Romans 8:3
Romans 8:3 "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh."
It is easy to read the Bible and understand the jist of it but fail to understand the actual wording. From reading Romans 8:3 we know that the Lord Jesus came to do something which the law could never do; and that we have salvation in the Lord Jesus which we did not have through the Old Testament law. But we may be able to grasp that still without understand the actual wording of Romans 8:3. By understanding the syntax we are able to receive a greater revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's Word.
The verse can be broken down into two parts:
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh...":
Q: What does this phrase mean?
A: On the face of it this verse seems to suggest that the law (the law being the ten commandments given to us by God) is weak and unable to fulfill its purpose. But this is not what it is saying.We are told in Scripture that the law itself is perfect (Psalm 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;"). Romans 7:12 states: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."
Romans 8:3 is not saying that the law is inadequate, rather that we are inadequate. Imagine you have a clumbsy servant that works around your house. Everything you tell him to do he gets wrong. You tell him to clean the dishes; smashed, all over the floor. You tell him to serve your guest a cup of tea; he spills the tea pot on your guests lap, scolded. You tell him to change your bed sheets; he puts a single quilt on your double bed, you spend the night cold. Now, there is no problem with the commands that you are giving. They are fine and well. The problem lies with the servant himself.
Now if the servant was to stand still all day you would never know just how clumbsy he was, it is because you give him commands, that the servant's inadequacies are revealed. This is what Paul says in Romans 7:7 ("What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.")
The law is good and perfect. There is nothing wrong with the law, there is something wrong with us. We are the 'flesh' referred to in Romans 8:3 and it is through us that the law is weak. Therefore the law has no power to save us from death. Not because the law is unable to do so, but because we are unable to keep the law (Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."). If we could keep the law then it could save us from death, but we cannot. This is why in Galatians 3:24 Paul states "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Because of our inability to keep the law, the law is not able to save us from death. All it can do is show us our need for something else to save us. That something else is the Lord Jesus. This leads us on to the second part of our breakdown of Romans 8:3.
"...God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh"
Q: the meaning....
A: The syntax of the Bible, that is the way the book is put together, is so important. It is through studying the wording in this verse that we can truly understand its meaning. That is why it is so important to read a good and proper translation of God's Word. New translations that are not inspired by the Holy Spirit do not truly capture the revelation that the Lord has given us through His Word.
We know from part one that the law of God was given to show the standard that is required to be saved from death and to be able to come into the presence of the Almighty God, who cannot be in the presence of sin. We also know that it is because of our imperfections that we are unable to keep the law. The law is weak because of us, not because of the law. Therefore if we cannot be saved by God's law we need to put our hope in something else. This hope comes in the Lord Jesus who we are told that God sent for us 'in the likeness of sinful flesh'. The Lord came, not as an angel or as Almighty God the Father but as a human. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" The Lord came and unlike us was born perfect and remained perfect his whole life. He was the only man to live who kept the law in full. He fulfilled the law. He was crucified to take the punishment that we deserve upon His shoulders. He was worthy of this because He had kept the law. For sin is death. 1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
The Lord came to save us because we are unable to keep to the standards that the law required of us. The clumbsy servant is going to get the wrath of his master and probably the sack unless he can change his ways. But he cannot change his ways, for the clumbsiness is within him. He comes from a long line of clumbsy servants. The only way that the servant may avoid the sack is if somebody who is not so clumbsy can carry out the masters commands on his behalf.
We cannot be saved through the law. Not because the law is incapable in itself, because it is not, but because we are incapable to keep to the law. Imagine being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The law is a sturdy bridge from one side to the other. There is nothing wrong with the bridge, it is just too high for us to reach ourselves. Therefore God out of His love for us sent His Son who is able to reach the bridge and safely walk across it to come down into the Canyon so that we may put our hope in Him and He can safely take us across the bridge and save us from death, allowing us to have a relationship with God as He originally intended us to.
-BACChristian
It is easy to read the Bible and understand the jist of it but fail to understand the actual wording. From reading Romans 8:3 we know that the Lord Jesus came to do something which the law could never do; and that we have salvation in the Lord Jesus which we did not have through the Old Testament law. But we may be able to grasp that still without understand the actual wording of Romans 8:3. By understanding the syntax we are able to receive a greater revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and God's Word.
The verse can be broken down into two parts:
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh...":
Q: What does this phrase mean?
A: On the face of it this verse seems to suggest that the law (the law being the ten commandments given to us by God) is weak and unable to fulfill its purpose. But this is not what it is saying.We are told in Scripture that the law itself is perfect (Psalm 19:7 "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;"). Romans 7:12 states: "Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good."
Romans 8:3 is not saying that the law is inadequate, rather that we are inadequate. Imagine you have a clumbsy servant that works around your house. Everything you tell him to do he gets wrong. You tell him to clean the dishes; smashed, all over the floor. You tell him to serve your guest a cup of tea; he spills the tea pot on your guests lap, scolded. You tell him to change your bed sheets; he puts a single quilt on your double bed, you spend the night cold. Now, there is no problem with the commands that you are giving. They are fine and well. The problem lies with the servant himself.
Now if the servant was to stand still all day you would never know just how clumbsy he was, it is because you give him commands, that the servant's inadequacies are revealed. This is what Paul says in Romans 7:7 ("What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.")
The law is good and perfect. There is nothing wrong with the law, there is something wrong with us. We are the 'flesh' referred to in Romans 8:3 and it is through us that the law is weak. Therefore the law has no power to save us from death. Not because the law is unable to do so, but because we are unable to keep the law (Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."). If we could keep the law then it could save us from death, but we cannot. This is why in Galatians 3:24 Paul states "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." Because of our inability to keep the law, the law is not able to save us from death. All it can do is show us our need for something else to save us. That something else is the Lord Jesus. This leads us on to the second part of our breakdown of Romans 8:3.
"...God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh"
Q: the meaning....
A: The syntax of the Bible, that is the way the book is put together, is so important. It is through studying the wording in this verse that we can truly understand its meaning. That is why it is so important to read a good and proper translation of God's Word. New translations that are not inspired by the Holy Spirit do not truly capture the revelation that the Lord has given us through His Word.
We know from part one that the law of God was given to show the standard that is required to be saved from death and to be able to come into the presence of the Almighty God, who cannot be in the presence of sin. We also know that it is because of our imperfections that we are unable to keep the law. The law is weak because of us, not because of the law. Therefore if we cannot be saved by God's law we need to put our hope in something else. This hope comes in the Lord Jesus who we are told that God sent for us 'in the likeness of sinful flesh'. The Lord came, not as an angel or as Almighty God the Father but as a human. Hebrews 2:14 tells us that "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;" The Lord came and unlike us was born perfect and remained perfect his whole life. He was the only man to live who kept the law in full. He fulfilled the law. He was crucified to take the punishment that we deserve upon His shoulders. He was worthy of this because He had kept the law. For sin is death. 1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
The Lord came to save us because we are unable to keep to the standards that the law required of us. The clumbsy servant is going to get the wrath of his master and probably the sack unless he can change his ways. But he cannot change his ways, for the clumbsiness is within him. He comes from a long line of clumbsy servants. The only way that the servant may avoid the sack is if somebody who is not so clumbsy can carry out the masters commands on his behalf.
We cannot be saved through the law. Not because the law is incapable in itself, because it is not, but because we are incapable to keep to the law. Imagine being at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. The law is a sturdy bridge from one side to the other. There is nothing wrong with the bridge, it is just too high for us to reach ourselves. Therefore God out of His love for us sent His Son who is able to reach the bridge and safely walk across it to come down into the Canyon so that we may put our hope in Him and He can safely take us across the bridge and save us from death, allowing us to have a relationship with God as He originally intended us to.
-BACChristian
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