The Bible teaches that the gospel sets us free as believers from the law, but it also teaches that believers should seek to uphold the law.
So how's that possible? Is Scripture contradicting itself? No, it's not. We're going to think through this together on Truth for Life. Alastair Begg is teaching today from Romans chapter eight.
We considered what is true of the Christian. That there is no condemnation. We then ask the question, when is that true? And we discovered that it is true now. that he is not referencing some future possibility, but he is describing a present reality.
Well, inevitably, someone thinking will say, Well, if there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, why is that the case? And Paul anticipates the why question, and he answers it in verse 2. Beginning with a because, because he says, Through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. Or, quoting from the English Standard Version, For the law of the spirit of life. Has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
Now, for me to say that, that the gospel has set us free from the law and of its curse. Will ring some bells for those who know their Bibles. For others who are not particularly familiar with it, they may think that is a rather strange thing to say.
So let me cross-reference this for you in Galatians chapter 3 and in verse 10. Paul is addressing uh this very subject. And in verse 10 of Galatians 3, He says, all who rely on observing the law. are under a curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.
So It is our failure to obey the law of God. which brings us under the curse of God. That's the predicament. In verse 11 of Galatians 3, he goes on to point out That there is no possibility of any of us being put in a right standing with God. As a result of the law.
Clearly, he says, no one is justified or declared righteous before God by the law. Because he says the righteous will live by faith. And he's quoting there from elsewhere. Then he tells us in verse 13 the wonderful news concerning what Jesus has done. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.
by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree. And it is that which is here in the second verse of Romans 8. Through Christ Jesus, or in Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life has set me free. It no longer has power over us.
It no longer means that we live under a curse. In Jesus, the believer has been set free both from the guilt of sin and from the power of sin. And the thought that is here in Romans chapter 8 is not so much Freedom from sin's guilt as it is freedom from sin's power. The internal working of the Spirit of God is to set us free from the downward drag of the flesh. From that which seeks to corrupt us and to hold us back and to tie us up and to dispirit us, to confuse us and to make us just absolutely hopeless.
It is imperative that Paul makes clear, and that's why he labors this so clearly, that believers not only have forgiveness before God, but they have the life of God within them. The Christian is someone who is both in Christ And in whose life Christ dwells by his Spirit.
Sometimes, when we see somebody that we haven't seen for a while and they're Displaying certain characteristics, either positive or negative, we might ask them the question: what's gotten into you? Why are you this way? What something's got into you? And the question that ought to be asked of a Christian by those who are wondering about the nature of Christianity is not so much what are the rules that you live by or what are the notions that constrain you, but what's got into you. Because The life of God's Spirit has set us free from.
The curse. and from death.
Now in verse 3 he tells us how this has happened. If this is true, then how is it true? And there you will see, for what the law was powerless to do, in that it was weakened by the sinful nature or by the flesh. God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Now, you can see here very quickly that Paul had a good legal mind, and his argument is fairly tight. And if we're not careful, we can even trip ourselves up. I constantly assign homework. I don't know if any of us ever do it, but chapter 7 needs to be read and reread. And when you read chapter 7, You will be absolutely clear.
Titan. Paul understood that the law in and of itself was unable to change him. He'd been a very upright, law-abiding, religious Jew for a long time before ever he met Jesus. And yet, he realized that the law exposed his heart and made it clear to him that he wasn't what God designed for him to be, or even what he himself desired to be. And he says, in specific terms: it was by the law that I realized what a covetous heart I had.
The law had exposed his heart, and yet it couldn't lift a finger to help him. That's the problem, you see, with the law in and of itself. And when you do your homework, you will discover that what Paul is making clear is a number of things. First of all, that the law actually defines sin. It is the law which tells us what's in and what's out.
We are tempted to live life as if we can determine what's in and what's out. But it is when we come up against the law of God. Um Summarized for us classically in the Ten Commandments. that we realize, oh dear. I'm not what God intends me to be.
In fact, I am less. than what he wants me to be. Strangely, the law also Provokes sin. or if you like, produces sin. You have to think about that for a moment, don't you?
How can something that is intrinsically good, that God has given for our well-being, become the mechanism whereby we sin?
Well, think about it. We have by nature a fascination with the forbidden. We have a fascination with what's for good. That's why, when you see a sign that says, don't stand on the grass or don't walk on the grass, there's something inside you that says, I think I'd like to walk on the grass. There is an intrinsic element in us that seeks to overcome that which calls us into line.
What was happening? The law was seducing. and producing Sin. And that's what Paul is seeing here. You see that?
Now, what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful flesh, weakened by the flesh. It is sin. Which takes the law which is good. and twists it into something which serves the purposes of evil. It is sin which says to us, Well, I think if I get at least seven out of ten of the commandments, Presumably God will accept me on the basis of that.
Sin says, go ahead and do it on your own. Go ahead and just try your best. You don't need all this Jesus stuff about him becoming a curse for you and all that. No, The problem doesn't fall in the law, the problem falls in our flesh. The law cannot justify us, Buddha's right with God.
and the law cannot sanctify us. It has, as we're going to see a place in the process of sanctification, but we're neither justified by the law nor sanctified by the law. In other words, we're not put in a right standing with God by the law, and we're not kept in a right standing ultimately by God's law. No, Paul is very consistent with what he's already said back in verse 12 of chapter 7. Notice what he said.
The law is holy. And the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
So we're not in any doubt that there's a problem here with the law. The problem is that the law was powerless, weakened by. The flash. You see, it cannot put us right with God. because we cannot obey it.
The Mosaic law could not solve the problem of humanity. Because sin employs the law for its own purposes. The law is holy. But it can't make us holy. It is righteous in its precepts.
But it can't justify the ungodly. And all of this is traced, all of this inability is traced to the sinfulness. of man. I hope you're following this argument. For what the law was powerless to do, not because it was unholy or unrighteous or wasn't good, but because it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did.
God did. Verse 3. Turns in the ESV actually turns this verse around from the NIV. For God has done. What the law weakened by the flesh couldn't do, God has done it.
And how has he done it?
Well, he tells us. He has condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. His only begotten Son came in the likeness of sinful flesh. This is a masterful use of language by Paul the lawyer. Because by means of this phrase, Paul is safeguarding two things that are true concerning Jesus.
He is safeguarding, number one, the reality of Christ's humanity. And number two, The fact of Christ's sinlessness. The fact of Christ's sinlessness. When the Father sent the Son, He sent the son in a manner that brought him into the closest relationship to sinful humanity that it was possible to do without the Son becoming sinful himself.
Now you say, well, that just seems to me to be a lot of theological twaddle. But no, my dear friends, it is not. It is of absolute vital importance. Christ is true God, very God and very man. But he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Paul is not saying that he was like a man, but he wasn't really a man. He's saying he was truly a man. And he looked like every man actually looks, but every man other than this man is tainted by sin. He is made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he himself. Having no part in sin, with sin, or of sin.
Were that not the case, Christ could never die to be a Savior. For he could not save sinful men and women from a predicament in which he himself shared. Hence again, our hymn: because the sinless Savior died, my guilty soul is counted free. For God the just. Who must execute his justice for God the just is satisfied to look on him and pardon me.
That's why the Jewish people looked at this man hanging upon the cross and they quoted Deuteronomy and they said, How could this possibly be a savior? Because we know that the scriptures say, Cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. Therefore, if he hangs upon the tree, then he must be under the curse of God. Yes, he was under the curse of God, but not on account of anything he had done. He was bearing our curse in order that we might be granted forgiveness, full and free, and in order that the power of the Holy Spirit might come to live within our lives, so that we might be set free not only from the ongoing accusations of sin, but from the indwelling power of sin.
Hence the phraseology. And so, at the end of verse 3, he condemns sin in sinful man. He condemns sin in the flesh.
Now, my friends, this is at the very heart of the gospel. We don't pause here except for me to give you one other cross-reference. You need to turn back only one page in your Bible to Romans chapter 4 and to verse 25. Here is a perfect memorization verse. He that is Jesus.
was delivered over to death. For our sins, and was raised to life. for our justification. He was delivered over to death. And he was raised.
the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. You see the importance of the very historicity of the Bible. the very importance of the historicity of the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity stands apart from other religions in the world in this as in many other regards. The reason that Jesus came into the world was to deal with sin.
to deal with set. He didn't come to give an instruction manual. He didn't come to be your life coach. He didn't come to be a glowing example. He came to do what Paul is describing for us here.
to do four eyes. in himself and by himself. what we can never do for ourselves. or by ourselves. That's why it's good news.
And why does he do this?
Well, you will notice in verse 4 he continues. He condemns sin in sinful man. In order that Purpose clause in order that The righteous requirements of the law might be fully met In us. Wow.
So Christ has fulfilled All that God has demanded in the perfection of his life. in the offering up of himself Not in order that we might just go out and do whatever we fancy. But in order that we might become like Christ, As a result of the indwelling power of the Spirit, Turning as again and again to God's law.
So that God's law might show us how our lives are to be lived. We begin to fulfill the law of God, isn't that what it says? In order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us or might be fulfilled in us, ESV. And we do this By walking according to the Spirit. Question for any thoughtful person.
How can I then simultaneously be free and obligated. If I am set free, how am I obligated? The answer is actually straightforward. What Paul is telling us is this: that we are set free from the law as a way of acceptance. with God.
We are obliged to keep the law. As a way of holiness.
Now, that doesn't mean that we are set free from the law as a result of the work of Christ, and then we stay in Christ as a result of our own endeavors. That would be a caricature of what I've just said. No, he's perfectly clear in his argument. It is the law of the Spirit of life that has set us free from this, and has set us free not in order that we might just live according to the conjectures of our minds, but in order that we might live in accordance with the instructions of God's Word.
So if you like. The law sends me to Christ in order that I might be saved. And Christ returns me to the law. In order that I might understand what it means. to be saved.
This is how the Westminster Confession puts it. The Spirit of Christ Subdues and enables the will of man To do that freely and cheerfully which the will of God revealed in the law requires to be done.
So the Spirit of God is the Spirit of who lives within the believer. enabling us to do Cheerfully Obediently happily What God's will is Made clear for us. in our Bibles. And he's writing here to encourage all who are in Christ Jesus to say, okay, tomorrow's a new day, it's a fresh start. For most of us, our Christian lives are a series of new beginnings.
If you doubt this, just go home and read your Bible. And you will find that this is the way God has operated from the very beginning. When his people were in bondage in Egypt, he delivered them. And then he placed his demands upon them. When they were in bondage in Egypt, he redeemed them.
And then he said, and here are the requirements. He set them free. And then he explained to them. how that freedom should be enjoyed. and maintained.
And that is what Paul is doing here. He's saying, this is what Christ has done for you. This is what he is doing in you by his spirit. He has set you free. You're free from condemnation.
Now, let me tell you why he's done this and how he's done it, in order that you might enjoy that freedom. I said, well, I thought freedom was no precepts. Any of you having surgery tomorrow? What kind of an aesthetist do you want? Anesthesiologist.
What kind of. What kind of anaesthetist do you want? You want somebody who's going, hey, you know, we get it right within five or ten milligrams. It's not going to matter. Let's try something.
You know, let's just stay here, try this, see how that works. That's not called freedom. That's called death. No, this freedom. Is the glorious freedom of walking not according to the flesh.
When we come back tonight, we'll try and figure out what that means who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
So that, in the words of the old song, I can tell by the way you walk. That you got sold, baby. Right? It's by your walk. That's what the person says.
I can tell by the way you walk. You got soul. And that's what he's saying here. That's why the verb is peripiteo in the Greek, which is another reason why the ESV is better than the NIV here, because it uses the very verb: who do not walk according to the flesh, but walk according to the spirit. And so he says, people will be able to tell.
You'll be able to tell how you walk and where you walk. Where you are in relationship to these things. Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly. or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
That guy will be like a tree planted by rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in season. Everything he does prospers. The wicked aren't so, they're like the chaff which the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the courageous. Paul understood that.
He had lived that. He was an upstanding, outstanding religious. Pharisee. And when he was lost... On the Damascus Road.
Jesus came. They changed everything. That's why he's so interested in telling people about what it means to be in. Christ. Jesus.
You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life. As we listen to Alistair today, I know some of you. would love the opportunity, to sit under Alistair's teaching in person.
Well, you can study with him personally by joining him on a Deeper Faith Norwegian fjord cruise next fall. This is an eight-day adventure where you'll visit charming coastal towns in Norway, take in the scenic fjords, and throughout the trip, Alistair will be teaching from God's Word. Travel dates are September 5th through the 12th. You can reserve your cabin or learn more by visiting deeperfaithcruise.com or by calling 855-565-5555. five five one nine Now, while some of us might be thinking about upcoming vacations, I know many people are going through a difficult season right now, and I want to recommend to you Alistair's series, My Times Are In Your Hands.
This is a 12-message study that will teach you how to cope. when life feels overwhelming. You'll find out why God allows suffering even among believers. You'll learn how to see His providential hand in the midst of trials. There are twelve audio messages in this series.
They are paired with a twelve lesson study guide to help you understand your current circumstances in light of Scripture. Each lesson includes prayers, reflections, questions to consider.
So, if you are in the throes of dark days, if you're feeling discouraged or disappointed, struggling to trust God in your affliction, Download the My Times Are In Your Hands messages. and study guide for free at truthforlife.org slash my times. I'm Bob Lepine. Thanks for listening this week. Monday, we'll learn how to go from Hopeless, helpless hostility.
to hopeful, joyful harmony. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
