Righteous Requirements Of The Law

Romans 8:3-4 - 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.

Hebrews 10:1 - For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

Philippians 2:5-7 - Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Galatians 5:16 - But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Jeremiah 31:33-34 - For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Application:

·         The sacrifices prescribed by the law were repeated year after year, the very repetition bearing testimony that the perfect, sin-removing sacrifice had not yet been offered.

·         He made Himself nothing, not by giving up deity, but by laying aside His glory and submitting to the humiliation of becoming man. Jesus is truly God and truly man.

·         The law still plays a role my life—not, however, as a means of salvation but as a moral and ethical guide, obeyed out of love for God and by the power that the Spirit provides. The law’s righteous requirements can be fully met—by no longer letting the sinful nature hold sway but by yielding to the directing and empowering ministry of the Holy Spirit.

·         Living by the promptings and power of the Spirit is the key to conquering sinful desires.

·         The law is put in me internally, in contrast to setting it before me externally.

·         I am to know the Lord in the experiential sense, not just the academic sense.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Condemnation

Romans 8:1,34 - There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Romans 6:11,14 - So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus…For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Application:

·         Three reasons are given as to why no one can condemn me: (1) Christ died for me; (2) He is alive and seated at the right hand of God, the position of power; (3) He is interceding for me.

·         Law provides no enablement to resist the power of sin; it only condemns the sinner.

·         I am in Christ because I have died with Christ and have been raised to new life with Him.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

I Myself

Romans 7:22-25 - For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

1 Peter 2:11 - Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

2 Corinthians 2:14 - But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Romans 6:22 - But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.

Application:

·         Am I separated from the corruption of the world, not yielding to its destructive sinful desires?

·         Law of sin and death is the controlling power of sin, which ultimately produces death.

·         Deliverance comes, not through legalistic effort, but through Christ.

·         The grace of God is more than adequate for every conceivable situation, no matter how threatening and destructive it may seem to be. I am called to spiritual warfare and I am triumphantly led by God in Christ, and it is through me that God spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

·         If I have been justified, I will surely give evidence of that fact by the presence of holiness in my life.

·         Do I delight in God’s law?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Once I Was Alive

Romans 7:8-10 - But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.

Philippians 3:3-6 - For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Leviticus 18:5 - You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

Luke 10:27 - And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Application:

·         Am I using the law as an attempt to merit God’s approval and blessing?

·         The law was the way of life for the redeemed, not a way of salvation for the lost.

·         Total devotion to God is demanded. Am I totally devoted to Him?

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

I

Romans 7:7,22-23,25 - What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”…For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 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…Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Exodus 20:17 - “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

Application:

·         To covet means to desire something with evil motivation. To break God’s commandments inwardly is equivalent to breaking them outwardly.

·         Can I say I delight in God’s law?

·         Deliverance comes, not through legalistic effort, but through Christ.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

But Thanks Be To God

Romans 6:17-18,22 - But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness…But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

2 Corinthians 2:14 - But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.

Romans 8:1-2 - Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Application:

·         The grace of God for every conceivable situation is adequate without fail, no matter how threatening and destructive it may seem to be. I am called to spiritual warfare and I am triumphantly led by God in Christ, and it is through me that God spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ.

·         I have changed masters. Whereas I was formerly a slave to sin, I have become a slave to righteousness.

·         Anyone who has been justified will surely give evidence of that fact by the presence of holiness in his life.

·         The law of the Spirit of life is the controlling power of the Holy Spirit, who is life-giving. The law of sin and death is the controlling power of sin, which ultimately produces death.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Resurrection

Romans 6:5-7,18 - For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin…You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Philippians 3:10-11 - I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Colossians 3:1 - Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Application:

·         Knowing Christ is not merely factual; it includes the experience of the power of His resurrection, of fellowship in His sufferings and of being like Him in His death. I already share positionally in Christ’s death and resurrection.

·         I am called upon to become in daily experience what I am positionally in Christ.

·         I have changed masters. Whereas I was formerly a slave to sin, I have become a slave to righteousness.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Will...Reign In Life

Romans 5:16-18 - And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

John 10:10 - The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 - The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.

Isaiah 53:11 - Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Application:

·         The thief’s interest is in himself. Christ’s interest is in His sheep, whom He enables to have life to the full.

·         Faithfully bearing up under suffering and trial will result in reward when Christ returns.

·         Life for all men does not mean that everyone eventually will be saved, but that salvation is available to all.

·         God has had more than enough of innumerable sacrifices that accomplished nothing.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Sin Is Not Counted Where There Is No Law

Romans 5:12-15,18 - Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many…Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

Isaiah 53:11 - Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Mark 10:45 - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Application:

·         Adam by his sin brought universal ruin on the human race. In this act he is the prototype of Christ, who through one righteous act brought universal blessing.

·         Life for all men does not mean that everyone eventually will be saved, but that salvation is available to all. To be effective, God’s gracious gift must be received.

·         God has had more than enough of innumerable sacrifices that accomplish nothing.

·         Jesus came to this world as a servant—indeed, the Servant—who would suffer and die for our redemption.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Reconciled

Romans 5:9 - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 - All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Colossians 1:19-20 - For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Romans 8:34 - Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Application:

·         Hostility must be removed from me if reconciliation is to be accomplished. Since I was reconciled when I was God’s enemy, I will be saved because Christ lives to keep me.

·         I have the privilege and obligation of now being a herald and instrument in God’s hands to minister the message of reconciliation throughout the world.

·         Reconcile to Himself all things does not mean that Christ by His death has saved all people. Only believers are saved.

·         Three reasons are given as to why no one can condemn me: (1) Christ died for me; (2) He is alive and seated at the right hand of God, the position of power; (3) He is interceding for me.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Time

Romans 5:6-8,10 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Ephesians 1:7-10 - In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 15:13 - Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Application:

·         In a world of confusion, where things do not add up or make sense, we look forward to the time when everything will be brought into meaningful relationship under the headship of Christ.

·         Since I was reconciled when I was God’s enemy, I will be saved because Christ lives to keep me.

·         God so loved the world is the great truth that motivated God’s plan of salvation.

·         Christ’s love was not only in words but also in His sacrificial death.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV

Sins And Justification

Romans 4:23-25 - But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Isaiah 53:6,11-12 - All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all…Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

2 Corinthians 5:21 - For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 3:21-25 - But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

Romans 5:1,18 - Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.

1 Corinthians 6:11 - And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Application:

·         The iniquity of us all was laid on Him, just as the priest laid his hands on the scapegoat and symbolically put Israel’s sins on it.

·         Christ, the only entirely righteous one, at Calvary took my sin upon Himself and endured the punishment I deserved, namely, death and separation from God.

·         Jesus has caused me to be declared righteous.

·         Although I clearly and totally deserve to be declared guilty, because of my trust in Christ God declares me righteous, freely, by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus and through faith.

·         Once I was His enemy, but now I am His friend.

·         To be effective, God’s gracious gift must be received.

·         God does save and sanctify wicked people.

·         He took up my sins and makes intercession for me.

All Scripture verses taken from ESV