June 13, 2018
Every Man's Sin Condemned by the Only Sinless One of All
Romans 8:3-4
Roger Haynes
Central Truth
There is not one among us who is able to be good enough to meet God's perfect standards. Our flesh is weakened by sin. We were lost completely until the perfect sacrificial lamb died for us so that through faith in Him we may be seen as righteous.
Romans 8:3-4
3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, 1 8:3 Or and as a sin offering he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Dive Deeper | Romans 8:3-4
I decided to go to law school because of a conversation I had with a relative who is a lawyer. Through that and a series of circumstances that only God could have orchestrated, I ended up practicing criminal law. Of all the areas of the law, this one has the most direct connection to the law of Moses described in the Old Testament. I can tell you from personal observation that no man can perfectly observe all of our laws, let alone God's laws, which not only include our actions, but also our thoughts. Every day at work, I see very clearly our need for a savior to rescue us from the sinful nature of our flesh (Romans 3:23).
Because our sinful nature makes it impossible to achieve the righteousness that God desires, we are adrift in the ocean without a raft. The law makes clear our need for a savior. So God throws us a life preserver—Jesus. A perfect sacrifice is necessary to bring us back from certain death, and God says He has a solution. His perfect Son will lay down His life for everyone (Romans 6:23, 5:8).
As seen in Romans 8:3, God did for us what we could never do for ourselves. When we accept the free gift of salvation, we are made righteous through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). The sin in our flesh is condemned (or washed away) by Him who knew no sin (Jesus) so that through His death, burial, and resurrection we may be seen as righteous in the eyes of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
What a miracle! Someone else's punishment has paid the price for my rebellion so I am freed from the bondage of sin. How could we ever repay that kind of grace and mercy? We can't, and He doesn't expect us to. He just wants us to, with gratitude, be faithful while we wait for His return and share this good news with the world (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19). Let's go!
This month's memory verse
22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
– Romans 6:22
Discussion Questions
1. Different people have different "ditches" or fleshly sin struggles that tempt them. Do you know what yours is? If you don't, pray for God to reveal specifically where your flesh is weak so you can fight temptation in that area, and ask others to pray for your victory over it. How can you live according to the Spirit today in a way that brings glory to God and victory over your flesh?
2. When I consider all that God has done for me, I sometimes feel unworthy because of my sinful actions and failure to act in certain situations. Do you ever feel this way? How do you overcome this thinking? I have to constantly remind myself that I am a son of God, adopted by Him into His family. I also remember how I feel about my own sons. My love for them is not based on their performance, and neither is my Father's love for me.
3. The Old Testament law revealed both the complete and utter failure to be able to meet God's requirements and the need to continually return to the altar to ask for forgiveness. Without that system in place, it is easy to forget that, though justification is a one-and-done act of faith, our sanctification requires the daily transformation of our hearts and shows that our faith is living and active. How are you doing at being transformed daily (Romans 12:1-2)?