Scripture Read: Romans 8:1-9 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 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, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
Application: What a complete denouncement of the Flesh this is! No wiggle room, no compromise. In an age where we try to make excuses for every behavior this passage growls to us the reality an truth. Yet in the midst of this growl comes the incredible truth of His grace.Weak – ἀσθενέω asthenéō - can also mean “impotence” in the sense of “inner poverty” or “incapacity.” Thus we read of the inability of the Law in respect of the salvation of men
Condemned – κατακρίνω katakrínō One cannot seek a single historical fact in which the condemnation is pronounced and executed. Paul is obviously thinking of the totality of what God has done, and does, through His Son. He has in mind the whole movement from the incarnation to the impartation of the Spirit to believers
Requirement - δικαίωμα dikaíōma; in Paul’s eyes it is important to emphasize that there is for the Gentiles a recognizable divine order which is to be embraced, not as a sum of commands, but (in the sing.) as the one divine will. There is an intentional distinction when in Rom. 2:26 Paul refers to the statutes of the Law in the plural: τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ νόμου. Nor is it accidental that in Rom. 8:4, which refers to the fulfillment of this demand by walking in the Spirit, the singular is used again to denote the Law in its unity[1] [2]
How appropriate the meaning of “weak” is - Inner poverty – what a truth! The Law could not move the flesh to live right because it had no strength from within – due to the corruptness of the flesh. The Law is powerful from God when in God – but in the flesh it cannot accomplish what it should. The whole plan was a condemnation upon sin – no escape – what God did in Christ guaranteed sin’s defeat. In one move God fulfilled everything that needed to be fulfilled to meet the Law’s requirement for man to be accepted by a Holy God. Lord this is too much for us – We understand yet we do not! This is why there is now no condemnation – when we are in Jesus – His one work = life, death, resurrection – fulfilled ALL the requirements – the whole thing. This is why we are just as accepted in the midst of our sin as any other time. This is the reason many continue to live in defeat – they think if they TRY hard enough they will finally make it – the Truth is Yielding is the key. The Flesh is into trying because when we focus on effort we empower the flesh – and we have just seen how that will not work according to our passage. But when we focus on yielding our eyes remain on Him and we believe His grace will empower us from His Spirit to see victory. This will slow down our life because we must remain in a meditative mindset to yield. Father thank you for so great a grace – We are so undeserving! We love You Dad!
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