Romans 8.3a-The Inability Of The Law To Deliver Sinful Humanity From The Sin Nature And Spiritual Death
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday October 15, 2008
Romans: Romans 8:3a-The Inability Of The Law To Deliver Sinful Humanity From The Sin Nature And Spiritual Death
Lesson # 242
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans chapter eight.
Sunday we studied Romans 8:1 and in this passage, Paul assured his Christian readers in Rome that because of their union with Jesus Christ they are no longer under condemnation because of their inability to obey the Law perfectly.
Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Last evening, we noted Roman 8:2 and in this passage, Paul taught the Christians in Rome that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set them free from the law of sin and of death.
Romans 8:2, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”
This evening we will begin a study Romans 8:3 and in this passage, Paul “explains how” or presents the “reason why” the life-giving Spirit’s authoritative power, by means of (the death and resurrection of) Christ Jesus has set them free from the sin nature’s authoritative power as well as spiritual death’s.
This evening we will note the first statement in this passage where Paul teaches that the Law was unable to deliver sinful humanity from the sin nature and real spiritual death.
Romans 8:3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”
The Spirit was able to set the Christian free from the tyranny of the sin nature and real spiritual death “because” or “on the basis of” the Father’s sacrifice of His Son on the Cross, which stands in contrast with the Law’s inability to effect such a deliverance.
“What…could not do” is the adjective adunatos (a)duvnato$) (ad-oo-nat-os), which describes the “inability” of the Mosaic Law to set sinful humanity free from the power of the sin nature and real spiritual death in contrast with God’s ability to do so through His Son’s Cross.
So Paul is saying in Romans 8:3 that the Law was “unable” to set sinful humanity free from the sin nature and real spiritual death because sinful humanity could not render the perfect obedience that the Law required because of the sin nature, which resides in the genetic structure of the human body.
In context, Paul is speaking of the Christian’s justification since in Romans 8:1-2, he has been speaking of it.
Therefore, the adjective adunatos describes the Law’s “inability” to justify the sinner.
“The Law” is the noun nomos (novmo$) (nom-os), which refers once again to the Mosaic Law since it is being used with reference to man’s salvation and justification.
“Weak” is the verb astheneo (a)sqenevw) (as-then-eh-o), which means, “to be powerless” indicating that the Law was “powerless” through the flesh, i.e. the sin nature to set the sinner free from the sin nature and real spiritual death.
The Law was not impotent but omnipotent since it could give life if it was kept perfectly by men.
However, because of the presence of the sin nature in men, the Law was “unable” to give life or deliver men.
Thus far in our studies of the book of Romans, Paul has taught us that no one will ever be justified by obedience to the law because of the presence of the sin nature.
Romans 3:19-20, “Now, we know for certain that whatever the Law says, it speaks for the benefit of those under the jurisdiction of the Law in order that each and every mouth may be silenced and in addition all the unsaved inhabitants of the cosmic system may be demonstrated as guilty in the judgment of God. Because each and every member of sinful humanity will never be justified in His judgment by means of actions produced by obedience to the Law for through the Law there does come about an awareness of the sin nature.”
The law makes the sinner aware of sin in his life and identifies specific sins such as coveting (3:20; 7:7).
The introduction of the Law increased the transgression of Adam in the sense that the Law exposed man’s sinful nature to disobey the revealed will of God and in fact stimulated man’s sinful nature to disobey the revealed will of God.
Romans 5:20, “Now, the Law was an addendum in order that the transgression might increase but where personal sin increased, grace infinitely abounded.”
The apostle Paul teaches in Romans 4:15 that the purpose of the Law was to bring about wrath but where there is no law, there is no violation.
Paul teaches outside of the book of Romans that the law never justifies people (Gal. 2:16; 3:11) and teaches that the law is sin’s strength (1 Cor. 15:56).
Ultimately, the purpose of the Law was to lead people to Christ (Gal. 3:24).
Romans 8:3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”
“Through the flesh” is synonymous with the expression to soma tes hamartias, “the sinful body” that appears in Romans 6:6 and denotes that the sin nature is located or resident in the genetic structure of the human body.
As was the case in Romans 6:19, 7:5, 18 and 25, Paul employs the noun sarx in Romans 8:3 in order to emphasize that the sin nature is located in the genetic structure of the human body.
As we noted in detail in previous studies in Romans that the sin nature resides in the physical body and is the reason why the human deteriorates with age and decomposes at physical death.
As we have also noted many times in our studies of the book of Romans, Adam acquired a sin nature when he disobeyed the Lord’s command to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
This sin nature was passed down to his posterity, i.e. the human race through imputation.
Romans 5:12a, “Therefore, based on this (principle), just as, through one man, the sin nature entered into the human race.”
Romans 5:19a, “For you see, just as through the one man’s disobedience, the entire human race has been rendered sinners.”
The fact that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the human body is the result of the curse that the Lord put on the body of Adam and his posterity according to Genesis 3:18-19.
The fall of Adam not only affected his fellowship with God but also it effected his environment and his physical body!
The physical bodies of human beings deteriorate with age and eventually ceased to function and decompose, which is further indication that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body.
The fact that the sin nature resides in the genetic structure of the physical body is why the justified sinner needs a resurrection body to replace his sinful body.
This is why Christ had to die physically and rise from the dead in a resurrection body because the sin nature resides in the human body.
Our Lord had to die physically to solve the problem of the sin nature since the sin nature resides in the body of every human being.
Our Lord’s resurrection body replaces the sinful body of Adam.
The believer will receive a resurrection body like Christ in order to replace his physical body that possesses the sin nature, the Adamic body according to Romans 6:4-5.
Christ also died physically in order to deprive the indwelling sin nature its power over the justified sinner and was raised from the dead to permanently eradicate the indwelling sin nature.
By doing so, He would deliver the human race from spiritual death but also physical death since both deaths are the result of possessing a sin nature.
Therefore, in Romans 8:3, the noun sarx is employed by Paul since he wants to emphasize the location of the sin nature and that it is the enemy within.
In Romans 8:3, the preposition dia is employed with the genitive form of the noun sarx as a marker of the instrument by which the Law was powerless to accomplish man’s deliverance from the sin nature and real spiritual death.
The noun sarx, “flesh” is the object of the preposition dia and functions as a “genitive of means,” which indicates that the flesh was the “means by which” the Law was always powerless to deliver the sinner.
The apostle Paul uses sarx in the genitive case rather than in the dative case to denote means since the former is closer to a causal idea than the latter.
He wishes to emphasize that the flesh, i.e. the sin nature was not only “the means by which” the Law was rendered powerless to justify sinners but also its cause.
