New Creation as Distinguished from Justification

This is a distinction which it is impossible to ignore without doing violence to dispensational truth, and losing the blessing to our own souls of the knowledge of what our wonderfully elevated portion is “in Christ” —a portion unique and incomparable.
In the epistle to the Romans (3 to 5:11), we have the doctrine of justification elaborately worked out and established; but it starts with Abraham as the pattern of a justified person. And let us remember that justification is no question of degree. I am justified before God, accounted righteous that is, or I am not. Consequently no saint of God can surpass Abraham in this, to whatever dispensational period he may belong. Abraham was accounted righteous before God, and more than that can none in that respect be. It is absolute and final, as unmeasured as it is unchangeable. It will be readily seen that it is an entirely judicial thing. I was “guilty before God” (Romans 3:19); but now through His grace I am not merely forgiven (blessed as that is in respect to my sins with which forgiveness has alone to do), but I, who “before God” had no other ground than that of guilty—a guilty, condemned person—am now justified; for righteousness is reckoned to me, or, in other words, I am accounted to be an absolutely righteous person by and before God. This is justification.
But where does Scripture connect this with being in See note at the end of this article. —ED.
Christ? Did it do so, either Abraham could not have been thus justified or he must have been in Christ equally with the saints of this day, either of which conclusions would be contrary to the truth. As to this I only add that justification is entirely of the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus—the mercy-seat; as Romans 3:24,25 clearly teaches.
We say then of the believer that he has not only the forgiveness of his sins, but that he is a justified person, henceforth and forever accounted before God as righteous; for as in courts of law a person is proved guilty or accounted innocent, so “before God” we are absolutely guilty, and thus “under judgment to God” or accounted righteous—to express which the Holy Ghost has used this forensic term justification. But it cannot too much be insisted upon, that the force and value of the doctrine is missed unless we clearly distinguish between forgiveness and justification. It is evident that our sins called for forgiveness, not justification, the very thought of which would be horrible. This forgiveness we have because they have been righteously disposed of and put away from God’s sight, the Lord Jesus having borne them in His own body on the tree. Moreover we, once standing as sinners guilty before God, having believed on Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, have been justified by His blood; in other words, have had righteousness imputed to us. This, we say, is our justification, the doctrine of which would be vitiated did we add “in Christ;” for all can see the impossibility of righteousness being imputed to Him.
What then is it to be in Christ? Scripture itself answers, “A new creation.” It is the doctrine of 2 Corinthians (vs. 17), of Galatians (6:15), and of Ephesians (2:10). In each of these Scriptures the doctrine of new creation is introduced, and in each case it is either “in Christ” or “in Christ Jesus.” But, be it observed, for a new creation you must have a new Head—the One indeed who is “the beginning of the creation of God.” (Revelation 3:14.) Accordingly from Romans 5:12 the apostle begins a new subject—that of the two headships. It is now no longer a question of sins, but of sin, the root question. To answer which the apostle introduces the one man who sinned and his race, and then the one man Jesus Christ, the last Adam, Him that was to come. Further, he speaks of sin abounding and grace super-abounding in order that grace might reign on the principle of righteousness as sin had reigned in the power of death. But as these contrary things are going on in the one scene of operations, the question is asked, Should we continue in sin that grace may abound? Far be the thought. We have died to sin. How can we live in it? Our old man has been crucified with Christ that sin as a whole might be annulled and we emancipated; for he that has died is forever cleared or discharged from sin. Christ has once for all died to sin, and lives unto God. We once for all died with Christ, and are alive unto God in Him. We have eternal life in Him (6:23), are clear of all condemnation, and are free from the law of sin and death, because of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus having given us liberty. (8:1, 2.) Thus it is in connection with the Holy Ghost. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Nor is this ever enjoyed but where the Holy Ghost has been received; for while the work of Christ is the foundation of this and every other blessing, it is only by the Holy Ghost dwelling in us that we can say we are in Christ and Christ is in us.
Thus far the epistle to the Romans and the two headships. In 2 Corinthians, in Galatians, and in Ephesians this truth, as we have seen, is connected with new creation, where its full character comes out. In one respect this and justification exhibit an analogy; namely, they are alike unqualified, absolute, and eternal. He that is in Christ a new creation is absolutely so, and is this for eternity. The blessing is looked at as constituting a new order of being, expressed in that remarkable word “alive unto God.” And whereas “justification,” as we have seen, is a judicial term, “in Christ” is more properly a generic term. Instead of belonging to the house or race or seed of the first man, I now belong to that of the second man, sari generis. I am in Him a new creation, dead unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus.
Thus argues the apostle: “Old things have passed away,” “All things have become new,” “All things are of God.” And again, in Galatians, circumcision goes for no more than uncircumcision; for it is a new creation that avails before God. And so also in Ephesians, we are God’s workmanship—no marring of the image and likeness of God by Satan’s craft and man’s sin, but God’s unsullied workmanship, a creation in Christ Jesus for good works, and these too prepared of God for us to walk in—all blessedly of God.
Guilty Now accounted righteous Justification Under judgment to God|Justified before Him||
In Adam|In Christ|New Creation|
In the flesh|In the Spirit||

In Ephesians we read that we are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ, and that we are seated there in Him. All this is unquestionably of grace, and is made good to us by the Holy Ghost, our holding and enjoying it, as against the antagonism of wicked spirits, being by spiritual conflict as strong in the Lord and the power of His might. In Colossians we read that we are “complete in Him;” but more correctly it is we are “filled full.” In Him dwelleth all the fullness bodily, and we are filled full in Him.
Let us recall then what we have considered.
The Lord Jesus, having borne our sins on the cross, has forever put them away, and therefore as soon as we have exercised faith we can say we are forgiven, or, in other words, have the remission of all our sins; for no longer have they any place between us and God. This is our cleansing, and is especially connected with the Lord’s death and blood-shedding.

I have been brought unto God, and set righteously before Him. Once I was “guilty before God,” now I am cleared of all guilt, and justified in His presence to walk “in the light, as He is in the light.” He has imputed righteousness unto me because I have believed on Him; in other words, I am accounted righteous, having justification before God. This is a purely judicial thing, and is specially connected with the Lord’s resurrection.

I have died with Him, and am now alive unto God in Him. I am in Christ and Christ in me, effected by the Holy Ghost dwelling in me. Having died, I am freed from sin as a principle, have got my discharge from its dominion. I am under a new headship; the law of sin and death is for me annulled, and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has taken its place and is liberty. This is a generic thing. There is a new creation, of which I am part, and Christ is Himself the Head and Beginning thereof. I am taken out of my condition in Adam as guilty, and “under judgment to God,” and set in Christ in new creation and under new headship. This being made ours in the unction and energy of the Holy Ghost, dwelling in and working with us, is the fruit of Christ’s being glorified; for it is as set at God’s right hand He is made unto us Lord and Christ, and has shed forth the Holy Ghost. It is our new order of life and blessing—the new creation.

We have title to the heavenlies in Him—there blessed with all spiritual blessings, and there seated too in Him. But we can only occupy and enjoy our portion there as we wage conflict with wicked spirits, who seek to hinder and to disturb. This is an experimental thing, for which the whole armor of God and the sword of the Spirit and faith and prayer are needed. It is our new place of blessing.

5. We are filled full in Him. This is not what we are judicially before God, nor what we are generically as in Christ, nor where we are as to the scene of our blessing, but, as distinguished from what we are and where we are, indicates what we have in Him in whom we are blest; filled full in Him in whom all the fullness is, the glorified Man, in whom all our resources are found in divine fullness. W. R.
NOTE. —In reading the above article it will be necessary for the reader to bear in mind the especial character of the epistle to the Romans. We quote, as to this, the words of another: “We have two distinct statements in this epistle of the blessedness of believers—the passage which occupies us, chapter 5:1-11, and chapter 8. The former gives us what God Himself is for us in grace, with its blessed consequences; the latter the believer’s place in Christ before God, and what God is for him there.” Again, “To connect the second part of the Romans with the first as a continuous process is a mistake. Guilt by our acts is a different thing from our state as children of Adam. In one we are guilty and (unless justified) come into judgment; in the other we are lost. The effect of the work of Christ is to clear forever all our sins away. They are remembered no more, and as when He had by Himself purged our sins He sat down on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, we are, besides being purged, risen in Him in the new standing which is the effect of His redemption for man.” Further as to Romans 5:12-21: “We have now another subject, one man the head as to sin, one as to obedience. The many connected with the former constituted sinners by his offense, and the many connected with the latter constituted righteous (by his obedience).” Then in chapter vi. the same writer remarks: “Our resurrection with Christ is not spoken of here; that involves union with Him.” In another place he says, speaking of the exaltation of Christ, “We are united to Him in His new and glorious state as Head. (Ephesians 1, 2.) But this is a new creation.”
These remarks have been cited to show the importance of rightly dividing this epistle; and the reader, comparing them with its teaching, will undoubtedly see that “in Christ” in Romans does not imply union with Him, and is consequently not of itself connected with the new creation. It expresses the new place or standing into which the believer is brought “as the effect of redemption.” Connected with being in Christ there are two additional things—sealing with the Holy Spirit, and Christ in us; and thus we have also our new condition—in the Spirit, as contrasted with being in the flesh. (Romans 8:9.) Moreover, inasmuch as “in Christ” in Romans does not imply union with Him, neither is the Headship of Christ in, chapter 5 connected with the new creation. “It is a state dependent on the conduct of the head. This is the great point here. The Lord and Adam by their act and conduct bring those connected with them into a certain condition.”
As a general remark it may be added, that it is essential to the understanding of the truth of God always to bear in mind the distinctive teaching of the several epistles. —End “BECAUSE I LIVE, YE SHALL LIVE ALSO.”
Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also
The evangelists in their ministry preached “the kingdom of heaven as at hand,” when Jesus as the prophet and teacher of Israel was in their midst, and presented it to them as the promised Messiah. By its rejection through their testimony, He made Peter and James and John acquainted with the further mysteries of the King of glory, and of His millennial kingdom at the Mount of transfiguration, but postponed till “His people should be willing in the day of His power.” More remarkably too, when He joined them on the other side of His death, and after His resurrection, He reproved them for their slowness of heart, adding, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and” (by the pathway of His sufferings and rejection) “to enter into His glory”. It is upon these foundations of eternal wisdom and power, and upon such a basis as the death and resurrection of Christ, that a revelation from God came forth which declares the only begotten Son to be “the Yea and Amen” of His promises and counsels from everlasting to everlasting; and that the times and seasons for their fulfillment are held in His hands. Paul’s commission was distinctly from this risen Son of man, “whom God had made strong for Himself”—the Son of man in the glory of God; and these are the glad tidings which He preached to every creature under heaven, and which He opened out “for the obedience of faith.” What wonder was it in a sinful world, and by declaring “one Jesus” as the central object before God for every purpose, present and future, that He should be accused of turning the world upside down? Nor is it any marvel that by setting aside “man in the flesh” in all his pretensions, and thus exposing the world, and Satan in his rebellion, he became “the prisoner of the Lord” in it, and in chains. Christianity was thus established in Christ above, and upon this earth beneath, through this very Christ of God raised from the dead by “the glory of the Father,” and seated in His place on high as Head over all things to the Church which is His body— “the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.” “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, as minister and witness, is correspondingly in his proper place below to perfect the testimony as a suffering prisoner in a world that had broken loose from God, and avowed its enmity by rejecting and crucifying His Son. “Lo, I come to do thy will, O God,” lay outside and beyond all mere human responsibility, and brought the Son from the Father’s bosom, to act according to the power which was given Him over all flesh; namely, “that He should give eternal life to as many as thou past given Him.” In the power of this life eternal, and as united to Christ, and under the anointing of the Spirit, Paul came forth with “the mind of Christ” in chapter 3, to throw off the things which distinguished him as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and which made him of reputation among men, “that he might win Christ, and be found in Him.” His new consistency “as a minister and witness” was consistency with Christ, and therefore he says, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ;” and in carrying out this rule of trans figuration, he adds, “Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss: for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” In the power of the Holy Ghost, Christ is thus become the pattern to whom this apostle is conformed, “by the will of God,” as a servant in the energy of his new life and nature. Not only does this man of previous renown and attainments in the Jew’s religion (who, touching the righteousness which is in the law, was blameless) make himself of no reputation, and count the things that were gain to him loss for Christ, but he refuses to trust in the flesh, and boast any longer of his pedigree, or even to know himself as of the stock of Israel. He goes ahead of all that he was by birth and natural descent from this favored race, in order to ennoble himself “by grace and calling,” and to boast of another genealogy through “power from on high.” He even writes of himself according to this new style, “When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood.”
The “power of the Highest” shall overshadow thee, were the words of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary at the annunciation; “therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” The twelve apostles began and continued their testimony to the Messiah, in a world scarcely woke up as yet out of the fall; but primarily to the Israel of the living God, till another messenger, and a witness from the risen Lord in glory, was sent forth to preach Christ among the Gentiles likewise. Guided in his course by the Spirit to Philippi, Paul made known this power in grace to Lydia, “whose heart the Lord opened,” and to the women who were gathered together by the riverside, where prayer was wont to be made. The great text for Paul’s life in the Son of God was, “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.” The power which wrought in Christ was ever before his soul, and having this life in Christ (by the energy of the Spirit), he neither could nor would tread any other path. It was as having “the mind of Christ,” he writes to the Philippians, “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Adversities only favored him in this course; for once and again in the region about Lycaonia he had become a witness and a sufferer with Christ, and literally conformed to His death; for “the people having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” The power of resurrection wrought in measure for Paul (and the other apostles of Jesus Christ), and displayed itself the more by these unlikely means— “Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and came into the city.” J. E. B.
As spirituality becomes feeble, the exercise of mind, and the play of mere natural feelings, becomes a necessary aliment. But to the soul fresh in its spirituality, the word of God has more sweetness in its least statements (for they come from God) than any indulgence whatever of the mental powers.
Different Uses of the Word “Man”
Man as a creature of God is a tripartite being, composed of body, soul, and spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:23); but these two last are often spoken of under the one term—the soul: “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” (Matthew 10:28.) The soul is immortal, so it never dies, and it never sleeps. Hence all the dead live unto God (Luke 20:38), a solemn thought for the unsaved. But man as such is said to live only when in his body; for he is not complete as a man without it. As for the body it can die; but, if it dies, it will be raised to die no more (Revelation 20); that the person as a whole—body, soul, and spirit, may live forever, whether in weal or in woe. The death of the body is but temporal. The second death, which is the lake of fire, is not in any sense a ceasing to exist; the person as a whole, who is cast into it, and as alive, will be tormented there forever and ever. (Revelation 20:10.) Resurrection then of the body is a consequence of death, because man is a responsible creature, and so must render an account of his deeds to God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, before whose judgment-seat we must all be manifested, whether converted or unconverted (2 Corinthians 5:10), to receive the things done in the body, according to what we have done, whether it be good or bad. Hence the sleeping saints; i.e. those whose bodies are in the dust, will share in the resurrection from the dead; whilst the ungodly will only share in the resurrection of the dead. For, alas! man is now a fallen creature; and since all are not saved, there will be a resurrection of the just and also of the unjust; a resurrection unto life, and a resurrection unto judgment. (Acts 24:15; John 5:29.)
Such is the creature man. But as there are different senses in which the word man is used, it may be helpful to some to distinguish them. We read of the outer man and the inner man; of the old man and of the new man; of the first man and of the second man. To this we may add the natural man, the fleshly man, and the spiritual man.
Now, first, of the outward man and the inner man. These are the two parts of every man, whether converted or unconverted; the outward man referring to the body which can die (2 Corinthians 4:16); the inner man (Romans 7:22; 2 Corinthians 4:16; Ephesians 3:16) referring to the heart, mind, etc.; all that is within the body, but is distinct from it, and which can never die. Ephesians 3:16 may help to make this clear, as we read, “That ye may be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.” And again (Romans 7:22), “I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,” etc. Here the heart and the mind are the inward man. These terms then, outward and inward, contrast the material and the spiritual parts of man as a child of Adam.
The old man and the new man speak of two natures, both of which are only found together in one really born of God. The old man, παλαίος (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9) is a term used of that sinful nature which governs the unconverted, and which we all inherit from Adam. It is also called the flesh, and sin. (Galatians 5:19; Romans 7:20.) The new man (καινος in Ephesians 4:24, and νεὸς, in Colossians 3:10) tells us that this nature, derived from the new birth, is to man one wholly new in kind, and so called καινὸς; and new as to time, seeing he did not formerly possess it, so it is called also νεὸς. That which formerly characterized him ere his conversion, the walking after the dictates of the old or former man, is to characterize him no longer. For that old man has been crucified with Christ; i.e. judicially dealt with by God at and on the cross; and now the nature that the Christian has received, as born of God, is to be seen working in him. For the new man is created, according to God, in truthful righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24); but though new as to time—νεὸς it is a nature only, and not power, so is to be renewed, ἀνακαινόυμενον, unto full knowledge, ἐπίγνωσιν, according to the image of Him that has created him. (Colossians 3:10.) As new then, καιωὸς, it is wholly different from the old, παλαίος man; and as new, νέος, or recent, there was a time when the person did not possess it. The man then, the Christian, is a person composed of parts—body, soul, and spirit; with two natures diametrically opposite the one to the other; the one, the old man, only and wholly evil; the other, the new man, which is impeccable. At times the person may be viewed as identified with the one, and at times as identified with the other. An instance in Galatians 2:20 will make this plain: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Him: self for me.” The new man is not crucified with Christ. The old man was. So “I am crucified with Christ “views the person as identified with the old man, for whose actions he is and will be held responsible. “I live,” etc., views the same person as identified with the new man.
Further, the distinction between the two natures in the Christian’s inner man can be seen in Ephesians 4:22-24: “Your having put off according to the former conversation the old man, corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and being renewed in the spirit of your mind; and having put on the new man,” etc. Here the old man and the new man designate of course the two natures, and the mind refers to the inward man; one part of every child of Adam, whether converted or not.
3. We come now to the terms, the first man and the second man. These are two persons, Adam and the Lord Jesus Christ; the two heads of races, the natural and the spiritual. All of us by nature are ranged under the headship of Adam; and every Christian is ranged under the headship of Christ. So we speak of being in Adam, or in Christ. The condition of the first man, consequent on his act of disobedience, characterizes, and the results which flow from his act involve, all ranged under his headship. The condition consequent on the act of obedience to death of the second man characterizes, and the results of His obedience concern, all who are ranged under His headship. All mankind are involved in the one. All saints share in the other. That we learn from Romans 5:12-18. But this truth of headship has not only a moral application, it concerns the person of the saint in his body as well. So we read, “The first man out of the earth, earthy (χοἴκός); i.e. made of dust; the second man, out of heaven. Such as he made of dust, such also those made of dust; and such as the heavenly One, such also the heavenly ones. And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall bear also the image of the heavenly One.” (1 Corinthians 15:47-49.) The reader will be helped in the understanding of the passage, if he remembers that the apostle is treating of the resurrection of the body. We bear in our bodies the image of the earthy one; i.e. the one made of dust. We shall in our bodies bear, when we see the Lord Jesus, the image of Him, the heavenly One. The contrast here is not a moral one, as the term earthy, not earthly, will show.
Lastly (4) we read of the natural (ψυχικός) man, the fleshly (σάρκιωος.), and the spiritual man (πνευματικός). All three are mentioned in 1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:1. These are different states or conditions, in one of which every person on earth must be classed. The natural man (ψυχικός) describes a person without spiritual life, animated only by his created soul. The fleshly one (σάρκινος) is one born of God, but without the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. So in Romans 7, in delighting in the law of God after the inward man, he finds he has no power to do what is right. So he says, “I am fleshly” (not carnal, which would be σαρκικός) “sold under sin.” Again the apostle, addressing the Corinthians, who, though really richly endowed with all spiritual gifts, were not walking in the energy of the Holy Ghost, tells them he writes to them as unto fleshly (not canal); i.e. as to those who were quickened, yet were without the energizing power of the Spirit, for they were not using it. They were not really fleshly, but he addresses them as such. But the spiritual man is one in whom the Spirit is, and who is guided and energized by Him. Every true Christian then is spiritual as to his condition, though he may be walking like a fleshly person, and be even carnal in his ways.
Briefly then, to sum up, we have first (1) the different parts of man, which will always characterize him as the creature man. Those parts which he has by his birth as a man will exist in eternity. He will, as raised or changed, always have a body, a soul, and a spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:2,3.) But from the saint all taint and presence of sin will be removed, and his body will be fashioned like to Christ’s body of glory.
Next (2) we have glanced at the two natures now in the saint. But, thank God, he will by-and-by be freed forever from the old man, the fruit of the fall, and only have throughout eternity the new man.
Thirdly (3) we have two persons, two heads of races, under the term first man and second man. Saints are now by the Holy Ghost in Christ ranged under His headship, though still bearing the image of the. first man, looking forward when the change comes to bearing instead, and then forever, the image of the second, the heavenly One.
Lastly (4) we learn there are three conditions, in one of which every person on earth must be classed, either natural, fleshly, or spiritual, this last condition not being reached by attainment or walk, but consequent on being sealed with the Spirit. It is plain then we must not confound the inner man with the new man, nor the first man with the old man, if we would speak or think correctly. C. E. S.