“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, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).
The most difficult and bitter truth pills a first-century Jew like Saul of Tarsus had to ingest were the three brutal facts which clearly demonstrated the Law of Moses to be inferior to the gospel of Christ. These three facts are:
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Because of its utter holiness and the Jews’ imperfect obedience to it, the Law could only condemn all ungodliness and unrighteousness; therefore, there is none righteous; no, not one.
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Only the Son of God Himself has ever kept all the righteous requirements of the Law, every jot and tittle.
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To be righteous in Jehovah’s eyes, you must be in Christ so as to be reckoned justified by God; there is no other way.
Being ignorant of God’s plan of righteousness via the gospel and seeking to establish your own (like the Pharisees did) will never work.
Striving to integrate the Law of Moses into the gospel of Christ (like the Judaizers did) estranges you from Christ; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4).
Obeying the gospel and then walking thereafter according to the flesh instead of the spirit (like apostates do) nullifies God’s verdict of “No condemnation”; you return to being at enmity against God and displeasing to Him (Romans 8:7-8).
The righteous requirement of the Law and a removal of its righteous declaration of condemnation upon human sin is only enjoyed by those who are in Christ Jesus and do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit.
