For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
The law shows us what we are missing. The law shows us the standard. The law helps us see how we are failing. The law cannot save us.* The law cannot do what we need: to be set free from the power of sin.* As one theologian puts it, the law shows the way to life, but it does not bring those running headlong into death back to it.*
So what is there to be done? God sent His own Son to accomplish what the law could not. God sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. What does this mean? It means that Jesus was fully flesh, but He was fully free of sin. Unlike us who are fully flesh and fully sinful, He was not tied to the sin that Adam and Eve introduced to the world, for Jesus was born of the Spirit.*
As one scholar puts it, “Christ became what we are so that we could become what He is. By condemning sin in Christ as our sacrifice, God can now justly avoid condemning us who are in Christ.”
God sent HIs son to set us free in 5 ways:*
A freedom from slavery to sin (6:16–22)
A freedom from being taken prisoner (7:23)
A freedom from condemnation (8:1)
A freedom from the power of sin and death (8:2)
A final liberation of both creation and the individual at the the end of time (8:21, 23).
Arguably, this is not just a “set free from” also a “set free for.”* For what? To live for Christ.*
The freedom that Christ came to bring humanity will not come any other means. We cannot escape the sickness of sin by drinking the deadening agents of this world. We cannot liberate ourselves from the justice of God by any offering lifted up to Him. We cannot outrun the strength of death and sin. Nor can we ensure our freedom at the end of all things. Only Christ can do this for us. In light of this, we must trust Him to do this work for us.
I find it interesting that God made us in His image to walk with Him and be like Him, and then Christ had to come in the likeness of sinful flesh to break the power of sin so that once again we could walk with Him and be like Him.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to receive His gift of Jesus by trusting what Jesus did. Perhaps the freedom you have been given is one that God would have you receive today. Maybe today God would have you set down the mechanisms you’ve been using to feel free so that you can embrace Him and really be free. Perhaps God wants you to go on a walk with Him today.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus.
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*Kruse, C. G. (2012). Paul’s Letter to the Romans (D. A. Carson, Ed.; p. 325–330). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos.
Osborne, G. R. (2004). Romans (pp. 182–185). InterVarsity Press;
Morris, L. (1988). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 301–303). W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (2000). Romans (p. 249). Zondervan Publishing House.