The New Man in Christ: An Overview of Romans 5-8 (Part 1 of 3)

The Need for this Teaching

Romans chapters 5-8 stand together as a major section in Romans and should be considered as the logical flow of thought after chapters 1-4. Paul is giving an overview or exposition of his Gospel for the Church at Rome, a place he had not yet visited. The theme of the epistle is stated clearly in 1.16-17, that in the Gospel of Christ a righteousness from God is revealed that is imputed by faith.

The first major section of the letter, chapters 1-4, contains the exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith. That section begins with Paul’s case for the universal sinfulness or unrighteousness of humanity. In other words, Paul first establishes that there is a need for a different righteousness, one that does not come by the Law. Once this need has been firmly established, Paul then unpacks the doctrine of justification by faith. He begins this discussion by establishing that the justification of unrighteous sinners is only made possible through the Cross of Christ. It is the Cross that makes it possible for God to remain righteous in dealing with sin when justifying sinners. The section ends with Paul’s great example from the Hebrew Scriptures of justification by Faith, which is Abraham.

The beginning of chapter 5 sounds like the beginning of a whole new section. And it is a new section. However, it logically follows the first major section. The logic also has to do with the problem of sin. Does justification by faith deal with the ongoing problem of sin in the life of the believer? Is the believer in Christ still a sinner in bondage to sin, only now he or she is justified? Paul now has to deal with the issue of sanctification. The believer is justified or saved from the PENALTY of sin. Is the believer also going to be saved from the POWER of sin? Or are believers simply justified sinners who continue living in the power of sin? Paul’s answer to this question is that salvation involves both justification and sanctification. While these two concepts are not the same thing, both are a part of salvation in Christ and are provisions of the Gospel message.

Paul’s development of this doctrine in Romans 5-8 contains some of the most profound theological reasoning in all of Scripture. We should not be surprised that Paul must use all of his reasoning powers because the problem of sin and its effects are not simple but are complex and far-reaching, even after the new birth. It is vital that we know what has happened to us when we were saved so our thinking will change and sanctification will become a reasonable process. This is the purpose for Romans 5-8. There was a very real spiritual work that was done when we were saved. This was the work of God and was not something that we could see or feel and we have to receive this by faith. A new man was born in you when you were saved. The Holy Spirit gave birth to this new man. Other ways of speaking about this is being born again, regeneration, and a new creation. This new birth is made possible by justification and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

The process of sanctification is when this new man begins to grow, become strong, and dominate every aspect of your life, displacing the old life that was dominated by sin. This process is not automatic. It requires your involvement and participation so that what happened when you were saved is applied to every area of your life and worked out in practical ways. You can’t participate in something you don’t understand, so this is why Paul is teaching us. Now you may not have been completely aware of what happened when you were saved, and I don’t think it is necessary or even possible to know everything just when you are getting started in the new life. It is unreasonable to expect children to know everything at once. But children must learn and grow and this is also true for the children of God. This happens to be an overlooked truth today.

Salvation is more than just justification or getting your sins forgiven. That has to be done, but it is not the end it is only the means to an end. Salvation has various stages. There is justification, sanctification, and glorification. Justification is being freed from the penalty of sin. Sanctification is being saved from the power of sin. And glorification is being saved from the presence of sin. Glorification cannot happen until you leave this mortal body. But sanctification begins now in this world. In fact, there will be no glorification without both justification and sanctification taking place. Today people tend to want to skip sanctification and go from justification to glorification. But we must think of sanctification as preparation for glorification. There will be no glory for those who are not prepared for it.

This process of sanctification begins when your thinking about yourself changes because you begin to understand what really happened when you were saved. When you understand about this new man you begin to see that living a life dominated by sin and sinful desires is no longer reasonable. You begin to see that this new man must be given the reigns of your life. The new life must be nourished so that is grows and is strong.

Paul wants to prove that justification through faith in Christ more than makes up for our former state in sin. People who are in Christ are not saved by the skin of their teeth, so to speak, but are abounding in grace. The beginning of chapter 5 is a catalog of all the benefits that come through justification, all of which abound in the believer.