All of this great book is centered
around the great doctrine of justification. So one more time,
let me go through it, albeit quickly, because I don't want
to bore you with what we've already covered lately. And that is that
in Romans 1, verse 18, down through chapter 3 and verse 20, Paul
lays out the need for a justifying righteousness, and it is owing
to the depravity of the entire race, Jew and Gentile, as we
saw here recently. Then, secondly, in chapter 3,
21 through chapter 5 and verse 21, Paul treats of the way of the
means of justification and the exhibition of that righteousness
that is provided in the Lord Jesus Christ and seen in the
life and faith of Abraham. But then, moving along to chapter
6, verse 1, through chapter 8, And verse 39, that justification
is the necessary forerunner of spiritual sanctification. That free, unmerited justification
by the grace of God rather than hindering sanctification is actually
necessary for the promotion of a sanctified life in the regenerate
and converted elect. Now this is very important for
us to perceive and to understand, that in their proper order, justification
and sanctification stand as cause and effect. First, in the experience
of the believer, is that justification applied to the heart and to the
conscience by the Spirit of grace. Justification can lead to a life
of sanctification, but sanctification can never lead to a life of justification
or justify in anyone who practices whatsoever diligence of separation. Then you're familiar that in
chapter 9, 10, and 11, Paul discusses the sovereignty of God in dealing
with people in justification. That includes the Jew and the
Gentile. Then From chapter 12 to the end,
you have those practical duties that are there for those that
are justified. The kind of life that they ought
to live and the kind of life that they will live and that
they do live because they are dead to sin in Christ and are
justified. Now, working our way closer to
our present text, Let's notice again chapter 6 and verse 1,
where there Paul begins to answer those charges that are made in
every generation against free and unmerited justification. Paul perceives that these objections
will be raised and that they will be made. And he refutes
the charge that a gracious method of justification will promote
lawlessness or antinomianism. He does that by showing that
we are dead to sin in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that it is
impossible for such a one to continue in sin, for we are dead
to sin by the body of Christ, as he says in chapter 7 and verses
1 through 4. In fact, in chapter 7, He discusses
further and at length the issue of being dead to the law by and
through the body of Christ. He also discusses and sets forth
the implications of having been made free. even giving, in chapter
7, the end, his own personal experience with sin and with
the law, how the law was able to find sin in him. how though
he was a Pharisee and thought himself blameless before the
law, yet the law was able to enter even into the motive and
the intent of his heart and find sin in him. For it said, Thou
shalt not covet, Thou shalt not unlawfully desire. Then coming to chapter 8, there
is much more here, even in what we read, that we can ever consume,
ever digest, or ever open up in but one sitting or in one
sermon. So let us come then to our subject
that we have taken for today. Let me tell you that some expositors
have called this section of Romans, Life in the Spirit. For Paul
discusses here in chapter 8, life in the spirit. Those that
have the spirit of God, those that have the spirit of grace,
those that are indwelt, those that are led, those that are
taught, those that are guided by the Spirit of God. First let us notice again the
great opening declaration in chapter 8 and verse 1. There
is now No condemnation to them, that
is, to the ones, to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now this is peculiar and specific. There is no condemnation, but
it applies to them who are in Christ Jesus. So Paul here states
a conclusion and a premise. based upon what one of my favorite
Roman expositors has called, quote, the general strain of
the doctrine that the apostle has been teaching in the preceding
part of the epistle, unquote. Such as in that section from
chapter 3 and verse 20 down to chapter 5 and verse 20, the death
of Christ in behalf of the elect, then in chapter 6 and in chapter
7, free from the law, for they are justified freely by the grace
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, Romans 3 and verse
24. It said, being justified freely
through the grace of God which is in Christ our Lord. In Pauline
theology, in the writings of Paul, in the epistles of Paul,
justification is not only the complete, but it is also the
irreversible annulment of condemnation. It is forever the opposite. It proceeds from the sovereign
grace of God, It is procured by the death of the Lord's Christ,
who died bearing the sins of the elect upon the cross, and
it is personally experienced and applied by faith, being proclaimed
in the gospel. And here Paul is laying the groundwork
for a life of sanctification, that they're justified, they're
dead to sin by the body of Christ. There is no condemnation to them
in Christ. Now the words again, no condemnation. Look at them. No condemnation. What does come then in the place
of condemnation? How is one tenured, that is,
permanently established and put in a state of justification? Is it by the deeds, by the works
of the law? Is it by observing the law that
one comes into a state of justification? Is it, as the Jews often thought,
by being a descendant of Abraham and bearing in their flesh the
mark of the token given unto Abraham? Is it by good works,
paying your bills, working, giving to charity, helping your neighbor,
and such like? Or is it by becoming a member
of a church, even a certain church, or taking up a profession of
religion. None of the above can put one
in a state of justification in the eyes of God. Maybe in their
own eyes, maybe in the eyes of others, maybe in the eyes of
a heretical church. But none of those things can
put one in a state of no condemnation. This is to be had only in and
by and through Jesus Christ. Well, then the question could
come up, how then is one in Christ? How is one coming to be in Christ? Again, not in a religion, not
in a church, but in Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God. We know one may be in a church
and be faithful and yet not be in Christ. For being in one is
not necessarily synonymous with being in the other. That is,
being in a church is not necessarily being in a state of justification. Nor to be called formally and
pass oneself off as a Christian is not necessarily the same as
being in Christ. For many there are who have assumed
the title Christian without being in Christ in the sense that the
Apostle Paul means. Thus, immunity from condemnation
belongs only to they who are in Jesus Christ, and yet None
can put themselves in Jesus Christ. None can be the cause of them
entering or being in union with Christ. Thus, being in Christ
is, as John Gill suggests, reaches back to their being chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Let me throw something else here.
Not only chosen in Christ, but having a federal union with and
in our Lord Jesus Christ. There is a vital, eternal union
of the elect with Jesus Christ because of election. They're in Him then in His incarnation
and His death. They're quickened and they're
called. And they are then in living union
with Christ. And as such, there is no condemnation. Let me emphasize it. No condemnation. There is none. There is not one. Not one. Not one of any kind. Now, note the last part of verse
1 of our text, if you will, who walk not after the flesh, but
who, that is, who walk according to the Spirit. That is, those
in Christ Jesus, their being so is manifested in their not
walking after the flesh, but in their walking after the Spirit. Now concerning that, we notice
a couple of things about the last half of verse 1 of Romans
chapter 8. The first thing I call your attention
to is these words are not in some of the manuscripts. By some you will find the words
left out in certain manuscripts and versions of the Bible. And yet the same two things,
walking after the flesh, and walking after the Spirit are
discussed and are contrasted in the verses that are just ahead. In any way, does that mean to
call your attention to the fact that down in verse 4 the exact
same words are repeated where there is no question as to their
inspired authority? Now, the second thing to notice
that they're not walking after the flesh, and they're walking
after the Spirit, is not what secures for them freedom from
condemnation. Let me repeat that. They're not
walking after the flesh, and their walking after the Spirit
is not that which secures their condemnation. I emphasize that
because some merit mongers use that as a proof text for that
very thing. Neither these are the cause why
they are exempt from condemnation as seen by the antithesis of
condemnation, which is justification. Not walking after the flesh or
walking in the Spirit does not justify them or justify us or
justify any. The negative and the positive
is the result, not the cause of justification. One could never
cease enough sin to become justified. One could never live righteous
enough to merit justification in the sight of God. So we must
give careful attention to these few verses because of the use
in different senses of some of the same word, and especially
the word law, but also the word flesh. is used here with a significant
meaning also. And the word after. Now in running
and scanning these four verses, we notice the word law, how it's
used. Notice the word flesh, and are
interested in the word after in verse four. So consider now,
pardon me, let me run through it again, the connecting words
in verse one through four. Verse one. Therefore, now. Verse 2, far, or because. Verse 3, far. Verse 4, that. That is, in order at, as we see
how the thoughts of Paul are flowing and are connected one
with the other. Now, verse 2, and I want to read
it again. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and
death. Now in that second verse, Paul
speaks personally. me. There are some who say that
it should be thee, thou, or you. But the me answers, I think,
the many eyes that Paul used in referring to himself throughout
chapter 7. Again, notice he uses the word
law in two different ways or in two different senses. Number
one, he speaks of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. Number two, he speaks of the
law of sin and of death. Both of them using the word law. So we make this point. that verse
2 supplies for us a very powerful argument in support of the promise
in verse 1. But then we ask ourselves the
question, which part, what part of verse 1? Is it the first half,
there is no condemnation to those, etc., etc., or is it the second
half? who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. Now, obviously, it cannot refer
to the second half if it is not in the original text. However,
verse 1 and verse 2 have two things that bind them together. First, there is the particle
far, and then the repetition in verse 2 of the words, In Christ
Jesus. That is, the law of the Spirit
of life is in Christ Jesus. It is in connection with Christ
Jesus. Now, it is obvious that Paul
uses the word law here in this particular place and along here
in Romans, particularly here in the second verse in some other
sense, now hear me carefully, in some other sense than what
we do when we refer to the moral law or to the Ten Commandments. James Frazier wrote in the 1700s,
that the word law demands to be considered and explained,
quote, as it seems to have a different sense in this place or verse,
unquote. He thinks that they are right
who understand the two words law there, the law of the spirit
of life and the law of sin and death, who understand it in the
sense of a power, or of a principle, or of a regulating, or of a dominating
force, power, or authority, which then has the effect of governing
the life and the actions of individuals. In other words, it operates with
such regularity that it has the force of a law. Paul mentions,
too, again in the second verse, the law of sin and death, the
law of the Spirit of life. Cannot refer to the Ten Commandments. or to the ceremonial law. Now,
he had used similar language back in verse 7 that will help
us to catch the drift of this word. In verse 21, chapter 7,
what Paul said is, I find then a law. that when I would do good, etc. Look at the 23rd verse. I see
another law. Another from the law of God in
verse 22. Then look at verse 25 of Romans
7. He speaks of and he contrasts
the law of God and the law of sin. Thus, we've seen that the word
law is used in at least three different senses by Paul here
in this part of the epistle. Number one, he uses it, of course,
of the law of God. He does that, chapter 7 and verse
2, and he does it in chapter 8 and verse 3. Secondly, the
law of sin and death, chapter 8 and verse 2. And thirdly, the
law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that in chapter
8 and verse 2. Then notice something else. We
have another word in this text that ought to be given some due
consideration as well, taken in its present context. That's
the word after. In verse 1, twice. In verse 4,
again twice. which again is a word with different
meaning. Here I understand it is the word
kata. The word is many, many times
used in the New Testament. I mean, that Greek word is many,
many times used in the New Testament. And one of the most prominent
ways that you ever find it translated is having the meaning according. According. after or according,
in accordance with. Some walk after or some walk
in accordance with the flesh. Some walk after or in accordance
with the law of the spirit of the life in Christ Jesus. Now this is evident of their
being either under the law of sin and death or being under
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Now look with
me at verse 3. And as we say, the plot begins
to thicken. Frasier put it this way, I'm
quoting, this is a text of great importance to be rightly understood
as it contains a summary of the essential doctrines of the gospel,
unquote. Now there are some fabulous statements,
or as the young people say in our day, awesome. There are some
awesome things that are said in verse 3. Let us spend most
of our remaining time in a consideration of it today. It opens with another
far, if we look at that. And let us notice the contents
of the verse, such as, number one, What the law could not do,
God has done in His Son. What the law could not do, God
has done in His Son. But notice the second thing in
that verse, the failure that Paul attributes unto the law
to the weakness of the flesh. The failure of the law is in
the weakness of the flesh. So God sent his Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin. And what was it that the law
could not do was done by and through the incarnation and the
death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Now, let's make
this quick point. Notice here in that third verse
how guardedly Paul is about the impeccability of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Yes, the impeccability of the
humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice first of all what he does
not say. God sent His Son in sinful flesh. He does not say that, but He
writes in the likeness, and that's the most important word there
in that phrase, in the likeness of sinful flesh. not in sinful
flesh, but in the likeness of sinful flesh. But in the likeness
of it, and for or concerning sin is the reason or the cause
why God sent his Son into the world incarnate. The doctrine
of the impeccability of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ is preserved
in the way that Paul sets forth the matter here. Christ had in
his incarnation the likeness of sinful flesh, but not sinful
flesh. He came close enough unto his
brethren to be like them in many ways, but without any depravity
whatsoever. He even came close enough to
be made sin without being made sinful. He came close enough
that he might die for sin, but not close enough that he might
die in sin or become sinful. For all practical purposes, the
most important part of verse 3, for this study is the last
part, and the contextual meaning of condemned sin in the flesh. That's where we're going to settle,
that's where we're going to make our stand for the most part. The answer resides upon the meaning
of the first phrase. what the law could not do. And the reason that Paul gives
for its inability to do is because it was or is weak in the flesh. Now there was something which
the law could not do. owing to the weakness of the
flesh." Let's be clear, not owing to any weakness in the law per
se. but owing to the weakness in
the flesh. There was a thing impossible
for the law to do or to perform in regard to fallen man and mankind. The impossible thing of the law,
owing again to the weakness of the flesh, for the law cannot
purge away the corruption of sin. It can indeed condemn for
sin, and it has. But it cannot purge, it cannot
sanctify the flesh or purge away sin out of the life. In fact,
it is always finding more and more sin. By the law, says Paul,
is the knowledge of sin. So that means that it can give
the flesh not only no justification before God, but it can give the
flesh no sanctifying grace in the sight of God as well. The
only hope then would be for the flesh to rise to the level of
requirement of the law, which the unregenerate flesh is too
weak, too corruptible, too crippled and disabled, too impotent to
do, can never rise up to the level of the law. That is, can
never keep it perfectly, and any that does not obey the law
perfectly falls under condemnation and curse. No, by the law is
no doubt meant the moral law, not the ceremonial law or the
mosaic law or even the law of nature in the heart of the Gentile. And also notice that the weakness
of the flesh is simply an expression of human depravity or the corruption
of human nature fallen and corrupted in Adam. But take the words now,
condemned sin in the flesh, as being what God has done in sending
His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, which the law could not
do owing to the impotence of the flesh. Now, concerning the
words condemned sin in the flesh, and the question in the immediate
context is this. Is Paul speaking of justification
or sanctification in this particular place? I think most would unhesitatingly
reply that he's speaking of justification and indeed Christ's death is
the means of being justified and justified apart from the
law. This is clearly stated in the
third chapter, verse 21, through chapter 5 and verse 21. But let me also throw out this
thought, that men such as James Frazier, who's written a great
book, I think, John Murray, who has a good commentary on the
book of Romans, have made a very strong argument that Paul is
speaking of inner sanctification in Romans 8 and in verse 3 when
he declares that God in Christ, in sinning His Son, has condemned
sin in the flesh. Thus we can see that if the apostle
speaks of justification, then the words in the flesh refer
to the incarnate body of Christ and His death to save and to
justify. If the apostle, on the other
hand, is speaking of sanctification, then the words in the flesh would
refer to the human nature of those who are in the Lord Jesus
Christ and are justified. So the first question, which
is the apostle at present? in this particular place, speaking
of justification or sanctification. Does condemned sin mean only
only that it can condemn or only that it can dominate those, or
that it cannot dominate those who are now in Christ Jesus. To quote Murray, we must conceive
of God's condemnation of sin. in a particular way that is relevant
to the governing thought of the passage of Scripture. Then ask
ourselves, what is the governing thought of the passage? Well,
the answer is, in chapter 6, chapter 7, the apostle is applying
the sanctifying effects of the justification that we have in
Christ. That is, that free justification
does not lead to sin. That those in Christ are dead
to sin. And not only that, they are free
from the dominion of sin. And they live unto God. and they produce fruit unto God,
that free justification has this effect in its application. So, he does not revert back to
justification, but to sanctification as he was discussing in chapter
6 and 7. If you look down at chapter 8,
5-15, verses 5-15, it seems evident that the subject there is sanctification,
life in the Spirit. Several of these verses have
in them a contrast like that one in the second verse. And that contrast is not between
justification and the law, but between those verses themselves. that are here in this passage
of the Scripture. For example, if we look down
at verse 5 in chapter 8, and we read that passage of Scripture,
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh,
they that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit. Look at that passage of the Scripture. Look at verse 6 and look at verse
7. For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. Then look down at verse 10. And
if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the
spirit is life because of righteousness. Then look at verse 12 and verse
13. We are debtors not to the flesh
to live after the flesh, for if you live after the flesh you
shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds
of the body you shall live. Put to death, therefore, or the
deeds of the body. Sure it is true that by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, and
it is just as true that Christian sanctification, living unto God,
mortifying the deeds of the flesh, cannot be accomplished by keeping
the law. Sin cannot be overcome, cannot
be mortified, cannot be made, listen to this, it cannot be
made to forfeit its dominion by use of the law of God. So how then is sin condemned
in the flesh in the sense that Paul is speaking here? And in
what way that the law could not do, but Christ did in spite of
the wickedness of the flesh. Sin is condemned in the flesh. Now this condemning of sin in
the flesh is the same as freeing the justified, which is a forensic
act, from the dominion of sin, from the rule of sin in their
life. from sin lording it over them. Just as Paul described in the
second verse, the law of the Spirit of light has made me free
from the law of sin and of debt. Here's how Frazer put it, the
condemning of sin in human nature must respect the ejecting of
it from its dominion and deferring of its power over that particular
individual, unquote. Sin must be condemned in the
flesh, that is, in human nature. If one is ever to live the overcoming
and life in the Spirit, sin must be put down in that individual. It must have its power and its
dominion broken and taken away. This God has done in the death
of Christ, by which He brings His people out from the curse
and out from the condemnation of the law and in regeneration
brings them under the sway of grace and the spirit of the law
of life in Christ Jesus. If I were charged to prove that
Christians are not under the law as to sanctification, as
to their rule of life, but that this is accomplished by the spirit
of grace, Romans would be my text and proof text. So let's
save something to consider partially this morning. Verse 4, that the
condemnation of sin in the flesh is, verse 3, that so that, in
order that, the desired effect and the effect fulfilled and
achieved is that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. This word righteousness, some
ten times in the New Testament, like in Luke 1 and verse 6, is
very often translated ordinances of the Lord are fulfilled in
us. In Romans 1.32, the judgment
of God. In Romans 5.16, justification. Hebrews 9.1 and 9.10, Again,
it is ordinances. And in Revelation 15 and 4, it
is judgment. Here in Romans 2, 26 and 8, 4,
it is the righteousness of the law. Revelation 19 and verse
8, the righteousness of saints. so that the ordinances of God
are in operation by the Spirit of grace, by the Spirit of life
which is in Christ Jesus. For they that now love God above
all else, and they walk after the flesh, not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit, according to the Spirit, under the Spirit's
influence. The children of God, they that
are in Christ Jesus, have been made free from the law of sin
and death. That, says Paul, by the rule
of the Spirit of life. Such are under the dominion of
grace. and the spirit of life, which
is the effective means of the effective practice of sanctification,
which Paul begins to discuss here in Romans chapter 8.