But now is manifested, and by the prophetic scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, made known for obedience of faith unto all the nations, unto the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory for ever. Amen.
That is right.
Dear Heavenly Father, how we do worship Thee. Thou hast been so good, so kind, so merciful, so gracious to us in giving us Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
And our Father, as we come to Thee this morning, our hearts truly are filled with gratitude and worship. We ask that at this moment Thou wilt open Thy Word to us, that through Thy Word we may see more of Thy Son, that we may be more drawn to Thy Son, and that Thy Son may be more formed within us. And to Thee be all the praise and glory, in Thy precious name. Amen.
The New Testament, as the Old Testament, is divided into three parts. First, you have the historical books. Then you have the letters, the epistles. And finally, you have the book of Revelation.
The five historical books—the four Gospels and the book of Acts—are really history; that is, the history of our Lord Jesus. The historical books give us the fact, the revelation, of our Lord Jesus.
Then these historical books are followed by the epistles, the letters. And the letters are the explanation of these things. The historical books give us the fact; the epistles give us the interpretation.
But whether it is the fact or the explanation of the fact, one thing is sure: it is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now, we have in the past seen that in the historical books of the New Testament there is this revelation of Jesus Christ—whether He is revealed in His own person, in His body which He took upon Himself when the Word became flesh, or whether He is revealed through that corporate Body which He has taken upon Himself after His death, resurrection, and ascension. It makes no difference.
It is the same Jesus Christ, whether in His personal Body or in His corporate Body. We find that He is being revealed to us. And how precious He is.
Now, as we go to the letters of the New Testament, the first one we find is the letter to the Romans. Of all the writings of the Apostle Paul, this is one letter that deals with one particular subject, which is the gospel.
It is the fullest and most systematic dissertation on that one thing: the gospel of God.
At the very beginning of this letter, he says:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God.
So we know that the gospel is what his whole letter deals with. Now, what is the gospel?
When our Lord Jesus was born, if you read the second chapter of the Gospel according to Luke, you will find that when Christ was born in Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds in the fields, saying:
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, Who is Christ the Lord.
Now, that is the fact of the gospel. The fact of the gospel is Jesus Christ the Lord.
As the Apostle Paul begins the letter to the Romans, he re-establishes this fact at the very beginning. He says, “I am separated unto God’s gospel.” Now, what is this gospel? He says, “Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This gospel is concerned with the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord.
According to the grammatical structure, you will find actually that there are two parentheses in these few verses:
Separated unto the gospel of God … concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
That is the statement. Then you find two parentheses. One is, “which He promised afore through His prophets in the holy scriptures.” You know, this gospel is not an accident. This gospel has been promised beforehand by the holy prophets in the Scriptures.
That is to say, if you go back to the Old Testament, you will find that the prophets of old had been prophesying about this gospel. It is not something that just happened, but something that has been prepared by God throughout the ages.
Then the second parenthesis is:
Who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, Who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
Now, Who is He? This Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord—this Son of God, Who is the gospel of God—He is, on the one hand, of the seed of David. That is to say, He has come to be a man. Yet, on the other hand, He proved Himself to be the Son of God by resurrection from the dead.
He is the Son of God. So this gospel of God is concerning the Lord Jesus, Who is both Man and God. He has humanity, and He has divinity. He is the God-Man.
And this God-Man is the gospel of God. The gospel of God is a person.
I think at the very beginning, we need to underline this: the gospel of God is a person. It is not a teaching. It is not a doctrine. It is not a technique. It is not a formula. It is a person: the Son, God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Now, that is the gospel. So it just reaffirms what we have seen in the historical books: that it is the Lord Jesus Who is the fact, and this is something that the Apostle Paul likes to explain to us.
In the introduction he says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel.” Now, why is he not ashamed of the gospel? Because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. There is no difference.
The gospel is God’s power. The gospel is God’s power to save everyone who believes, whether Jew or Greek. And the gospel is the power of God that saves to the very uttermost.
If we know this is the gospel, surely we will boast of it; we will not be ashamed of it.
And this gospel is on the principle of faith unto faith. In this gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. It is based upon faith and unto faith. That is to say, God has prepared everything in the gospel, and all we need to do is believe.
And if we believe, then the righteousness of God comes upon us.
Now, after he has introduced the theme, he begins to explain it. You can look at the letter to the Romans and divide it into three parts.
The first part is from Romans 1:18 to the end of Romans 8. The first seventeen verses are the introduction. From Romans 1:18 onward to the end of Romans 8, you find the provision of the gospel—what the gospel has provided for us.
Then the second part is Romans 9 through Romans 11. That is the purpose and the plan of the gospel. What is the purpose of the gospel? How is it planned?
Finally, the third part, from Romans 12 to Romans 16, is the power, or the product, of the gospel. How does the power of the gospel manifest upon this earth? What is the product of the gospel?
So, briefly, we can say this is the way the gospel is explained. And you will see that as the Apostle Paul explains the gospel, no matter what he says, the picture is still the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before we knew the gospel, we knew nothing about the righteousness of God, because the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. What did we know? We knew only the wrath of God.
Without the gospel, nobody knows the righteousness of God. All we know is the wrath of God. The wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
Why? Because we were ungodly. That means we were not like God. We were made in God’s image. We were supposed to be like God. We were supposed to manifest God, to represent God upon the earth.
But unfortunately, we have sinned. We have fallen. We have come short of the glory of God. We have become ungodly—not like God anymore.
And more than that, we are not only ungodly towards God, but we have been unrighteous in all our relationships among ourselves. We are unrighteous one to another. We have sinned against one another. We have hurt and harmed one another. We have done many wrong things to one another.
And because we are in that kind of situation, all we know is wrath. We know in our conscience that the wrath of God is upon us. We know that we are condemned.
That is the reason why religions are invented—trying to appease the evil conscience, trying to appease God somehow. We try to do good. We try to do the works of the law.
But, brothers and sisters, we know that our righteousness, that is, our righteousness according to the law—we think that we have done something good, we think that we have fulfilled the law—but our righteousness is, as the prophet Isaiah said, as filthy rags.
They are not only unable to cover our nakedness before God, but they are unclean, dirty, filthy in the sight of God. That is the reason why no one can be justified by works.
If we bring all the works that we have done, all the good things that we have done, and bring them all to God and pray to God, you will find that we will be utterly rejected.
Just like the offering of Cain, which came from the best produce of the earth and represented his own merits, he tried to bring it to God for God’s acceptance. But it was completely rejected. Not only was his offering rejected; his person was rejected by God.
No one can be justified by the works of the law. All are under condemnation; all are under the wrath of God. And I believe we have all experienced this.
But thank God, you find that now, apart from law, the righteousness of God is manifested. “Apart from law” does not mean without law; it simply means outside of law.
But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction.
Here you find that the righteousness of God is manifested to us in the gospel.
Now, how does the righteousness of God come to us who believe? If you read from the first chapter to the eighth chapter of Romans, for the sake of clarity, let us say that in these eight chapters there are actually three things concerning the provision of the gospel—what the gospel has provided for us.
Number one: justification. You find this from Romans 3 and Romans 4, up to Romans 5:11. The second thing is sanctification. You find that from Romans 5:12 through Romans 8:17. Then you find glorification from Romans 8:18 to the end of the chapter, or to Romans 8:30.
So here you find the provision of the gospel. God has provided for us in the gospel three things: justification, sanctification, and glorification.
Now, what is justification? We often hear people say justification means “just as if we had never sinned.” Now, we have sinned, but now, being justified, we are before God as if we had never sinned.
But actually, justification is more than that. Not only does God consider us as if we had never sinned—and that is true—but justification means that we are now accepted in the Beloved.
Justification means that we are reconciled to God. Justification means that now we have a standing in the presence of God. Formerly, we could not approach God. We could not stand before God. If we stood before God, we would be judged, condemned, and executed.
But thank God, through justification today we can stand before God with holy boldness. We are no longer afraid of the wrath of God, because the righteousness of God is upon us.
So justification actually includes all these things. Not only are we justified as if we had never sinned—all our sins are forgiven—but they are also forgotten. God has forgotten.
Therefore, we are justified. We have been reconciled to God. We are no longer enemies of God. God has received us, accepted us in His beloved Son, and now we can stand before God in holy boldness. Now, that is justification.
But the thing is, how are we justified? You know, it is an age-long question. You find that question in the first book written in the Bible—historically speaking, the book of Job. It was written even before Genesis, because Genesis was written by Moses, but Job lived in the age of the patriarchs.
Even in that book, in Job 9, you find Job asking that question: “How can man be just before God?” Man being unjust, man being a sinner, how can man be made just before God?
God is a just God. How can He justify unjust people? Now, if God should justify unjust people without any compensation, that would make God unjust. It would compromise God’s righteousness, and God cannot do that.
God loves sinners, but He hates sin. But thank God, that is where the gospel comes in.
Now, what is the gospel? The gospel is that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to the world. God loves the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son.
And His Son came into this world as a Man, Jesus, and He took our sins upon Himself and died on the cross. He shed His blood for our sins.
He died on the cross as our Substitute. His blood satisfied the justice and the righteousness of God. His blood purifies our heart from an evil conscience. That is the reason why today we are justified before God.
In other words, we are justified not by ourselves. You know, oftentimes we try to justify ourselves, but no matter how you justify yourself, you are not justified. God has to justify.
And God justifies us—how? Through the blood of His own beloved Son. Because the blood He shed is so precious, therefore God can justly justify us.
The righteousness of God comes to us. He Who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
You know, it is interesting. Not only in the gospel are we justified by God, but through the gospel, through receiving the gospel, we justify God too. We become the righteousness of God. We say God is just in justifying us. It is a mutual thing.
Dear brothers and sisters, how are we made righteous before God? Today God looks upon us, and God says, “I see no iniquity in you.”
You remember in Old Testament times, the Gentile prophet tried to curse the children of Israel, but God turned the curse into blessing. And God said, “I see no iniquity in Israel.”
And the same thing you find: God says, “I see no sin in them.” We are justified in Christ Jesus. God does not see anything in us; instead, God sees us as righteous.
Now, how does it work? How is it possible?
You know, among God’s people there are different understandings, and some are really not quite correct. Sometimes we think that if we believe in the Lord Jesus, then we are all made righteous.
Now, that is true, because in Romans 5 you find it is said:
So then as through one trespass the judgment came unto all men to condemnation; even so through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification of life.
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One shall the many be made righteous.
Now, we have been made righteous. How are we made righteous? Some people think that when you believe in the Lord Jesus, then you are changed from sin to righteousness.
In other words, formerly you were a sinner. Formerly you knew nothing but to sin. But after you believe in the Lord Jesus, then a change comes over you. You no longer sin, but you are very righteous. That is, everything you do is now righteous before God. A change has come upon you.
Now, there is one way of looking at it. But have you been changed? It is true that when you first believe in the Lord Jesus, during the first few days and maybe the first few months, it seems that you have changed. Yes, exactly.
But then you find that when the excitement and thrill of first salvation begin to subside, you begin to change back. You begin to realize that actually you still can sin. You are not as righteous as you think you are. You have not changed.
Now, it does not mean that you are not saved, because you are saved. A new life has come into you. That is true. You have received eternal life. But so far as you yourself are concerned, you have not changed. You are still the same old person—but thank God, with a new life.
Now, somebody says, “Well, when you believe in the Lord Jesus, yes, you have not changed. But when you believe in the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus imparts His righteousness to you. In other words, His merit becomes your virtue.”
Therefore, when God looks at you, He sees that you are full of virtue, full of righteousness, because the righteousness of Jesus Christ has become yours. That seems to be closer, but not close enough.
You know, “the righteousness of Jesus Christ”—in the whole New Testament, you find only one mention of that term. I will leave it with you to find it. Only one place in the whole New Testament.
The righteousness of Jesus Christ means that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was righteous in every way. Even today, He is the Righteous One at the right hand of God. He is the only Righteous One, because He pleased the Father in all things.
There is no one righteous, but Jesus Christ is righteous. That is His righteousness. But do you know that His righteousness will not justify you? On the contrary, His righteousness will condemn you.
Why? Because He is so righteous and you are so unrighteous. The more righteous He is, the more unrighteous you appear to be. Therefore, you are the more condemned.
Suppose you are with a person. Suppose you are a very loose person, and you meet a person who is very controlled. The more controlled he is, the more loose you become, right? Because there is such a contrast.
So, dear brothers and sisters, you remember in John 16, He said, “Of righteousness, because I go to the Father.” When the Holy Spirit comes, He convicts the world. He said, “Of righteousness, because I go to the Father.”
Now, do you understand this? Why does righteousness condemn us because Christ goes to the Father? It is because Jesus is the only One Who can return to God. He is the only One Who can enter into God’s presence. He is the only One Who can live before God.
He is the only Righteous One whom God has accepted. And because He has gone to the Father, He proves that His righteousness is perfect. He can go to the Father, and His righteousness condemns us because we cannot go to the Father.
If we were to go, we would be judged to death. This is righteousness.
Brothers and sisters, the righteousness of Jesus Christ does not justify us. The righteousness of Jesus Christ qualifies Him to be our Substitute. Because He is without sin, therefore He can be made sin.
If He were not righteous, He could not be our Substitute. He would die for His own sin. But thank God that He is altogether righteous. Therefore, He can be made sin for us, that the righteousness of God may come upon us.
So, brothers and sisters, His righteousness qualifies Him to be our Saviour, our Substitute. But His righteousness is not something that is imparted to us to be our righteousness.
You know, just like some people say: not only did our Lord Jesus have all the merit and all the righteousness to impart to people, but even in this world there have been some saints canonized. They are saints. When they die, they go straight to heaven; they do not need to go to purgatory.
After they arrive in heaven, they have too much merit. They have enough merit for themselves to go to heaven, and they have more merit to spare. Therefore, if you pray to a saint, then he can impart some merit to you to lift you out of purgatory into heaven.
Now, that is impartation. But you find the gospel—the justification by faith—is not that. It is not that Christ, Who is so full of righteousness and has too much of it, takes some out of Himself and puts it on you, so that now you are made righteous. Not at all.
Now, how are we made righteous? We are made righteous because God has given us His beloved Son. Christ Jesus is made unto us righteousness.
You find in 1 Corinthians 1:30:
But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who was made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.
In other words, you find that God has made Christ our righteousness. It is not His righteousness being imparted to us, but God has given us Christ, His Son, and we are clothed with Christ.
It is in union with Christ that we are made righteous. Today, as we stand before God, God sees not us, but Christ, because we are clothed with Christ.
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, that is the way we are justified. That is the way we are made righteous.
We have not changed. He has not just given to us some of His virtues, but He has clothed us with His own Self. We are today in union with Christ.
Therefore, when we stand before God, God does not see us; God sees His beloved Son. And God says, “You are justified, as if you had never sinned.” God says, “You are accepted.” God says, “There is peace.”
Justification, or righteousness, is not a teaching, a doctrine, a method, a formula, or a technique. It is a person, a Person. And that Person is Jesus Christ.
When you have Jesus Christ, you are justified. If you do not have Jesus Christ, even if you know the doctrine of justification by faith, you are not justified.
People may accept the doctrine of justification by faith, but if they do not believe in the Lord Jesus, they are not justified. Even if they use this as a formula, it does not work.
Until you believe in the Lord Jesus, thank God, you are justified. Thank God, you are righteous before God, because Jesus Christ has been made righteousness unto you. He is your righteousness. That is the gospel.
I remember the story about John Bunyan. You know, John Bunyan, the one who wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, which is well known. If you have not read it, I hope you read it. It is not just for children; it is for everybody.
Now, John Bunyan, when he was a young man, sometimes was deeply convicted of his sins, and he tried to reform. Most of the time he lived a very loose life, but from time to time he was convicted.
When he was convicted, he tried to reform. He tried to stop swearing, tried to go to church, and did all these things—you know, trying to reform himself. But it happened again and again, and it did not work.
At one time John Bunyan was again deeply convicted, and he was in a period of reforming himself. One day he was walking in the field, and he was still thinking, “How can I be justified? How can I be made righteous before God? I have no righteousness. How can I be? What should I do?”
As he was walking in the field, suddenly he heard a voice, and the Lord said, “My righteousness is in heaven.” Now, that is a revelation.
He thought that righteousness was in him, that he had to do something in order to attain it. No matter how you change, your righteousness never changes.
The power over sin, overcoming temptations, and the power to live a victorious life—that is sanctification.
You remember the Gospel according to Luke 1:74-75? There is a prayer which says that we may serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
Dear brothers and sisters, it is true. After we have been justified, after we are saved, we ought to live before God. We ought to walk before God constantly—that is, like God—and also righteously, all our days.
It is not expected of a Christian, a true believer, to continue in sin. It is not expected of a Christian to fall into temptation. It is expected of a Christian to live as Christ lived upon this earth.
It is expected of a Christian to walk upon this earth overcoming the power of sin and to live a holy life. “Be ye holy; for I am holy.” This is not only an exhortation; it is a command. God commands us to be holy.
Now, holy simply means uncommon. Holy means that you should live uncommonly to how the world lives. You should be different, because you are set apart unto God.
You are here to represent God. You are here to express God. You are here to manifest God and His glory. That is what you are here for. Now, brothers and sisters, this is sanctification.
But how can we be holy? How can we live such an overcoming life? Is it not that we know we should live such a life? I believe we do. But can we live it?
You know, in Romans 7, you find this man, Paul. He says, “In my heart, in my renewed mind, I know. I know I should keep the commandment of God. I know, and I am willing to do that. And I try to do that.”
“But the more I try, the more I fail, because to will is in me, but to do is not. O wretched man that I am! Who can deliver me from this body of death?”
Now, is this not the experience of many Christians today? You are justified before God. You are reconciled to God, and you have the life of God in you, but somehow you find that you cannot overcome the power of sin.
Somehow you find that the willingness is in you, but the strength is just not there. You try, you try, and try, but you are defeated and defeated and defeated. You live a miserable Christian life.
Now, that is certainly not the gospel. Brothers and sisters, you find that the gospel is not only for sinners; the gospel is also for believers.
That part of the gospel for believers is this: “Do you not know that you were crucified with Christ?”
In other words, for our justification, it is the blood of the Lord Jesus. For our sanctification, it is the cross of our Lord Jesus.
Just as when our Lord Jesus went to the cross, He took your sins, all your sins, upon Himself. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, and there He died for your sins. Therefore, if you believe in Him, your sins are forgiven.
In the same manner, you find that when Christ Jesus went to the cross, He took you and me. Thank God, not only our sins, but He took us with Him to the cross. There He died as us—not only for us, but as us.
You find that when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He was not only our Substitute, to substitute for us and pay the penalty for us, but He was also our Representative. He represented us at the cross.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, when He died, you died in Him and with Him. When He was raised from the dead, you were raised from the dead together with Him.
And that is the reason why Paul said:
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.
Brothers and sisters, do you know what sanctification is? Sanctification, yes, requires that we live a holy life. But who can live such a holy life?
You cannot live such a holy life. I cannot live such a holy life. We cannot live such a holy life by ourselves, even though we are saved. But if we try to live a holy life by our own will, by our own effort, we will fail, because we have not changed.
Now, how are we going to live that? There is only one Man Who can live such a holy life, and that Man is Jesus Christ. He is the only One Who can live such a life.
And do you know that He lives in you? The thing is, He is in you, but you do not allow Him to live through you. You are still living by your own strength, and that is the reason why you cannot live a holy life.
If only you were set aside, as it were, and let Him live, then you would find it is no problem to live godly and righteously before God all your days, because He has lived that life two thousand years ago.
Really, He lives it in and through you and me. So, brothers and sisters, do remember this: sanctification is not a changed life; sanctification is an exchanged life.
You have not changed, but there is an exchange. In other words, it is no longer you; it is Christ Who lives.
I think the practical illustration is Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission. He loved the Lord. He went to China as a missionary. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission, used by God mightily.
But when he was in China, he realized that even though he was preaching to the Chinese, yet he found his own life was a failure. He found there were many things he could not overcome. He got worried and concerned so easily, touched by small things.
He looked to the Lord for a life that really could overcome, a life that really was glorious and would glorify the Lord. He prayed and prayed, read the Bible, fasted, asked God to give him faith, and did everything he could.
But finally, God just showed him: “It is an exchanged life. It is not you, Hudson Taylor, that can make it, but I am in you, and I will live such a life. Just let Me do it. Relax. Let Me do it.”
And you find that his whole life was revolutionized. Now, this is sanctification.
Sanctification is not a doctrine. Sanctification is not a second blessing. You know, there are people today who believe in a second blessing. In other words, the first blessing is that you get saved, and the second blessing is that you become sanctified.
And how? Well, the root of sin is eradicated. So if it is pulled out, then you cannot sin anymore.
Now, brothers and sisters, I have to confess that I was saved among the holiness people that believed in the eradication of sin. I was saved among them, and unfortunately, when I was saved in their conference, during the conference the founder of that mission lost her temper.
Sin is not eradicated. Sin will remain in you as long as you live.
But thank God, you are eradicated—not sin, you. The cross has taken you off.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, it is sanctification by faith. You know, John Wesley preached sanctification by faith, not only justification by faith. Why is it by faith? Because everything is done already for you. So all you need to do is believe and receive it, and it is yours.
And the same thing with sanctification. Sanctification is Christ. He is the sanctification. Therefore, you believe in Him, and you are sanctified.
Brothers and sisters, just believe. Take Him as your sanctification. Is it not in 1 Corinthians 1:30 that it says God has made Him our righteousness and sanctification? He is our sanctification.
So sanctification is not something that God gives you. Sanctification is Christ. Christ is given to you. He is your sanctification. That is the gospel.
And then, of course, glorification. You know, we think that if we are justified, then we will not go to hell but go to heaven. Now, that is good enough. A lot of believers think that is good enough.
Thank God, there are some believers who think it is not good enough. It is not good enough that just in the future they can go to heaven and not go to hell. They want to live a godly life, a holy life on earth. Thank God for such believers.
But then you find that you think that is good enough. God says, “Oh, it is not good enough for Me.” The gospel has to satisfy God’s heart, not only satisfy you.
God is not satisfied just by justifying you and sanctifying you, because He is going to do something more. God says, “I am going to glorify you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, what is glorification? Glorification simply means that God is to transform you from glory to glory and to conform you to the image of His beloved Son.
Now, that is glorification. You know, it is the will of God:
For whom He foreknew, He also foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren: and whom He foreordained, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified.
Now, what is glorification? Glorification does not mean that your natural man is glorified, that he is changed. No, we have said, you have not changed. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, period. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Now, what is being changed? The change simply means that the Holy Spirit will so work in your life that He will take away yourself and add to you Christ, until Christ is fully formed in you, or you are conformed to His image. That is glory.
Christ is glory. So when Christ is formed in you, there is glory. In other words, glory means God is being seen, God is being expressed, God is being known. Now, that is glory.
Whenever you see God, you see glory. And, brothers and sisters, this is God’s purpose. He will not only justify you. He will not only sanctify you. He wants to glorify you.
That is to say, He wants Christ to be fully formed in you, that you may become conformed to His image. Now, how is He going to do that? The Holy Spirit is responsible for this.
The Holy Spirit is like an embroiderer. He is stitching, as it were, needle by needle into your life, until Christ is formed in you.
As He is doing that, you will be clothed with a garment of embroidery. You will be fit to be the Bride of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, what is being constituted in you is nothing but Christ. Christ is our redemption, and the redemption is for sonship—that is to say, the placing of the sons. You have grown up now. You become sons of God. That is glorification.
And again, glorification is not a teaching. It is not a doctrine. No, glorification is Christ. When you see Christ, there is glory there. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Now you find in the first part, the Apostle concludes with a shout of victory. That is in Romans 8:31-39.
As you read this passage, you find:
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
It is God that justifieth.
Christ Jesus is He that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us.
So here you find: God justifies us, Christ delivers us, and then the Holy Spirit works Christ in us until we are conformed to the image of God’s delight.
Now, this is the provision of the gospel. I do not have time to go into the last two parts. Maybe I will just mention them without explaining them.
You find that Romans 9 through Romans 11 are beautiful chapters. Very often, when you read Romans, you come to these three chapters and you are stuck. You find them too hard. You do not know what to make out of them.
But actually, Romans 9 through Romans 11 are most beautiful, because they show us the plan and the purpose of the gospel. It is the sovereign will of God to save us.
That is why He shut us all up in sin, that we may be shut up unto Christ—first to the Jews, then to the nations, and then return to the Jews.
It is not by our will or our running, but it is by the mercies of God. Yet it is also, “Whosoever believeth on Him shall be saved.”
In other words, you find a beautiful God-arrangement, that everyone will have an opportunity to come to the Lord Jesus.
His ways are unsearchable, but His purpose is clear. He wants Christ to be all and in all.
For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him, are all things. To Him be the glory for ever. Amen.
That is the purpose of the gospel: Christ glorified, Christ having the first place.
Then finally, you find the last part: the power, or the product, of the gospel. What do you find? You find a Body—a Body of believers, a Body of the redeemed. They become one Body.
This one Body is on earth to express the Head, Christ. It is on earth to glorify Him.
And in this Body, you find that they love one another. They receive one another, take care of one another, bear with one another, and then, towards the world, they become a testimony of Jesus.
Now, that is the product of the gospel.
So finally, in the last three verses, you find the conclusion:
Now to Him that is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by the prophetic scriptures, according to the commandment of the eternal God, is made known unto all the nations unto obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory for ever. Amen.
“According to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ”—that is the provision of the gospel, the first part.
“According to the revelation of the mystery, which hath been kept in silence through times eternal, but now is manifested, and by prophetic scriptures”—that is the purpose of the gospel, the second part.
“According to the commandment of the eternal God, made known for obedience of faith to all the nations”—that is the power of the gospel, the product of the gospel, the third part.
“To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory for ever. Amen.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, we see Jesus in the gospel, because He is the gospel. What you receive is Jesus Christ—not a teaching, not a method, not a formula, but Jesus Christ. He is our gospel.
Dear Heavenly Father, do reveal Thy Son to us and in us, that we may see Him as the gospel, the glad tidings that we have received and believed.
We pray, O Lord, that Thou wilt open our eyes, that we may see Him as our justification, our sanctification, and our glorification.
We ask that Thou wilt open our eyes to see that He is the purpose of the gospel, that He may have the preeminence in all things.
We pray that we may, on this earth, be a corporate expression of our Lord, to the praise of His glory. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.