Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness…he believed…God, who quickeneth the dead.
—Romans 4:3, 17
Now that we have studied the words of our Lord Jesus about our fellowship with Him in the cross, let us turn to Paul to see how, through the Holy Spirit, he gave deeper insight into what our death in Christ means.
As I said before, the first section of Romans is devoted to the doctrine of justification by faith in Christ. After writing about the awful sin of the heathen (see Romans 1:18–32) and then about the sins of the Jews (see Romans 2:1–29), he pointed out how both Jew and Gentile are “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19). “All have sinned, and come short” (verse 23). And then Paul set forth the free grace that gave the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (verses 21–31). In chapter 4, he pointed to Abraham, who, when he believed, understood that God justified him freely by His grace, and not for anything that he had done.
Abraham had believed not only this, but also something more. “[Abraham] believed…God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:3, 17). This is significant because it indicates the two essential needs in the redemption of man in Christ Jesus. There is the need for justification by faith, to restore man to the favor of God. But something more is needed. Man must also be quickened to a new life. Just as justification is by faith alone, so is regeneration. Christ died for our sins; He was raised again out of, or through, our justification.
In the first section of Romans (See Romans 1:1–5:11), Paul dealt exclusively with the great thought of our justification. But in the second section (See Romans 5:12–8:39), he expounded the wonderful union with Christ through faith, by which we died with Him, by which we live in Him, and by which we are made free through the Holy Spirit. We are free not only from the punishment, but also from the power of sin, and we are enabled to live the life of righteousness, obedience, and sanctification.