Romans Introduction

In Christ, the righteous God unites Jews and Gentiles into one people of God

Written by Paul in Corinth during his third missionary journey

Romans 1:11 ESV

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—

Paul in Corinth

Timeline of Paul’s journeys

Overview of Romans

(1) The Romans Road

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 5:1 ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(2) The Life of the Believer

An overview of Romans from the perspective of the Believer

The focus of the first section (Romans 1:18-3:20) is on the condemnation in sin of the entire human race.

The apostle writes that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Romans 1:18).

In his presentation of the gospel, Paul began with the bad news that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). This reality of divine anger against all human rebellion reveals why all people desperately need the gospel.

The theme of the second major section (Romans 3:21-5:21) is on justification by faith alone.

This is the divine act in which God declares the one who believes in Jesus Christ to be righteous. To be justified by God is to be declared righteous.

Such a standing before God has nothing to do with our practical life, but everything to do with what Jesus Christ has done on behalf of guilty, hell-bound sinners. On the basis of perfect, sinless life of Christ and His sin-bearing, substitutionary death, those who believe in Jesus Christ alone are given the imputed, perfect righteousness He achieved.

Romans 6-8 is the third major section in the book of Romans.

We now come to the third major section of Romans on sanctification (Romans 6:1-8:39).

These three chapters contain Paul’s greatest discourse on sanctification in all of his thirteen epistles.

In fact, this is the main doctrinal section on sanctification in the whole Bible.

In Romans 12-15, Paul will get into the practical application on living the Christian life, but Romans 6-8 is the theological infrastructure for the Christian life.

We need to understand the doctrine of sanctification and its application for our lives.

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Just as we’ve been introduced to the theology pf Sinclair Ferguson in our series on the Holy Spirit, I now want to introduce you to the theology of Steven Lawson in the area of sanctification: Lawson is a pastor , seminary professor and the founder of One Passion Ministries

Justification is what God has done for me. Sanctification is what God is doing in me and through me.

Justification is righteousness imputed. Sanctification is righteousness imparted. Imputed means that the righteousness achieved by Jesus Christ is credited to my account in heaven. Imparted means that it is having an affect upon who I am and how I live. God is imparting something very real to the inside of me.

Justification happens only one time. You are only justified once before God. Sanctification is an ongoing process.

Justification is an act that involves God alone. Sanctification is an activity that involves both God and man. That is to say, justification is monergistic, which means that there is only one active agent, who is God. Justification was not a joint effort that involves both God and the believer. God alone justifies. Sanctification is synergistic, which means there are two active agents, God and me. Every believer bears enormous responsibility in his daily Christian life. This is a very important theological distinction.

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Instantaneous sanctification - regeneration

Progressive sanctification - transformation

Ultimate sanctification - glorification

We will be going verse by verse through Romans 8 which deals with the the Holy Spirit’s role and our role in progressive sanctification, the work of the Spirit in conforming us to the image of Jesus.

Steve Lawson

Concerning Romans 8, Lawson states, “Many people have called Romans 8 the greatest chapter in the Bible. It has been said that if the Bible is a ring, then the book of Romans is the diamond, and chapter 8 is the apex of the cut on that diamond. The focus of Romans 8 is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer to enable one to live the Christian life. The chapter begins in verse 1 with “no condemnation” and ends in verse 39 with “no separation.” Nothing could be more positive than this. It is an entire chapter about the spiritual victory and eternal security that we have in Jesus Christ. We have the whole of the Christian life in this one chapter. In verses 1, 30, and 33, we have justification. In verses 2-17, we have sanctification. And in verses 18-39, we have glorification. Paul puts his arms around the entirety of our Christian life. As we walk through Romans 8, we see the believer’s union with Christ (verse 1), liberation in Christ (verse 2), the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (verse 9), regeneration (verses 10-11), mortification of sin (verse 13), adoption by God (verse 15), assurance of salvation (verse 16), inheritance with Christ (verse 17), future glory (verse 18), the intercession of the Holy Spirit (verses 26-27), the providence of God (verse 28), foreknowledge (verse 29), predestination (verses 29-30), effectual call (verses 28, 30), and our eternal security (verses 35-39). This is a theological treasure chest. The vaults of heaven are contained in this one chapter. It is so rich, and yet so practical, as the whole chapter is about our daily Christian living. Paul presents the doctrine of sanctification in Romans 6-8, with chapter 8 being the crowning piece. Romans 6 reveals our vital union with Christ. We have been crucified with Christ, buried with Christ, and raised with Christ. Romans 7 reminds us of our ongoing struggle with sin. Then, Romans 8 shows us our ongoing victory in the Holy Spirit.”

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The Meaning of Sanctification

We will begin our investigation of sanctification with a basic definition of this truth. The root word for “sanctification” (hagiasmos) comes from the same root word as “holy” (hagios) and “saint” (hagion). All three of these words come from the Greek word that means ‘to separate.’ The idea is like cutting an object in half so that the result is it is cut in half and there are two separate sides. To be holy means one is being separated, or set apart, from something (sin) unto something (God).

In sanctification, the believer is being set apart from three evil powers. First, we are being set apart from sin, from the ruling, governing power of sin that was dominating our lives before we were converted. Second, we are being set apart from the world, from the evil world system. There is an invisible system in this world that is anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-purity, anti-family, anti-everything that is good and decent. We once were part of this wicked system, but now we have been set apart from its power and pollution. This includes every part of life – the world of entertainment, the world of music, the world of education, the world of government, every dimension within this world. The ruler of this world, the god of this age, is Satan. The devil is presiding over this evil world system under the sovereignty of the will of God. Third, we are being set apart from the influences of the devil himself. We were once held captive by the devil to do his will, but sanctification produces a radical break from these three sinister powers, from the world, the flesh, and the devil. That is the negative aspect of sanctification, what we have been set apart from.

There is also the positive part in which we are being set apart unto something that is glorious and good. We are being set apart unto the image of God, unto the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and unto the purposes of the kingdom of God. So, sanctification involves a negative and a positive separation. These two aspects are the heads and tails of the same coin.

The word sanctification describes this internal activity of God in the believer in setting us apart. God has done more than declare believers to be righteous. Everyone whom God justifies, He immediately sanctifies. It is impossible for any believer to keep living our same sinfully driven lives. At the moment of conversion, God begins to work out our being set apart from the world, the flesh, and the devil unto the likeness of Jesus Christ. We are becoming increasingly more and more like Christ. God is tearing down the old, and He is building up the new.

The Contrasts with Justification

I want to contrast the work of sanctification with that of justification. This needs to be crystal clear in our minds. In order to do so, I am going to parallel the differences between justification and sanctification, showing you the marked differences between the two.

Justification involves our legal standing before God. It has nothing to do with our character, our walk, or how we live our lives. It has everything to do with our status in heaven. On the other hand, sanctification does not involve my standing before God, but with my daily walk with the Lord. It involves my internal spiritual condition – my heart, my mind, my affections, and my will. Sanctification deals with what God is doing in me to make me like His Son, Jesus Christ.

Justification is what God has done for me. Sanctification is what God is doing in me and through me.

Justification is righteousness imputed. Sanctification is righteousness imparted. Imputed means that the righteousness achieved by Jesus Christ is credited to my account in heaven. Imparted means that it is having an affect upon who I am and how I live. God is imparting something very real to the inside of me.

Justification happens only one time. You are only justified once before God. Sanctification is an ongoing process.

Justification is an act that involves God alone. Sanctification is an activity that involves both God and man. That is to say, justification is monergistic, which means that there is only one active agent, who is God. Justification was not a joint effort that involves both God and the believer. God alone justifies. Sanctification is synergistic, which means there are two active agents, God and me. Every believer bears enormous responsibility in his daily Christian life. This is a very important theological distinction.

Justification involves a heavenly courtroom scene. We stand before the judgment bar of God, the Judge of heaven and earth, who declares us to be the righteousness of Jesus Christ. By contrast, sanctification is an earthly scene, where we live in the nitty-gritty of life. Justification is an immediate pronouncement, where sanctification is a lifelong pursuit.

Justification is the same for every believer. No one is more justified than anyone else. We all have the same perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to our account. However, sanctification differs from one man to another. Some believers will grow into Christlikeness more than others. Some will lag behind more than others in their spiritual growth. These are some of the distinct contrasts between justification and sanctification. Some will resist temptation more than others. Some will discipline themselves for the purpose of godliness more. But others merely coast in their spiritual life. Yet with others, the Lord will accelerate their spiritual development.

The Connection with Justification

Still by way of introduction, the second thing I want to point out to you is the close connection between justification and sanctification. These two truths are inseparably connected and are never disconnected. Everyone whom God justifies, He also sanctifies. No one whom God justifies fails to be sanctified. At the moment of justification, God immediately begins the process of sanctification. There is not a time gap between the two. There is not a one-year intermediate period before a believer starts to pursue holiness. Sanctification starts the moment the one who trusts in Jesus Christ is justified.

To use a biblical analogy that Jesus used, when you enter the narrow gate, you immediately begin walking on the narrow path. It is described as a narrow path because it is tightly confined. There are set boundaries and guardrails that keep you on the narrow path. You can never walk through the narrow gate and then walk the broad path. The narrow gate leads down the narrow path. The broad gate always leads down the broad path. Everyone who is justified is immediately sanctified, and their new life in Christ begins.

Threefold Aspect of sanctification

As we begin this new section on sanctification, I want us to see the big picture of this doctrine. In order to do so, I want to clarify the three aspects of sanctification. We must understand these three dimensions, or Romans 6-8 will be a confusing fog to us. In simplest terms, these three aspects of sanctification are past, present, and future. But I want to be more specific than that. We will call them positional sanctification, progressive sanctification, and perfected sanctification.

Positional Sanctification

Another way to describe our past sanctification is to refer to it as our positional or definitive sanctification. This initial aspect begins the lifelong process of sanctification. It is an initial, radical, dramatic break from the power of sin. We continue to sin, but sin is no longer the governing, ruling, dominant power in our lives. Instead, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are now the dominant, driving power in the lives of those who have been justified by faith. At this initial, definitive, positional sanctification, there was an initial cleansing and washing away of the defilement of sin. That is why Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). In regeneration, there is the washing by the Spirit, who wipes the slate clean. The foul pollution of sin that had built up inside of us, God washes away. Paul writes, “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

We will now consider some verses to show that there is an aspect of sanctification that is spoken of in the past tense. This initial aspect occurred the moment we were regenerated by the Spirit. God began the sanctification with this initial burst of energy. To be specific, the past tense in sanctification is in an aorist tense. Romans 6:2 says, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Do you see that “died” is translated in the past tense? AS a believer in Christ, you are now dead to the governing, ruling power of sin. Sin is still alive in you, but it is no longer the dominant driving force in your life. Sin no longer holds you captive to do what it dictates to you to do.

In Romans 6:6, Paul continues, “Knowing this, that our old self was crucified.” Note how the verb tense describes a past reality. In a mysterious way, when you were born again, God transported you back two thousand years and nailed you to the cross with Jesus. When Christ was crucified, you were crucified. When He was put to death for sin, you were put to death to death. How that works is known only to God, but it is a fact. You can read it for yourself in your own Bible.

In Romans 6:11, Paul says, “consider yourselves to be dead to sin.” You have already died to sin. That is, you have died to the ruling power of sin. 1 Corinthians 1:2 says the same, “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus.” Everyone who is in Christ, they have been sanctified. It points back to the moment of their regeneration. There was a dramatic break with the ruling, governing power of sin in your life.

In 1 Corinthians 1:2, Paul writes, “To those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.” This states that every believer is a saint. Everyone who is born again is a saint. If you are a Christian, you are a saint. If you are not a Christian, you are not a saint. The word “saint” has the same root word as being set apart unto holiness. This separation began the millisecond you were birthed into the kingdom of heaven.

According to Romans 6:2, no one can be a Christian for five years, and then become a saint. In that defining moment, God set you apart from the power of the world, your flesh, and the devil. You were crucified with Christ, and are now set apart. There could not have been a more dramatic change in your life. This is why it is hard to understand how someone can be unsure of their salvation. Sanctification is God’s renovation project of your life. It is a major construction project of which you should be aware in your life. It began in dramatic fashion when God blew up your old house of your life. That is the beginning of this sanctification.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul writes, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified.” This points back to the time when God pulled the believers out of the foul pollution of sin and its wretched defilement. Paul asserted that God washed you, sanctified you, and set you apart to a totally different kingdom. It is the kingdom of God that is marked by holiness, righteousness, and purity. There was a break from their former lifestyle of fornication, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, stealing, covetousness, drunkenness, reviling, and swindling. There was a clean break with their past. You went from darkness to light, from death to life. That happened the moment they were regenerated. They were washed, sanctified, and set apart.

That is the positional sanctification. We must make careful distinctions to be good theologians. I can remember R.C. Sproul telling me, “Theologians make careful distinctions.” They slice the truths of the word of God very thinly, carefully, and distinctly. Those who rightly handle the word of God do not muddle everything together. Theologians section out the truth and carefully divide it.

Progressive Sanctification

The second aspect of sanctification is what we call progressive sanctification. This is the ongoing, daily walk with the Lord in which we, as believers, are becoming increasingly more and more holy, practically speaking. We are becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not becoming more and more like the world. We are not becoming more and more like our old sinful flesh. To the contrary, we are becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ. This is progressive sanctification that is always spoken of in the present tense.

In Romans 8:13, Paul writes, “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” In other words, if you are habitually living according to the flesh, your life will end in death. But if you are living according to the Spirit, you are a totally different person. The new you is not living by the flesh, but by the Spirit. This is the ongoing “putting to death” of sin in the believer’s life. You have died to sin, but there is also to be an ongoing putting to death of sin in your life.

Here are some cross-references to reinforce the idea of a present, ongoing sanctification. In Colossians 3:5, Paul states, “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead.” This reads, literally, “put to death the members which are upon the earth.” In other words, we must be putting to death the practice of sin in our lives. What God has already put to death is not the practice of sin, but the ruling power of sin in our lives. That is why Romans 12:2 says, you must be “transformed in the renewing our your mind.” That is, we must be continually being transformed as an ongoing daily process.

In Hebrews 12:14, the author writes that believers must “pursue holiness, without which no man will see the Lord.” This charge is in the present tense, indicating a present reality. True believers will be continually pursuing holiness. In Philippians 3:14, Paul says much the same, “I press on toward the goal,” meaning we have not yet arrived to full Christlikeness, but must keep pressing on. In Colossians 3:10, Paul says, “the new self is being renewed.” In progressive sanctification, we are being renewed day by day into the likeness of Jesus Christ. In 1 Peter 2:2 Peter writes, we must “grow in respect to salvation.” This aspect of salvation refers to our progressive sanctification into Christlikeness.

Perfected Sanctification

Perfected sanctification is synonymous with glorification. It is our being conformed into the image of Christ brought to final completion. There will be one day the eradication of our sinful flesh. All that will remain is the new man we were made in regeneration. We will instantly be made in perfect holiness, as much as a glorified sinner can be made holy. We will never attain to the full measure of the holiness of God that belongs to Him alone. In a lesser sense, we will be holy.

A Matter of Life and Death

What we have discussed to this point has been a necessary groundwork to lay in our understanding of sanctification. I want to point out one additional truth before we begin to consider Romans 6. As I was studying these verses, the words “life” and “death” or “live” and “died” leap off the page. I got out my pen and circled every time I saw the word “death,” “died,” and “live.” It became very obvious that verses 1-11 are all about life and death.

“Death” is mentioned fourteen times in verses 1-11. That is an extraordinary number of occurrences. It is mentioned sometimes multiple times per verse, in verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. “Life” is mentioned seven times in verses 1-11. It is found in verses 2,4,8,10, and 11, also multiple times per verse. It is obvious that this matter of life and death are important. This is the metaphor that Paul uses to communicate what sanctification is all about. Being holy is about spiritual death and life. It is not physical death and life, but spiritual life and death.

From http://www.onepassionministries.org/transcripts/2018/4/2/a-matter-of-life-and-death-romans-61-2