Reconciliation by Death, and Salvation by Life

Next Part Reconciliation by Death, and Salvation by Life 2

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Romans 5:10

The grand object of the Epistle to the Romans is to set forth and exalt salvation by grace. In order fully to do this, the Apostle shows, first, its necessity; and secondly, its nature.

1. He shows the NECESSITY of free grace, by drawing, in the first chapter, an appalling sketch of the practices of the Gentile world; by proving, in the second, that the Jew derived no benefit from his outward privileges, if he were a transgressor of the law on which he rested; and in the third, brings in all mankind guilty by the sentence of God's holy law, laying the whole human race under this solemn sentence of condemnation—"By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." And again—"There is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." He thus shows the necessity of salvation by grace; and that if man is, as he proves him to be in this fallen condition, in this desperate state, nothing short of salvation by grace can either suit or save him.

2. But when the Apostle has thus established the necessity of salvation by grace, he goes on to show the NATURE of free grace—that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, that grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life.

In the chapter before us, he draws a striking contrast between the doings of man and the doings of God. He says, in the verses almost immediately preceding our text, that "Scarcely for a righteous man will one die;" taking here a character universally accounted righteous, that is, a man upright, just, and sincere in all his doings. Find, he would say, such an one—can you show me a man that would die for him? Will his justice, uprightness, and sincerity of conduct and character so influence any one individual man as to induce him to lay down his life to redeem him? And he adds, by way of parenthesis, "Peradventure for a good man," that is, not a gracious man in the gospel sense, but a benevolent man, a man of kindness and philanthropy, a man who had gained the affections of men generally by his amiable conduct—for such "a good man," he says, "some would even dare to die." But contrast, he would add, the love of God with these two instances. Those for whom Christ died were neither just nor good. Viewed in a gospel sense, man has no righteousness in him to make him righteous; and viewed in a spiritual light, he has no goodness to constitute him good. What, then, is his character? An enemy, ungodly, without strength—a wretch, and a rebel. And thus he heightens and magnifies the exceeding riches of God's grace, by showing, that whereas upon mere human grounds and natural principles, we could not find any individual who would lay down his life for a just man, and scarcely for a good man, "yet God," he says, "commends his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us."

Having shown the death of Christ for sinners, he passes on, by way of encouraging the children of God, to say, that the love of God in giving his Son did not terminate in Christ's death, but went on to Christ's resurrection, and still goes on saving to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. Therefore, he says, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him," adding the words of the text—"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."

We may observe two prominent features in our text–
First. The reconciliation of enemies.
Secondly. The salvation of friends.

And these two points I shall, as the Lord may enable, endeavor to unfold this evening; looking up to him who can make his strength perfect in weakness, and from whom alone comes the blessing.

I. The reconciliation of enemies. By the reconciliation of enemies, I understand two things. I understand their real reconciliation by the actual death of Christ; and their spiritual and experimental reconciliation by the application of the death of Christ to their consciences.

A. But before we can enter into the beauty and blessedness of reconciliation, we must see in what state the people of God are; for to them the Apostle is speaking. What word does he use to point out their state by nature? "ENEMIES." Enemies to whom? To that great, glorious, and ever-living God, "in whom they live, and move, and have their being;" the God of heaven and earth; who called them into existence, and upon whom they depend for every breath they draw. What a dreadful state must they be in to be "enemies" to such a God! Unless we know who God is; unless we have some spiritual apprehension of his dread Majesty; unless we have some experience of his greatness and power, tremble before him, we cannot duly enter into the meaning of this word "enemies." There could not be a more dreadful word written. The Bible itself scarcely contains a more awful term. "Enemies of God!" who could crush them with a frown into the dust; who by one look could hurl them into hell; who could trample upon them in his righteous wrath, as I might trample upon a helpless worm beneath my feet.

But how are they "enemies?" They are enemies in a threefold sense:
1. They are enemies by birth!
2. They are enemies by nature!
3. They are enemies by practice!

1. They are BORN enemies. As a toad is born a toad, and as a viper is born a viper, so man is born an enemy to God. Like can only beget like. An enemy to God can only beget an enemy to God; and therefore, we are enemies to God by birth. We are conceived in sin and shaped in iniquity; and therefore we come into the world, so far as we stand in the Adam fall, enemies to God.

2. We are enemies, also, by NATURE. "The carnal mind," we read (and what are we but carnal minds, as fallen children of a fallen parent?) "is enmity against God." That is a stronger word still. An enemy may be reconciled, but enmity cannot. Thus, our very nature is intrinsic, abstract, irreconcilable, enmity against God; hating him, hating his ways, hating all that is God and Godlike. And O, what a fearful condition! Not only to be born enemies, but to grow up enemies; to be woven throughout in enmity to God; as full of enmity, as a sponge dipped in water is full of the element in which it is dipped; every nerve, every fiber, every power, principle, faculty and passion at enmity with God, warring against the Most High.

3. But, besides this, there is the enmity of works—enmity by PRACTICE. We are "alienated from the life of God"—"enemies in our mind by wicked works." (Col. 1:21.) We go astray, speaking lies from the womb. All our acts in babyhood, in childhood, in youth and manhood, (though they may not at the time be known as such), are all acts of daring enmity against God; they all show forth the enmity of the human heart against the blessed Jehovah. O, how deeply dyed in enmity must man be when he has this three-fold enmity, and is by birth, nature, and practice utterly alienated from the life of God!

And why does not the anger of God burst forth against such wretches? Why are they not all dealt with like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, whom the earthquake swallowed up? Why are they not all like those slain by the Levites in the wilderness? Because the Lord is a God of grace, of infinite mercy, compassion, and love; because he is determined to have a people in whom he will be eternally glorified; because, in other words, salvation by grace was fore-determined in his eternal mind; and therefore a reconciliation was to be brought about.

B. You observe, it is man who is to be "RECONCILED." I do not object to the expression of God's being "reconciled;" but the Scriptures seem certainly to speak more of reconciliation on the part of man; "Who has reconciled us to himself." So here—"When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God."

Now we could only be "reconciled" to God by this enmity being put away. It is in grace as in nature. Here are two friends who have been long walking together as brothers. A division takes place; enmity breeds in the heart of one or of the other; they are sundered, and perhaps become enemies. They may be reconciled; but only effectually by the enmity being taken out of the heart. All other reconciliation is to patch up the breach; it is hollow and insincere; there is no reality, no depth in it. The enmity must be taken away before there can be any real reconciliation.

So with man and God. Unless the enmity be taken away, there can be no reconciliation. Thus we see the futility and fallacy of a few works of righteousness doing away with our fallen state by nature. They cannot take away the enmity; they are like the blood of bulls and goats—they never can atone for sin; like the ashes of the red heifer—they may sanctify to the purifying of the flesh; but here they fail. Something more was needed, something which God himself provided, and that was the death of his own Son—"When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son." His dear Son coming into our place and stead; taking our nature; bearing our sins in his own body on the tree—obeying the law that we had broken; fulfilling a righteousness which we were altogether deficient in; enduring the curse, and suffering the penalty. In this way, by death, he reconciled the enemies unto God; he obeyed the law which stood in the way; he satisfied God's justice; he removed the transgression, and thus took away the enmity.

But I hinted that the reconciliation was of a two-fold nature. The actual reconciliation took place when Christ died upon the cross—the spiritual reconciliation takes place when this is applied to the conscience.

I think I may thus illustrate it. Here are two friends who are sundered, enmity being in the heart of one or the other. One of them comes to a death-bed; his friend is not reconciled; but on the death-bed his heart is softened; the enmity is removed; he sends by some friends or acquaintance a message of love to his former friend, and dies in happiness, blessing and praising God. The friend at a distance has still, perhaps, enmity working in his heart against the friend whose death he yet knows not. The dying friend is reconciled; the living friend is where he was before. But the message comes; the letter is received; the tidings are brought; and when this is received into the heart, it takes away all former enmity, and immediately a sweet reconciliation takes place. His friend has passed into eternity, but all the enmity is gone; and he feels, as before, love and union reigning in his heart. I have experienced this; and therefore I know it. It is not a fancied illustration, but a fact; the case having occurred to myself—at least, something like it. I merely throw it out, to show you, there may be an actual reconciliation on a certain day, and yet the felt reconciliation may not take place until days or weeks pass over. My friend indeed was reconciled to me, and wrote to express it a few days before he was taken for death, but received my friendly answer on his death-bed, and sent me his dying love. Thus, the actual reconciliation was wrought out by the death of Christ; the felt reconciliation must be wrought out in the soul by the application of the death of Christ to the conscience.

But before we can experience this reconciliation, we must be brought to feel the enmity. Reconciliation is only of enemies; and we must therefore know ourselves to be enemies before we can feel reconciled.

But what a fearful spot it is to be in—to feel and fear oneself an enemy to God! I think it is one of the most painful feelings that ever passed through my bosom, to fear I was an enemy to God. For what must be the consequence if a man lives and dies having God for his enemy? In that warfare he must perish. If God be his enemy, who can be his friend? Such sensations in the bosom are well-near akin to despair. Let a man fully feel that he is God's enemy, where can he hide his head? Hell itself seems to afford him no refuge.

But he must be exercised with something of this before he can prize reconciliation. He must see himself to be an enemy to God by birth—that he was born in what our Reformers called "birth sin;" and that his carnal mind is enmity against God. O the painful sensations of the carnal mind being enmity against God! It is bad enough to be God's enemy; but that every fiber of our nature should be steeped in enmity against God, that holy and blessed Being to whom we owe so much, and to whom we desire to owe everything; that our carnal heart in all its constitution, in its very blood, should be one unmitigated mass of enmity to God, O it is a dreadful thought! If you are made to experience that enmity in your bosom, and to feel more or less of its upheavings and raisings—that will cut to pieces all the sinews of creature righteousness; that will mar all your loveliness, and turn it into corruption.

Thus all our evil works are all marks of enmity to God. Every sin that you commit (and you sin with every breath you draw) is steeping you more deeply in enmity to God, and manifesting more that you are in this condition.

Now, when a man is thus exercised, it will make him look out, if he has any root of spiritual feeling, for a remedy. God has provided such in the sacrifice of his dear Son, in the blood of the blessed Jesus.

Now when this is opened up in our soul by the Spirit of God; when faith is given to receive it; when the Holy Spirit applies it; when it is received into the heart (for the Apostle says, "we have received the atonement") then a felt reconciliation takes place; we are then reconciled to God; love takes the place of enmity, praise of sighing, and blessing his name instead of writing bitter things against ourselves.

Next Part Reconciliation by Death, and Salvation by Life 2

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