"For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us , who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8v3-4
In these verses we have two main ideas; firstly, what the law could not do, and secondly what God has done. We begin with the first of these, which presents to us the weakness of the law. Before we proceed into the heart of what these verses are teaching we must not give the impression that there was any fault in the law, but that the weakness was only in us: so before we consider the inadequacy of the law to save us , we must think of the tremendous character of the law as it was given to Moses hundreds of years before. Here then is a summary of the character of the law.
- Its origin is God - The law is not the outcome of protracted years of trial and error through human legislation. The law is from God, is perfect, and reflects the purity and the holiness of its originator. Other ancient codes, which largely are a copy of the Divine law, fall short in that they portray the weakness and sinfulness of their originators. The perfect Divine law was communicated by God to Moses through the agency of angels.
- The moral purity of the law - It expressed the mind of God; it is the noblest code of laws ever given, its terms reflect the Divine standard and condemn misconduct of every kind in thought as well as in deed.
- The law of God is universal - It is fundamental to human experience world wide and applies in every place for all time. Each individual instruction never becomes outdated and is always applicable in every situation. The world at large acknowledges that "the golden rule" contained in the Decalogue and ratified by Jesus in the gospels, is the best rule of human life ever made "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
- The Divine law is impartial - It treats all men on the same level without distinction of any kind, whether social, religious, cultural or intellectual. The various laws laid down are rules of conduct for all men relative to God and man.
- The content of the law - This is three fold; duty to God, duty to parents, duty to neighbours.
- The intent of the law - This was to set up a standard of conduct consistent with the law Giver. Long years have only served to prove that man is an incurable lawbreaker and provides God with undisputable evidence by which He would condemn the world. In this, the incredible patience of God with mankind is demonstrated, because he knew from the very beginning this was the case, but he took the time to prove it beyond the shadow of any doubt.
But now he points out the impossibility of the law in verse 3 "what the law could not do." We have gone through all this to show clearly that there was nothing wrong with the law, it was just the weakness of the subjects with whom it was dealing "it was weak through the flesh." The law of God raises the standard too high for human attainment, and Paul later will set himself forth as a prime example (as indeed he did in chapter 7) . The law of God brings condemnation, but could not provide salvation. The flesh being weak (which means that mankind is incapable of reaching the Divine standard) puts the law beyond our capability to conform to it. Had we been able, any of us to conform to the law we would have a right standing with God, but because none of us were able God must intervene in another way if mankind is to be saved; and that will be the subject of our next study.
Tomorrow d.v. WHAT GOD DID
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