The Fulfilment of God's Purpose
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1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 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,
4 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.
Rom
Liberation From the Law of Sin and Death
Liberation From the Law of Sin and Death
Paul begins verse 2 with“For” The NIV translates this “because”. Meaning the statement made in verse 1 is true because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. So, it is for this reason that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. You could simplify it to “because they are in Christ Jesus.” That phrase “in Christ Jesus” is the common link here. So we could say it this way.
There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus because those who are in Christ Jesus have been liberated from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life.
So I have two questions,
W
What is the law of sin and death
What is the law of the Spirit of life
What is the law of the Spirit of life?
Paul seems to use a word play here by referring to it as the law. I believe he does this to contrast it with the law of sin and death. Essentially it is the gospel. The law of the Spirit of life is the receiving of the Spirit of life of those who are in Christ Jesus.
So to be in Christ Jesus is to receive the Spirit of life which is the Holy Spirit.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him 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 dwells in you.
What is The law of sin and death
Paul said...
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.
What Law is this? It’s the same law that says you shall not covet 7:7 so it is the law of Moses. Paul made it quite clear in ch 7 that this law in and of itself is not sin 7:7 and it is not death 7:13. So why does he call it the law of sin and death here? I believe he clarifies in vs 3
3 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,
The flesh is the weakness not God’s law.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
So then the law which is meant to be life could not be life for me because of the weakness of my flesh. What the law could not do is give me life it could not fulfil God’s purpose in me. It could not justify me and it could not sanctify me.
Justify: To be made righteous or just
Sanctify: The generic meaning of sanctification is "the state of proper functioning." To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer. A pen is "sanctified" when used to write. Eyeglasses are "sanctified" when used to improve sight. In the theological sense, things are sanctified when they are used for the purpose God intends. A human being is sanctified, therefore, when he or she lives according to God's design and purpose.
This is what the law cannot do in that it is weak through our flesh. It can never cause me to live according to God’s design and purpose.
God’s design and purpose was that we be in the image of God. To reflect His glory and His perfect nature . The law can never accomplish this in us we bear in our flesh the corrupted image of Adam.
So if through the Law I can never live according to God’s design and purpose then what is my hope? How can I be sanctified?
3 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,
Rom 8:
So what the law could not do God did. Notice the finality of that statement “God did”.
Paul seems to use a word play here by referring to it as the law. I believe he does this to contrast it with the law of sin and death. Essentially it is the gospel. The law of the Spirit of life is the receiving of the Spirit of life of those who are in Christ Jesus.
So just to clarify again What the law could not do is justify or sanctify me. So how did God do both of these things.
So to be in Christ Jesus is to receive the Spirit of life which is the Holy Spirit.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him 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 dwells in you.
Condemnation of Sin in the Flesh
Condemnation of Sin in the Flesh
Notice the wording “condemned sin in the flesh” Why did Paul word it this way? Because he wants us to be clear that the reason there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus is because God has already condemnation on sin in the flesh.
3 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,
Rom 8:
Notice again, Paul is very careful with his wording here. God sent His own Son (that’s Jesus) in the “likeness” of “sinful flesh”
Jesus was not sinful he had no sin.
As it tells us in Heb.
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
So the question then is
Who’s sin is condemned in Christ?
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Cor 5:21
Sin had to be condemned, so God loved us so much that he sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and He laid on Him the sins of us all and then poured our His wrath on His own Son so that sin could be condemned and I could have no condemnation.
The law could never do that. But God did. But not only do we have Justification through what God has done we also have
Sanctification By the Spirit in Christ Jesus
Sanctification By the Spirit in Christ Jesus
Sanctification By the Spirit in Christ Jesus
Sanctification By the Spirit in Christ Jesus
We can now live according to the purpose of God for our lives
4 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.
To have the righteous requirement of the law fulfilled in me is the same as being in the image of God. So how can I be in the image of God?
how can I be in the image of God?
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Jesus is the brightness of the glory of God, He is the express image of His person so if I am in Christ Jesus then I am in the image of God the Father.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Cor
There is a sense in which this is already, and a sense in which it is yet to come.
The righteousness of God has been reckoned to my account I am the righteousness of God. And yet the righteousness of God is being fulfilled in me the more I walk in the spirit rather than the flesh