Excerpts from the CNT:

Romans first shows us that for our experience and enjoyment the Lord’s status is of two natures, human and divine. These two natures of Christ’s person are indicated by the two titles of Christ in Romans 1:1-4—seed of David and Son of God. These verses say, “Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who came out of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was designated the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

According to His human nature, Christ is the seed of David, a descendant of a person in history (Matt. 1:1; 22:42). According to His divine nature, He is the Son of God, the expression of God. In the New Testament the title Son of God means the expression of God (John 5:19; 14:7-9; Heb. 1:3). As the Son of God, Christ expresses God the Father: “No one has [3014] ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). No man has ever seen God, yet the Son as the Word of God and the speaking of God has declared Him (v. 1; Rev. 19:13; Heb. 1:2). The Father is the invisible God, the hidden God; the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is the manifest God. As the seed of David and the Son of God, Christ is the complete God and the perfect man, the God-man.

a. The Contents of the Gospel

This mysterious person with a wonderful status of two natures—the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed of David and the Son of God—is the contents of the gospel of God which is revealed in the entire book of Romans. The book of Romans is a book on the gospel of God. The entire book—from chapter 1, which concerns the person of Jesus Christ the God-man and the righteousness of God, to chapter 16, which concerns the local churches as the expression of the Body of Christ—is the gospel, the good news and glad tidings (10:15), of God to men in its completeness. No other book presents to us the gospel of God in such a complete way as Romans does. In chapter 1 of Romans, we see Christ as a wonderful person with two natures—divine and human—and in the last chapter we see the local churches. This indicates that the beginning of the gospel is Christ and the consummation of the gospel is the local churches. These local churches are the issue of the dispensing of Christ’s person with His divine and human nature. This One is dispensed into God’s chosen and redeemed people to make them members of the Body of Christ as the church of God, which is expressed around the globe as the local churches. The gospel of God is thus God’s entire New Testament economy, and the center of this gospel of God is Jesus Christ the God-man.

The gospel of God as revealed in Romans is not concerned with religion, doctrine, or forms, nor is it merely concerned with redemption, forgiveness, or justification. As Romans 1:3-4 makes clear, the gospel of God is concerned with God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. This indicates that the gospel is concerned with sonship. God’s delight, desire, and pleasure are all [3015] related to His Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; Gal. 1:15-16). Romans 8:28-29 then reveals that it is God’s intention to produce many sons conformed to the pattern, the model, of Christ as the firstborn Son of God. Through Christ, in Christ, and with Christ, many sons are being produced. Romans 1:3-4 gives us Christ, God’s Son, as the prototype, and 8:29-30 unveils the many sons as the mass production. Thus, the gospel of God is concerned with producing many sons conformed to the image of Christ.

b. Jesus Christ Our Lord

According to 1:3-4, the One who is the seed of David and the Son of God is “Jesus Christ our Lord.” His name is Jesus, His title is Christ, and He is our Lord. Jesus, a name given by God, is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua (Num. 13:16), which means “Jehovah the Savior,” or “the salvation of Jehovah.” Hence, Jesus is not only a man but Jehovah, and not only Jehovah but Jehovah becoming our salvation. Thus, He is our Savior. He is also our Joshua, the One who brings us into rest (Heb. 4:8; Matt. 11:28-29), which is Himself as the good land to us (Col. 1:12).

Christ is the title of the Lord according to His office, His mission. Christ is the anglicized form of the Greek word Christos, which is equivalent to the Hebrew Messiah. Both Messiah in Hebrew and Christos in Greek mean “the anointed One.” Christ is God’s Anointed, the One appointed by God to accomplish God’s purpose, His eternal plan. His appointment is related to the Lord’s commission. His commission is to accomplish God’s eternal purpose through His crucifixion, resurrection, ascension, and second advent. When this anointed One was crucified, He was carrying out His function as the Christ. Not only His death but also His resurrection and ascension were part of His function. Therefore, Christ, the anointed One, carried out His function through crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension so that God may dispense Himself into us for the producing of the church.

Our Lord refers to His lordship. Jesus became the Lord after His ascension to the heavens (Acts 2:36). This means that a man from Nazareth named Jesus has been made the Lord of [3016] all (10:36). Thus, the man Jesus Christ is our Lord. This lordship is now in the Spirit. In the Lord Spirit we have the elements of ascension and lordship (2 Cor. 3:18). Whenever we turn to our spirit and call upon the name of the Lord, we should enthrone the Lord, giving Him the lordship in us. We must repent to the Lord and say, “Lord, forgive me. I am not under Your lordship, Your authority. Lord, I confess that I have been ruled only by myself.” We need to allow the Lord to be on the throne within us, honoring Him as our Lord.

c. The Seed of David according to the Flesh in His Humanity

Regarding the status of Christ, we should note that the phrase according to is used twice in Romans 1:3-4: He was the seed of David according to the flesh, and He was the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness. The two occurrences of according to in 1:3-4 show that the Lord has two essences—the human essence and the divine essence. For this reason, Christ could be of two natures; He could be at the same time divine and human as well as human and divine. Hence, He is a wonderful person. He is not only God but also man; He is not only man but also God. He is the complete God plus the perfect man. Therefore, many great Bible teachers through the centuries have considered Christ to be the God-man.

Christ is the seed of David according to the flesh and in His humanity (v. 3). Here flesh refers not to created man—man as originally created by God—but to fallen man—man who became flesh through the fall. When God first created man, man was not flesh. However, man’s fall brought sin into man’s nature, changing created man into fallen man. Genesis 6:3 indicates that by the time of the flood, the entire human race had become flesh. When Christ became flesh as the seed of David, He became a man in the likeness, the form, of fallen man but without the sinful nature. Romans 8:3 says that God sent “His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin.” Christ does not possess any sin; He has nothing to do with sin (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; 1 John 3:5). Hence, when Christ became flesh, He was only in the likeness of the flesh of sin and did not have the sin of the flesh. This is typified by the bronze serpent [3017] lifted up by Moses for the sinful Israelites (Num. 21:9; John 3:14). The bronze serpent was in the form, the likeness, of the actual serpent but did not have its poison. Christ was made in “the likeness of the flesh of sin,” but He did not participate in any way in the sin of the flesh.

d. The Son of God Designated in Power according to the Spirit of Holiness out of the Resurrection of the Dead in His Divinity

(1) Designated the Son of God

The Jews recognized the Lord’s status as the seed of David according to the flesh. Many of them admitted that Jesus was a royal descendant of David (Matt. 1:1; 9:27; 12:23; 21:9, 15). However, regarding the Lord’s status as the Son of God, there was a great controversy among the Jews when He was on the earth (Mark 2:5-7; John 6:41-42). One day the Lord Jesus asked His disciples a question, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). They said, “Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14). This indicates that the Jews debated among themselves concerning His person. Without heavenly revelation they could realize, at most, only that He was the greatest among the prophets; none of them could know that He is the Son of the living God (v. 16). Eventually, the Jews condemned Him to death because He claimed that He was the Son of God (26:63-66; 27:43; Mark 14:61-64; Luke 22:70; John 5:18; 9:35-37). For the Jewish leaders, to declare oneself as the Son of God was blasphemy (10:30-33, 36). They thought that Christ was blaspheming God because they believed that He was not the Son of God but merely a man in the flesh.

Before His incarnation and resurrection, Christ was already the Son of God. After He became incarnate, however, His divine nature was concealed by the flesh. However, according to Romans 1:4, when He entered into resurrection, He was designated in power as the Son of God in His humanity. Unlike the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11:41-44) and of others (Luke 7:11-17; 8:49-54), the resurrection of Christ was not common but very particular. Christ’s resurrection is different [3018] because His resurrection was His designation as the Son of God.

There was no need for Christ to be designated as the Son of Man, because when people saw Him, they immediately recognized that He was a man. However, there was a need for Him to be designated the Son of God because the Son of God was concealed in Him as the Son of Man. His divinity was concealed in His humanity. People could easily recognize His humanity, but not His divinity. This concealed divinity needed to be designated, made manifest, by the resurrection. When He was resurrected, He was designated, or manifested, the Son of God with His humanity.

Before His incarnation, Christ, the divine One, already was the Son of God (John 1:18; Rom. 8:3). By incarnation He put on an element, the human flesh, which had nothing to do with divinity; that part of Him needed to be sanctified and uplifted by passing through death and resurrection. By resurrection His human nature was sanctified, uplifted, and transformed. Hence, by resurrection He was designated the Son of God with His humanity (Acts 13:33; Heb. 1:5). His resurrection was His designation. Now, as the Son of God, He possesses humanity as well as divinity. By incarnation He brought God into man; by resurrection He brought man into God, that is, He brought His humanity into the divine sonship. In this way the only begotten Son of God was made the firstborn Son of God, possessing both divinity and humanity. God is using such a Christ, the firstborn Son, who possesses both divinity and humanity, as the producer and as the prototype, the model, to produce His many sons (Rom. 8:29-30)—we who have believed in and received His Son. We too will be designated and revealed as the sons of God, as He was in the glory of His resurrection (vv. 19, 21), and with Him we will express God.

(2) According to the Spirit of Holiness

Christ as the seed of David according to the flesh was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness out of the resurrection of the dead. The Spirit of holiness in 1:4 is in contrast with the flesh in verse 3. Just as the flesh in [3019] verse 3 refers to the human essence of Christ, so the Spirit in verse 4 does not refer to the person of the Holy Spirit but to the spiritual essence of Christ’s divinity, that is, the divine essence of Christ. When Christ became a man and thereby put on humanity, He did not give up His divinity. He came to be a man in His divinity, and that divinity is the Spirit (John 4:24). While Christ was on the earth, He was both God and man. According to His humanity, He was the flesh. According to His divinity, He was the Spirit. Christ is therefore one person of two natures, the divine nature and the human nature; the human nature is the flesh, and the divine nature is the Spirit. Jesus’ divinity is the Spirit of holiness. This divinity, being the Spirit of holiness Himself, has the divine power and the divine element to transform Christ’s humanity, thereby making it divine.

(3) In Power

In His resurrection Christ in His humanity was designated the Son of God, not in mere word but in power according to the Spirit of holiness. No doubt the divine power was very much exercised in His resurrection, yet we need to see that the divine power in which Christ’s humanity was designated the Son of God is the power of life. The phrase in power in Romans 1:4 corresponds with 1 Peter 3:18, which says that Christ’s flesh was put to death, but His Spirit was made alive. Here, to be made alive means to be empowered. In Christ’s death His humanity, His flesh, was crucified. Then in His resurrection God the Spirit as Christ’s divinity was enlivened with the new power of life to put divinity into the humanity of Christ to make it divine. In other words, before Christ’s resurrection, Christ’s humanity was merely human, but in Christ’s resurrection, the Spirit was made strong to impart divinity into His humanity to make it divine. Thus, in His resurrection Christ’s humanity was designated the Son of God in the divine power, and the reality of the power of Christ’s resurrection is the Spirit.

(4) Out of the Resurrection of the Dead

An especially marvelous word in Romans 1:4 is resurrection. [3020] Christ’s humanity was designated the Son of God “out of the resurrection of the dead.” In 6:5 Paul says that “we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” Christ was designated by resurrection, and we shall be in the likeness of this resurrection. As we share Christ’s resurrection, we undergo the process of being designated the sons of God. It is by resurrection, in fact, that we are designated. It was in resurrection that Christ in His humanity was designated the Son of God. By means of such a resurrection we also are in the process of being designated the sons of God.

Romans 8:11 says, “If the One who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you.” In this verse resurrection is linked to the Spirit. The Spirit is the reality of resurrection. The Spirit of Him who raised up Jesus from among the dead dwells in us as the reality of resurrection. The resurrection we experience is actually the Holy Spirit Himself. The Spirit who dwells in us is the rising-up Spirit and the designating Spirit. Day by day, this Spirit is designating us to be the sons of God.

We should praise the Lord that we have the designating Spirit within us. We have the designating Christ as resurrection within. Do not try to improve yourself or to make yourself sinlessly perfect. Rather, enjoy and experience the designating Spirit. If by the Spirit we put to death the practices of the body, we will live (v. 13). We need to walk according to the Spirit, set our mind on the Spirit, and by the Spirit put to death the practices of the body. If we walk daily according to the Spirit, we will be fully in the process of designation by resurrection. By the power of resurrection, we will be transformed, conformed, and eventually glorified.

Designation is by resurrection, which includes sanctification, transformation, conformation, and glorification. All these wonderful things are in the Spirit. By touching the Spirit, we enjoy resurrection and everything included in it. Resurrection is not a matter of doctrine; it is a matter of touching the Spirit. The simplest way to contact the Spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. The more we touch the Spirit, the more we enjoy resurrection and the more we are sanctified, [3021] transformed, and glorified. In this way we experience being designated the sons of God by the Spirit.

The more we contact the Lord by calling upon His name, the more we sense His presence and the more we are conscious of His anointing within. By calling on the name of the Lord, we are watered, refreshed, sanctified, satisfied, and strengthened. The kind of teachings we need today are those regarding how we are designated by enjoying and experiencing Christ as the life-power. If we have this kind of teaching, we will realize that in ourselves we are hopeless and helpless, and we will no longer try to improve ourselves. Rather, we will exercise our spirit to contact the Lord so that we may enjoy His anointing and participate in the process of designation by resurrection.

The goal of the gospel as revealed in Romans is that God is transforming sinners in the flesh into the designated sons of God in the spirit for the building up of the Body of Christ. We have pointed out that even the Lord Jesus as a man according to the flesh had to be designated the Son of God. Before His designation, according to the flesh He was only the seed of David; in that part of His being He was not yet the Son of God. However, by resurrection He was designated the Son of God according to the Spirit of holiness. In the same principle, according to the flesh we are sinners, but now that we have been regenerated, we can have our being according to the spirit. The more we walk according to the mingled spirit, the more we undergo the process of designation (v. 4). Day by day, we are resurrected, sanctified, transformed, and glorified. The way to be designated sons of God is not to acquire more teachings; it is to have our being according to the mingled spirit.

The center of the book of Romans, which is on the gospel of God, is an unlimited, all-inclusive, and all-extensive person, the most wonderful person in the whole universe—Jesus Christ the God-man, the seed of David and the Son of God. We should praise the Lord that He has both humanity and divinity, both the flesh and the Spirit of holiness, both the human essence and the divine essence. With Him as the prototype, there is the Spirit of holiness, the flesh, and the designation as the Son of God; we as His mass production also have the [3022] Spirit of holiness within and the human flesh without, and will be designated in full as sons of God.