Therefore, when Paul says in Romans 3 that “you are justified by faith,” what he means is faith like Paul’s own faith—faith that is accompanied by action. If the Roman believers had not been faithful to Christ—that is, if they had not been willing to live in holiness and suffer for Christ—then peace with God would not have been properly realized or sustained. Many churches and Christians fail to understand this, especially when theologians formulate it rhetorically as, “The blood of Jesus reconciles us; we are already at peace.” Yet Romans 6:1–2 very firmly states, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
Furthermore, Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.” The question is: what is the standard of this new life? Is it merely changing religions—leaving another faith and becoming Christian? Even that is no guarantee. Not a few non-Christians who later become Christians actually live more corrupt lives than before. Many eventually fall into sin because their character is not transformed. They think that by believing in Jesus, they automatically live a new life. Likewise, some people have never gone to church and then begin attending regularly, yet do not experience a genuine life transformation.
There are husbands who previously never went to church and lived in sin, then start coming because of their wives’ encouragement or because of life pressures—falling into poverty, being chased by debt, and so forth. However, if they come to church without undergoing a process of transformation, they may even sin within the church. Some people previously did not serve God, then became motivated to serve, yet their character has not been transformed—they have not yet entered into new life. Formerly, they sinned, and when they became pastors, they still sin in the church. Why? Because their character has not been transformed. Thus, the standard of new life is becoming increasingly like Christ.
Romans 6:5–6 says, “For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.”
Then, what is meant by sin? This is the issue. Sin is not merely the violation of laws, but anything that does not conform to God’s thoughts and feelings. Indeed, the Lord has said that following Him is a narrow path. The expression “saved by His life” can be understood to mean that the quality of Jesus’ life—His obedience to the Father and His holiness—must flow into the lives of believers. The Word of God says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
Through Adam, sin spread—that is the sinful nature. Now, through the life of Jesus, we are called to live according to God’s design so that we may be reconciled with Him. If the life of Jesus is not flowing in us, then whose life is flowing within us? Let us examine the desires, cravings, and passions that dominate our lives today. What is flowing in us? Do we truly want to change? If not, until death we will continue living in sin—sin that keeps spreading, failure after failure. To reinforce this understanding, we must consider Romans 5:19–21: “For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”
To be made righteous is not merely to be “considered righteous.” And those who are called believers are not merely those who hold convictions, but like the Roman believers—obedient, willing to suffer, and willing to lose everything for Christ. Not a cheap faith like that held by many Christians today, who think that merely becoming a Christian is enough to be called a believer.