Christ Did

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: for sin: or, by a sacrifice for sin - Romans 8:3

    The law in this context is essentially the perfections and demands of divine justice requiring nothing less than exact conformity and obedience to the demands of it by all sinful men. The law of God could not make that which is less than perfect, perfect. The law could never make that which is unrighteous, righteous. The law could never make that which is unholy, holy. The law could never make that which is unjust, just. The weakness of the law to do so is not found in the law, but in sinful man.

    The law can only condemn and punish sin. Sinful flesh can never render anything more than what it is—sin. Neither can the law make a clean thing out of an unclean thing. Therefore, we must conclude the law is helpless to put away sin and justify the ungodly, and so man is helpless to fulfill and satisfy the law, because he is sin-full.But Christ did! Our blessed Redeemer condemned his loved ones’ sin to death by his perfect obedience, and justified the ungodly by his vicarious death. Thank God for substitution! Here we see the impossible brought to pass—The things which are impossible with men are possible with God (Lk 18:27).

    Our Lord Jesus Christ did what neither the law nor man could do. God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh was the only answer to the unanswerable question—how should man be just with God? (Jb 9:2). When someone asks me, “Who saved you?”— I can now truthfully say, “Christ did!” When someone asks, “Who obeyed the law of God to infinite satisfaction?”— I can truthfully say, “Only one Man did, Christ!” The Lord Jesus Christ condemned my sin in his flesh by his perfect obedience and bloody death, and I am thereby justified before the law of God. Is this not the best of news for a helpless sinner?