What the Law Could Not Do, God Did

Thinking about Romans 8:3-4.

Photo by Alicia Quan on Unsplash

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Paul has already explained that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. These are the ones who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Their freedom came not from the law but from the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.

In a chapter where Paul emphasizes that Christians must not continue living in sin, he explains what God has done for them in Christ Jesus.

What the law could not do…God did.

Paul had already pointed out in previous chapters that the Law could not justify those who sinned (Romans 3:20). Sinners needed forgiveness, and yet, the Law could only pronounce the penalty upon the lawbreakers (Hebrews 8:7-13; 9:11-15; 10:1-7).

In the passages from Hebrews mentioned above, the Hebrews writer points out that animal sacrifices could not take away sin.

So what the law could not do - God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. “The Word became flesh” and lived among us (John 1:14). Unlike the rest of us who have sinned, He was flesh and blood like us, yet He never sinned.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:21-24)

The Son of God - the one “who knew no sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21) - was made to be sin for us. The law could not do this, so God satisfied the righteous demands of the law.

What the Son did.

Jesus condemned sin in the flesh.

Jesus overcame the power of sin, by living the perfect life. He did this in His fleshly body. By His death, burial, and resurrection, He overcame the power of sin, thus pronouncing judgment upon it. By His perfect obedience in all areas He condemned sin in the flesh. - Wacaster, Studies in Romans, 279

Jesus did this so that “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Paul emphasized that the law required sinless perfection. You and I failed to live up to that holy, righteous demand (Romans 3:23). But thank God that Jesus did! And because of the sinless life that He lived, we can now be justified and righteous before God (Romans 5:8-11).

The life we have now in Christ Jesus means no longer walking after the flesh and the lusts of this world (1 John 2:15-17), but living a life depending upon God and walking according to the Spirit.

To walk “according to the Spirit” symbolizes the Christian’s life lived out under the lordship of Christ, in service to both God and man. It summarizes the Christian life. - Pollard, Truth for Today Commentary, 266

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The more we study through Romans together, the greater appreciation we develop for what God has done for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

And what we learn is a reminder that our lives ought to be lived for Him. The One who has given so much for us certainly deserves our devotion and loyalty!

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)