3. The Christian and the Law of God (Rom. 8:1-4)

This sermon was preached on Thursday, 15/10/2009

One of the striking features of today’s world is the desire expressed by many people for authenticity and genuineness. The world of politics is clouded by the words of spin doctors. Every product that is advertised on television or in magazines is claimed to be the best ever and everyone knows that they are not. Unrealistic expectations are created by football managers at the beginning of each season, with most of them being fully aware that they will not win their league. Promises are treated as if they were not binding on those who made them. The sad fact is that words have lost their meaning. Of course, the problem with authenticity and genuineness is not confined to the misuse of words. Often, the genuineness of a politician’s work is undone by moral failure, and the failure is enhanced because of the person’s previous condemnation of others for the same behaviour. Such character flaws are not confined to politicians, but are found in all walks of life. This combination of the misuse of words and inconsistency of action has produced strong scepticism towards any person who makes a dogmatic claim.

Even Christians can be affected by this outlook and can react to some biblical passages as if they were only highlighting an idealistic situation and not expressing normal Christian living. What is our reaction to the frequent requirement of Paul that other believers follow his example? He mentions this detail in several of his letters, such as in Philippians 3:17: ‘Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.’ Do we believe it is possible for a Christian to make this claim authentically?

One passage about which we may suspect that Paul is using words in an idealistic rather than in a practical way is his explanation of the Christian life in Romans 8:1-4. In these verses he deals with the role of the divine law in the spiritual life of believers and says that a worthy level of obedience to it can be achieved by them because of the work of the Spirit in their hearts.

An important question to ask ourselves when reading a verse or a passage from the Bible is this: ‘What doctrine is taught here?’ The reason why we should ask this question is because everything that is taught in the Bible belongs to a doctrine of the Christian faith. We may think, at first glance, that the doctrine in focus here is justification by faith because of Paul’s reminder to his readers that they are no longer under condemnation. Yet a closer look will show to us that the doctrine Paul has in focus is sanctification. He points out that a reason for Jesus coming into the world to save sinners and for God justifying sinners is that they will live a holy life.

Sanctification can be divided into positional sanctification and progressive sanctification, and it is important that we understand the difference between them or we will get confused. Positional sanctification is an act of God as against it being an ongoing work of God. It takes place when God sets a sinner apart for his own divine glory and pleasure at the individual’s conversion. At the beginning of their Christian lives, each of his people is declared by him to be a saint (a person who is set apart by God). A believer does not wait to be canonised by the church before he becomes a saint. Rather God makes him one at his conversion. Positional sanctification describes what took place then. Often the Bible’s writers will describe God’s people as sanctified. When that happens, they usually have positional sanctification in mind.

Progressive sanctification refers to the ongoing activity of God within those who have been adopted into his family and justified in his sight. Although they have been given new life at conversion, they are far from being perfect in their inner lives. If they were deeply involved in sinful practices before conversion, then there will be a dramatic outward change in their way of living as they forsake their old ways and begin a new life. Nevertheless, they are still marked by sin, and will be so throughout their lives on earth. The Lord does not leave them in that condition. Instead he works in their lives to renew them in their thoughts, their affections, and their wills.

In Romans 8:1-4, Paul summarises the doctrine of progressive sanctification. He succinctly says what an authentic Christian life should be like. Therefore, if we are disciples of Jesus, we should pay attention to what Paul says in order to assess where we are as followers of Christ. The biggest threat that we face is what Paul calls ‘the flesh’.

What is the ‘flesh’?

In these verses, and throughout the chapter, Paul makes a contrast between life after the flesh and life after the Spirit (vv. 1 and 4). It is important to keep in mind what he means by ‘flesh’. He does not mean our human body as such. Nor does he mean only the nasty things that we do, although they are certainly part of it, as we can see from Paul’s list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21: ‘Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.’ In Paul’s thought, ‘flesh’ also includes the normal everyday approach to life lived without the teaching and enabling of the Spirit of God. It is the world of the natural man. Both the Pharisee and the profligate belong to the flesh.

Sometimes, in using this term, Paul is contrasting two ways of living and not two conflicting principles inside a Christian’s inner life. For example, he writes in verse 9: ‘But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’ At other times he is referring to two conflicting principles, for there is a difference between us being in the flesh and the flesh being in us. Christians are not in the flesh because Christ has taken them out of it; the flesh, to some extent, is still in the Christian, which is why there is a spiritual conflict going on.

The flesh is one of the trilogy of enemies that every Christian faces, the other two being the world and the devil. Later on in this chapter, Paul will indicate how Christians must deal with the flesh – they must mortify it (v. 13).

What is the governing power in a Christian’s life?

When thinking about the way Paul, and other biblical writers, use the term ‘law’, we need to realise that he and they do not mean the same thing each time they use it. Sometimes Paul means the Jewish ceremonial law, at other times he means the moral law (summarised in the ten commandments), at other times he means civil law, and at other times he means a controlling principle (Rom. 7:23). When we turn to our verses, we see that he mentions the term ‘law’ four times. He refers to (1) the law of the Spirit of life, (2) the law of sin and death, (3) the law that was weak through the flesh, and (4) the righteousness of the law. What do these descriptions mean?

It is obvious that the last two references refer to the moral law or the ten commandments. Paul tells us two things about the law. First, in itself the moral law is too weak to overcome the power of the flesh or sinful human nature; this was not the fault of the law, but it does indicate the strength of sin’s desire. Second, the requirements of the moral law will be fulfilled in those who walk after the Spirit. But are the other two uses of law also references to the moral law?

The second usage is called ‘the law of sin and death’, and follows on from Paul’s words in Romans 7. Note the following verses: ‘but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members’ (7:23); ‘So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin’ (7:25). This law of sin and death was a desire to sin that resulted in spiritual death. It is a law that is opposed to the law of God. It is the principle that governs those who are not converted.

What about the first usage, ‘the law of the Spirit of life’? In the main, this is the Pauline usage about which there is disagreement between Reformed writers. Some think that Paul is using the term ‘law’ to indicate the principle of divine power that the Spirit has to make us holy. Others say that by the term ‘law of the Spirit’, Paul has in mind the gospel. Still others say that Paul means the moral law operating in the lives of those whom the Spirit has regenerated.

Regarding the last option, it has in its support the fact that the moral law is used in opposition to the law of sin in Romans 7:23 and 25. The problem with that option is that the moral law by itself was unable to overcome the law of sin in Paul.

What about the option that Paul means the gospel when he speaks of the law of the Spirit of life? This option has been supported by some scholars because elsewhere the gospel is called the ministration of the Spirit by Paul (2 Cor. 3:8). This suggestion seems to have some support in the context from the fact that Paul has been speaking of justification, the answer to the penalty imposed on us by our sins. The problem with this suggested meaning is that Paul is not only speaking of justification, for he goes on to say that the effect of the work of the Spirit is obedience to God’s law, which is sanctification.

Therefore I think that Paul is referring to the power of life that the Holy Spirit brings into a dead soul condemned by the law of God. This is a wonderful title of the Holy Spirit, to call him the Spirit of life. It was the Spirit who brought life to the original creation (Gen. 1:1). The Spirit gives spiritual life by regeneration, when he brings dead sinners to spiritual life. But the Spirit also is the sanctifying energy that transforms our lives day by day. So we could render verse 2 as follows: ‘The Holy Spirit, by his life-giving power, has set us free from the strong grip of indwelling sin.’ This does not mean that indwelling sin has been removed completely, but it does mean that the Holy Spirit’s power is at work in our lives. This is what gave Paul confidence as he surveyed himself and saw the tendency to sin that was still in his inner heart.

What is the grand purpose for a Christian’s life?

We find the answer to this question stated in verse 4: ‘That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.’ What does Paul mean by the righteousness of the law? He means all its requirements as detailed in the ten commandments and as amplified elsewhere in the Bible, for example, by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

Notice that this grand purpose involves heart alteration. Paul does not say that the law is fulfilled by us but in us. When we became Christians, God’s law was written on our hearts. This is the promise of the new covenant: ‘I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest’ (Heb. 8:10-11). This engraving on our heart was done when we were born again. We have been renewed in the inner man, and one feature of this renewal is an enlightened love for the law of God.

Further, this obedience is continuous. Paul likens it to a walk, to an ongoing consistency. To say this is not to deny that Christians still feel the power of sin, for they do. But the Christian life is not a ramble here and there, but a walk to a certain destination, heaven. The road to that destination may be rough at times, with some steep hills and many distractions, but Christians, even when they fall, get up and continue walking. As we know, this walk is graphically illustrated in the Pilgrim’s Progress.

The Trinity is involved in enabling obedience by Christians to the law of God. First, the Father’s release when freeing us from his condemnation was in order to give us the true liberty of obeying his commandments. Second, the Son’s rescue mission involved not only delivering us from the penalty of sin but also from its power. Both were essential in order for us to know the liberty of obedience. Third, the Spirit’s role mainly is not for us to have spiritual gifts or ecstatic experiences, but to enable us to obey God’s commandments. A crucial evidence of a Spirit-filled person is a life-long walk of obedience.

What does an authentic Christian look like? Such a person can easily be identified because he loves to keep God’s commandments. He gives a clear witness to all who know him that he fears God. As we make our way through the various features mentioned later in this chapter, we have to remember that they are enjoyed by those who live out in their daily lives the commandments of God.