Spirit, then it might be thought that union can occur only in the New Covenant. We examine this idea by turning to the timing of union.

7. The Timing of Union

The question of the time of union is difficult. When are we united to Christ? If union is with Christ’s objective human nature revealed in history in the New Covenant, were Old Covenant believers united to Christ, and if so, in what sense? Did union include union with Christ’s yet unborn human nature?

Paul does not address these questions; he writes as a minister of the New Covenant (2 Cor. 3:6), not of the Old. Paul’s general practice is to distance himself from the Old Covenant now that Christ has come. Now Christ is the center of God’s work, and we must forsake the Old Covenant and be united to Christ under the ministry of the New Covenant. Additionally, Paul’s concerns are principally practical rather than systematic.

Paul offers three perspectives on union. First, He speaks of being united in Christ before the foundation of the world. He teaches that God chose us in Christ before even time began, and it was election in Christ that led to our adoption.83 Paul says, [H]e chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love (5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will (Eph.1:4,5).

Second, Paul also sees us as participating in Christ’s objective death, burial, and resurrection 2000 years ago, and those called in Him were included in the Messiah and Mediator’s life, death, and resurrection. We were in Him, united to Him upon the cross, and share in His blessings (Rom. 6; Col. 2:11,12).

Third, Paul also stresses that our union with Christ brings a change in our life (Rom. 6; Eph. 2:1-10; Col. 2:11-15; 3:1-14). In this perspective, Paul is dealing with the experimental change that union brings. As such, there is a time when we are not in union, and then a time that we are brought into union. This change in status allows Paul to speak of those who were in Christ before him. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me (Rom. 16:7).

Since Paul stresses union in these three different ways, we should be cautious about ascribing a fixed time to union and subsequently letting that control our understanding of other doctrines.

Lesson Thirteen Questions

1. Why is union a central Pauline doctrine?

83 As we have noted in previous lessons, adoption is the capstone of Paul’s theology, and this is illustrated in the remainder of Ephesians 1.

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2. What aspects of Paul’s theology does union not cover? 3. Give four phrases that Paul uses to express union.4. What do we mean by union with the historic life, death, and resurrection of Christ? 5. Explain union in Christ’s human nature and the New Covenant from 1 Corinthians 11:24,25

and 1 Timothy 2:5.6. Identify some problems with the traditional way of the Ordo Salutis and union. 7. What is Paul’s central thrust in respect to the Ordo Salutis? 8. Does Paul have an independent personal doctrine of regeneration? How is the sovereignty of

God maintained? 9. What is the relationship between the Spirit, resurrection, and union? 10. When are we united to Christ?

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Lesson Fourteen: New Resurrection LifeIn sharing in Christ’s resurrection life, a believer is given a new, powerful, inward life,

allowing him to live personally and practically for the Father. As with all doctrines, the source of the new life is union with Christ’s own resurrection life. In union, the believer dies to sin and now lives for God. The power of resurrection life is linked to Christ’s new glorified resurrected humanity. In union with Christ’s glorified resurrection life, he is indwelt by Christ’s Spirit. In union with Christ’s resurrection the believer becomes a new man. In Christ, he is renewed in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). Believers share in Christ’s resurrection life in the new life, in the Spirit, and in the new man. Although we will consider each topic separately each aspect is linked to and flows directly out of Christ’s own resurrection life. We are raised in Him. We share His Spirit and we are new men in Him.

Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of new life; He makes alive (1 Cor. 15:21). In union, His resurrection life is the source of all our spiritual lives. He is the first fruits of the resurrection, the first of the same full harvest. He is also called the Firstborn from the dead. Firstfruits and Firstborn both show union and solidarity between Christ’s resurrection and all united to Him. In Christ’s initial resurrection, He represents the whole number. The Messiah’s resurrection life is the first and the foundation for the new resurrection life of all those in Him. The absolute nature of our union is seen in Paul’s statement that if we do not rise, Christ will not have risen either. Gaffin states, “What is striking is that Paul can argue in both directions, not only from Christ’s resurrection to the resurrection of believers, but also back from the resurrection of believers to Christ’s. A denial of a future resurrection of believers implies a denial of Christ’s resurrection.” (13, 15, 16)84.

In union Paul links Christ’s physical resurrection, our resurrection on the Last Day, and our new spiritual resurrection life. These three aspects are so tightly related that they should be considered a single event with three facets. The immediate aspect of the resurrection has already been applied to the new man. In Romans 6, Ephesians 2:1-10, and Colossians 2:11-14, Paul sees believers as already united to Christ’s resurrection life, their life flowing from His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection will also be the source of resurrection life on the last day.

84 By Faith 61

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A Single ResurrectionIn Union with Christ

1. Christ’s ResurrectionThe FirstfruitThe Firstborn

2. A Believer’sInner Man

Spiritual Resurrection

3. A Believer’sOuter Man

Bodily Resurrection

1. Resurrection Life85

In union with Christ, believers have died to the powers of the old creation (the flesh, sin,

the Law, and spiritual bondage), are raised from the dead in Christ’s own death and resurrection, and now share in the power of Christ’s resurrection life.

In Ephesians 1:19,20 Paul speaks of  …. the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might (20) that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places. This is a real, powerful, inward change, not merely a positional change or change in status.86 Gaffin notes that, “… having already been raised with Christ is real, actual, “existential,” not merely true “in principle.” The primary application in salvation is its ongoing application, not its once for all accomplishment” 87

The key passages are Romans 6; Ephesians 1:19,20; 2:1-10; Colossians 2:13,14; and 3:1-4. In each, Paul’s principal point is that we have died with Christ to the old creation in His objective historical life and death, and now we have been raised with Him into new life in a new realm or creation. In union with Christ, the same power of God the Father that raised Him from the dead works in us to raise us into new life. In Him, we are free from sin, the Law, and spiritual bondage, and we have really and practically entered a new life. Although the powers of the old age still influence us, they can no longer control us.88

85 I have used the term “Resurrection Life” as a subset of the lesson title, New Resurrection Life. 86 Any attempt to reduce this to a position in principle, a mere legal change, fails to take seriously Paul’s arguments in Romans, Ephesians, and Colossians. It also fails to make the connection between resurrection life and the work of the Spirit.87 By Faith 63

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1.1. Romans 6:1-10, Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 2:11-15, and 3:1-4, 9,10

In Romans 6, Paul points to the source of new life in Christ. He emphasizes that new life is the result of our union (as pictured in baptism) with Christ’s death and resurrection. In this we have died to the old creation, along with the old man, and have been raised again in new resurrection life, by the power of God. We are now freed from the dominion and the realm of sin and are able to live a new resurrection life in Christ, to God.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? (2)By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (3) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? (4) We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (5)For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (6) We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. (7)For one who has died has been set free from sin. (8) Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. (9) We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. (10)For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  (11) So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:1-11).

Romans 6:1-11 can be divided in the following manner. (1) Paul asks if it is possible to continue to sin, v. 1. (2) Paul says no, it is impossible because in baptism we died to the old creation and have been raised by the power of God into the new creation, v.2. (3) Paul then expands upon how we died in Christ’s death, v. 6-7. We died to Adam, we were crucified with Christ, we are dead to the old creation, and so we are free from sin’s dominion. (4) He then develops the nature of resurrection life, v. 8-11. In Christ’s resurrection we are joined to Christ, we live with Him, and death has no power over us. Sin and death have no part of this new realm, and because of that, we shall no longer die.

Christ’s death is not merely an example; He actually died in and to the old creation and was resurrected as the beginning of the new creation. In Christ’s death there was a change in realms, dominion, and creation. In Romans 6, Paul’s point is that through our union with Christ, we have actually, really, and historically died to the old creation and dominion, and we are already raised into a new creation or realm in Christ.

Although some like to speak of still having the old Adam in us, making Christians a bit of Christ and a bit of Adam, Paul does not think in those terms. Paul makes an absolute contrast, we are either in Christ or in Adam, and in Christ we have died to the old and now live in resurrection power. We can say we are still affected by the old creation and the old man, but we cannot say we are split, and we are in Adam and also in Christ.

In Christ a decisive break has occurred. In Him we are truly dead to sin and alive to God. This new relationship becomes the basis on which Paul calls us to holiness. Because we are in Him, we have joined Him in resurrection life. On this basis we are to strive to become like Christ.

88 We must also consider the nature of the change in man, the inward and outward distinction. Gaffin, in his book By Faith, begins his application of salvation by stressing the new man/old man distinction and then applies aspects of the resurrection to the new man, noting that the fullness of salvation only comes in the resurrection. We will consider this change last.

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The relationship between what Christ has done for believers and how believers are to respond is called the indicative (what we already are in Christ) and the imperative (How we are called to live in Him). In Romans 6, Paul joins both ideas. God challenges believers to understand what they are in Christ and how they are to live in Him (particularly Rom. 6:11-13).89 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (13) 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 (Rom 6:11-13). We will consider this concept in a later section.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 6 is paralleled in Ephesians 1, 2:1-10, Colossians 2:11,12, and 3:1-4. In each passage, our present union with Christ’s death and resurrection life is the key to a new, holy life.90 Likewise, in each passage Paul grounds new life in our union with Christ’s resurrection life. In Him, we died to the old creation and are alive to do good works in the new creation.

1.2. Righteousness, Sanctification, Holiness, Freedom, Fruitfulness, and Good Works

The resurrection life is the basis for God’s call to righteousness, sanctification, holiness, and freedom. Believers, raised in Christ by God’s power, are to present your members to God as instruments for righteousness (Rom. 6:13). In Him, they are now set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness (Rom. 6:18). They who once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness are now encouraged to present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification (Rom. 6:19). As slaves to sin they could not be righteous, but now they are to obey, which leads to righteousness.91 Paul’s concept of freedom is controlled by the two-creations/two-Adams structure, in which one is either in Adam (and so doing his works of the flesh) or in Christ (and now raised, in Him, to serve God). Paul’s understanding of freedom is that we are freed from Adam’s sin and death to serve Christ. Freedom is never freedom in the abstract or freedom from God and His rule. Since a believer is in Christ, all Paul’s exhortations to liberty (1 Cor. 12:29) and freedom (Gal. 2:4; 5:1; 5:13) are to be read as one’s being free in Christ to serve Him.

89 Ridderbos (Paul 209) summarizes the teaching as: (1) The church is joined to Christ’s objective, historical, redemptive death and resurrection, (2) the church gains this through her incorporation into Him in baptism, 3) the church must judge herself to be in this new state, and (4) the new state must cause her to live in a new way. 90 In Ephesians 2:1-10, Paul begins by reminding them that they used to walk in sin, folly, and vanity before they were joined to Christ (v. 1-3). Then he shows that they were changed in Christ because they were raised from being dead in sins and trespasses and they are now seated at God’s right hand (v. 5,6). They were created (re created) in Christ Jesus and, in Him, in new life, they now do the good works that God prepared for them (v. 9,10). In Colossians 2:11-15, Paul links a believer’s death and resurrection in Christ, new life, circumcision, baptism (Lesson Thirteen), and the forgiveness of sin to union with Christ. Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection accomplishes each aspect. In Christ, they are forgiven and they have died to the old life and are raised in the new life. Paul then goes on in Colossians to focus on the implication of their having died and risen again. They are to look to the heavenly things, where Christ is, and since they are in Him, they are to put off the old man and to put on the new man (Col. 3:9,10).91 Ridderbos comments that Paul is drawing on the Old Testament idea of righteousness being what is well pleasing to God. This is righteousness in the ethical and moral spheres (Paul 260).

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In Romans 6:19,22 Paul also writes of sanctification: so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification… (22) and the fruit you get leads to sanctification. Paul calls believers to “holiness,” to be chosen, separated to God. As Israel, the type, was to be holy for God, even so the antitype, believers in Christ, are to be holy (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Cor.1: 2). Christ gave Himself for the church and made her holy (Eph. 5:25,26). In Christ, believers are now the temple of God, separate from the world (2 Cor. 6:14ff ). As such they are to go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you (2 Cor. 6:17). Paul alludes to this same source of holiness in Colossians 1:22: [H]e has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him.

In the resurrection life we are to bear fruit and do good works. Paul speaks of bearing fruit to God: But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. (22) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life (Rom. 6:21,22).

In Ephesians 2, Paul contrasts men’s walking in futility and evil ways, outside of Christ, with being His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (v. 10). Our salvation is a gift of grace, not of works (v. 8,9), but those raised in Him will do good works that are suitable for the Kingdom of God. The key feature of the good works is that they are in Christ; they are created (new creation language) in Christ. God has prepared them for us beforehand, according to His plan in which we actively walk.

Paul’s call to live the new life is summarized in Romans 12:1, … present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Freedom in Christ means life (Rom. 6:22). This life is one controlled by freedom, peace, and joy.92 This call affects the whole man, every faculty. The transfer in Christ is absolute, touching every facet of our being, and so we are to give our hearts (Rom. 6:17), minds (Rom. 12:2), and souls to Him. 93

2. Spiritual Life

The initial Adam brought life, but Christ has become the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) (see earlier material and John 16:7).

92 Ridderbos, Paul 259

93 As we have seen, in union we have died to every aspect of the old creation so we might live for God in the new creation. Paul speaks of dying to the realm of the Law in order that we may now belong to Christ and so bear fruit for God (Rom. 7:4). In Him, we also die to the realm of angelic powers and the elements of this world (Col. 2:14,15; 2:20; Gal. 4:3) which include the pagan days and even possibly the Law of God, if it has been perverted from its original purpose (Gal. 4:3). In Romans 6, Paul’s stress is that we have died to the power and realm of sin and are now raised into newness of life, a new Kingdom (Col. 1:13), and a new creation (Gal. 6:15).

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Old Creation New Creation

1 Corinthians 15:45

AdamLiving BeingEarthly Life

ChristLife-Giving Spirit

New Greater Spiritual Life

The gift of the spirit is an eschatological reality; it is a part of the new age brought in through Christ’s resurrection.

Spiritual life flows directly from Christ’s own resurrection life.94 In Christ’s resurrection He was both raised by the Spirit (Rom. 1:4; 8:11), and the risen Christ is now the source of the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).

In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul argues historically and typologically. Paul says, The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). In history Adam was the first living human, made from the dust, and God breathed spiritual life into his physical body. In a greater way, in His resurrection, Christ, the second man, the anointed Messiah, is the first man to possess the Spirit without measure. As the resurrected Messiah, He is the source of true spiritual life. Gaffin notes, “The “life-giving Spirit” is not a timeless description of Christ. Rather, he “became” such (γένετο). There is little room for doubt about the time point of this becoming. It is His resurrection or—more broadly, together with the ascension—his exaltation.”.95

ChristThe Source of the Spirit

In HimBelievers Share in His Spirit

Old Creation New Creation

94 The death and resurrection of Christ, in their eschatological significance, control Paul’s teaching on the work of the Spirit (‘The Life-Giving Spirit’: Probing the Center of Paul’s Pneumatology.” JETS, Volume 41. Issue 4, (1998): 573-589. Print.) 95 Perspectives 18,19

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Those united to Christ’s resurrection are also indwelt by Christ’s resurrection Spirit (Gal. 4:5,6), and their fleshly body will also be changed into a new spiritual resurrection body (1 Cor. 15: 44ff).96 Gaffin continues: “By virtue of his exaltation (resurrection and ascension), Christ, as last Adam and second man, has come to such a complete possession of the Spirit that these two are equated in their activity. The two are seen as being made one in their eschatological work in giving life to the church, that life that has its visible first fruits in Christ’s own resurrection”. He goes on to say, that in Christ’s work “in the Spirit there is the absolute coalescence, the total congruence in the church between the work of the exalted Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit” .97As the risen Messiah, resurrection life and life in the Spirit are joined.

The reality that the Spirit is an eschatological gift is repeated in Ephesians 1 where Paul begins with the work of the Father, follows with the world of the Son, and only then does Paul say:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (12) so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  (13) In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:11-14).

Paul indicates that in Jesus we receive an inheritance: the promised Holy Spirit.

The promised Holy Spirit is an eschatological term. In the Spirit we are sealed, and He guarantees our inheritance until the time of redemption. In sealing the Spirit confirms our Sonship until we get the full possession of the inheritance. The Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance. In the Spirit, we receive God’s down payment of what will become a permanent and unchanging blessing. Since Christ is the final and complete work of God, the outpouring of His Spirit is the final and complete guarantee of our inheritance. Although the indwelling Spirit manifests Christ to us, to have the Spirit or to be sealed with the Spirit is not a subjective feeling; it is an objective reality, a mode of life for those in Christ.98 Those in the Spirit are in Christ.

The sealing of the Spirit spoken of in Ephesians 1:13, Ephesians 4:30, and 2 Corinthians 1:21,22. God places His seal upon us, claiming us and protecting us.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30).    

And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, (22) and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee (2 Cor. 1:21,22).

All in Christ share in the Spirit (Rom. 8:5-12). As Paul says, those who do not have the Spirit are none of His. The Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord (Phil. 1:9; Gal. 4:6; 2 Cor. 3:18). In

96 Paul’s theology follows the history of redemption in Acts, where Christ is raised with a new body and then pours out His Spirit at Pentecost upon the church (Joel 2:28; Acts 2:4). For an extended discussion on the significance of the Spirit, Pentecost and the new creation, see Gaffin’s book, Perspectives on Pentecost.97 Perspectives 21.98 It is not a subjective state of consciousness but an objective mode of being (Ridderbos, Paul 221).

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union we are joined to Christ and we share in His Spirit. But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call (5) one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Eph. 4:4,5). In baptism, we are baptized into one body in the Spirit. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).99 In union with Christ, we participate in Christ’s Spirit. Being raised by the Spirit is to have Christ in us.

To be in the Spirit is a mode of life. All believers now share this mode of existence. “The Spirit is not an occasional visitor; He takes up residence in God’s people”.100 Paul expresses this mode as being circumcised by the Spirit (Rom. 2:29), to be indwelt by the Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16), to be empowered by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:11), and to live, walk, and set one’s mind upon the Spirit (Gal. 5:25; Rom. 8:5, 9). To live in the Spirit refers to the new condition and to walk refers to the need to work out that condition.101 In the Spirit we have the reality of eternal life (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:6; Rom. 8:11; Gal. 6:6). He brings the love of God to us (Rom. 5:5; Eph. 3:16; Rom. 15:30). He confirms to us that God is our Father who teaches us to pray (Gal. 4:5,6; Rom. 8:15), and He is also described through the giving of His fruits: love, joy, and peace (Gal. 5:22). The Spirit brings joy (1 Thess. 1:6) and the power of a holy life (2 Thess. 2:13). He brings the knowledge of Christ (Eph. 1:17; 1 Cor. 2:2) while supplying both power and gifts to the church (Rom. 12; 1 Cor. 12,14).102 Speaking about his own ministry, Paul asserts that it is in the power of the Spirit (Rom. 15:19) and in the demonstration of the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:4); both are powerful indicators that the new creation has arrived.

99 Paul also uses terms such as live by the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:25; Rom. 8:5, 9). To live by the Spirit refers to the new condition and to walk refers to the need to work out that condition (Ridderbos, Paul 222).100 Morris, The Epistle to the Romans 308101 Ridderbos, Paul 222102 Ridderbos, Paul 222-223

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Since being in the Spirit is a mode of existence, Paul regularly contrasts Old Covenant/New Covenant terms.103 In 2 Corinthians 3:1-3 Paul sets up a series of contrasts between the Law and the Spirit. 104 105

Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? (2) You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. (3) And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts (2 Cor. 3:1-3).

The Law in its letter and the external nature of the Law both indicate that it is powerless, and that it brings men into bondage. In contrast, the internal work of the Spirit is powerful, bringing liberty and freedom to the children of God.

In 2 Corinthians 3:7-13, Paul develops the New Covenant’s greater glory over that of the Old Covenant. In concluding his argument, Paul emphasizes the work of the Spirit in showing the glory of the Lord. Now the Lord is the Spirit; where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 18).

The indwelling of the Spirit brings freedom/liberty, because the Lord is the Spirit and where Christ’s Spirit is there is freedom from the power/jurisdiction of the Law. Paul and all

103 Paul often contrasts the Law and the Spirit in his letters. As we will see, to Paul, the distinction is not in content, because the Law is holy, just, good, and spiritual, (Rom. 7); rather, the contrast is one of sphere, creations, and realms. The Law is of the old creation; the Spirit is of the new creation. In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul illustrates this viewpoint.104 He develops key Old Testament prophetic passages as looking forward to the coming of the New Covenant (Ezek. 11:19; 36:26; Jer. 31:33). 105 If we consider all of Paul’s letters, we can expand these contrasts as follows. First, the Law leads to bondage, but the Spirit leads to sonship, liberty, and life. Second, Paul contrasts the Letter and the Spirit. The letter has no power; it has not been written on the heart, but the Spirit has the power to change (Rom. 7:6; 2 Cor. 3). Third, Paul stresses that the Law is outward, on stone, or merely in the flesh (see discussion of circumcision in Rom. 2:25ff; Phil. 3:2,3), while the Spirit’s work is inward, on the heart (2 Cor. 3:1-3). Fourth, Paul argues that the Law is powerless, but the Spirit is powerful. Fifth, Paul contrasts Moses’ passing ministry under the Old Covenant with his own eternal and enduring ministry in the New Covenant.

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those in the New Covenant now behold the Law with an unveiled face, by the Spirit, the very same Spirit that is transforming us into Christ’s image and glory.

Paul develops the following contrasts in his letters: the Law leads to bondage, but the Spirit leads to Sonship, liberty, and life. In contrasting the Letter and the Spirit, Paul teaches the Letter has no power; it has not been written on the heart, but the Spirit has written the Law on the heart (Rom. 7:6; 2 Cor. 3). Paul teaches that the Law is outward, on stone, or merely in the flesh (see discussion of circumcision in Rom. 2:25ff; Phil. 3:2,3), while the Spirit’s work is inward, on the heart (2 Cor. 3:1-3). Paul argues that the Law is powerless, but the Spirit is powerful. Paul contrasts Moses’ passing ministry under the Old Covenant with his own eternal and enduring ministry in the New Covenant.

3. The New Man

All those joined to Him in new resurrection life are re-created as new men in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:5,6,10). Christ is the first fruits, the initial man, the true Son, indwelt with the Spirit, and all His people share the new, glorified humanity.

The new man is the final eschatological humanity, raised in Christ and indwelt by His Spirit. In Christ, Adam’s typology reaches its end, its completion, its fulfillment. All in union with Christ

share in His new humanity and are indwelt by the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45).

New CreationOld Creation

Adam

ChristThe Church in Christ isThe New- Perfect Man

Old Humanity

1 Corinthians 15:45

Each man as an individual is called to put off the old and put on the new man. At the same time, each new man is one new humanity in Him. In Him the church is bound together to become the one man and the perfect man (Gal. 3:28; Eph. 4:23).106

Paul contrasts the inner man with the outer man thus distinguishing between our inner treasure and our outer earthly bodies. Paul speaks of man as having two aspects, an inner aspect and an outer aspect. Paul, in 2 Corinthians 4:16, Colossians 3:10, and Romans 13:14.says: But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not

106 In these, as well as other passages, we see how Christ, union, baptism, the individual, and the church are all related.

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to us (2 Cor. 4:7). In 2 Corinthians 4:3, the treasure is called the Gospel, the light of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4), and the shining light (4:6). In contrast, the clay jars are man in his natural bodily existence, an existence that Paul longs to put off, not that he might be naked, but that he might be further clothed in the resurrection body.

The relationship between the inner man and the outer man is complex. On the one hand, Paul distinguishes between the inner and the outer man; the inner man is being renewed while the outer man is perishing. At the same time, we also assert that our union with Christ is with the whole man, both inner and outer. Paul speaks of the outer man in union with Christ in 1 Corinthians 6:15,19 where he teaches that our bodies are members of Christ’s and are temples of the Holy Spirit. He also speaks of the union between our and Christ’s resurrection bodies in 1 Corinthians 15, where union is with the whole man, inner and outer. The change in the new man begins in the inner man and will be completed in the outer man at the final resurrection. Paul says 2 Corinthians 4,5. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day (2 Cor. 4:16). The corruption of the outer man will be fully and finally undone in the resurrection of the dead.

As union is a single event, the creation of the new man is a single and complete movement as the believer in Christ is taken from the old creation and becomes the new creation in Christ. At the same time, the union, once made, continues to feed the believer throughout this earthly life so Paul can exhort Christians to be constantly renewed, to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Rom. 13:14). In the ongoing renewal the Christian is being restored to the image of God (Eph. 4:23,24)107 and Christ (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Cor. 4:16; Col. 3:1; Rom. 13:14).

In the weakness and decay of the outer man, we are invariably reminded of our weakness and the need for God’s eternal renewal. We see the destruction of the body by sight; we realize the daily inward renewal by faith (2 Cor. 4:7).

107 In systematic theology these verses are often applied to Adam as the original image of God, but this fails to see the greater nature of Christ, the Son, indwelt by the Spirit, who is the fulfillment of humanity.

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The renewal of the inner man occurs in both the heart and mind. The heart was the center of Old Covenant religion, and so the new heart and mind are the center of New Covenant life. The mind is renewed (Eph. 4:23), and so it can discern the will of God (Rom. 12:2). Through the Spirit, believers now have the mind of Christ. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). Ridderbos declares that those who deny the Christ and His resurrection are those who have no knowledge of God (1 Cor. 15:34).108

The heart is also renewed. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). In His Spirit,109 Christ dwells in the heart through faith (Eph. 3:17). God sends the Spirit of His own Son into believers’ hearts so they cry out, even as He did, “Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:4-6). The Spirit Himself prays for them in the inner man (Rom. 8:26,27). As sons, believers know themselves to be free. In the Spirit, Paul says that Christ has poured out his love in the Spirit (Rom. 5:5), and the Spirit writes Christ’s will on the hearts of those united to Him (2 Cor. 3:30). This is the Spirit taking the things of Christ and giving them to the sons of God. In his mind and heart, the new man has the ability to understand God’s revelation and to act upon it. The inward man thus acts with divine power on the outward man.110

The heart and the mind refer to the inner, powerful, renewed eschatological life of man, while the outer man refers to his earthly, fleshy, old creation life. This is a difficult distinction. The whole man is united to Christ and yet only the inner man is changed. The inner man is life; the outer man is death and decay and is passing away due to sin and the natural weakness of the flesh. The inner man and the outer man are now the two aspects or facets of the new man,111 or the two dispositions in the new man.112 Gaffin speaks of the inner man as the pre-functioning man, the part of man from which actions flow. That aspect of man has been changed and so now the new man must act out in his body his new life. The outward man’s members can be used for righteousness (Rom. 6:13,19), but they are also the point of contact with the world and Satan, so the place of conflict and battle.

108 Paul 228109 See above for the relationship between Christ and the Spirit.110 Ridderbos notes, we distinguish Romans 7, in that whatever light the unbeliever had, they could not act upon it because they were in bondage, while the believer has the power to act upon the light given (Paul 229).111 Gaffin By Faith 54-55 112 Gaffin argues that there is no rigid ontological distinction separating soul from body; rather, the inner man is the pre-functional or the nature that leads to the outward functional disposition. Both function in the individual.

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Lesson Fourteen Questions

1. The new life is flows from union with Christ’s ________________________.2. Name three parts of the new resurrection life. 3. Explain the concept of one resurrection with three aspects. 4. Name three passages that speak of union with Christ’s death and resurrection and our new spiritual life. 5. How can believers do good works? 6. In 1 Corinthians 15:45 what does the term life-giving Spirit mean?7. Name the principal contrasts in 2 Corinthians 3 between Paul and Moses.8. Why did Moses veil his face? Why does Paul not do so? 9. Contrast the inner man and the outer man in Paul’s thinking. What example does Paul use

that shows the ongoing nature of the new life? 10. Is the renewal of the inner man a single or an ongoing event?

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Lesson Fifteen: The Law in Christ’s Kingdom

In Romans 1 and 2, Paul lays down the respective duties of the Gentile and the Jew, a division in the old creation that occurred due to the giving of the Law to Moses. The Gentiles, are under the obligation of creation (1:18ff) and conscience (2:14,15); they are obligated by the will of God revealed to them. The Jews are under the greater revelation and demands of the Law and are judged by the Law. The coming of the Law brought division between Jew and Gentile; each group is under its own separate administration or jurisdiction.

Paul also notes that both Jew and Gentile are under similar obligation to God in their respective jurisdictions. The demands of the heart and conscience in general revelation are similar to the demands of the Law written upon stone, so much so that Paul speaks of the Law written upon the heart. At the same time, God’s image is revealed in a greater way in the Law, and so the Jews greater obligation than the Gentiles.

To this division between Jew and Gentile in the old creation, Paul adds a third jurisdiction, that of Christ in His new resurrection Kingdom. In the coming of Christ and the Kingdom, all believers, both Jew and Gentile, are now subject to His greater rule and are to be conformed to His image.

In the coming of the Messianic King, the Law given to Moses reaches its climax. As Messianic King, Jesus did not come to destroy the Law of Moses; He came to bring it to its fulfillment. Just as the obligations of the Gentiles were made clearer by the coming of the Law to Israel, so the Law given to Israel was a type, pointing to the fullness of the Law in Christ’s greater resurrection Kingdom. In Jesus’ coming the full implications of the Law given to Moses are manifest in the new creation. As the greater judge and greater lawgiver, all men, both Jews and Gentiles, are subject to Christ’s rule.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul links the resurrection with Christ’s Kingdom rule.

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (21)For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. (24) Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (25) For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Cor. 15:23-25).

As the resurrected Messianic Son, Christ is also now the greater example for believers who are being remade in His image. In this regard, obedience flows from the nature of a believer’s kingdom life.113 In Christ, believers are the sons of God, having been raised in Him, indwelt by the Spirit, and made new men. In the Kingdom, they share in His image and are called into conformity to the image of Christ as the firstborn.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:29).

113 See Lesson Fourteen.

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We will develop the implications of Christ as an example and as King under the following headings: (1) The Law in the Eschatological Kingdom, (2) The Content and Jurisdiction of the Law, (3) The Spirit and the Law, (4) The Law Fulfilled in Love, and (5) How Paul Preaches the Fullness of the Kingdom to the Gentiles.

1. The Law in the Eschatological Kingdom

The problem of the use and function of the Law in Paul’s writings can be stated as follows: In a number of places, Paul seems to give the Law incidental, rather than direct authority (Eph. 5:3-6; Gal. 5:19-21; Col. 3:5,8,9). In these passages, Paul refers to the Law in passing as he focuses upon common Gentile sins, but he never expressly calls the Gentiles to follow the Law. In other contexts, Paul clearly and categorically rejects the continuing authority of the Law. He points out that believers are no longer under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14), that they have died to the law (Rom. 7:4), and that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness for all who believe (Rom. 10:4).

By contrast, in both Romans and Galatians, Paul honors the Law. In Romans 8:3, he notes that the Spirit makes possible the fulfillment of the Law. He quotes most of the commandments and concludes that the Law is summarized in love (Rom. 13:8-10). In Galatians, Paul teaches that we are still under the Law of God and Christ (Gal. 6:2). He speaks of the Law bringing a curse and Christ’s redeeming us from the Law (Gal. 3:10; 4:4). He goes on to speak of love fulfilling the Law (Gal. 5:14). How are we to reconcile Paul’s seemingly contradictory statements about the Law?

The solution to the apparent conflict is found by applying Paul’s two-Adams / two-creations typological.114 The whole old creation is a type, including Israel, the temple, and the Law. The typology is fulfilled in Christ’s Kingdom. In Christ, the type, the Law given to Moses, is now fulfilled in the antitype, the Law of Christ’s Kingdom, the Law of Christ. It is now Christ’s Law, thus Moses’ Law is now developed and re-conceptualized around Christ.

The new motive for obedience is that believers are in Him, united to Him, and so their actions have consequences. Because they are now in Him, so they are to follow Him, obey His commandments, and they are to be conformed to His image. Each of these is fulfilled in love. The Law is fulfilled in love (Rom. 13:8-10), Christ commands us to love one another and in Him we are being conformed into His image, the image of the one who in love gave His life for others.

In the gift of the Spirit, the Spirit writes the Law upon believers’ hearts; it enables them to see the greater demands in new creation. The Spirit leads them in a direction, and powerfully equips them, as the fruit of the Spirit is love. In the Law’s fulfillment, the command to love, the example of Christ, and the aid of the Spirit, believers are being conformed into His image and are fulfilling the demands of the Christ’s Kingdom. In loving one another in union with Christ, the image of Christ, the fulfillment of the Law of Moses, and the gifts of the Spirit now combine to become the new standard in His Kingdom.

114 This is the same approach that Paul applies throughout his theology.

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New CreationOld Creation

MosesKingdom of Israel

The Law

ChristMessiah’s KingdomImage, Love, Spirit

Christ’s Law

The jurisdiction or period of the Law given to Moses ended with the arrival of the Kingdom of Christ. The Law’s typology is fulfilled in love and in the Kingdom of the sons of His love (Col. 1:13). The typology of the Law of Moses and Israel points to its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, which means that the Law of Moses is of great service, along with the Spirit, as an aide by which we are able to see the mind of Christ in the Law (Rom 8:4,14; Gal. 5:16-18) and by which believers are remade into His image and thereby are enabled to love one another (Rom. 8:29).

Fulfillment, love, and the image of Christ now provide the hermeneutical principles for understanding the Law of Christ in Paul’s writings. The Law of Moses is not to be discarded; rather it is to be re-interpreted in the light of Christ’s coming, through His own example, and with the aid of the Spirit. In some cases such as murder, adultery, or theft, the laws have been made broader and deeper by including the internal motivation of the heart. In other instances, it is more difficult to assess how one is to apply the Law. Being obedient to Christ is not merely a matter of mechanically applying the Law of Moses. In the Kingdom, the demands are so much deeper that the church struggles to understand the mind of Christ. In this process she is aided by the Spirit who does not replace the Law; rather, He aids the church so she can properly interpret and obey the Law in Christ’s Kingdom. This is a process, so Paul calls the church to mature and grow in the knowledge of the mind of Christ so that she may be able to apply Christ’s Law in all its fullness, in each and every situation (Eph. 4:13-16).115

This is a complex and interrelated picture. The new standard is Christ’s own image, something the type in the Law of Moses pointed to, but which can only be seen in its fullness in the New Covenant, as we are led by the Spirit to love one another. It is a common failing that interpreters of Paul’s writings only develop one or the other of these aspects, while rejecting the remaining aspects.

115 As an example of how difficult this can be, we see Paul applying principles from the Old Covenant Law concerning oxen to the Christian ministry. This is no easy feat. Paul’s case is an example of the Spirit’s discerning and directing the will of Christ, in the New Covenant, in the church.

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2. The Content and Jurisdiction of the Law.

In the typological approach, it is important to distinguish between the content of the Law and the jurisdiction of the Law.116 In Romans 1 and 2, Paul distinguished between the positions of the Gentiles and the Jews. The Gentiles, who do not have the law (2:14), are judged by general revelation (creation), the Law written on their hearts, and their consciences. The Jews are treated differently, because the coming of Moses, the Law, and circumcision placed them under a new jurisdiction or administration. Since there are two separate legal spheres or jurisdictions, the Gentiles will not be judged by the greater revelation of the Law, and the lesser light of general revelation will not judge the Jews. Paul also notes the similarity of the demands or content of the obligations in the two jurisdictions. He states clearly:

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. (15) They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them (16) on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus . (Rom 2:14–16)

In these verses Paul maintains a clear distinction between the separate jurisdictions of the Law while at the same time noting that the content of the Law for each is similar. The Jew has the greater light, being instructed in the Law (Rom. 2:18). The same applies to the relationship between the Law of Moses and the Law in Christ’s kingdom. In this case there is a complete change in jurisdiction from one to the other but the content of the Law is similar in each. The lesser typological demands of the Law are increased in the coming of the fullness of the Kingdom.

Moses gave the Law to Israel, so the jurisdiction of the Law ended with the fulfillment in Christ and the coming of His new Kingdom. In Christ, Jews are redeemed from the Law; they have died to the Law, and are raised into His greater Kingdom. Moses, Israel, and the Law, and Christ, the Kingdom, and the new creation are separate jurisdictions.

We see this change of jurisdictions in Galatians and Romans. In the former, Paul speaks of having been redeemed from the curse of Law and from the Law itself (Gal. 3:10; 4:4). Paul then speaks about being under the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2), which is the Law of love, and being free to walk in the Spirit. In Romans, the distinction between Gentiles and Jew made in Romans 1 and 2 is further developed as Paul says that the Jews themselves need to be redeemed from the Law and die to the Law (Rom. 7:4) in order to escape its curse and be brought into the Kingdom of God, and therefore be led by the Spirit in the new creation and be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:4,29,30). These distinctions follow the old creation/new creation contrasts in Paul’s theology.

A concentrated discussion of jurisdictions occurs in 1 Corinthians 9:19-21 in the context of evangelism:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  (20) To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law

116 This was discussed this briefly in Lesson Seven.

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(though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.   (21)To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law (1 Cor. 9:19-21).

Here Paul highlights three different relationships to the Law. As a Christian in Christ’s Kingdom, and in the new creation, Paul is no longer under the Law of Moses. When seeking to win the Jews, Paul becomes as or like one of them, voluntarily placing himself under the Law, even though he himself is not under the Law. Paul’s circumcising Timothy in order to avoid offense to the Jews, is an example of an act done even though circumcision, a Jewish legal requirement, had become irrelevant in Christ (Gal. 6:15). Paul circumcised Timothy to make him as under the Law so that it would be easier to witness to the Jews.

When Paul was seeking to win Gentiles, he was dealing with those outside the Law; therefore Paul was free to act as a Gentile. This does not mean that Paul was lawless. Paul says that he was never outside the Law of God. Even though he might be outside the jurisdiction of the Jewish law, as a Christian he was still under the Law of Christ, in Christ’s Kingdom. When evangelizing, Paul developed three jurisdictions: Jews under the Law, Gentiles without Law, and his own position, under the Law of Christ. We see a similar distinguishing of jurisdictions when union with Christ becomes one of the primary motives for obedience (1 Cor. 6:15-18).

In the change from type to antitype, from the jurisdiction of Moses to the jurisdiction of Christ, the content of the Law remains similar but not identical. Like the position between Gentile and the Jew in Romans 1 and 2, the content was similar but the Jews, having greater revelation, were under greater demands. Even so, the full coming of the Kingdom means that the obligations in Christ’s Kingdom are similar and yet greater. Further, as a result of the fulfillment of the type, some laws changed significantly. For example, in the Ten Commandments, laws concerning marriage, theft, and stealing are similar, while there are changes to some of the other commandments. The fourth commandment is changed so that the day of worship and rest is now on the first, not the seventh day (Acts 20:7) of the week. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath looked forward to the coming of the Lord. In the New Testament however, Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant, and in His resurrection, on the first day of the week, the Sabbath is initially realized.

In the New Covenant, the inward nature of the law is stressed (Matt 5:21-30), particularly the demand to love one another as the final eschatological fulfillment of the Law. Paul does the same.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:8-10).

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Gal. 5:14).

The change in jurisdiction and content can be seen in Ephesians 6:1-4 in Paul’s development of the fifth commandment. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  (2) “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), (3) “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  (4) Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

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Paul retains the content of the commandment with two important modifications dealing with jurisdiction. The command is now followed in the Lord, in obedience to Him, and now in His Kingdom. The blessings are not for Israel alone; they are for the church. In Christ’s Kingdom, the church will inherit not only Israel’s Promised Land but the whole creation (Deut. 5:15; Exod. 20:12). The Law given to Israel is now applied and fulfilled in the church, under the New Covenant.

We see a similar emphasis on the new grounds for fulfilling the Law in Paul’s application of the seventh commandment. He asks in 1 Corinthians 6:15-18a:

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! (16) Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”  (17) But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (18) Flee from sexual immorality.

In this exhortation the content remains the same. Adultery was forbidden under the Law, but the exhortation to be holy as God is Holy is now reorganized and is based on our union in Christ. Paul does not say we must not sin because this breaks the Ten Commandments; rather, we must not commit adultery, because we are in union with Christ, and to do so would join the members of Christ to a prostitute. The new grounds or motive for obedience is our union with Christ. Obedience is re-conceptualized in and around Christ.

In a similar way, Ephesians 5:25 calls husbands to love their wives, as Christ loved the church. This was an Old Covenant obligation, but now the reason for the command is not based on the Law, but on Jesus’ own love for His church. This is a greater obligation, and like in 1 Corinthians 6 above, the obligation is now based on Christ Himself. In the same way, wives are to submit to their husbands in the Lord (Eph. 5:21,22).

Typology and fulfillment account for Paul’s lists of commandments in Colossians 3:8,9,12-14, Ephesians 5:3-6, and Galatians 5:19-21. These lists reflect but do not quote the Law, nor do they follow or quote all of the commandments. Paul uses the Law as a foundation on which to speak to the Gentiles, and he builds upon it as he explains the demands of the Kingdom to the new Gentile audience. Now their obedience is grounded in Christ’s new Kingdom and in the new creation. In Colossians, Paul links the commandments with the putting off Adam/Old Creation and putting on Christ/New Creation. The Gentiles are now in Christ’s Kingdom (Col. 1:13,14); they are in Christ and rose with Christ (Col 2:11,2). Due to this they must put off the old man and put on the new.

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. (9) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices… (12) Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, (13) bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (14) And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Col. 3:8,9,12-14).

In Galatians, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh, being under the law, and in the old creation works (all of which bar one from the Kingdom of God) with the new positive position of working in the power of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:18-23) which is the freedom found in the

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eschatological Kingdom in Christ. In this example, the Spirit travels in the same direction as the Law, fulfilling the demands of the Kingdom of God.       

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, (21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Gal. 5:18–23).

The nature of the new Kingdom is made clearer in Ephesians where it is called the Kingdom of God and Christ (Eph. 3:6). This passage has a list of commands similar to the Law given by Moses, but these commands are now called the demands of the Kingdom of God in Christ (Eph. 5:5).

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. (4) Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (5) For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience (Eph. 5:3–6).

In each case the reason for obeying is linked to Christ, to the new man (Col. 3:8,9,12-14), to the Spirit, the fruit of Sonship in Christ (Gal. 5:18-23), and to the final Kingdom of God and Christ (Eph. 5:3-6). In no case does Paul indicate that the Christians are under the Law of Moses, and yet the same Law clearly informs him of the content of the new obedience. In each list, the moral directions are similar to or actually quote the laws given to Israel, but now they are called the Laws of Christ or the Kingdom of God. This indicates that to Paul the Law of Moses is a type, and he uses the relevant parts of the Law and applies them to the Gentile context so they can be conformed into a new man, in Christ’s image, in the eschatological Kingdom of God. Since the Law of Moses has been fulfilled in the Law of Christ, the new reformulated obligations of Christ’s Kingdom are greater than those under Moses. Paul, like Jesus Himself, is no antinomian.

In the typology-fulfillment paradigm, every aspect of the Law whether civil, ceremonial, or moral, is fulfilled and climaxes in Christ’s Kingdom. Although it can be helpful, it is not necessary to divide the Law into three parts; rather, Paul indicates that each aspect of the Law is fulfilled in Christ. Paul (see also 1 Pet. 2:9) stresses that in Christ, the sacrifices, the temple, and the priesthood all reach their fulfillment. Christ and the church in Christ are the temple. Christ, our Passover, was the sacrifice for us (2 Cor. 5:7). Christ gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2). In Him, we are also priests to God, offering spiritual sacrifices. We are living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1). The Philippians gifts are called a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God (Phil. 4:8). Paul is poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith (Phil. 2:17; see also 2 Tim. 4:6) in his work in bringing in the Gentiles as an offering to Christ (Rom. 12:1; 15:16).

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In the same way, the civil law is applied in the church (1 Cor. 9:9; 1 Tim. 5:18). The Law that was given to civil Israel is now applied in a new way and greater in the church. In all cases the whole of the Law is fulfilled and developed in a new and greater way.

3. The Spirit and the Law

The Spirit has raised Christ from the dead, and as a consequence of our union, He raises believers into new life. Our new eschatological obedience is also a fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit renews our minds and helps us to understand God’s will. One way this is accomplished that the Spirit helps us to understand the typology of the Law in the Old Testament and to apply our understanding to the New Testament. Secondly, the Spirit changes us, empowering and equipping us to do Christ’s will. Both aspects are evident in Paul’s speaking of being in the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, and walking in the Spirit. In this action, the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead, gives power for new life as well as sets the direction of obedience in conformity to resurrection life. 117 When Paul contrasts the flesh and the Spirit, he is contrasting more than powers or jurisdictions. He is contrasting two competing aims, the very direction to which each realm points. The flesh lusts and exercises its power in uncleanness, while the Spirit exercises its power in holiness.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (17)For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (18) But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (19)Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, (20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,  (21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (22) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Gal. 5:16-23).

Those in the Spirit are not under the Law (Gal. 5:16), but the works of the Spirit are consistent with the Law: they run in the same direction (Gal. 5:23). If we walk in the Spirit, we will fulfill the Law. Paul says: that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Rom. 8:4). In Galatians 5:22, Paul teaches that the fruit of the Spirit is love, and love is the fulfillment of the Law.

The Spirit also enlightens and renews the inner man, mind and heart, so that he may be able to understand God’s will and be able to walk accordingly (Rom. 7:12; Rom. 12:2). The illumination by the Spirit allows the believer to discern and apply the will of God in the many different situations of life. A parallel can be drawn between Adam’s ability to know and discern God’s will (Gen. 2:19) and the renewed man’s ability to discern the will of God and apply it correctly.

4. The Law Fulfilled in Love

The Law finds its greater fulfillment in the new demands and the obligation to love one another. For all those united to Christ, He is both our ruler and our example. He commands

117 As we have just seen, the Spirit gives resurrection life, indwells the new man, and assists him/her in bringing the believer’s life into conformity to God in the new resurrection life.

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obedience to Him in love, He demonstrates love, and He rules in love. We will consider each of these aspects of Christ’s Kingdom.

The need to live as Christ lived is taught in numerous places. In Philippians 2:5, we are called to have the same humble and obedient mind as Christ Himself. In 2 Corinthians 8:9, we are called to give, even as He gave. In Galatians 6:2, Paul commands believers to [b]ear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

In Christ’s lifelong example and in His sacrificial death, the Law is fulfilled.

The requirement to love does not render the demands of the Law redundant or irrelevant. This is not a mere abstract form of love without content. The Law given to Moses informs us how to love; therefore, Paul can say the Law is fulfilled in love. Now believers are not under the Law of Moses, but the Law serves as an example; it informs us as we learn to love one another. The relationship between the Law and its fulfillment in love is developed in Romans 13:8-10, where Paul says the Law is fulfilled in love.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (9) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

The simple demands of the Law reach their eschatological climax in love. To love summarizes all man’s obligations.

5. The Summary of New Obedience Paul defines the new creation as a place of faith, hope, and love (Col. 1:4; Gal. 5:5; 1

Tim. 6:11; 2 Tim. 3:18).

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13).      

…remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess. 1:3).

…since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven (Col. 1: 4,5a).

For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal. 5:5).

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness (1 Tim. 6:11).

Love as well as faith and hope are now the heart and content of the Christian life. 118These three things are the essence of and define the new age. Love is the greatest, since faith and hope will end with the coming of Christ.

118 Ridderbos, Paul 293

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The love of Christ is the great motive for obedience. Paul, in Ephesians 3 and 4, prays that the church might gain a better understanding of Christ’s love.

…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, (18) may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, (19) and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:17-19).

      Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

(16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:15,16).

The demand to love has a context. We are called to love others in evangelizing those outside the church and as we dwell with one another in the church. Paul tells the church in Galatians that they were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Gal 5:13). Paul summarizes the Law as loving one another. Owe no one anything, except to love each other,… (9) and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (10) Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:8-10).

Paul calls on the free Gentile Timothy to be circumcised, not for righteousness but in love, so that the mission to the Jews will not be hindered (Acts 16:3). In the issue of the weak and the strong, of days and meats offered to idols, Paul can deny himself, in love, for the good of others (Rom. 14). The strong are to deny themselves for the weak, because Christ died for them. Paul also stresses that spiritual gifts should be used the same way, to love one another, for the benefit of the whole church (1 Cor. 13). Paul defines love in practical and relational ways in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant (5) or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; (6) it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. (7) Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

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The new greater demand to love is wide, requiring careful thought and wisdom and with the aid of the Spirit, in order to become a wise and obedient follower of Christ. Growing in love and obedience is a process. We are to grow in love and maturity and in understanding of how we are to obey and follow Christ (Rom. 12:1,2; Eph. 5:17). The church is called to grow in maturity (Eph. 4:15). As Paul wrote:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (2)  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Rom 12:1,2).

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ (Eph. 4:15).

5. How Paul Preached the Gospel to the Gentiles

This section considers Paul’s preaching to determine whether it is consistent with his theology. Does Paul preach the Law to the Gentiles, and what role does God’s revelation to Israel play in Paul’s letters to the church, now that the church (including Gentiles) is under the full demands of Christ and His Kingdom, and this same Kingdom is the only way of salvation?

This is an important practical point. Many argue that in mission and outreach we should preach using the Law given to Israel to drive men to Christ (the Lutheran Law-Gospel distinction), or, in the case of sanctification, that we should use the Law to drive men to Christ, and then Christ in turn will drive men back to obeying the Law (a Traditional Reformed position). As we have argued, and as we shall see from Paul’s own preaching, neither of these positions is correct because both fail to consider the progress in revelation and the full implications of the fact that, in Christ, the kingdom has fully come. In the coming of Christ and the full manifestation of the Kingdom, the shadows and types of Israel have been replaced by the greater demands and the promises of the gospel. In the gospel, unbelievers encounter the demands of Christ’s Kingdom (see the Sermon on the Mount) and the full offer of Christ’s mercy at the same time.

This was Paul’s method in preaching to both the Jews and Gentiles in the early church. When addressing Jews, he preached the fulfillment in Christ. On the day of Pentecost, Peter also taught that the paramount Jewish sin was not breaking the Law, but rejecting and crucifying their King, Christ (Acts 2).

In the same way then, when Paul preached to the Gentiles, he did not stress the types and shadows of the Law given to Israel; he moved directly to their great obligations under Christ.

In Acts 17, Paul began his address in Athens by challenging idolatry. He did not refer to the Law given to Israel at Sinai;119 rather, he argued from the creation itself. Paul stressed that the true God is not made with hands, that He is the Creator and Sustainer of life, and that this God

119 As it was given to Israel, not to the Gentiles

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has appointed that all men will stand before the judgment seat of the resurrected man, Christ Jesus. The Athenians need to repent in the light of Jesus’ role as judge.120

Paul uses the same approach in Romans 1. Here he argues that the Gentile sin is idolatry, and then he goes on to argue the true nature of God as Creator and warns the Gentiles that they know the truth and have elements of the Law written upon their hearts. He concludes by warning them that they will all have to give account before the judgment seat of Christ. The two passages follow the same reasoning. The Gentiles are to repent of idolatry before Christ and His Kingdom. In Paul’s understanding, now that Christ has come, the Gentiles are called to repentance by the coming of Christ and His Kingdom. He does not first preach the Law to them and then preach Christ.

Paul’s preaching in Athens and in his letter to the Romans 1-2 above, demonstrate that he understood that the Gentiles have no knowledge of the Old Testament. In cases where the church, both Jew and Gentile, has more knowledge of the Old Testament, Paul never considers either Jew or Gentile under the jurisdiction of the Old Covenant, or under the Law; rather in 1 Corinthians 10 he says the Old Covenant with Moses was an example for their own instruction that they should carefully consider.

For I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, (2) and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, (3) and all ate the same spiritual food, (4) and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. (5) Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. (6) Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. (7) Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (8) We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. (9) We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, (10) nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. (11) Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come (1 Cor. 10:1-11).

In both verses 6 and 11 Paul calls the experiences of the Jews examples. In verse 11 he notes that they were written down for our instruction, that is for the church upon whom the end of the age, a phrase equivalent to new creation, has come.

We see the same principle in John the Baptist’s ministry. John, the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, the herald of the Kingdom, warned the people to repent because the Kingdom is coming. He does not preach the Law to drive them to Christ; rather, he preached repentance because Christ’s Kingdom is coming. Likewise, Jesus also preached, Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand (Matt. 4:17). In the Sermon on the Mount, He explains the true nature of His Kingdom by indicating that the types of the Law are fulfilled. Jesus’ sermon does more than merely explain the Law; Jesus announces that men should repent in the light of the full coming of His Kingdom. In Jesus the Law is fulfilled and brought to its climax.

Jesus also asserts His own full authority by saying, I say unto you. Jesus is the King, and these are the principles of His Kingdom, as He received it from His Father. The Kingdom’s Law is summarized as be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

120 See the similar line of argument in Acts 14:14-17 that in the past God looked over Gentile idolatry but now, in the light of the coming of the Kingdom, He demands that they repent.

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In preaching about the Kingdom, Jesus calls men to greater repentance and faith than required under the Law given to Israel.

Lesson Fifteen Questions

1. As the resurrected Christ, did Jesus come to destroy or fulfill the Moses’ Law. 2. Explain the problem with Paul’s statements concerning the Law in section 1.3. Explain the idea of different jurisdiction using the Moses’ Law and the Law of Christ.4. How does the content of the Law of Israel differ from the content to the Law of Christ? 5. Explain how Paul uses jurisdictions in 1 Corinthians 9:19-21.6. What is the relationship between the Spirit and the Law? 7. What do we mean when we say the Law is fulfilled in love? 8. Illustrate how Paul exercises freedom and love in his letters.9. Explain, citing texts, how we are to grow in love. 10. How did Paul preach the Law to the Greeks in Athens?

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Lesson Sixteen: The Ongoing Struggle

The victory that Christ earned and that believer’s share in is one that those in union with Christ already possess, and yet a victory for which believers must strive in order for it to come to fruition. We have been raised in Christ, by the power of God, and are already seated with Him in the heavenly places, so certain is out redemption. Consequently, Paul calls believers to consider and offer their members to God (Eph. 2:10; 5:2; Col. 3:1ff; Rom. 6:11,12). Even though salvation is God’s alone, Paul calls the church to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, (13) for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12b,13).

Paul develops this working out of our salvation as an ongoing warfare and an offering of our bodies as spiritual sacrifices to God. He roots this struggle in Christ’s already accomplished victory and His own sacrifice.

Because Christ is already victorious, in Him, the believer is also victorious. It is from this perspective that the believer is called to continue to fight so that the full victory of Christ and His Kingdom is made manifest. Believers are to rest in the assurance that Christ has conquered, and that the victory is already secured. They are to strive to enter into those blessings. They are called to war against the ongoing manifestations of the old creation, the flesh, and the temptations of the devil. In all things, they are called to persevere and to seek to reach perfection and maturity.

We shall consider the continuing nature of this warfare under the headings of 1) The Indicative and the Imperative, 2) Sin, the Flesh, and Satan, and 3) Paul’s Call for Perfection and Maturity. We will conclude with a section on the life of faith.

1. The Indicative and the Imperative

Paul develops the believer’s call to action by basing it on God’s initial action. The account of God’s work and our obligatory response to that work are often called the indicative and the imperative. The indicative tells us what God has done. The imperative follows the indicative as specific commands for the believer to act. Paul uses this technique in certain texts: Ephesians 2, Colossians 3, and Romans 6. He also uses this method to frame entire books. The whole of Romans 1-11 relates what God has done (the indicative). Subsequently, in Romans 12, Paul demands that the church apply these things to their lives. He begins this new section with I appeal to you therefore (v.1), urging his readers to no longer be conformed to the fallen world’s patterns, but to be transformed to God’s perfect will. This is the imperative, the command.

It is difficult to describe the exact nature of the relationship between what God has done and what we are called to do. In Philippians 2 (above), we are called to work out our salvation because God works in us. Exactly how Paul keeps these two together, God’s work and our response, is not fully explained.121

121 Ridderbos makes the following helpful notes concerning the relationship of the indicative and the imperative. 1) The indicative is to encourage obedience to the imperative. Because we are joined to Christ, we are to live

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The concept of the continuing demand for a believer to live a holy life can be understood as growing out of his union with the resurrected Christ. In union with Christ, the believer partakes of the resurrection, and though already raised, he must work out Christ’s ongoing resurrection life in his own life.

This is done by faith. By faith, the believer is to grasp his union with Christ, that Christ has died once to sin, and that a complete and decisive break has been made. By faith the believer is also to bring his resurrection life to maturity, fullness, and perfection in his daily walk. Faith brings the union to completion.

The indicative and the imperative approach works only if union and resurrection life are placed at the center of a believer’s faith. Paul stresses resurrection and union in Romans 6 and Colossians 3, key texts in understanding the relationship between the indicative and the imperative.

In Romans 6:2-11, Paul teaches that a believer is already sharing in Christ’s death and resurrection and is alive to God. Paul continues by contending that since believers are dead to sin they must press on in obedience. Believers died (v. 2), were crucified, were set free from sin in a once for all event, so we now are alive to God. Therefore, we must live holy lives; Paul writes that a believer must Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. (13) 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. Because those in Christ are united to Christ’s death and resurrection now, they are to live accordingly in holiness.

In Colossians 3:1 Paul argues the same way: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Those who have been raised must seek the things above. Paul says if. It is conditional. A true believer will be raised with Christ and be seeking His blessing. If one has not been raised with Christ, then one is not united to God by faith, and so does not share in His blessings. He will not seek to live a holy life. In this formulation, no aspect of the new life is independent of Christ. All depends on Him and His work through union and the Spirit. It is not that He has started a work, and now the believer is to finish it. All of one’s ability is based on Christ’s completed redemptive work and the ongoing work of God in him.

2. Sin, the Flesh, and Satan

In union with Christ, the believer is already delivered from the power of the old creation, even though he still lives in it and is waiting for the full manifestation of Christ and the new

righteous holy lives. (Rom. 6:11-13; Col. 3:1-4). 2) Although the imperative is rooted in the indicative, the imperative is the condition of the indicative. If there is no action by the believer (the imperative), he disobeys the indicative. 3) The imperative is grounded upon the reality that has been explained in the indicative, appeals to it, and is intended to bring it to full development. 4) The imperative brings the applicability of the indicative to focus. It must be worked out to its full development. 5) Both the indicative and the imperative are the products of faith. We receive and rest upon the indicative with appropriate response. The imperative specifies the content of active faith. 6) The indicative is perfection, a completed action, and at the same time it has a provisional character (Ridderbos, Paul 288).

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creation (Col. 3:1-5). In the tension of this period there is still a continuing struggle as the elements of the old creation, the flesh and the devil, continue to affect believers. Paul uses warfare metaphors to describe the ongoing struggle in this life.

The invasion and overthrow of the old creation under the authority of Satan (Eph. 2:1ff; Lesson Five) by Christ and His Kingdom lead to warfare. Paul says, He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col. 1:13). The battle is more than one’s personal or moral battle; it is a war between kingdoms, with Christ’s Eschatological Kingdom invading Satan’s stronghold and pulling it down. Paul is clear that behind our spiritual battles is the person of Satan.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain (1 Thess. 3:5).

…so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Cor. 7:5)

…so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs (2 Cor. 2:11).

Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil (1 Tim. 3:7).122

In describing the believer’s obligation in battle, Paul begins his discussion with the reality of Christ’s complete victory. The great battle is over; the victory is complete. Christ has overcome. He has defeated Satan and his kingdom, and on the cross He removed the debt of sin. Christ triumphed over His enemies, and now He leads them as captives in a triumphal procession, …nailing[sin] to the cross. (15) He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him (Col. 2:14b,15). His victory is the basis of believers’ hope and confidence of success in defeating the spiritual forces arrayed against them. Christ is now leading His church in a triumphal procession. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere (2 Cor. 2:14). Believers are to fight the fight of faith in the sure knowledge that [t]he God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet (Rom. 16:20a). As she shares in Christ’s victory, the church is already victorious. The church can rest assured that there is no temptation that is not common to man, and no temptation to which the church must succumb.

Paul also stresses the reality of the struggle. In 1 Corinthians10, he reminds the church of Israel’s struggle in the wilderness as an example of her ongoing need to strive to enter the heavenly realm. We struggle as we await Christ’s return. Victory is through vigilance and soberness. The church is to be ready and watchful, never self-sufficient or boasting.

Paul’s military metaphors include:

1) The victory of Christ. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory” (57) But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54,57).

2) Being led by Christ in triumphal procession. But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession (2 Cor. 2:14a).

122 Satan is not expressly mentioned 1 Corinthians 10:13, Galatians 6:4, and 1Timothy 6:9.

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3) Military service, including overthrowing strongholds. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense (1 Cor. 9:7a)? For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh (4) For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. (2 Cor. 10:3,4).

4) Being under the leadership of Christ as general or commander. Share in the suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 2:3).

5) Being armed for service (2 Cor. 6:7).

The gospel demolishes strongholds and entrenchments, taking prisoners of war for Christ (2 Cor. 10:3). In Romans 6:13, Paul speaks of not giving one’s members as weapons of unrighteousness; rather, they should be weapons of righteousness, and we are to use armor of light (Rom. 13:12). Believers are called to warfare, to conquer, and to secure their victory, in the light of Christ’s victory over sin and His enemies.

The clearest warfare metaphors are in Paul’s exhortations to put on the armor of God in 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 and Ephesians 6:12-18.

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation (1 Thess. 5: 8).

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (14) Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (15) and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. (16) In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; (17) and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, (18) praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:11-18).

As the armor shows, the key aspects of the battle concern truth, falsehood, faith, and unbelief.

The relationship between the flesh and the Spirit and their influence upon believers is complex.123 In Galatians Paul says, For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Gal. 5:17).

Paul contrasts the two controlling influences, the two modes of existence, flesh and Spirit. Even though we are in the Spirit, the flesh still exerts influence. As both creations coexist, the flesh and the Spirit still contend against one another. To some degree, the power of the flesh still exerts itself, so believers do not always do the things they would or should.

In Romans 8:9, Paul develops a stronger contrast, stating that one is either in the flesh or in the Spirit. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him (Rom. 8:9). This

123 See Lesson Fourteen which develops the difficult reality of the new man.

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does not contradict Galatians 4. Here, Paul is reminding them of their position in the Spirit so that they are able to deny the flesh and are no longer subject to it.

In both cases the implication is that the power of the flesh to dominate man is overcome by the power of the Spirit.124 Although some of sin’s power remains, a believer cannot be brought under its control. It no longer holds him captive.

An extreme example of the power of sin is seen in 1 Corinthians 5. In a terrible case of immorality, the man has allowed himself to be captivated by sin. Paul tells the church to excommunicate him, to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. (1 Cor. 5:5). In this judgment the man’s flesh will be given to judgment but as his spirit is joined to Jesus. This means that despite his temporary lapse into sin, He is still the Lord’s. He is still joined to the Lord’s victory and so his soul will be preserved for the last day.

These and other verses indicate that the Christian life is one of conflict. In this tension, believers must actively put themselves under the Spirit’s control if they are to achieve victory. Their liberty is a call to battle and freedom in serving Christ.

Paul also calls the church to fulfill its priestly service,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rom. 12:1).

Paul teaches that Christ gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2), that He is being poured out as a drink offering (Phil. 2:17; 2 Tim. 4:6), and that the gifts the Philippian church made to Paul are sacrificial offerings (Phil. 4:18).

Paul sees his ministry as a priestly function having been called to bring the Gentiles as a sacrifice to God. He writes to the Roman church about “…the grace given me by God (16) to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:15b,16). As a priest, his work and service are to bring the Gentiles to obedience, so they in turn can be priests to God.

3. Paul’s Call to “Perfection” and “Maturity”

Paul exhorts the church to press on toward perfection, blamelessness, and maturity. As seen above, his main focus is not on moral perfection; rather, Paul’s desire is for the church to grow to adulthood, maturity, and into a full understanding, working out the full implications of the salvation given in Christ. Paul develops this concept in Ephesians 4, where he contrasts being a child with being fully-grown.

…to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (13) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, (14) so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. (15) Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

124 Contrast man’s situation in Romans 7:14ff which paints the picture of sin and the Law without the world of the Spirit, as a man being held captive and in bondage.

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(16) from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love (Eph. 4:12-16).

In Ephesians 4:13, the contrast is between children and mature adults. A mature person is one who has grown up into Christ in every way. Paul builds the same contrast in 1 Corinthians 2:6ff, 3:1, and 1 Corinthians 14:20:

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. (2) I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready (1 Cor. 3:1,2).

Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature (1 Cor.14:20).

Perfect also has an ethical connotation. Love is the bond of perfection, the sphere in which the church comes to perfection (Col. 3:14; 1 Cor. 13:8-13).

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony (Col. 3:14).

In the context of Philippians, Paul uses the word perfect to point to the purpose of salvation, the full redemption, and glorification in Jesus Christ.

…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, (11) that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own (Phil. 3:10-12).

Ridderbos writes of perfection: “He is perfect who inwardly and in the manifestation of the life has appropriated the content of the Christian faith in the right way.” 125 Passages such as Philippians above indicate that believers are incapable of moral purity on this side of heaven; nevertheless Paul exhorts the church to adulthood in this life and encourages her members to grasp the fullness of Christ’s salvation. The church is to work this out by faith in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). They are to grow into the temple and bear fruit in every good work (Eph. 2:21; 4:15; Col. 2:19). They are to abound more and more in thanksgiving (2 Cor. 4:15), joy (2 Cor. 8:2), and the labor of love (2 Cor. 8:7), in the sum of every good work (2 Cor. 9:8).

4. Paul’s Own Struggles

The principles outlined above are evident in Paul’s life, in which we see a radical break with sin at his conversion when he meets the risen Christ on the Damascus road, and begins to tell others about Christ’s resurrection life. Paul was changed from being an enemy of the Gospel to a follower of Christ. He is raised in Christ, granted the Spirit, and is a new Man. Nevertheless, Paul never reaches or claims moral perfection. The flesh continues to buffet him. Many of the verses quoted above about the struggle with Satan, are drawn from Paul’s personal experience (2 Cor. 10:4ff). He continues to be tormented by a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan. Paul confesses to needing the ongoing troubles to keep him from pride:

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.(8) Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. (9) But he said to me, “My grace is

125 RIdderbos, Paul 271

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sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (10)For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:7–10).

In Acts 23:1-5 of Paul’s sinful verbal outburst in reaction to being struck by the order of the high priest.

And looking intently at the council, Paul said, “Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.” (2) And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. (3) Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?” (4) Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” (5) And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’

Paul continues to sin and understands himself to be a sinner. He has not yet reached absolute perfection. Paul summarizes his attitude towards sin and living for Christ in Philippians 3:12-14.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (13) Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, (14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Lesson Sixteen Questions:

1. Since we are raised with Christ, does that mean we are already perfect in our conduct? 2. Where is a believer to start when he considers the need to struggle in his obedience? 3. What are the indicative and the imperative? Illustrate each from a passage in Paul. 4. Who stands behind temptations? Cite textual support.5. Explain the conflict between the flesh and Spirit in Galatians 5:17 and Romans 8:9. 6. Explain the temple serving and military metaphors Paul uses in the ongoing struggle. 7. Explain Paul’s concept of perfection and maturity. 8. Is Paul perfect? Cite a text to support your conclusion. 9. Indicate the radical shift that occurred in Paul’s life when he was converted. 10. Show the ongoing struggle and sin from the thorn in the flesh.

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Garland, David G. 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003. Print.Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament

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Wrede, William, Paul, Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2001. Print.

Wright, N.T. The Climax of the Covenant. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. Print.

--- The Resurrection of the Son of God. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2003. Print. Christian Origins and the Question of God.

--- What Saint Paul Really Said. Cincinnati: Forward Movement Publications, 1997. Print.

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INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL

Lesson Nine Answers: 1. In the single event of the cross, God brings about a number of separate blessings necessary

for our salvation. The cross accomplishes justification, reconciliation, propitiation, and ransom.

2. True 3. The main theme in Romans the revelation of the righteousness of God. It is repeated seven

times in Romans, and one more time in 2 Corinthians 5:20.4. Justification occurs in a courtroom situation with a judge, the accused, a verdict (only deals

with the issue is someone guilty or righteous), and a sentence (in which the judges applies the consequence of innocence – life, or quilt-death).

5. The three understandings of the revelation of the righteousness of God are: 1) it refers to God’s attribute of righteousness, 2) it refers to a status given by God so we may stand before Him in the judgment, or 3) it shows His faithfulness to the covenant promise of sending a savior.

6. On the cross, God judged the sin of His people. He paid for the sins that were passed over in the Old Covenant, and on the cross the wrath of God, upon the sins of His people, in the final judgment, is laid on Christ.

7. A believer does not have his own righteousness. Because we are sinners, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us from Christ’s work. Imputation works together with union.

8. Christ’s is raised due to His righteousness; it is proof of His acceptance and our acceptance in Him. As He is raised, and we are in Him, so we must be raised.

9. On the cross, God formally and publically deals with sin. He does not pass over it. In these actions we see He is just and the justifier of sin.

10. We are saved by grace and faith. Faith unites us to God, and by faith the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. In union, we are also called and prepared for good works. Through union we will have good works to show on the Day of Judgment.

Lesson Ten Answers:

1. Reconciliation is the bringing of two parties, who are at war, into a new relationship of peace.

2. God is the author or reconciliation.3. God moves toward man, and man moves toward God. Both of these happen in Christ, the

Mediator and God-man. 4. They are one event. Reconciliation flows from justification, and justification flows from

God’s desire to reconcile sinners to Himself. 5. Reconciliation and peace are not first our subjective experiences; they are God’s legal,

external, and formal declaration that our relationship is restored, and God’s promise to work all things together for our good.

6. True

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7. Negatively, Christ defeated and destroyed the hostile powers. Positively, in and through the cross, He reconciles sinners to Himself so expanding His Kingdom. In paying for sin, He has made open the way for the new creation.

8. Peace flows from the Hebrew word Shalom, God’s promise that He will work all things working together for good.

9. False, peace is a status. The inward feeling of peace flows from the legal objective status of peace. We can have inward peace by faith as we understand our new status. It also is a fruit of the Spirit.

10. Paul begins his epistles with grace and peace to remind the church of their privileged status before God. In Christ, the church already possesses them.

Lesson Eleven Answers:

1. Christ’s death as a sacrifice is seen in Ephesians 5:2 and 1 Corinthians 5:7. 2. Propitiation is an act that turns away and covers God’s wrath (Romans 3:25 and 1 Cor. 5:7- 1

Cor. 11:25).3. Propitiation turns away God’s wrath. This is seen in Romans 1-3. 4. Expiation is the putting away or the separating us from our sin. Propitiation is God’s act

whereby He covers our sin. 5. Redemption is the whole process of salvation and the specific process of paying for sin.6. 1) The paying of a price by a payment and 2) so releasing the prisoner into a new state of

freedom.7. Jesus comes under the Law and becomes a curse in order to buy men from their position

under the law and so release them into a new position of Sonship. 8. Christ’s death and resurrection breaks the power of sin, and believer dies with Him and is

raised with Him into a new resurrection life. 9. Christ ransoms believers from Satan that by providing righteousness to believers He removes

the ground for Satan’s accusations. Those accusations used to have power, but now their force is broken.

10. In union with Christ’s resurrection we are transferred from the old creation and placed in the new creation.

Lesson Twelve Answers:

1. God’s great aim is that through His Son He will bring many sons to glory. To be a Son of God is the greatest blessing God gives His people.

2. In union, we already possess the blessings of sonship. We are already sons with Christ, and God is already our Father. We cannot become more of son than we already are. At the same time, we have not yet been given our full inheritance as sons.

3. As sons, we are already forgiven and justified and do not need more justification, but we can and do sin against God the Father, thus damaging our relationship with Him.

4. There are no options under the Law because the soul that sins must die, but because sin is already paid for in Christ, in grace, God now longer punishes us; rather, He chastens us and in that process, He can choose the best way to deal with our sins.

5. As sons, we are given the Spirit as the first fruits of our inheritance.

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6. The Spirit teaches us to pray, sustains us in our walk, and He seals us. 7. Romans 4:13, 8:17ff, Ephesians 1:11-14, and Galatians 4-4-7 show the nature of our

inheritance.8. The believer shares in Christ’s inheritance, which includes Sonship, the Spirit, and the whole

of the new creation. 9. The great aim and example for the son of God is Jesus Christ, the Son, so that we might be

conformed into the image of His Son. 10. Christ is the given the position of the first-fruits, and we are being conformed into His image.

Lesson Thirteen Answers:

1. It is only in union with Christ that the blessings of God flow to us. 2. There are no aspects of Paul’s theology which union doesn’t cover. Union links all of Christ’s

work.3. Four phrases that Paul uses to express union are: For Us, With Him, In Him, and Messiah.4. Union with Christ’s historic, life, death, and resurrection means union with His human nature

and the works He did in the flesh and spirit objectively. 5. We receive union with Christ’s human nature in the new creation. His life and death are a

mediatorial sacrifice under the New Covenant.6. The traditional way of thinking about the Ordo Salutis focuses on the decree, rather than

upon union with Christ. It stresses logical sequence, rather than all the events happening at the same time. It separates and isolates the various aspects of Christ’s work, rather than keeping them together.

7. The center of Paul’s Ordo Salutis is the election of Christ and our union with Him (Eph. 1:4ff).

8. No, Paul doesn’t have an independent personal doctrine of regeneration. Regeneration is understood as recreation. Paul stresses the sovereignty of God through the Father and effectual calling.

9. Christ, through His resurrection, became the life-giving Spirit. This was manifest at Pentecost.

10. Paul indicates union occurs at three different times: 1) in election, 2) in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and 3) by faith, when we believe.

Lesson Fourteen Answers:

1. New life flows from union with Christ’s resurrection. 2. The three parts of new resurrection life are: 1) joint resurrection life with Christ, 2) the work

of the Spirit, and 3) the new man. 3. In union we are joined to Christ. We share His resurrection, we are raised to new spiritual life,

and we will share in the final resurrection. 4. Passages which speak to our union include: Romans 6, Colossians 2, Ephesians 1 and 2.5. In union with Christ, God recreates believers for the works He has prepared for them (Eph.

2:10). 6. Christ is raised with a new resurrection body, as Messiah, and as a reward for His

righteousness, He is given the Spirit without measure. His resurrected humanity is now the source of spiritual life.

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7. Moses’ covenant was over the letter, external, written in stone, while the Spirit is internal, powerful, written by the Spirit.

8. Moses veiled his face because he did not want Israel to gaze upon his face and not look forward to the greater glory that would be revealed in Christ. Paul magnified his ministry as it pointed more directly to Christ.

9. The inner man is the heart, the conscience, the pre-functioning being. The outer man is the body, the members. The inner man is renewed; the outer man is not yet renewed. The inner man and the outer man are now the two aspects, or facets, of the new man. There are two dispositions in the new man.

10. The answer is both, because it is a single event; it happen once in union, and it is ongoing because union with Christ’s life is ongoing.

Lesson Fifteen Answers:

1. Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the prophets.2. Paul seems to quote the Law while at the same time he indicates that the Christian is free

from the Law’s demands. 3. The Law is the Law of Moses, to Moses administration. It was a type looking forward to the

full expression of the Law of Christ in His Kingdom.4. The content of the Law of Moses and Christ’s Law are very similar in both administrations,

but the Law is intensified in Christ’s Kingdom. 5. Paul speaks of the jurisdiction of the Jew under jurisdiction of Moses’ Law, the Gentile who

is without Law, and the Christian who is under the Law of Christ. Because he is in Christ, Paul has freedom to operate in either sphere as he follows Christ.

6. The Spirit and Law point in the same direction. The Spirit writes the Law on our hearts, enabling us to understand the fuller nature of the Law in Christ’s Kingdom and to obey it.

7. Love is the eschatological fulfillment of the Law. Jesus illustrates it in His life, death, and resurrection. His Kingdom is fulfilled in love, and love is the fulfillment of the Law in Romans 13.

8. In love, Paul circumcised Timothy so he could be more useful, but when faced with the demands that all must come under the Law and be circumcised He refuses to circumcise Titus because he is free from the Law, in Christ.

9. In Ephesians Paul exhorts believers to grow in love into the full maturity in Christ. 10. Because the Greeks are not under the Law, Paul preached the demands of creation and of

Christ as the judge of all men (see Paul in Acts in 17, Rom 1:18ff, 2:6).

Lesson Sixteen Answers:

1. No, we have had a radical break with sin and have new life, but we are not yet perfect.2. He is already raised with Christ; he is already in a place of victory. 3. The indicative indicates what Christ has done. The imperative is based upon the indicative

and reveals what we are to do. In Romans 6, Paul indicates that we have died with Christ and now we are to live in Him.

4. Satan stands behind temptations. This is found in 1 Thessalonians 3:5, 1 Corinthians 7:5, 2 Corinthians 2:11, and 1 Timothy 3:7.

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5. The relationship between the flesh and the Spirit and their influence upon believers is complex. In Galatians Paul says, For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Gal. 5:17). In Romans 8:9, Paul contrast the two in absolute terms, as two different jurisdictions.

6. Paul contrasts the two controlling influences, the two modes of existence, flesh and Spirit. Even though we are in the Spirit, the flesh still exerts influence. Paul tells us we are to fight as soldiers and we are to continue to minster as priests before the Lord.

7. This is not mainly ethical; rather, Paul wants them to grow in their faith so they understand the full implications of their salvation in Christ.

8. No. He says that he is not yet perfect, but he continues to wait for the upward call of Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:12-14)

9. Paul changed from hating God and His ways, to loving and serving Him. 10. Paul struggled with the thorn in the flesh. He was tempted to be proud and die to the great

revelations he had been given, and the trails of thorn was a constant form of humility.

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EXAM: Lessons Nine through Sixteen

1. What do we mean that the cross is one event that has many facets? Describe the four aspects that the atonement accomplishes. 2. What is the main theme in Romans? How many times is the theme repeated in the book of Romans? 3. Explain the three understanding of the term, the revelation of the righteousness of God in Romans 1:17 and 3:21,22,26. 4. Reconciliation and peace are an objective legal status before God. What does this mean?5. What are the negative and positive ways Christ reconciles all hostile powers on the cross? 6. Explain the concept of the word “Hebrew Shalom? 7. What is propitiation? 8. Explain how Christ’s death delivers us from being under sin’s power.9. How does Christ ransom us from Satan? 10. How does the resurrection change men’s status from the old creation to the new creation?11. In what way is Sonship the capstone of salvation?12. What do we mean when we say that we are already sons but have not yet fully entered into our inheritance?13. What do we mean when we say God has options in the way that He deals with us as sons? 14.When are we united to Christ?15. The new life is flows from union with Christ’s ________________________. 15. How can believers do good works? 16. In 1 Corinthians 15:45 what does the term life-giving Spirit mean?17. Contrast the inner man and the outer man in Paul’s thinking. What example does Paul use that shows the ongoing nature of the new life? 18. Is the renewal of the inner man a single or an ongoing event? 19. Explain the idea of different jurisdiction using the Moses’ Law and the Law of Christ.20. How does the content of the Law of Israel differ from the content to the Law of Christ? 21. Explain the relationship between love and the Law. 22. Since we are raised with Christ, does that mean we are already perfect in our conduct? 23. Where is a believer to start when he considers the need to struggle in his obedience? 24. What are the indicative and the imperative? Illustrate each from a passage in Paul. 25. Explain Paul’s concept of perfection and maturity.

Final Exam Answers

1. In the single event of the cross, God brings about a number of separate blessings necessary for our salvation. The cross accomplishes justification, reconciliation, propitiation, and ransom

2. The main theme in Romans the revelation of the righteousness of God. It occurs seven times in Romans, and one more time in 2 Corinthians 5:20.

3. The three understandings of the revelation of the righteousness of God are: 1) it refers to God’s attribute of righteousness 2) it refers to a status given by God so we may stand before him in the judgment, or 3) it shows that he His faithfulness to the covenant promise in sending a savior.

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4. The three understandings of the revelation of the righteousness of God are: 1) it refers to God’s attribute of righteousness 2) it refers to a status given by God so we may stand before him in the judgment, or 3) it shows that he His faithfulness to the covenant promise in sending a savior.

5. Reconciliation and peace are not first our subjective experiences; they are God’s legal, external, and formal declaration that our relationship is restored, and God’s promise to work all things together for our good.

6. Peace flows from the Hebrew word Shalom, God’s promise that He will work all things working together for Good.

7. Propitiation is an act that turns away and covers God’s wrath (Romans 3:25 and 1 Cor. 5:7- 1 Cor. 11:25).

8. Christ’s death and resurrection breaks the power of sin, and believer dies with Him and is raised with Him into a new resurrection life.

9. Christ ransoms believers from Satan that by providing righteousness to believers He removes the ground for Satan’s accusations. Those accusations used to have power, but now their force is broken.

10. In union with Christ’s resurrection we are transferred from the old creation and placed in the new creation.

11. God’s great aim is that through His Son He will bring many sons to glory. To be a Son of God is the greatest blessing God gives.

12. In union we already possess the blessing of sonship. We are already sons with Him, and God is already our Father. We cannot become more of son than we already are. At the same time we have not yet been given our full inheritance as sons

13. Paul indicates union occurs at three different times: 1) in election, 2) in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and 3) by faith, when we believe.

14. Resurrection Life15. In union with Christ, God recreates believers for the works He has prepared for them (Eph.

2:10).16. Christ’s is raised with a new resurrection body, as Messiah, and as a reward for his

righteousness, he is given the Spirit without measure. His resurrected humanity is now the source of spiritual life.

17. The inner man is the heart, the conscience, the pre-functioning being. The outer man is the body, the members. The inner man is renewed; the outer man is not yet renewed. The inner man and the outer man are now the two aspects, or facets, of the new man. There are two dispositions in the new man.

18. The answer is both, because it is a single event; it happen once in union, and it is ongoing because union with Christ’s life is ongoing.

19. The Law is the Law of Moses, to Moses administration. It is a type looking forward to the full expression of the Law of Christ in His Kingdom.

20. The content of the Law of Moses and Christ’s Law is very similar in both administrations but the Law is intensified in Christ’s kingdom.

21. Love is the eschatological fulfillment of the Law. Jesus illustrates it in His life, death, and resurrection, and His Kingdom is fulfilled in love and Love is the fulfillment of the Law in Romans 13.

22. No, we have had a radical break with sin and have new life, but we are not yet perfect.23. He is already raised with Christ; he is already in a place of victory.

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24. He is already raised with Christ; he is already in a place of victory. 25. This is not mainly ethical; rather, Paul wants them to grow in their faith so they understand

the full implications of their salvation in Christ. No, Paul is not perfect. In Philippians 3:8-12 Paul speaks of the ongoing struggle.

BiographyJulian Zugg was born in England and raised in South Africa. In 1986, he moved back to England. He read Law and qualified as a Barrister (US trial lawyer). He taught Law at Buckingham University for eight years and was involved in two Reformed Churches and a mission work to Eastern Europe.

In 2001, he graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary (MDiv. Jackson) and worked as an assistant/associate minster involved in all areas of pastoral ministry in the Presbyterian Church in America from 2002-2008. In 2008, he was called as the Director of Theology at Belize Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Belize, preparing candidates for pastoral ministry in the Presbyterian Church and other denominations. He is currently the International English Director for Miami International Seminary, where his duties include teaching, writing, developing, and supporting MINTS centers in eleven countries.

He has written the following courses for MINTS, available at http://courses.mints.edu/

Acts, Apologetics, Introduction to the Scripture, the Doctrine of the Church, Covenant Theology, Eschatology, Jonah, Mission, the Synoptic Gospels, Pauline Theology 1, Reformed Worship, 1,2,3 John, The Book of Revelation.

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