Saved By His Life

WHEN we think of the work of Christ in salvation we usually concentrate our attention on His death on the cross, and not with out reason. This event certainly is decisive. But what does the Bible mean when it says in Romans 5:10: "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life"? ¹ Jesus not only died, but He conquered death.

Often we do not stop to think about the efficacy of the life of Christ. Joseph Parker observes this when he says: "We always think that Christ's work ended on Calvary; it only began there. We think that Christ has completed all his work when he has saved the sinner: that is only the beginning of the priesthood of the Lord." ²

Romans 5:10 uniquely presents the saving efficacy of the life of Christ. Especially the last clause of this verse, which asserts "shall we be saved by his life." We know that we have been saved by His death, and we understand in our limited way why that substitution was necessary. But what efficacy for our salvation is there in the life of Christ? There have been a number of interpretations of this text, ranging from the position that it simply means Christians will ultimately be saved, to the deep, far-reaching view that Jesus is doing a specific efficacious work now in His present life. Does the text suggest or open the way for these profound implications, or are we reading into it more than is legitimate?

The meaning of the clause under consideration hinges on the interpretation of two key phrases. First, what is meant when it says, "shall we be saved"? For a number of scholars this phrase is understood within the context of the present world. Being "saved" refers to a Christian's sanctification, to his development within the community of grace. Another view is that "shall we be saved" refers to the future, final salvation at the second coming of Christ. A third view emphasizes the certainty of salvation. "Shall . . . be" is seen not primarily as an indication of a future event, hut as expressing the positive certainty that our salvation will realize ultimate fulfillment.

The second focal point of this passage is the key phrase "by his life." What does Paul mean when he says "shall we be saved by his life"? It is quite obvious that it is Christ's life he is talking about. But what aspect of His life is meant as being efficacious for salvation? Again there are a number of different viewpoints. 1. One view is that the word "life" is understood as merely another way to express the death of Christ. In this case the "life" is the life that was given up by His death. Thus we shall be saved by His life (death). His death is His only efficacious work. 2. "His life" refers to Christ's earthly life before the crucifixion. 3. This phrase is specifically a reference to the resurrection. We are saved by His resurrection in the sense that nothing else that Jesus did would have been meaningful if there had been no resurrection. 4. "His life" by which we are saved is His present earthly work through the Holy Spirit. 5. "His life" is a specific saving activity of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary through His intercession and high priestly ministry.

A second look at these interpretations reveals that there is truth in nearly all of them. How ever, the text seems to urge one interpretation above the others.

"Shall We Be Saved"

One of the important principles of interpretation is to consider the context. We find this especially rewarding when we compare verse 9 with verse 10. These verses seem to be parallel with each other as can easily be seen in an analytic outline:

Especially interesting is the added information in verse 9, not found in verse 10, concerning the nature of this salvation. We are to be saved from "the wrath of God." The word wrath can be used in two senses. In Romans 1:18 the wrath of Cod is presently revealed, but in Romans 2:5 the wrath of God is connected with the final judgment in the future. One commentator, Henry Alford, points out that there is a definite article with the word "wrath" in the Greek of Romans 5:9, indicating a specific wrath to come.³ This would definitely connect the word wrath with the wrath at the final judgment.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament furthermore points out that there are certain eschatological terms often used with the word wrath that qualify it in a future sense. ⁴ One of these is the word save or salvation. The Theological Dictionary says that the word save primarily "is for Paul a future, eschatological term." ⁵ All of this seems to indicate that the phrase "we shall be saved" refers to a future, final salvation at the Second Advent rather than present sanctification or certainty of ultimate salvation.

Another reason sometimes given for applying this passage in the future sense is that in Romans, Paul has been explaining justification and has not yet formally introduced his discussion on sanctification. That begins in chapter 6. So it seems that in verses 9 and 10 of chapter 5 Paul is contrasting justification and reconciliation, not with sanctification, but jumps completely to the ultimate salvation at the last day.

Furthermore, being saved through sanctification could already have begun for the Christians at the time Paul was writing. But verse 11 seems to indicate that this salvation was something not yet received. For this verse essentially says, "Of course we will be saved eventually, but even right now we have something real the reconciliation through our Lord Jesus Christ." Thus the phrase "shall we be saved" seems primarily to point to future, final salvation when Christians will be glorified with Christ (compare the steps in Romans 8:30).

"By His Life"

So far we have discovered that Romans 5:10 suggests some kind of saving efficacy for Christ's life beyond that normally considered. We have also learned that there are several interpretations for each of the two key phrases under consideration. Our investigation of the first key phrase "shall we be saved" has led us to conclude that it probably refers to future salvation at the end of time. But what is the primary meaning of the phrase "by his life"? What aspect of Christ's life is most likely being referred to? What work of Christ is being talked about as vital to our salvation?

We must not neglect the interrelationship between this phrase and the previous one. This "life," whatever it is, must be congruous with what we determined to be the correct application of the salvation being talked about. In fact there is more than congruity in this relationship. The preposition "by" seems to imply instrumentality. We are saved (with all that this implies) by means of His life. The instrumentality of His life is placed parallel to the instrumentality of His death (or His blood). There does not seem to be any reason for denying this parallelism.

If, as we have just concluded, the salvation under consideration is primarily future and eschatological, and wrath is connected with the last judgment, there is implied a specific efficacious action on the part of Christ which fits the need of saving true believers in the judgment and when God's wrath is poured out in execution of the judgment in the destruction of the earth.

The word wrath has almost a technical significance in connection with the judgment such that it, in a way, defines the kind of efficacious life needed to answer it. It is a life that acts in behalf of its beloved in the judgment and before the wrath of God.

The special nature of this life comes out even more clearly in the comparison of Romans 8:33, 34. This passage has a strikingly similar pattern to Romans 5:9, 10. It says, "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies; who is to condemn? Is it Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us?" In this passage we find the same progression from the efficacy of the death of Christ to the efficacy of His life. But now, more explicitly, we are told that He is interceding for us at the right hand of God. There is more involved in this work of intercession than that of merely forwarding our prayers to God the Father.

According to the book of Hebrews, intercession is further explained as Christ, our High Priest, presenting His own blood in the heavenly sanctuary before the throne of God. His intercession is efficacious for our salvation. It involves application of the sacrifice that He made on earth. Both actions are part of the atonement. The book of Hebrews has much to say that is pertinent to this issue:

"Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord" (Heb. 8:1, 2).

"But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption" (chap. 9:11, 12).

"For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (verses 24-28).

Christ is now applying the blood of His sacrifice on our behalf in the heavenly sanctuary. Both His death and His present heavenly ministry are part of the atonement.

A Wider Concept

This is what Seventh-day Adventists call the "wider concept of the atonement." Many Christians object to this view, thinking that it detracts from the efficacy of the death of Christ. They think that the death of Christ is the extent of Christ's specific atoning work. But Seventh-day Adventists explain the difference like this:

"We feel it to be most important that Christians sense the difference between the atoning act of Christ on the cross as a forever completed sacrifice, and His work in the sanctuary as officiating high priest, ministering the benefits of that sacrifice. What He did on the cross was for all men (1 John 2:2). What He does in the sanctuary is for those only who accept His great salvation.

"Both aspects are integral and inseparable phases of God's infinite work of redemption. The one provides the sacrificial offering; the other provides the application of the sacrifice to the repentant soul. The one was made by Christ as victim; the other, by Christ as priest. Both are aspects of God's great redemptive plan for man. . . .

"When, therefore, one hears an Adventist say, or reads in Adventist literature even in the writings of Ellen G. White that Christ is making atonement now, it should be understood that we mean simply that Christ is now making application of the benefits of the sacrificial atonement He made on the cross; that He is making it efficacious for us individually, according to our needs and requests." ⁶

Adventists are not alone in this viewpoint. Here are similar views, first by D. M. Baillie and then by D. C. Davies:

"But far more important is the idea worked out in the Epistle to the Hebrews and carried further in the catholic tradition, that the atoning work of Christ, as Priest and Victim in one, is not confined to His Passion on earth and did not end with His death on the Cross. That work on Calvary was indeed a finished work, a perfect sacrifice made once for all on earth. Yet it was the beginning of a priest hood which goes on for ever in the unseen realm, in heaven, in the Holy Place beyond the Veil, into which our High Priest entered through death, and where he 'ever liveth to make intercession for us', being continually 'touched with the feeling of our infirmities.' " ⁷

"By 'his life' is here meant, His life after His resurrection, which implies the life which He 'ever liveth to make intercession.' . . . The above verse shows that 'his life' of making intercession is equally essential to the plan of salvation.

Should anyone maintain that the death of Christ had accomplished all, so that His succeeding, active, official life is unnecessary, our contention would be, If that is true, then the sinner's salvation is completed when he is reconciled to God, even though he should, after being reconciled, be under His wrath. What value would anyone attach to such a salvation? It would be unworthy of the name.

The greatness of the need for the intercession of Christ, in addition to His death, in the plan of salvation, is measured by the value of that part of man's salvation which consists in his being 'saved from the wrath of God' as something additional to his being reconciled to God. But however great the necessity was, the Son of God amply satisfied it." ⁸

These two sides of the atonement, I believe, are also evident in Hebrews 12:2: "Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Here again is that same familiar pattern. On the one hand is the cross symbolizing the death of Christ; on the other hand is His efficacious ministry at the right hand of God. In the first event Jesus is the pioneer of our faith and in the latter action He is the perfecter of it.

In this proposal we do not reject the previously mentioned position that the life of Christ in Romans 5:10 means His working power through the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. There is an integral relationship between the heavenly ministry of Christ and our sanctified life. But my contention here is that there is more implied in the phrase "by his life" than the resurrection, the efficacy of His mere existence, or His action on earth through the Holy Spirit.

There is some real saving action going on in heaven action analogous in importance to His sacrificial death, action without which we would not ultimately be saved. Jesus is at this moment active in man's behalf. As we put together the totality of scriptural revelation we find that there is much implied in these words: "Much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life."