Romans 8:3-4

DISCOURSE: 1858
CHRIST THE AUTHOR OF OUR SANCTIFICATION

Romans 8:3. 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.

THE necessity of holiness is allowed by all: the means of attaining it are known to few. Christ is regarded as the meritorious cause of our justification before God; but he is not sufficiently viewed as the instrumental cause of our deliverance from sin. He is represented in the Scriptures as “our sanctification,” no less than “our wisdom and our righteousness [Note: 1 Corinthians 1:30.]:” and we should do well to direct our attention to him more in that view. In the preceding context he is spoken of as delivering his people from condemnation, and many judicious commentators understand the text as referring to the same point: yet, on the whole, it appears more agreeable both to the words of the text, and to the scope of the passage, to understand it in reference to the work of sanctification [Note: See Doddridge on the place.]. St. Paul had just said that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus,” that is, the Gospel, “had made him free from the law of sin, as well as of death.” He then adds, that on account of the insufficiency of the law to condemn and destroy sin, God had sent his own Son to effect it; and that through his incarnation and death its power should be effectually broken.

From this view of the text, we are led to consider,

I. The end and design of Christ’s Mission—

God’s desire and purpose was to restore his people to true holiness—
[Sin was the object of his utter abhorrence: it had marred the whole creation: it had entered into heaven itself, and defiled the mansions of the Most High: it had desolated the earth also, and all that dwelt upon it. To remedy the miseries introduced by it, and to root it out from his people’s hearts, was a design worthy of the Deity; since, if once they could be brought to “fulfil the righteousness of the law,” by walking, in their habitual course of life, no longer after the flesh, but after the Spirit, eternal honour would accrue to him, and everlasting happiness to them.]
The law was not sufficient to effect this—
[The law was indeed perfectly sufficient to direct man, while he remained in innocence: and it was well adapted to reclaim him when he had fallen; because it denounced the wrath of God against every transgression of its precepts, and set forth a perfect rule of duty. But “it was weak through the flesh:” man was deaf, and could not hear its threatenings; dead, and could not execute its commands. Hence, as to any practical effects, it spake in vain.]
God therefore, in order that his purpose might not fail, sent his only dear Son—
[He sent his co-equal, co-eternal Son, “in the likeness of sinful flesh,” and to be a sacrifice “for sin [Note: This is the meaning of περὶ ἀμαρτίας. See Hebrews 10:6 and 2 Corinthians 5:21.];” that, through his obedience unto death, he might “deliver those who had been, and must for ever have continued, subject to bondage.” How this expedient was to succeed, will come under our consideration presently: we therefore only observe at present, that it was a plan which nothing but Infinite Wisdom could have devised. It could not have entered into the mind of any finite being, to subject God’s only dear Son to such humiliation; to make him a partaker of our nature, with all its sinless infirmities; to substitute him in our place, and, by his vicarious sacrifice, to restore us to the image and favour of God: this does, and must for ever, surpass all finite comprehension.]

But though we cannot fathom all the depths of this mystery, we may shew

II.

In what way it is effectual for the end proposed—

We speak not of the way in which the death of Christ obtains our justification, but of the way in which it is instrumental to our sanctification. In reference to this, we say,

1. It displays the evil and malignity of sin—

[The evil of sin had been seen in a measure by the miseries which it had introduced, and by the punishment denounced against it in the eternal world. But in what light did it appear, when nothing less than the incarnation and death of Christ was able to expiate its guilt or destroy its power! Let any person behold the agonies of Christ in the garden, or his dereliction and death upon the cross, and then go and think lightly of sin if he can. Surely if men were more habituated to look at sin in this view, they would be filled with indignation against it, and seek incessantly its utter destruction.]

2. It obtains for us power to subdue sin—

[Though man is in himself so weak that he cannot, of himself, even think a good thought, yet through the influence of the Holy Spirit he can “fulfil the righteousness of the law,” not perfectly indeed, but so as to walk altogether in newness of life [Note: There is a two-fold fulfilling of the law mentioned in the Scriptures; the one legal, the other evangelical. Compare Matthew 5:17. with Romans 13:8 and Galatians 5:14.]. Now, by the death of Christ the promise of the Spirit is obtained for us; and all who seek his gracious influences, shall obtain them. Thus the axe is laid to the root of sin.“The weak is enabled to say, I am strong:” and he, who just before was in bondage to his lusts, now casts off the yoke, and “runs the way of God’s commandments with an enlarged heart.”]

3. It suggests motives sufficient to call forth our utmost exertions—

[The hope of heaven and the fear of hell are certainly very powerful motives; yet, of themselves, they never operate with sufficient force to produce a willing and unreserved obedience. While the mind is wrought upon by merely selfish principles, it will always grudge the price which it pays for future happiness. But let the soul be warmed with the love of Christ, and it will no longer measure out obedience with a parsimonious hand: it will be anxious to display its gratitude by every effort within its reach. “The love of Christ will constrain it” to put forth all its powers; to “crucify the flesh, with its affections and lusts,” and to “perfect holiness in the fear of God.”]

Infer—
1.

How vain is it to expect salvation while we live in sin!

[If we could have been saved in our sins, can it be conceived that God would ever have sent his own Son into the world to deliver us from them; or that, having sent his Son to accomplish this end, he would himself defeat it, by saving us in our iniquities? Let careless sinners well consider this: and let the professors of religion too, especially those in whom sin of any kind lives and reigns, lay it to heart: for if sin be not “condemned in our flesh,” our bodies, and souls too, shall be condemned for ever.]

2. How foolish is it to attack sin in our own strength!

[A bowl, with whatever force it be sent, and however long it may proceed in a right direction, will follow at last the inclination of its bias, and deviate from the line in which it was first impelled. Thus it will be with us under the influence of legal principles: we shall certainly decline from the path of duty, when our corrupt propensities begin to exert their force. Our resolutions can never hold out against them. We must have a new bias; “a new heart must be given us, and a new spirit be put within us,” if we would persevere unto the end. Let us not then expect to prevail by legal considerations, or legal endeavours. Let us indeed condemn sin in the purpose of our minds, and sentence it to death: but let us look to Christ for strength, and maintain the conflict in dependence on his power and grace. Then, though unable to do any thing of ourselves, we shall be enabled to “do all things.”]

3. How are we indebted to God for sending his only Son into the world!

[If Christ had never come, we had remained for ever the bond-slaves of sin and Satan. We had still continued, like the fallen angels, without either inclination or ability to renew ourselves: whereas, through him, many of us can say, that we are “made free from the law of sin and death.” Let us then trace our deliverance to its proper source; to the Father’s love, the Saviour’s merit, and the Spirit’s influence. And let us with unfeigned gratitude adore that God, who “sent his Son to bless us, in turning away every one of us from our iniquities [Note: Acts 3:26.].”]