What We Can't Do, God Did

November 20th, 2024
by Dr. D. Lance Waldie

Romans 8:3-4 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, 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.

The Law of God could not, and cannot, save anyone. Though it is holy, righteous, and good, the sin within mankind uses God’s Law to sin—painting the picture of a hopeless humanity. Yet, Romans 8:3 states that Jesus came in the “likeness of sinful flesh,” God Himself becoming man. For Jesus was “born from a woman, born under the Law” (Gal. 4:4). Yet because He was sinless (Heb. 4:15), His sacrifice on man’s behalf was acceptable to God who would not have accepted a sinful sacrifice. Jesus’ “likeness” (Gr. homoiōma) made it possible for God to “condemn sin in the flesh” for humanity. Now, all who trust in Him for forgiveness are eternally forgiven.

Sin offerings in the OT were the provisions given within the Mosaic Law for atonement when Israel failed the keep the Law. Jews brought animals, and a priest slew them, pouring out animal blood to atone for human sin. This practice pointed the way toward the spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29), Jesus of Nazareth, to make atonement for man’s sin through His death on the cross. His death was judicial in the sense that the “requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us” (v. 4), for God desired to fulfill the Law in His Son because mankind could not accomplish this through the Law. Being both human and divine, only Jesus could accomplish what God demanded in His Law. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

Having been declared righteous through faith in Christ, believers are now free—free to please God. Having been declared righteous by faith (3:21-29), not Law, they are simply unable to continue in a lifestyle of sin. On the contrary, they long to be holy and pleasing to God. Like the man exorcised of demons who longed to follow Christ all of his days (Mark 5:18-20), so too do those declared righteous by faith. They walk through life, having been freed from sin, desiring to serve God. In sum, they “do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (v. 4).

Note how Paul does not speak of walking in the Spirit in v. 4 as a command but as a fact. Later, in 8:9 he says that no person who belongs to Christ is without the indwelling Holy Spirit. After all, those in Christ have all been baptized with one Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13)—the Holy Spirit. This is neither a second blessing nor a special mark given to those who are more mature or who seek it. The Spirit is God (2 Cor. 3:17), and all believers are indwelt by Him.
Some espouse that when one truly has the Holy Spirit they will supernaturally speak in languages they have never learned (i.e., tongues). But the NT never teaches this. What the NT does teach, per Romans 8:4, is that all who possess the Spirit will “walk” in the Spirit. This is a figurative way of describing a believer’s way of life. Luke 1:6 describes Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist, as being “righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord” (cf. Eph. 4:17, italics mine). Likewise, John proclaimed that, “if we walk in the light as [God] Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Also in Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit has nothing to do with working miracles or speaking on tongues but everything to do with attitude and lifestyle. So, possessing the Spirit is not about happiness or speaking in tongues; it concerns holy behavior—walking in the Spirit.

Food for Thought

If you’re in Christ, your behavior will reveal such. By walking in the Spirit God’s people live under His grace, rejoicing in Christ and exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.