What is the meaning of Romans 8:3? For what the law was powerless to do • The Mosaic law is holy and righteous, yet it cannot give life or produce righteousness in fallen people (Galatians 3:21-22; Hebrews 7:18-19). • It serves as a mirror, exposing sin but offering no remedy (Romans 3:20; James 2:10). • Therefore, something greater than the written code was required to rescue us. in that it was weakened by the flesh • The problem is not with the law itself but with human nature corrupted by sin (Romans 7:18-23). • Our fleshly impulses make perfect obedience impossible (Matthew 26:41; Galatians 5:19-21). • So, while the law could diagnose the disease, our flesh prevented the cure from coming through law-keeping. God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man • What the law could not accomplish, God Himself accomplished. He entered history, sending “His own Son” (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9-10). • “Likeness of sinful man” underscores the real humanity of Jesus—He shared our flesh yet remained sinless (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7-8; Hebrews 2:14-17). • The incarnation brings God’s perfect obedience into the very arena where we failed. as an offering for sin • Jesus did more than model obedience; He became the sacrificial substitute, bearing the penalty our sins deserved (Isaiah 53:10; 2 Corinthians 5:21). • His once-for-all sacrifice fulfills every Old Testament shadow (Hebrews 9:26-28; 1 John 2:2). • Through His blood, righteousness is gifted, not earned (Romans 3:24-25). He thus condemned sin in the flesh • At the cross God passed sentence on sin itself, breaking its dominion over those who believe (Colossians 2:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24). • Because sin has been judicially condemned, believers are free from condemnation (Romans 8:1) and empowered to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4). • The victory occurred “in the flesh” of Christ, ensuring that the realm where sin reigned is now the realm where grace triumphs (Romans 6:6-7). summary Romans 8:3 announces that the law could expose sin but could not save us because our flesh was too weak to keep it. God solved what we never could by sending His own Son, truly human yet sinless, to be the sacrificial offering for sin. In Jesus’ flesh sin was condemned once and for all, releasing believers from guilt and empowering a new life in the Spirit. |
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