God Has Done What the Law Could Not Do (Part 1 of 2)

Rules can be helpful to provide clear boundary guidelines for how to control our behavior, but rules can't change our hearts today on Truth for Life weekend Alastair big turns to Paul's letter to the Romans to reveal where the law ends and grace begins.

It's part of a series called life in the spirit Romans chapter 8 and verse one and Paul writes therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death for what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in R's who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the spirit.

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the spirit of their minds set on what the Spirit desires the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace, the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God, then while we are continuing from where we left off last time, which was at the end of verse one, having determined that we're going to spend a few weeks at least working our way systematically and carefully through this eighth chapter of Romans and what we are looking at in Romans chapter 8 is what it means to be a Christian were not looking here so much of what it means to become a Christian as to consider the very experience of being a Christian is, of course, our hope that someone who is yet have never understood who Jesus is or what is done will in the course of these studies actually come to trust in him and to become Christians but our focus is on thinking from a Christian perspective concerning what it means to be a Christian last week in verse one we considered what is true of the Christian that there is no condemnation. We then asked the question when is that through and we discovered that it is true now that he is not referencing some future possibility, but he is describing the present reality and we also made sure that we understood that what Paul was saying here in Romans 81 was not a generic statement about everyone who ever live, but was actually a very specific statement concerning those who are in Christ Jesus.

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 two. 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 according 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, but essentially what Paul is seeing in verse two is that the gospel has set us free from the law, and from its curse for me to say that that there the gospel is that is free from the law and of its curse will ring some bells for those who know their Bibles for others are not particularly familiar with it. They may understand anything that is a rather strange thing to say. 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 as under the curse of God that God had said to his people here, you shall do this and you will live if you failed to do it then you will die. 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. In other words, he is making clear what he makes clear error earlier enrollments that all of us by nature, have failed that none of Oz may, by means of obedience to God's law rectify our failure and put ourselves in a right position with God hands the wonderful news of what the Lord Jesus has accomplished in himself by bearing sins course for us and it is that which is here in the second verse of Romans eight through Christ Jesus are in Christ Jesus law of the Spirit of life has set me free and 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 into tires and to disputed as to confuse ours and to make us just absolutely hopeless. It is imperative that Paul makes clear and that's why he labors this so clearly the 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 there displaying certain characteristics, either positive or negative. We might ask them the question what's gotten into you while you this way 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 one of the notions that constrain you but what's gotten into you because the life of God's spirit has set us free from the curse and from death. Now in verse three, 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 by the flash, 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 were not careful we can even trip ourselves I constantly assign homework. I don't know if any of us ever do it by chapter 7 needs to be read and reread and when you read chapter 7 you will be absolutely clear that Paul understood that the law in and of itself was unable to change him. He'd been a very outright law-abiding religious Jew for a long time before every 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 them to be, or even what he himself desired to be and he says, and in specific terms, it was by the law that I realized what a covetous heart. I have 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 what Paul is making clear is a number of things. First of all that the law actually defines sin is the law which tells us what sin and what's out and 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 summarize for is classically in the 10 Commandments. I realize, oh dear, I know what God intends me to be and find I am less than what he wants me to be the same if you and I go to play golf together you can hit it off the TV as wildly as you choose provided you and I are both prepared to allow the flight stakes to determine what's going on because the flight stakes are going to determine whether we from the TR inbounds or out of bounds. Without them will assume constantly that were still in the game and still on the fairway with them.

We discover where we are. The law acts in that way it defines sin. Strangely, the law also provokes sin or if you like produces sin. Everything about every moment.

Don't how can something that is intrinsically good that God is given for our well-being become the mechanism whereby we sin.

Well, think about we have by nature a fascination with the forbidden. That's why when you see a sign that says don't stand on the grass or don't walk on the grass or something inside is as I think I like to walk on the grass that when you read somebody's neighborhood swimming pool and as a sign that says no diving you just want to die.

There is an intrinsic element in us that seeks to overcome that which causes into line, Augustine, and in the confessions is a wonderful illustration of this, where he recounts how there was a pear tree and I'm causing now near Arvin yard laden with fruit and one stormy night. We rascally youths set out to Robert and carry our spoils away. We took off a huge load of pairs not to feast upon ourselves to throw them to the pigs. The we ate just enough to have the pleasures of forbidden fruit, they were nice pairs, but it was not the pairs that my wretched soul coveted Brian plenty better at home. I picked them simply in order to become a thief. The only feast I got was a feast of iniquity and that I enjoyed to the full the desire to steal was awakened simply by the prohibition of stealing is the weather called his confessions as pretty honest as we went and looked it up on pairs we flung them to the pigs. We had no interest in pairs we use like the idea of being thieves what was happening.

The law was seducing and producing sin. And that's what Paul is seeing here you see that 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 is sin which says to us well I think if I get at least 7/10 of the commandments. Presumably God will accept me on the basis of that sin says go ahead and do it on your own. Just try your best.

You don't need all this Jesus stuff about him becoming a curse for you and all that know the problem doesn't fall in the law. The problem falls in our flash. The law cannot justify as it is right with God and the law cannot sanctify us, it has were going to see a place in the process of sanctification but were not were neither justified by the law nor sanctified by the law. In other words when outputting a right standing with God by the law and were not kept in a right standing. Ultimately, by God's law.

No, Paul is very consistent with what is already said back in verse 12 of chapter 7 the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good so were not any doubt that there's a problem here with the law. The problem is that the law was powerless, weekend by the flash.

You see, it cannot put is 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 make us holy.

It is righteous in its precepts, but it can justify the ungodly and all of this is traced all of this inability is traced to the sinfulness of man. I hope you find this argument for what the law was powerless to do because it was unholy or unrighteous or wasn't good, but because it was weakened by the sinful nature God, did God did verse three turns in the ESV actually turns this verse around from the NIV. For God has done what the law was weakened. What the law weakened by the flesh couldn't do God has done it and how has he done it while he tells us he has condemned sin in the flash by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. We've even sung this morning. Certain phrases that are foundational and are grounded in our text. So for example we sank in the song God of grace and God of glory sang the line perfect God in perfect man and noticed your text, God did by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. This is a masterful use of language by Paul lawyer speak 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 send the son in a manner that brought him into the closest relationship to sinful humanity that it was possible to do without the sun becoming sinful himself. Now you say what I 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 hard 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 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 all of sin where 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 share hands again are are him because the sinless Savior died, my guilty soul is counted free for God. The just who must execute his justice for God addressed is satisfied to link on him and pardon me, that's why the Jewish people looked at this man hung up on the cross and they quoted Deuteronomy and is that how can this possibly be a Savior because we know that the Scripture say cursed is everyone who hangs upon a tree. Therefore if he hangs up on the tree, then he must be under the curse of God is he was under the curse of God, but not on account of anything he had done. He was bearing our cars in order that we might be granted forgiveness, full and free and in order. 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 the end of verse three, he condemned sin in sinful man, he condemned sin in the flesh, 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 turned back only one page in your Bible. Romans chapter 4 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 as we would a lady just knots along on the last couple of weeks and she told me she was a Buddhist and as we talked it was perfectly clear to me that she had found in Buddhism and in the, the Dharma, the instruction of the Buddha, a measure of peace in the measure of tranquility sufficient for to be able to become a proponent of it to me in conversation.

What she had no notion of was that the Buddha would ever have been sin better for her, because the problem for Buddhism is not sin. The problem is suffering.

The darker the unsatisfactory nature of life and so she was seeking to overcome the unsatisfactory nature of life. Overwhelmed by the tranquility and saw while Christianity does not stand on the same stage is that we we neither have the legitimacy of suggesting that Jesus would be part of such a dialogue.

Nor do we have the unfortunate disappointing reality of thinking that it might be. So no, this is something radically different. The reason that Jesus came into the world was to deal with sin to deal with it. He didn't come to give an instruction manual heat income to be your life coach heat income to be an inspiration in income to be a martyr income to be applying example.

He came to do what Paul is describing for is here to do for us in himself and by himself. What we can never do for ourselves or buyers is why it is good news.

God has done what the law could not do.

That's the title of her message today from Alastair Bragg on Truth for Life weekend.

The religious leaders in Jesus time knew the law, but they failed to see the one to whom the law was pointing tragically. There were many in our day, who continue to fall into the same trap. That's why a Truth for Life were committed to providing clear Christ centered, Bible teaching to as many people as possible. In addition to Alistair's teaching.

We also carefully select resources each month to help strengthen your walk with the Lord right now are featuring a resource that's been a blessing to generations of believers for more than 300 years. The book I'm talking about is the timeless classic, the Pilgrim's progress.

This book, the Pilgrim's progress tells an unforgettable story about a man named Christian and about the trials and temptations.

He faces as he continues on his journey to the celestial city. As you read, you might be surprised to find how closely Christians journey parallels your own book is been recently updated for a new generation to read it stays true to Bunyan's original work and it includes a helpful collection of editors notes at the end.

If you've never read this beloved book by Puritan author John Bunyan don't miss requesting a copy for yourself.

Be sure to visit our website and learn how you can request a copy of the Pilgrim's progress go to Truth for Life.org again the Truth for Life.org while you're there, be sure to take a look at the other resources we have available, including the newly updated truth like mobile app it's completely free to download and has a lot of useful new features and more@truthforlife.org/the app Bob Lapine next week and will continue this message about grace in our study of Romans eight called life in the spirit to join us again this program in the Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life worth learning is prolific