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CO PY R IG H T BY W ILLIAM EVANS
R O M A N S ( Continued)
TLJ AVING completed our .study of the 1 1 first two general divisions: Sin—The Wrath of God—Despair (1:18-3:20) and Justification—The Righteousness of G o d - Hope (3:21-5:21)—we now take up the third general division: Sanctification—The Holiness of God—Assurance (6:1-15:13). III. SANC T IFICA T ION — TH E HO L I NESS O F GOD— ASSURANCE ( 6 :1 -1 5 :1 3 ). Can a man, who has thus been made good, be kept good? We are told in this section that he can. The question—Is salvation by grace a safe doctrine ?—is here answered in the affirmative. In Section I, the apostle has dealt with, the question of Sin, and has proved that all men, without respect of person, circum stance, nationality, or privilege, are sin ners and alike under the wrath of God, and destitute of His righteousness, thereby showing that the first step in saving a man is to cause him to realize that he is destitute of any inherent goodness or righteousness. In Section II, Paul has dealt with the doctrine of Justification, showing that a man is not justified by any human merit or works (c. 4), but by faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ (c. 5; cf. 3:21-25), thus setting forth the fact that, although a man may be destitute of goodness in him self (I.), yet he may be counted and reckoned good in another, that is Jesus Christ.
In the section before us now (6:1-8:39), the question of Sanctification is discussed. Rnt in another way, the proposition may be stated thus: Is the doctrine of free grace a safe doctrine? Can it be safe guarded against license in Christian living? The answer is, Yes; for the righteousness of God, which this epistle emphasizes, is active as well as passive. The justification of the believer is not a mere matter of right reckoning, but also of right living. Justifi cation is not merely an act of God by which He reckons a sinner righteous in His sight and deals with him accordingly ; it is also an impartation of the character of God, who is just and holy, to the sinner who has been justified by the free grace of God through the redemption in Christ Jesus. Justification may be looked upon as a crisis with ^a view to a process—that .pro cess, Sanctification. Justification and sanc tification go together. We cannot have one without the other. The same Christ who justifies a man, sanctifies him too. The man who is reckoned good, is also kept good. The same divine provision .which deals with the guilt of sin in the death of Christ, deals also with the power of sin by giving it its death blow in the resur rection of Christ. Where there is death for sin there is death to sin. The righteous ness of God begins with justification, but ends with sanctification. The doctrine of the free grace of God is an apology for
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