S. SAVED BY HIS LIFE
SAVED BY HIS LIFE Dr. W. A. Criswell Rom 5:10 08-08-54
You are listening to the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. And this is the Pastor, bringing the message from Rom 5:1-21. In our preaching through the Word, last Sunday night we closed with Rom 5:5. This morning, we begin with Rom 6:6 and reading through the tenth-Romans, Rom 5:6-10 : For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 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. This is a message of Christian assurance. And it says in the text, on the worst day that we lived, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. “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.” A little summary of the thought that Paul follows here is this: our Lord Jesus was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. In the blood of Christ, the wrath of God was taken from us and received in His own body on the tree. He died our death. He suffered our penalty. He paid our ransom. We are declared righteous-acceptable to God-through the atoning death of Jesus. We are justified by His blood.
Now, what becomes of me? I have been justified by the blood of Christ. I have been saved by the atoning grace of Jesus. I was, at one time, an enemy of God, without hope, without inheritance, an orphan, a stranger, cast outside, condemned. Now, I have been made an heir in the family. Now, I have been received into the household of God.
Now, what shall become of me? Having been justified by the blood of Christ, and declared righteous through the atoning suffering of Jesus-now that I no longer face the possibility of falling into hell, there are still some things before the Lord shall gather His own in glory. Having been justified by the blood of Christ, I, who at one time was alienated from the house of God, now, having been adopted, having been accepted, shall at last no longer fall prey to the power of Satan and, ultimately, into hell.
What will become of me now-now that the Lord has saved me by His blood on the Cross, what difference-what difference does it make in my life-in our lives-as we live every day? I found myself weak before God, without strength, without faith to live on a daily basis. And I found myself a sinner, guilty and condemned. Then, I found the Lord Jesus, my righteousness and my Savior, who died for me, in my stead, in my place-Now, do I have the strength in myself to run this race? Do I have what it takes for me to achieve that final goal?
I found myself unable to bear the penalty of my own sins. But, Jesus bore that penalty for me. Now, having been justified, having been forgiven, is it left to me now to run this race by myself?
No, sir. If it were still up to me, I’d still fall into hell. I’d still die lost. There is not enough in me-in my strength, in my eagerness-to live God’s way and go to God’s heaven and be with Him at the golden gate in Paradise.
But, that blessed Lord who died for me-who gave His life for me-that same merciful Savior said, “Not only for your past sins did I die and pay the penalty, but I swear-I have promised that I will keep and protect and preserve your life against that great and final day of future judgment.”
Now, that is what Paul meant when he writes in these words: “if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled-being justified by His blood, being accepted into the family of God-much more now we shall be finally saved and finally delivered by the resurrection life of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He not only died for our sins, but He lives for our justification.
Paul said the same thing in Rom 4:25 : “Who was delivered for our offenses-He died for our sins-but he is raised again for our justification.” He lives that we might, someday, have a taste of glory. Now, that’s something to preach about. Amen! So many times, as we listen to a man teach about the death of Christ on the Cross-and I may have left the pulpit the last few Sundays with the same impression-so many times, as you listen to such teaching about the death of Christ on the Cross, there is the lingering persuasion, as you listen to a man teach about the death of Christ and the Cross, that the work of Christ is an isolated historical event that happened back there 2,000 years ago, and that the work of the Lord is just there. He died for our sins, and all of our experience of Him is encompassed in that moment when He died on the Cross.
But, that’s just the start. The atoning death of Christ on the Cross is just the first-initial-step. It was a tremendous experience-an incomparable thing. We must not minimize it. It does not end there. Having won our salvation, He also guarantees our sanctification. But, did He do it all on the Cross? As time marches on, it was an impossible thing. But, what we have in Christ is not isolated. It wasn’t just there on the Cross. Our relationship with Christ Jesus is dynamic. It’s life giving. It has a sequel. It has a follow-up. It has an after. It has a story. It has a history, but it comes forth from God and continues on to the last eon of eternity.
… Having been reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved-delivered, we shall be saved by the life of the Son of God.
He lives now-He lives now. That was what Paul meant in the sixth verse of the first chapter of Philippians: “For we are confident of this one thing: that he who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
That’s the same thing Jesus meant in John 14:19 : “Because I live, ye shall live also.” I live. You too shall live. I live through the Lord Jesus.
All through this blessed Book, all through these Scriptures, the Son of God is seen to in His life and His trials and He lives and breathes and dies and lives again for us. We are justified by His death and saved by His life. He’s not just a hero. He’s not just a martyr. We are saved by the present victorious life of Jesus. He lives! He lives!
He is somebody. If I should get out binoculars and train them on the theological and wonderful Jesus, who dies for us and who lives for us-why, He’s not just a hero; He’s not just another man. When it says that we are saved by His life, we are talking about the Son of God. He was pre-existent. He always was.
He’s the One who said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” He’s the One who said, “I and my Father are one.” He’s the One about whom the Apostle John said: In the beginning was the Word-the Lord Jesus-and the Word-the Lord Jesus-was with God, and the Word-the Lord Jesus-was God. This one-the Lord Jesus-was in the beginning with God.
He who holds us in the palm of His hands always was, and He always was God. He is the Lord God omnipotent of heaven-that’s who he is! He is the one who says, “I will see you through.”
I couldn’t help but be a little amused the other day. I came across a fellow who was describing an incident that was famous 100 years ago. There was an infidel who was teaching. And he was deriding the Lord Jesus Christ. And among the things that he was saying-he said that the Lord Jesus was a man, just like any other man. And he said that Christianity is losing its power in the world. And when he said that, a dear sainted old woman stood up, and just in the middle of a sentence, she said, “That’s a lie”-That just struck me as the funniest thing: “That’s a lie!”
But, she’s right. Jesus is not just a hero. He’s not just another man. He’s the Son of God, who delivered us by His death and justifies us by His life. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Did you ever sit down and think how the Lord might have decided to save us? He could have been high and lifted up and demanded to be treated as a king-I don’t know.
But, instead, he chose to come down here and live like a man in this earth. He grew up like you grew up. He lived like you live. He was mistreated and suffered greatly at the hands of His fellow men.
But, if He hadn’t lived that life as a man, we wouldn’t have the miracles that He did and the wonderful parables that He taught. Think of all the deeds that He did. Think of the suffering in His life. He came into the world to die-to bring the dawning of the morning.
Jesus came down into the world and lived and suffered all that He did on our behalf that He might understand. In the fourth chapter of Hebrews: For we do not have a high priest who cannot be touched with our infirmities; but was in all points as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
He knows our lives. He knows our pain. He experienced and understands all the things that cause suffering in our lives.
We can go before the throne of grace. He understands. And He sympathizes. And He sees. And He cares. He has been there and felt it.
I have made some visits to the homes of our people. And as I listen to them-oh, the pain they feel and the burdens upon their hearts. But, thank God-thank God that Jesus is on the throne of grace and he sympathizes-He understands.
Somehow, in the midst of these days of crime and loss and pain and heartbreak, what a joy it is to know that there is someone who understands and suffers as you suffer. Jesus is on the throne and that He sympathizes. He suffered like you suffer. He knows everything-everything that you are going through.
We have a great high priest who has been there and who sympathizes. How can this be? It is because He lives-because He lives.
Then, there is the enduring life of Christ in our hearts-in our souls-in the inner man. What a beautiful thing! In the third chapter of Ephesians, Paul says: For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
… That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith… .
Oh, the wonder of the Christian faith. Faith is not only what justifies, but what sanctifies us as we live every day. In the last verse of the first chapter of Hebrews, it says that angels are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” And that’s where we get our idea of guardian angels: that God has assigned angels to guard and watch over his children. And Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant. And when he said, he saw that the mountains all around the town were filled with the angels of God.
There are people who believe like that. It’s kind of beyond me. But, those ministering spirits are there, assigned by God. God protects the life of His children. Is it the angels? No. It is God who is all-powerful. That is an encouragement and an inspiration.
So, what is the heart of the Christian faith? It is the Lord Jesus Christ living inside, as we go through all the trials and tribulations of life. We are reconciled by His death and we are saved by His life, being lived out through us.
It is “Christ in our hearts by faith.” Can the Devil seize us and cast us into hell? We are living in his world. We have to live there every day.
No! Because of the indwelling Christ-Christ lives on the inside of your life. The essence of religion is not a church. It is Christ, who lives within. It’s not a system of theology. It’s a Lord. It’s not a philosophy. It’s Jesus, raised from the dead. It’s not a promise of salvation. It’s the Lord Jesus, who saves.
It’s not a question of substitution. It’s the Lord Jesus, who was our substitute in paying for our sins.
That’s the Christian faith. At the heart of it is the Lord living, in your hearts and in your souls.
Too many of us have distorted views of our religion. Too many of think of Christ as a stained glass window in a church, who just comes down here on Sundays. They see Him then, but then they leave Him here until the next Lord’s Day, when they come and see Him again.
Ah, He’s not like that-not the Lord. When you go to bed at night, there He is. When you rise in the morning, there He is. When you drive in your car and when you make your way to the office, there He is. In the tasks of the day, there He is. He’s there, by your side: your Savior, your friend, your teacher, your reconciler.
“If… we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, how much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life”-that life, which is now in heaven, in glory. Did you ever hear that “He is able-He is able to save to the uttermost.” He is. And it doesn’t matter who’s against us: “… Neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, now powers, not things present, nor things to come.”
It doesn’t matter what it is. Christ is able to save us to the uttermost!
There, at the right hand of the Father, the Savior lives-lives-lives. “He always lives to make intercession for us.” It doesn’t matter what the enemy says or does, because “He always lives to make intercession for us”-1,954 years our Lord has been at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us.