Romans 5:1-2 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us (grasp the fact that we) have (the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy) peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) through Him also we have (our) access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God's favor) in which we (firmly and safely) stand. And let us rejoice and exalt in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God."
Since we have been restored and made in right standing (righteous) by faith in Jesus, we've now been justified by the Blood of the sacrifice of Jesus. When He was crucified and became our substitute, Jesus bore the entire scope of our separation from God on and in Himself. And, because of Jesus, we no longer are just "God and His people," but Father and His family.
Our relationship with the Creator has changed so drastically that we, by Jesus, can now come into the presence of God at any time and all the time. A sacrifice is no longer required and no longer is there a time for a separation time for cleansing. Through Jesus, we've been declared righteous, justified, acquitted and clean from everything that's ever kept away from God's presence. We've not only been declared righteous, but through the resurrection of Jesus, were actually born again through His resurrection. We're not just "forgiven sinners," like some would say, but the Blood of Jesus completely removed the old body of sin (having nailed it to His cross) and we were actually crucified with Him. Galatians 2:20 (Amplified) says, "I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion); it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
We all can repeat Romans 6:23 (Amplified) which says, "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the (bountiful) free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord."
"The wages of sin is death" means that we, who were dead in sin, have now been made alive through Jesus. We've viewed ourselves as "forgiven sinners" and haven't allowed ourselves to really walk in the freedom of the cross. We weren't just forgiven by the cross and resurrection. We died on the cross. Romans 6:5 (Amplified) says, "For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His, We shall also be (one with Him in sharing) His resurrection (by a new life lived for God)." Romans 6:10-11 (Amplified) says that, "For by the death He died, He died to sin (ending His relation to it) once for all; and the life that He lives, He is living to God (in unbroken fellowship with Him)." Verse 11 goes on, "Even so consider yourselves also dead to sin and your relation to it broken, but alive to God (living in unbroken fellowship with Him) in Christ Jesus."
We've always thought of ourselves as "forgiven sinners," but God see us as having died when Jesus died (the wages of sin is death). So, God didn't just forgive our sin, but Jesus (and you) both paid the cost of sin when He and you both died. We actually died when Jesus died and were raised when He was raised. We became alive when Jesus was made alive and we became new creation children who were raised from death unto life when Jesus was raised.
We were never to be thought of as forgiven sinners. We actually died with Jesus when He died. And, we actually were raised with Him at His resurrection. We've been waiting all this time for what we've believed would be our resurrection. But, we were actually already raised with Him in unbroken fellowship with God.
The power of righteousness that we've been granted through grace and faith, is in Jesus. If we don't receive this power of righteousness, then it's because we don't see it as a "now" thing, but a "some day" promise.
We keep waiting for ourselves to be resurrected (and we do have His promise of a bodily resurrection when Jesus comes back), but when we received Jesus as our sacrifice, we were raised with Him as well. When you read Romans 6:5 (Amplified) which says, "For if we have become one with Him by sharing a death like His," do you really believe you were crucified with Him? When you read that, "We shall also be (one with Him in sharing) His resurrection," do you believe that we were raised together with Him?
As Christians, we weren't just forgiven, but we died and paid the wage of sin when He died. Our sins were not just forgiven, but were eradicated by paying the full penalty of death. Now, we who are raised together with Jesus, are new beings who never existed before 2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) which says, "Therefore if any person is (engrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!"
Now we can understand the power of the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We, who were ingrafted into Christ, actually died with Him and were raised with Him. We're not the same person who existed before we received Christ, but we're new creatures altogether. I know that we've all read these scriptures and that you may think there's nothing new in what I'm saying.
If we take literally what these scriptures are saying, instead of just being religious, then we can see what I mean about being forgiven sinners or new creatures. Romans 1:17 (Amplified) speaks about going from "saving faith" into the deeper faith which is revealed faith or revelation knowledge concerning Jesus.
If the Blood of Jesus and His sacrifice only forgave sin, then it would be a sacrifice which needed to be done again and again. Forgiveness would only cover on a temporary basis until we messed up again. He didn't simply forgive sin, Jesus destroyed it by paying the full penalty for it by dying. Now, in Him, we have died as well. And, by faith in Jesus, we were raised with Him when God raised Jesus from the dead.
We supposed to be living as those who were raised with Christ. This new in Him is unbroken fellowship.
We've mostly never seen the full truth of what went on at the resurrection of Christ. When we died with Him, we were buried with Him (in baptism), but we were also raised with Him. Many times, we continue identifying ourselves as still on the cross or talk about being buried with Him (in baptism). We don't hear a lot about being raised with Jesus in His resurrection. For most of us and to God, it's already done. We've not forgiven sinners, but are resurrected new beings without a stain of sin because of Jesus. As far as God is concerned, you never existed before you knew Jesus. At Jesus' resurrection, we were as He was, crucified, buried, judged, punished, justified and raise up without any penalty left to be paid.
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