Adoption is a Greco-Roman concept that Paul applies here for the first time to Christianity (ref. also vs. 8:23, Galatians 4:5, and Ephesians 1:5). Adoption, on earth as it is in Heaven, is meant to be a glorious change for the better.
We assemble together on Resurrection Sunday, many of us supremely confident in our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We believe He lived and died. We believe Jesus Christ is risen, He is risen, indeed.
Admittedly, the Scriptures do not have a great deal to say about Judas. What we do find is not flattering. His dastardly deed is predicted by the minor prophet Zechariah (ref. 11:12-13), then the four Gospel writers bring him into low light.
In verse two, two laws, or irrefutable principles, like the law of gravity, are at work in a human being who becomes a born again Christian. One is nurture, “the law of the Spirit of life,” and the other is nature, “the law of sin and death.”
Iif you have been justified by faith, sanctified by the Spirit, you will be glorified without judgment. Your sins have been forgiven and washed away by the blood of Christ.
All Christians who have been justified by grace through faith in Christ (Romans 3-5), are being sanctified (Romans 6-7), and will be glorified (Romans 8) in Heaven with the Lord one day.
The key word in Romans 6 is “sanctification” (vs. 19, 22). The key words in Romans 7 are “law,” “flesh,” and “Spirit.” Sanctification is freedom from the law, a struggle with the flesh, wrought by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Sanctification is the second stage of salvation. Christians are justified as a gift from God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. One day, when we die or when Christ comes again, we will be glorified in His presence.
We are all sinners. Some of us profess to be saints. But how many sinners who profess to be saints are really sanctified? Perhaps some definitions will be helpful. We will use the book of Romans as our dictionary. Let’s look up “sinner,” “saint,” and “sanctified.”
On January 27, AD 417, a heretofore church leader name Pelagius was excommunicated and branded a heretic. His sin was denying sin, or at least original sin, total depravity, in the human race. Pelagius taught people are born good, could hypothetically choose to never sin, and were capable by their own free will and energy to earn or at least initiate their own salvation.
