Justification Unto Life & Regeneration III

Proof Text #3

"For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he lives, he lives unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 6: 7-11)

By being "dead" (to sin and the law) and being "freed from sin" Paul alludes first and foremost to the effected legal standing of those who have been justified and acquitted, of those who believe in Christ. In the above words of the apostle death to sin ("justification") precedes "shall also live." Life from regeneration follows as a consequence of justification, which justification includes forgiveness, imputation of the righteousness of Christ, and reconciliation and peace between God and the sinner. 

"Freed from sin" means "absolved from sin" the Greek word translated as "freed" (vs 1 & 7) being elsewhere translated as "justified." So, the text means "he who is justified from sin." Further, the text indicates that being "alive to God" is the result of having been justified. It is not a freedom from the ruling principle of sin within the sinner (which comes in regeneration and sanctification) but from the guilt and condemnation. A man must first be declared not guilty (acquittal or justification) by the judge before he is set at liberty. In this action there is first a legal declaration of freedom ("set him free"), of being not guilty, before there is a subjective freedom (the release from bondage and imprisonment). The criminal is first objectively freed by his being declared not guilty but not actually freed till he is released from prison. It is the same with the saving experience of the believer in Jesus. He is first declared righteous, or justified and acquitted, and then the effects of that judicial act are actual experience of that freedom.

In a previous posting (not part of this short series) I cited from Haldane on what is meant by being "dead to sin" (and "dead to the law" also). See my post "Justification By Faith Precedes Rebirth" (here). I will include some of those citations here under this proof text.

"We that are dead to sin. — The meaning of this expression is very generally misunderstood, and extended to include death to the power of sin, to which it has not the smallest reference. It exclusively indicates the justification of believers, and their freedom from the guilt of sin, having no allusion to their sanctification (or regeneration - SG), which, however, as the Apostle immediately proceeds to prove, necessarily follows. It was indispensable, in the view of obviating the objection proposed, distinctly to characterize both the persons, and their state of justification, to whom the answer he was about to give applied."

And:

"Their justification he expresses by the term dead to sin, which, though only a part of justification, implies all that it includes. No other designation could have been so well adapted to introduce the development of their state, and its inseparable consequences, as contained in the following verses. This term, then, is most appropriately employed."

And:

"Formerly, the persons spoken of were dead in sin, but now they were dead to it, as it is said in the 7th verse, they are justified from it. In the seventh chapter, it is affirmed that believers are dead to the law. They are therefore dead to sin, for the strength of sin is the law; and consequently sin has lost its power to condemn them, their connection with it, in respect to its guilt, being for ever broken. In the 10th verse, it is said that Christ died unto sin, and liveth to God; and in the same way believers have died to sin, and are alive to God, (i.e. justification before regeneration - SG) to serve Him in newness of life."

And:

"It has indeed been argued, that if the expression dead to sin does not comprehend death to the power of sin, it does not contain an answer to the objection urged in the preceding verse. Even, however, though the power of sin were included, it could not be considered as an answer by which the objection was removed, but simply a denial of its validity. But it is not intended as an answer, though it clearly infers that union with Jesus Christ which is immediately after exhibited as the complete answer. Without this union we cannot be dead to sin; but, being united to Him, believers are not only dead to it, but also, by necessary consequence, risen with Him to walk in newness of life(i.e. regeneration or life resulting from justification - SG). Nothing could be more conclusive than in this manner to show that, so far from the doctrine of justification leading to the evil supposed, on the contrary, it provides full security against it. Paul accordingly presents that very aspect of this doctrine, namely, death to sin, which peculiarly bears on the point and this for the purpose of introducing that union by which it takes place, which is at once the cause both of justification and sanctification. So far, therefore, from these being contrary the one to the other, or of the first being in the smallest degree opposed to the last, they are in separable; and thus the possibility of those who are justified continuing in sin, that grace may abound, is absolutely precluded."

Commenting on the word "freed" (KJV) instead of "justified" Haldane wrote:

"The original word, which is here translated freed, different from that rendered free in verses 18, 20, 22, is literally justified. It occurs fifteen times in this Epistle, and twenty-five times in other parts of the New Testament; and, except in this verse, and one other where it is translated righteous, is uniformly rendered by the word justified. In this verse, as in all the other passages its proper rendering ought to be retained, instead of being exchanged for the term ‘freed,’ which has evidently been selected to convey a different sense. To retain its proper translation in this place is absolutely necessary, in order clearly to perceive the great and cheering truth here announced, as well as to apprehend the full force of the Apostle’s answer to the objection stated in the first verse. As to the phrase, ‘justified from sin,’ we find the Apostle expressing himself in the same manner ( Acts 13:39), ‘By Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.’"

"Justified" ('freed') from sin is in the perfect tense in the Greek which shows that it is a thing that once happens in the past but which has ongoing results. The results of this are many, but include all renovation of our fallen natures.

To be "freed from sin" (latter part of this chapter) in the sense of freed from the power of indwelling sin follows being freed from the legal power of sin. In justification the believer is delivered from the legal power (objective) of sin, and the condemning law, and from its guilt and curse. One must be freed from sin in a legal or forensic sense, or in justification, before one can be freed in his subjective self from sin. 

One writer at Precept Austin says:

"W E Vine has a lucid explanation of the meaning of the passage he that hath died is justified (freed, NAS) from Sin (Ro 6:7 KJV) writing that Paul is using dikaioo…in the legal sense. There is no legitimate method of terminating sin’s claims except by death. Death both snaps all bonds and annuls all obligations. The statement of this verse covers the whole of the preceding argument and does not apply merely to the figure of bondage as just mentioned. The special reference is to the subject of crucifixion, the death penalty which Christ endured. Our identification with Christ, as the One who endured the penalty for us, removes the legal sentence from us and thereby delivers us from a condition of bondage to sin. There is both the removal of the penalty and the deliverance from the power. A corpse can neither be punished nor can it become subservient to the will of another." (Vine, W. Collected writings of W. E. Vine. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

Haldane continued:

"No objection can be made to the use of the expression ‘justified, since the Apostle is speaking of the state of believers, to which it is strictly applicable. In justification, which is a judicial and irrevocable sentence pronounced by God, there are two parts: the one includes absolution from the guilt of the breach of the law; the other, the possession of that obedience to its precepts which the law demands. These being inseparable, they are both included in the expression justified from sin. If a man be dead with Christ, he possesses, as has been observed, all the blessings which, according to the tenor of the new covenant, are included in, and connected with, the state of justification by grace. Instead, then, of encouraging him to continue in sin, it furnishes absolute security against such a result, and ensures the certainty that he shall walk in newness of life until he attains the possession of eternal glory. The Apostle, therefore, is so far from admitting that, according to the supposed objection which he is combating, gratuitous justification is opposed to sanctification, that, after having shown in the preceding verses that sanctification springs from union with Christ, he here asserts, as he had formerly proved, that on the very same ground the doctrine of justification is established. The one cannot, therefore, be hostile to the interests of the other."

Yes, all is by faith because faith unites us to Christ. It is only when Christ is "received" that one is then "in Christ" and Christ is in him. Following this union there is justification and imputation of the righteousness of Christ and then there is spiritual life and transformation.

Haldane continued:

"So long as the sinner is under the guilt of sin, God can have no friendly intercourse with him; for what communion hath light with darkness? But Christ having canceled His people’s guilt, having redeemed them from the curse of the law and invested them with the robe of His righteousness, there is no longer any obstacle to their communion with God, or any barrier to the free ingress of sanctifying grace. As the sin of the first man divested of holiness every one of his descendants, causing each individual to enter the world dead in trespasses and sins, in like manner the obedience of the second Adam imparts holiness to all His members, so that they can no longer remain under the thralldom of sin."

Clearly Haldane was correct, as are many other Calvinists (sadly not all), in affirming that union with Christ brings all Christ's benefits to the receiver, and first is justification, which is the ground for communion benefits (such as regeneration). He also sees sanctification as resulting from justification, yea, even being the thing that guarantees it. Regeneration involves sanctification.

Haldane continued:

"As the branch, when united to the living vine, necessarily partakes of its life and fatness, so the sinner, when united to Christ, must receive an abundant supply of sanctifying grace out of His immeasurable fullness. The moment, therefore, that he is by faith brought into union with the second Adam — the grand truth on which the Apostle had been insisting in the preceding part of this chapter, by means of which believers are dead to sin — in that moment the source of sanctification is opened up, and streams of purifying grace flow into his soul. He is delivered from the law whereby sin had dominion over him. He is one with Him who is the fountain of holiness."

Both justification and sanctification (which includes regeneration and conversion) follow faith union, and justification is the ground of sanctification.

Haldane continued:

"He had taught, in the foregoing part of the Epistle, that Jesus Christ is made to His people righteousness: he here teaches that He is also made to them sanctification."

And, note the order of the apostle in the Roman epistle. Justification and imputed righteousness preceded sanctification because the former is grounds for the latter.

Haldane continued:

"In that — or with respect to that — He died, Be died unto sin. — Here we have the same declaration concerning our Lord and Savior as in the 2nd verse concerning believers, of whom the Apostle says that they are dead to sin. Whatever, then, the expression signifies in the one case, it must also be understood to signify in the other. But those who attach a wrong interpretation to the phrase in the first occurrence, are necessitated to attribute to it a different one in the second. Accordingly Calvin remarks on this 10th verse, — ’The very form of expression, as applied to Christ, shows that He did not, like us, die to sin for the purpose of ceasing to commit it.’ Here are two misinterpretations, — first, of the 2nd verse, and next, as a natural consequence, of this 10th. A similar difference of interpretation will be found in the other commentators. Having mistaken the meaning of the one, they are compelled to vary it in the other. In the first, they introduce the idea of death to the power of sin, but in the last this is impossible. Our Lord never felt the power of sin, and therefore could not die to it. But He died to the guilt of sin — to the guilt of His people’s sins, which He had taken upon Him; and they, dying with Him, as is above declared, die to sin precisely in the same sense in which He died to it. This declaration, then, that Christ died to sin, explains in the clearest manner the meaning of the expression ‘dead to sin,’ verse 2, proving that it signifies exclusively dying to the guilt of sin; for in no other sense could our Lord Jesus Christ die to sin."

This reasoning is irrefutable. Christ, in dying to sin, died to the guilt of sin (which had been imputed to him) and following that justification there was spiritual life and holiness.

Haldane continued:

"The effect of the death of believers to sin, the Apostle, after concluding his argument, shows to be, that sin shall not have dominion over them, verse 14, for they are not under the law but under grace. His argument is, that the doctrine of a free justification, which he had asserted in the fifth chapter, according to which believers are dead to, or justified from sin, by their oneness with Christ in His death, brings them into an entirely different state from that in which they formerly were in respect to their relation to God. Having been delivered from its guilt, — dead to it, or justified from it, verse 7, — they are in consequence delivered from its power. But to include the idea of power in the expression, ‘dead to sin,’ verse 2, entirely confuses and misrepresents his meaning."

Notice the priority of justification. It precedes deliverance from the power of sin, which is sanctification.

Haldane continued:

"There was no part of the Exposition in which I felt so much difficulty as in the commencement of this chapter. In consulting a multitude of commentators, I found no satisfactory solution. Most of them explain the expression ‘dead to sin,’ in the 2nd verse, as importing death not only to the guilt, but also, as has been remarked, to the power of sin, — a proof that the assertion of the Apostle is misunderstood. But when it is perceived that the guilt of sin only is included, a clear light is thrown on this highly important part of the Epistle." 

The frustration with commentaries on the point Haldane is discussing has been my own experience on many subjects. 

This dying to sin (justification) is a one time act, a single declaration. Christ died once for all to sin, to the law and to the guilt of his people sins which had been imputed to him. The believer likewise dies once to sin, is justified "once for all," never to be repeated. Christ's coming to life, his resurrection, followed his having died to sin. So too does the believer's spiritual resurrection, his regeneration and rebirth, follow his death to sin, that is, his justification. Also, the life that came to Christ in his resurrection, following his death to sin, was a life that cannot ever be terminated. So too the regeneration life of the believer, following his death to sin, cannot be terminated. We "reckon" ourselves to be "dead to sin" (justification) and "alive unto God," the latter consequent upon the former.

Some might argue that Paul has an eschatological coming to life in view in "we shall (future tense) live with him." But, the present life of the believer, via his regeneration, is not excluded. Here are some comments from Precept Austin web page (here emphasis mine).

"Living in the future tense in the context of Romans 6 most likely refers to the certainty of our life with Christ in the present, a truth which makes holy living possible. It should be noted that a few conservative commentaries hold the future tense to be strictly a reference to our future life (eg, Expositor's Bible Commentary feels this refers solely to our "future bodily resurrection"). 

 

John MacArthur - The assurance that we shall also live with Him obviously applies to the believer’s ultimate and eternal presence with Christ in heaven. But the context, which focuses on holy living, strongly suggests that Paul is here speaking primarily about our living with Him in righteousness in this present life. In Greek, as in English, future tenses often carry the idea of certainty." (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press) 

 

John Murray agrees writing that "Dying with Christ is assumed and the inference is drawn that we shall also live with Him. Two features of this inference are worthy of note. (1) The certitude of faith in this result is indicated in "we believe". It is an article of faith, not of conjecture, that the life of Jesus' resurrection belongs to those who have been united with Christ in his death. (2) The future tense, "we shall live" does not refer exclusively to the future resurrection state but, as found above (cf. Ro 6:5), points to the certainty of participation in the resurrection life of Christ here and now; it is the life of Spiritual, mystical union. No doubt the resurrection of the body is the ultimate fruition of this union. But we may not restrict the thought to that hope. (John Murray - The Epistle to the Romans)

But, in this, again both MacArthur and Murray contradict what they say in the above citations when elsewhere they put regeneration before faith. Regeneration is the creation of spiritual and eternal life. Imparting life follows death to sin and its guilt (justification), and this is true for the present life that is obtained in rebirth and the fullness of life that is to be obtained at the second coming. Haldane disallows the view of Murray and MacArthur, arguing that it is eschatological life that is in view. But, in either case, life follows justification. The pattern is seen in Christ. He died to sin and the law, was justified from the sins of believers which had been imputed to him, and then was resurrected. 

Wrote Dr. A.A. Hodge in Justification Part Two:

"As our union with Adam secures our death, union with Christ secures our resurrection. Adam is a type of him that was to come–that is, Christ, inasmuch as the relation in which Adam stood to the whole race, is analogous to that in which Christ stands to his own people. As Adam was our natural head, the poison of sin flows in all our veins. As Christ is our spiritual Head, eternal life which is in him, descends to all his members. It is not they that live, but Christ that liveth in them (Gal. 2.20). This doctrine of the representative and vital union of Christ and believers pervades the New Testament."

In part three he wrote:

"In scriptural language, condemnation is a sentence of death pronounced upon sin; justification is a sentence of life pronounced upon righteousness." 

As our affirmative text says, it is because we are "dead to sin" in justification that we become "alive to God" in regeneration.