Joel Littlefield

“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.” Romans 8:3-4

What God did

The law had it’s purpose. It revealed the holiness of God to Israel. It revealed that the human heart is sinful and desperately wicked at its core impulse. It pointed man to a perfect Law-giver, a standard too high to achieve in human strength. But what it could not do, what it was never intended to do was save a soul.

“the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith” Galatians 3:23-24

What did God do for us that the law could never have done?

-He fulfilled the righteousness that the law demanded.

-He became the atoning sacrifice for law breakers.

-He condemned those very sins which the law revealed in us by nailing them to a cross.

Sin is Condemned

The Christian is not condemned any longer. He cannot be, for Christ, though innocent, was condemned, accused as guilty and nailed to a cross. Instead of crushing lawbreakers the Father sent His Son to be judged in our stead and bear the wrath that was owing us. The law required perfection. The wage due to sinners was death. And Jesus satisfied both.

No more condemnation

No more guilt.

No more bearing the weight of our own sin.

The unbearable burden has been lifted off.  Christ’s perfect life has been given and the Father is fully pleased. Jesus stood in our place to set us free from the law which bound us. We are free to live by the rule of the Spirit, and not by the flesh any longer.

Walk in The Spirit

“it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God” 

We now walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. And though it is a daily struggle and a long journey of learning what this fully means to crucify our flesh, the reality is the same. Every born again Christian walks according to the Spirit. It’s a blood-bought reality. You cannot one day have the Spirit indwelling you and the next day not. You cannot one day stand guiltless because of the final work of the cross and the next day be guilty again, as if Christ’s work wasn’t sufficient to fully save you. We all battle with remaining sin and fleshly impulses, but if your faith is in Jesus who justifies and forgives, then the ruling power within you is the Spirit. He will help you as Jesus promised He would.

God did what the law, because of human weakness, could never do. It’s a finished work that brings eternal freedom. The Spirit is indwelling you through faith. He is your strength, your help and your everlasting peace, for it is the Spirit who points you back daily to the work that God did in sending His Son to be and do what we, nor the law, nor any other man could ever have done alone. In Christ, sin no longer condemns you. Your sin has been condemned.