SAVED IN THE POWER OF HIS LIFE
There are three references to life in the verses that we have read. They are “saved in the power of his life” in verse 10, “reign in life” in verse 17, and “justification of life” in verse 18. These are things that the believer is to know. The epistle to the Romans is foundational. How important it is that we have right foundations. Indeed, without being “justified in the power of his blood”, there is no foundation for the believer at all. What a wonderful matter it is when we come to know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and find that we are “justified in the power of his blood”. Think of the efficacy of the blood of the Lord Jesus, which is able to cleanse the vilest sinner. What power there is in the blood of the Lord Jesus, and it is available to all men. His perfect, sinless life was laid down, and unless we lay hold of that for ourselves, as individuals, then there is no foundation. Paul was writing to believers, but he was very concerned that they should have sure foundations. If we are not on right foundations, then as we go on in our lives, something may come in, and it might show that we have not been founded properly. This is a foundation that needs to be there in the heart and soul of every one, that they should know the Lord Jesus as Saviour.
Nothing can “separate us from the love of God”, Rom.8:39. That is fixed and it is eternal. Once you are saved, you are saved, and cannot be lost. It is a slight on the work of Christ to say that it is good enough to save someone for a particular time but not eternally. The work of Christ is wonderful, it is great, and it is fixed. “Much rather therefore, having been now justified”; it has been done, it is accomplished. These are not things we grow into; justification and reconciliation are fixed matters; they are done, they are accomplished. I am no more justified today than I was when I was converted. The oldest believer, someone who has been converted for many years, is no more reconciled today than they were when they first came to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour. That is wonderful. These things are fixed. I may grow in appreciation of what reconciliation means, but I am no more reconciled today than I was when I came to know the Lord Jesus as my Saviour. I trust everyone here knows the Lord Jesus as Saviour. God’s word would come to us because we need to have right foundations. This is the foundation, that we should have our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
We are reminded often about the feelings of God involved in not sparing His Son. What a cost there has been for God in the giving of His Son in death, but what results have been accomplished. It says “we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much rather, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in the power of his life”. We have been saved, and “having been now justified in the power of his blood, we shall be saved by him from wrath”. Wrath is coming on this world which crucified Christ; this world’s judgment stands recorded. While this wonderful dispensation of grace continues, God is not rushing to carry out the judgment passed on a world that has rejected Christ. That judgment will be carried out, but the believer is saved; “in the power of his blood, we shall be saved by him from wrath”. That is wonderful, but the apostle also says, “we shall be saved in the power of his life”. We shall be saved; this is what we speak of as current salvation. Eternal salvation has been secured and that is wonderful, and it is fixed, but in addition to that, “we shall be saved in the power of his life”; not in the power of His blood, but “in the power of his life”. That is the life that the Lord Jesus is living now. He has been in death. There is a testimony to His perfect life in the gospels, and that walk took Him into death. The work that He did in His death provides the basis for our eternal salvation. What gives us present salvation? It is His life, the life that He is living now; “we shall be saved in the power of his life.” Think of what is available to the believer in the Lord Jesus!
Our links with the Lord Jesus now are where He is, and we need the service of the Spirit for us to experience that. How near the Spirit has come; He is indwelling believers. What a wonderful matter that is. The Spirit links the believer with Christ where He is; it is direct, so that we are “saved in the power of His life”. That means that I constantly have to do with the Lord Jesus, and draw from Him as being in touch with Him. What a preservative it is, if we know the reality of that in our souls; “we shall be saved in the power of his life”. So that our contact is with Christ where He is. Think of all that He is to us and all that He has been for us. The woman in Luke 7 was a sinner. She came to know the Lord Jesus as her Saviour. He said to her “Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace”, Luke 7:50. Do you think, as she went back into the city, that she would have continued in her sinful way? No, she had been in touch with the Lord Jesus as Saviour; in principle, she would remain in touch with Him and we need to remain in touch with the Lord Jesus. What safety there is in that. If something goes wrong, it is because we are out of contact with Christ. Being “saved in the power of his life” is life by contact. Nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”, Rom.8:39. We can however lose the conscious enjoyment of that love, and present contact with Christ. Things may come in to spoil.
This was written to the believers in Rome. I suppose Rome at that point was the centre of the universe. Believers were living in Rome where there was a concentrated power of evil, but their contact was with Christ where He is, and it is the same for us today. It is when we get away from the Lord that we get into trouble. We need to stay near to the Lord, and to keep our links with the Lord fresh and current. Old preachers used to tell us to keep short accounts with our Lord Jesus. We have “a patron with the Father” (1 John 2:1); what a service the Lord Jesus conducts towards us, that we might be maintained as those who are “saved in the power of his life”. If I go away into the world, my link, my contact with Christ is what goes first. You see the evidences of it. Persons may go away, stop coming to meetings; they are not so happy to be there. No one ever says that they are leaving the Lord, but it is the contact with the Lord that goes first. We are to be saved and to be maintained; “saved in the power of his life”. What a word that is!
As the chapter goes on, we find that there is that which came in by Adam, and then there is what comes in by Christ. It has been said that the human race has a new Head. What came in by Adam? Sin, illness, bad thoughts, bad conduct, all these things; they came from Adam. Adam in that sense was the first head of the race, but think of what you get from Christ. You have these ‘much rathers’. There is what comes in by one Man; something far greater has come in by the second Man, another Man. Who is that Man? That Man is Christ. So the race has a new Head. What do you get from Christ? The first thing you get is forgiveness of sins, then justification and the gift of the Spirit. It was the Lord’s desire that the Spirit should be given. Everything is now coming from the new Head. Who are you drawing on? Draw on Christ, He is the new Head. Questions might come in; we may say, ‘It is very difficult in the days in which we are living’. No matter how difficult things are, Paul says “much rather”. “For if by the offence of one the many have died, much rather has the grace of God, and the free gift in grace, which is by the one man Jesus Christ, abounded unto the many. And shall not as by one that has sinned be the gift?” Think of what has come in by Christ.
It goes on to the fact that “death reigned by the one, much rather shall those who receive the abundance of grace, and of the free gift of righteousness, reign in life”. The believer is to reign in life; that is a wonderful matter. Our contact is with Christ where He is through the power of the Spirit, and we are reigning in life. What does that mean? It means that we are not overcome by circumstances, we do not get into things that would be better not touched, even, you might say, right things. We have to work, but work is not reigning over me. Families are right in their place, of course they have their place, but that is not what is reigning. I am reigning in life and I am to be in control of my circumstances no matter what they might be. It goes on to say “towards all men for justification of life”. That means I am what I say I am. If I say I am a believer, I am to act as if I am a believer in my life, and my conduct justifies me. The believer’s life is a testimony to what he is.
The Lord is rejected, He has been cast out, but He is coming again. Am I at home in this world or is it a wilderness to me? Romans goes on to say that “we also should walk in newness of life”, Rom.6:4. That is our pathway in the wilderness. Christ is rejected, we cannot be at home in this world, but I am to be reigning in life, and seeking to be walking in life, walking in newness of life. There is justification of life, but most importantly “we shall be saved in the power of his life”.
May we be encouraged for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Aberdeen
6 September 2016
B.W. Lovie