Reconciled AND saved by his life are different parts of God's salvation

Read this verse in Romans chapter 5 and take special note of the tenses used to describe reconciliation and salvation by his life.

Rom 5:10 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.

Let's take a deeper look at what it is saying:

--being reconciled

Reconciliation is the first part of our salvation. It is the part that the majority of believers understand and relate to. Reconciliation comes about by being justified through the hearing and believing of the grace gospel. In simple terms, Romans chapters 1 to 4 educate us on God's righteousness, man's unrighteousness and ungodliness, God's wrath upon those who reject Him, and God's grace upon those who believe in His Son. It is through this grace of God, by means of the cross of Christ and His resurrection, that God can be just and the justifier of them that believe in Jesus, Rom 3:26.

This justification was settled 2000-years ago at the cross. God's decree is that those who believe on the cross work of His Son freely receive this justification. This is already done, hence it being past tense. We are given confirmation of this fact in chapter 5, which is the conclusion of chapters 1 to 4. Chapter 5 and verse 1 starts with the word, "Therefore...", which means that we take into account all that was said in chapters 1 to 4, and then we conclude with this:

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (2) By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Can you see how Paul finalizes this section. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God...". Who are the 'we' that are justified and now have peace with God? Romans chapter 4 ends with who they are,

Rom 4:24-25 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; (25) Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Notice the 'if we believe'. It is conditional. The 'we' are those who believe on God who delivered Jesus up for our offenses and raised Him up from the dead. Friends, this is the gospel we believe, and the result of believing this gospel is justification. It is justification that brings us peace with God, and having peace with God means that we are reconciled with Him, no longer under His wrath and judgement. This is the first part of our salvation. However, this is where many believers stop. They think this is the end of the salvation work, but it is not! Yes, we are now eternally saved from hell and are heaven bound, but this is only the beginning of God's great work of salvation. He has saved us from more than just going to hell! After the mention of reconciliation in our scripture, we are led into the understanding that, much more, we who are reconciled will be saved through the life of Christ.

--we shall be

Now notice the change in tense. It is present tense, moving forward in time. In other words, this part of salvation is not yet a done deal. It does not say we are saved by his life, but we shall be. 'Shall be' is not guaranteed. This indicates that the salvation being referenced here is conditional. So, what is this salvation? I thought that we are already justified and going to heaven. Yes! That is true. Relax. Your soul is saved, and heaven bound. Justification is the part that everyone understands and gets right. But the, "shall be saved by His life" is the part that many believers completely overlook or misunderstand. Let's have a look at what this conditional part means, because it is not the justification part that we have already dealt with.

--saved by his life

Justification deals with the positional redemption of our soul. In other words, we, who believe, are freed from the power of sin and death by the imputed righteousness of Christ, and now in God's eyes, we are 'just as if I never sinned'. But now that we are justified and reconciled to God, the second part of our salvation kicks in, and a functional work should begin to save us by his life. When I say 'functional' this is not positional, meaning something done, or decreed in heaven. No. Functional is something that should happen here, in the present, on earth, and in our earthly living. Well, what is it? Does Paul give us information about this part of salvation? Absolutely. Romans 1 to 4 was about our positional justification. Romans 5 concludes this and introduces us to this functional salvation by Jesus' life. Then when we get into Romans 6 to 8, Paul gives us all we need to know about part 2 of our salvation.

In short, this salvation by his life is the progressive work to die to sin and be raised in newness of life, Rom 6:4. It is not an instant transaction like justification. Saved by his life is a progressive process of learning and renewing of the mind. In short, it is to study the Word of God rightly divided, and familiarize ourselves with our doctrine through Paul's curriculum, Romans to 2 Thessalonians. We are to know that our old man is crucified with him so that sin in our body might be destroyed. We are to reckon ourselves dead to sin that we might yield to righteousness. We are to know that we have become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that we can live and operate under a new law; the law of the spirit of life, that we should bring forth fruit unto God in the newness of the spirit. Saved by his life is a process of growing from a babe in Christ to a sin of God. It is the work of faith, understanding the doctrine and allowing it to work out of us towards that labour of love and the fruit of the Spirit. It is more than what I can write here, so allow me to link to more details about this part of salvation.

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