CHRIST AS THE EMBODIMENT
OF THE PROCESSED TRIUNE GOD TO BE LIFE
TO US, THE TRIPARTITE PERSONS
AS GOD’S REDEEMED PEOPLE,
IN THE BOOK OF ROMANS
The book of Romans is not mainly a matter of righteousness, justification, or faith. It is a matter of having life and living by it. Romans reveals Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God to be life to us, the tripartite persons as God’s redeemed people. God is the Triune God and we are the tripartite persons.
The revelation of Christ being life to us in the book of Romans can be divided into two parts. The first part consists of Romans 1:1 through 5:11 and deals with reconciliation through the death of Christ. Hence, Romans 5:10 is the crucial verse in this section. The second part of Romans consists of Romans 5:12 through 16:27 and is about being saved in the divine life of Christ.
WE, THE ENEMIES OF GOD,
HAVING BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD
THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, CHRIST
Romans 5:10a says, "For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son..." We, who were once enemies of God, have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son, Christ. This is a great thing. The death of Christ redeemed us and laid a foundation upon which God could justify us. Through Christ’s death, God also reconciled us to Himself. We were not only sinners who were forgiven and justified, but we were also enemies who were reconciled to God. We were in sin and death and in a situation of enmity toward God. We were lost to such an extent that we became God’s enemies. Christ’s death redeemed us back to God and reconciled us to God. We all have experienced this reconciliation. Through His death, all the problems have been solved, and we are at peace.
Romans 5:1 through 9 describes our condition after being reconciled to God. We are standing in grace (v. 2), walking in peace (v. 1), and enjoying God in tribulation (vv. 2-3). We are in such a wonderful situation. If you are not in tribulation, you cannot enjoy God that much. Most of us would say that we prefer God and not tribulation. We may say, "I love to have God, but I do not like to have tribulations." But we must realize that God and tribulation go together. We can enjoy God in the midst of all our tribulation. This is our situation according to Romans 5:1-9.
(The Triune God to Be Life to the Tripartite Man, Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)
