Sandro

This book was a milestone in my studies of the theology of the letter to the Romans. What was particularly helpful for me, was the concept of being “in Christ” after we have been “in Adam”. As much as being in Adam was an objective “status”, the being “in Christ” is also objective (as opposed to being subjective). The transition from being in Adam to being in Christ is a definitive one, with no possible return, it is the new birth including the death and burial of our “old man”, made clear through our baptism “in Christ”. It is like a change from the family of the ones being “in Adam” to the ones being “in Christ”. What now remain in me as “new man” is the “body of sin”. My body is not yet redeemed. This “body of sin” includes my members and my mind. But now, I can use my members for “righteousness” and no more for “sin”. This is the freedom I received in the new birth and it is the imperative of Romans 6:12-14. Being positioned as “in Christ” is the basis of my new life. The knowledge of the radicality of this change is the motivation to serve God with my body, my members, my mind. Douglas Moo quotes Jones when he presents the analogy of two fields separated by a wall. One side is the field of those being “in Adam” and the other side is the field of those being “in Christ”. The devil shouts over the wall to the redeemed trying to tempt them through their unredeemed bodies. Since I have read Lloyd-Jones’ book, the Christian life has become very clear for me. The sermons of Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Romans 6 can be found as audio files on the following web-site: http://www.mljtrust.org/collections/book-of-romans/6/