Justification and Sanctification


Romans 6:1-4
1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4We 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.

As Paul’s doctrinal treatise continues he moves away from the topic of our justification before a holy God through the work of Jesus Christ into how that work impacts our lives. Now he will address our sanctification in the grand scheme of God’s plan. In our justification we take no part. That is God’s work alone. But sanctification is a different situation for it does involve us in every way. Here is where we take part in God’s plan.

Paul starts out with an almost amusing concept. If God is shown to be grace-filled because of the darkness of my sin, why should I not just go ahead and sin all the more? That just serves to make Him look good, right? Sounds like a good goal. That is, of course, absurd and Paul goes on to explain why. Since God has connected me to Christ through the faith that He has given me (justification) I am deeply involved in His death and resurrection. Because of my Baptism my sinful self has been buried with Christ and a new creature emerges with His resurrection. My life is new and I need to live like I have been reborn – because I have. There is no longer room for sin in life claimed by God.

And thus begins the conversation that we will follow for the next few chapters. For Christians the walk through this world is fraught with a holy tension. We know that Jesus has given up His life to redeem us from sin but we are also acutely aware of the fact that we still continue to sin. When God looks at me, He sees His sin-free, guilt-free child washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. When I examine myself I see a wretched sinner who is in desperate need of a Savior. Sanctification is the work of bringing those two realities into alignment. It is only through the work of the Holy Spirit that this activity is even possible and the ultimate out-working of this task will not be completed this side of heaven.

It’s a big concept. And I know that I have not done justice to the idea at all. In fact, I’m finding the descriptive work to be fairly challenging. What I know is that the next few chapters will continue to shine light on our understanding of this process, so as in most things, we have not yet arrived.

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