Romans Chapter 8 Romans 8:3 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. What was impossible for the law, God did. Notice that did is in italics. The resolution needs no introduction, nor an explanation. After the impossible God. God doing the impossible: The Hypostatic Union. Once again, the humanity of Jesus is on display. To understand the sacrifice of Jesus we must keep the Perfect Man Jesus in our minds. God cannot die (be destroyed), cannot be tempted, cannot fail. Jesus, in His humanity, set aside His divinity in order to prevail as a human, to do what no one could do live a life apart from sin, overcome every temptation, and when the time came, be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of mankind. The One having sent the Son of Himself The word has been altered for NASB. What is being translated His own is actually a reflexive pronoun not a possessive pronoun (Himself). God did not send a third party. The need of humanity, the problem with the flesh, cannot be resolved except that God directly intervenes. God in the flesh, denied Himself of His divine nature, died for sin, condemned sin in the flesh because He came in the likeness of flesh. The phrase is best translated the One having sent the Son of Himself in the likeness of flesh, of sin, and concerning sin, sentenced the sin within the flesh. Likeness is ὁμοίωμα homoiōma (hahm-oy -oh-mah) is a word taken a few different ways. He came in a similar fashion, simply looked like. This would indicate that Jesus is God and was sent as God, looked like a man who does sin, but He is not really a man who could sin. The other understanding is form, model, copy of. This means that the Son would actually be human and was made in the very form of flesh. Romans 5:14 Death reigned even in those who did not sin in the likeness. Adam s sin can be categorized into pride and lust of the eyes. Those died not having sinned like Adam does not mean that the sin did not look like Adam s sin but it was not the same sin. Romans 6:5 The baptism of the Spirit does something that we do not understand we are placed into the body of Christ. We are identified with his death crucifying the flesh, the term likeness of His death is used. To diminish this fact indicates that we really have not died and therefore we will only in a non-real manner partake in the resurrection. Romans 7:4 would all be figurative and the spiritual reality has not really occurred.
Philippians 2:7 Teaching this section last time I tried to demonstrate that Jesus was truly in the form of God and truly in the form of a bond-servant but only looked like a man. I must digress and say that although we can literally have said that He looked like man, it is copy/model of man. Unintentionally, I underplayed the humanity of Jesus Christ. The point of Romans 8:3 and of Philippians 2:7 is to draw out the truth of the humanity of Jesus. The importance of this distinction can lead to a person limiting the humanity of Jesus. God died for me. The man Jesus died for me; He who was innocent, guilty of no infraction, rebellion, or sin. Jesus got hungry, got tired, got angry, loved, was humiliated, was tempted, bled, agonized from sin around Him, and suffered the punishment for my sin so that I may live. Maybe embodiment The translation handout needs a correction. The original translation in the NASB captures the intent, the literal translation needs some explanation. The section is that of in the embodiment of flesh of sin. The NASB has this as sinful flesh. I originally placed a comma and an interpretative (and). The normal renderings of sequential genitives is to make it as a list, but the conjunction should have been considered more as well as likeness, form, embodiment. The word likeness in its reality cannot refer to sin, therefore sin is being used as descriptive of flesh, the flesh of sin, sinful flesh. Next is and as an offering for sin. The handout has this as and concerning sin. The three Greek words are kai peri hamartia. The preposition peri limits the scope of the action. God, having sent the Son of Himself concerning sin. The redemptive program of God is that of dealing with the sin problem (Matthew 1:21; John 1:29; Luke 5:20-24; Matthew 26:28). Jesus Christ died for our sins. Romans 5:10 We are saved from the power of sin through His life, also we will eventually be freed from the presence of sin. All this is accomplished by the man Jesus Christ, and will be fulfilled by the man Jesus Christ having now been restored to His glory as He was prior to coming in the flesh. Condemned (Sentenced) is κατακρίνω katakrinō (kah-tah-khree -noh) which is another Aorist Active Indicative Verb. In verse 2, the function of the Holy Spirit (liberated) and in verse 3 the function of Jesus (Sentenced) are not present continual verbs but past, single, point-in-time verbs. This is done, complete, not to be repeated. Jesus work for the world was complete; the action of the Holy Spirit was completed for the believer at the moment of belief. Jesus sentenced sin (to death) within the flesh. The hypostatic union on display, for Jesus in His deity stated to the Father in Your hands I entrust my Spirit, in the flesh he died and was buried, showing an actual death; sacrifice was completed.
Conclusion: 1. Jesus the human set aside His deity, gave up His rights, lived the life that no man could and died in my place as sacrifice for my sin. 2. This sacrifice, as we have seen and will see, is all sufficient for Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification 3. The perfect Law of God could not do, because of sin, what God did in the human form of Jesus: condemn sin 4. This is known theologically as Sacrificial Atonement the fact that through the sacrifice of Jesus our sins have been paid for and are fully atoned for when a person believes. 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 4:9-10 And He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Romans 8:4 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. Turn to Ephesians 1. What has God done for us? Most people review this information by pointing out the rapid fire He has passage. Verse 3 Blessed us with every spiritual blessing; Verse 4 Purposed us to be holy and blameless; Verse 5 Adoption as sons; Verse 6 Grace freely given; Verse 7 Redemption and forgiveness; Verse 8 Grace saturated upon us; Verse 9-10 Provided insight to His will that is eternal and physical plan concerning Jesus Christ; Verse 11 Obtained an inheritance; Verse 13-14 Holy Spirt: Sealed and a pledge. Most, however, use this information as current, earthly benefits. These benefits are spiritual with eternal implications. These are not financial, health, or safety provisions but are spiritual: peace, contentment, and growth. Romans 8 is also about the spiritual provisions; Paul does inform the readers of the expected response to the grace-given benefits, but the theme is about the what has been provided. In Chapter 8, the readers have been reassured in that: 1. No condemnation 2. Set free from the penalty of sin 3. God sent Himself as the Son 4. Jesus in the flesh, sentenced sin to death in the flesh Understanding that, verse 4 comes into view. The first word is hina and denotes purpose. The standard construction of a hina is with a subjunctive verb so that this might happen. The actuality of the action being fulfilled is found in the previous information. If we can say without any doubt that the previous section is certain, then the subjunctive verb with the hina should be translated as a certainty. So that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us. At this point, most review verse 4 as Paul telling the readers that God has done all this, now you go and do what God expects from you and thus fulfill the righteous standard. This understanding has some merit; obviously in verses 12-13, the readers are being told they are obligated to live according to the Spirit. The basic doctrine is not incorrect. The question is: Is verse 4 speaking of responsibility or of benefit? The question is often proposed because of the dative clause, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. First of all, we cannot ignore full context, but to understand a proper interpretation, we have to break it down.
Requirement is δικαίωμα dikaiōma (dih-kai -oh-mah). This is one of the δίκη (dee -kay) words, the root means that which is shown: discerned, judged, right, just, deemed right, right standard. The lexicons define this word as God s requirement, ordinance, or standard. In Romans 5:18, this word is used as Jesus righteous act and is opposed to Adam s fall, one act of rebellion. In this grammatical form, δικαίωμα dikaiōma is used in 5:16. Words ending in -μα express the result of an action. In 5:16, the giving of the free gift results in God s right standard. What action in 8:4 results in the right standard? Since it is hina, the action must be that of the previous action Christ condemned sin in the flesh, so that God s righteous standard would be fulfilled in us. To ensure we are properly interpreting this, fulfilled is the verb πληρόω plēroō (play-rah -oh) and means to accomplish, bring about, fulfill. It is in the Aorist Passive Subjunctive. It is passive; this is not something that we accomplish but is accomplished in us, for us. It is aorist, so it is a one-time act not a progressive action. The conclusion is that this is not a contingent, but is what has been provided to the believer based upon God s grace and act of righteousness and sacrifice of Jesus in His flesh. But what do we do with the next clause? The first point is that this is a dative clause, meaning there is an indirect object. This is to whom it is provided. Dative clauses do not identify the necessary condition, rather who receives the action. One could argue that there is a secondary righteousness that is provided by God as a person walks according to the Spirit, meaning that this is potential because of what Christ did. But what we have seen is that it is counterintuitive to the direct observations. Looking at walk may help us understand the meaning of this verse. The question is whether or not walk, in usage (specifically Paul s usage,) can indicate position. What this cannot mean is a person who is saved, deemed righteous, has practical life of walking by means of the Spirit. Walk is περιπατέω peripateō (peh-ree-pah-teh -oh) and means to walk around. In the Gospels and Acts, the word is used figuratively only by John and only five times (out of 47). Paul uses this word over thirty times. The common understanding of a figurative usage is that of manner of life. In BDAG the standard lexicon Bauer has ten variations of definition. As far as the figurative usage, walk can mean manner of life, to live, or personal conduct. Therefore, it is not out of the question that one could render walk as live. Many of the most recognized passages, concerning walk, by Paul are usually imperative. Galatians 5:16 (Imp); Ephesians 5:2 (Imp); Colossians 2:6; 4:5 (Imp). In Romans 8:4, it is a Present Active Participle. Paul uses walk to remind believers how they were once identified (Ephesians 2:1-3; Colossians 3:5-10). In Romans 8:4,
the participle walking is first used as those not walking according to the flesh; walking is implied in the antithesis. The emphasis is then on the first statement. All the verbs used in 4-8 are with the flesh. The translation is understood to be being ones who are not walking according to the flesh. But what is often overlooked is that this is further explained in Romans 8:5 with another Present Active Participle, according to the flesh. This time it is εἰμί eimi Being ones who are (existing, being, living) according to flesh. Verse 6 has no verbs; verse 7 is solely about the mind of the flesh and how it is at enmity with God because it is not subject to God, and it has no ability. With all this information I am convinced that even verse 4, in its entirety, is speaking of a positional standing. Conclusion and observations: 1. We are granted Jesus righteous standard, being declared one who kept the law 2. We are viewed by God as ones according to the Spirit 3. We are contrasted with those who are according to the flesh 4. Verses 4-8 substantiate this interpretation, contrasting those who are according to the flesh and those who are according to the Spirit What to do with this information: 1. We need to see ourselves with eyes of God a. We are not subject to judgement or punitive action b. We have been set free from sin s penalty due to the Spirit of Life c. God provided what was impossible for us to perform (corporate and individual) d. Jesus, in His humanity, lived a perfect life to deal with our sin 2. We receive through Jesus His life of perfection, being deemed right (legal term) 3. We are seen by God as walking/living in accordance with the Spirit. 4. We do need to live in accordance with who we are, but first we need to be fully aware of who we are