"Therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Romans 5:18
In Adam, we are condemned as violators of the law of God. But in Christ,
our Representative Man, we stand justified before the law because
Christ, our Representative Man, satisfied every demand of the law. In
Him everyone who believes is reckoned to be dead to sin. In the first
man, we were dead in sin, but in the Second Man, we are dead to sin. But
it must be noted that being dead to sin has nothing to do with what we
did or stopped doing, it is entirely dependent on believing in what
Jesus Christ did on the cross, which unites us with Him.
Faith does not only unite us to Christ in a saving sense, it also unites
us to Christ's moral life to the extent that, like Him, we cannot
delight in sin. To be contrary is to bring to question the claim of
union with Christ. No one who is truly united with Christ can delight in
sin because the holy nature of Jesus Christ dwells in all who are
united with Him (but this does not mean that being united with Christ
makes us sinless).
This is the truth that many people who show concern that the true
teaching of grace will lead to abuse. This concern is only true on the
ground that union with Christ did not happen. If anyone be in Christ,
nature change took place, therefore, old things have passed away,
behold, all things have become new. The claim of grace is predicated on
union with Christ, outside of which, the old nature remains in control,
and when the old nature is in control, the Holy Spirit, who is the Agent
of moral change in the believer, is not present.
Toni
