Therefore there is now no condemnation for those whoare in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in ChristJesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For whatthe 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 anoffering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that therequirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walkaccording to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
We are picking up in verse 3 where we left off three weeks ago."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 asan offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh." We said thatit has four statements in it.
- God condemned sin in the flesh.
- He did this by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinfulflesh and for sin.
- The law was not able to do this.
- The reason the law could not do this was because of ourflesh.
Last time we focused on the first two. Now we focus on the lasttwo.
So what I hope to do this morning is answer two questions: Whatwas it that the law could not do? And, Why couldn't it do it? Thereason I think this is worth a whole message is that the two thingsthat the law could not do are things that are absolutely necessaryfor us to experience if we are to have eternal life, and, eventhough the law could not and cannot do them, people still turn tothe law to get them done. In other words, it is tremendouslyrelevant to your life to know what the law cannot do for you, lestyou go there for the help you can only get from Jesus Christ.
The Law Could not Justify or Sanctify Us
First, then, what is it that the law could not do? The answer isgiven twice in Romans 8:1-4, once in verses 1-2 and once in verses3-4. Verse 1 says, "There is no condemnation for those who are inChrist Jesus." This is what we call justification –if we are in Christ Jesus – that is, if we are united toJesus by faith in him – our condemnation from God because ofour sin is taken away. God acquits us. Counts us righteous.Justifies us. He does not look upon us any longer as guilty andcondemned, but as forgiven and righteous because of what Jesus didfor us.
Then comes verse 2: "For the law of the Spirit of life in ChristJesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." This iswhat we call sanctification. After we are justified, andbecause we are justified, the Spirit of God is poured out in ourlives and begins to free us from the dominion of sin and death.This means that Christians are not only "counted" righteous injustification, but actually transformed by the Spirit of God intomore and more actually righteous, loving, holy people. This is thepractical evidence that we have trusted Christ and are united tohim and are justified in him.
Now my answer to our question is that these two things are whatthe law could not do. The law could not justify us and the lawcould not sanctify us. It was powerless to do both of these things.The first sign of this is that verse 3 begins with "for." You couldread it like this: Justification is "in Christ" (verse 1), andsanctification is "in Christ" (verse 2), for the law couldnot do these things, only Christ could, and so God sent his Son inthe likeness of sinful flesh. That's the first answer to thequestion from verses 1 and 2. Justification and sanctification cometo us by union with Christ Jesus ("in Christ") for the law couldnot make them happen.
Now the same answer comes in verses 3 and 4 as well. Verse 3says that what the law could not do is condemn sin in the flesh,that is, it could not deal with sin, absorb its punishment, removeour condemnation. So God did this by sending Jesus into the worldto die for us: "For what the Law could not do, weak as it wasthrough the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness ofsinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in theflesh." So here we have the same point as verse 1: There is nocondemnation because God executed the condemnation for our sin onhis Son. That is the basis of our justification. That is what thelaw could not do. It could not remove the condemnation for our sin.It could identify it and name it and point away from it and stir itup and rub it in. But it could not remove our punishment. God didthat in Jesus' death. So again we see that justification issomething the law could not do.
Now verse 4, like verse 2, says that this justification leads tosanctification, which was also something the law could not do– since it could not justify us. Notice verse 4 begins with"so that." This is a purpose of God's condemning sin in the flesh.God put our condemnation on Jesus and provided the basis for ourjustification "so that the requirement of the Law might befulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh butaccording to the Spirit." Walking according to the Spirit is whatwe mean by sanctification. So what we see here again, as in verses1 and 2, is that sanctification is the result or the effect ofjustification. And that means that both justification andsanctification are what the law could not do.
You can see it most easily if you just say verses 3 and 4 likethis: What the law could not do God did, namely two things: hecondemned sin by sending his Son to die for us, and because of thisbasis for justification he enables us to fulfill theessence of the law by giving us the Holy Spirit. That is what thelaw could not do: justify us and sanctify us. It could not removeour condemnation or bring about our transformation. And yet both ofthese are absolutely necessary if we are going to be saved in thelast day and have eternal life.
The Law Could not Justify Us Because We Were of Flesh
So we need to ask now: Why could the law not do these twothings? Because if we can see the reason for this weakness clearly,we will be protected from the deadly mistake of counting on the lawfor justification and sanctification. And, even better, we willknow where to look for the declaration that we are rightwith God and for the transformation that follows.
And that is so crucial for us all. You may have come todaywondering how these Baptists think about salvation and about how toget right with God and have eternal life. Well we think about itthe same way Biblical Christians have thought about it forcenturies: this is historic Christianity, not just BaptistChristianity. The law – the ten commandments and the otherrules that Moses gave the people of Israel – cannot make youright with God and cannot transform you into the kind of righteousand loving persons you want to be.
Why not? Verse 3 answers: "For what the Law could not do,weak as it was through the flesh, God did." The problemwith the law is not that its commandments are evil (Romans 7:12),but that we are evil (Romans 7:14). The word "flesh" does not meanskin, in Paul's vocabulary. It means our old fallen nature. We willsee this next week in the following verses where he contrasts themind of the flesh and the mind of the Spirit. The flesh is what weare and what life is without God and his gracious, saving work bythe Spirit. That is what the law encounters when it comes tous.
So what is the weakness of the law? The weakness of the law isthat it was not designed to redeem fallen, condemned, rebellious,selfish people like us.
Think about this first in relation to justification. The reasonwe need to be justified is that we stand under the condemnation ofGod because we are fallen. Remember Romans 5:18, "Through onetransgression there resulted condemnation to all men." Flesh iswhat we are by human nature, and what we are by human nature isunder condemnation. What is the remedy for condemnation? If you areguilty of a capital offense and under the condemnation of a deathsentence from God, what will save you?
I'll tell you what will not save you. Commandments will not saveyou when your problem is guilt and condemnation. What happens whencommandments come? Paul tells us in Romans 7:9, "When thecommandment came, sin came alive and I died." The commandmentsdon't bring about redemption, they bring about wrath. Romans 4:15,"The law brings wrath." A man who is guilty and under legalcondemnation will not be saved by commandments; he will be saved byacquittal. He needs a judge to pardon and forgive. He needsjustification by faith and not by works of the law. That's why Paulcomes to the end of his long indictment of the human race in Romans1-3 by saying, "By works of the law no human being will bejustified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge ofsin" (Romans 3:20).
So the law could not do what absolutely has to be done if we areto be rescued from our guilt and condemnation: it could not justifyus. It could not set us right with God. It could not take away ourguilt. It could not absorb our condemnation. What it did was showus our guilt (Romans 3:20; 7:7) and to make us even more sinful bystirring up the rebellion of our flesh (5:20; 7:5). "Through thecommandment sin [becomes] utterly sinful" (Romans 7:13).
Trust Jesus, not Law-Keeping
So this morning, if you want to be set right with God, don'tlook to the law. If you want to be acquitted and justified, don'tdepend on law-keeping. No amount of law-keeping can turn theverdict of guilty to not-guilty. One thing can change that verdictthat hangs over your head: the perfect Son of God living and dyingin your place. For his sake alone God counts you to be righteouswhen you trust him. Hence Romans 3:28, "We maintain that a man isjustified by faith apart from works of the Law." Trust Jesus, notlaw-keeping.
So the law cannot justify us because we are in the flesh,meaning we are fallen and condemned. And commandments of the lawcannot remove guilt and condemnation. Only Christ can.
Why Is It that the Law Could not Sanctify Us?
Now we turn to sanctification. Why can't the law sanctify us?Why can't it make us holy and righteous and loving people? Now herethere is so much to say that I think I would do a disservice to thetruth if I tried to pack it in here at the end of the message. Solet me just tell you where we are going, Lord willing, next week aswe take up this question and move with it into verses 4-8.
It is a burning issue today how Christians can live in love andrighteousness in the fragile world we have just moved into wherefear and anger lie just beneath the surface of our lives. Fear ofanthrax and bombs and the collapse of life-sustaininginfrastructures we have always taken for granted. And anger atsomeone or some people and we are not even sure who.
Do you have the resources in you to be confident and fearlessand courageous and patient and kind and fair and loving andsacrificial, not returning evil for evil, but blessing those whocurse you and praying for those who persecute you (Romans 12:17;Matthew 5:44)? Where will you look for this? Will you look to thelaw?
It won't work. Look to Christ. The living, divine, loving,omnipotent Lord who died for you and rose again and promises to bewith you and help you and satisfy your longings in life and death.Look to him. The law cannot sanctify you, but Christ can. That iswhat we will take up next week, if God wills.
Till then, if you need to get right with God this morning, lookto Christ, not the law. And if you need help being a loving andrighteous person this week – and who doesn't – look toChrist, not the law.
