Ephesians– overview of 3:1-9; The Secret of the Ages, part 21 (Overcoming sin and suffering).

Class Outline:

ROM 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

 

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

 

ROM 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

 

Christ did what the Law could not do - dethrone sin by condemning it to death.

 

ROM 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

Paul writes in ROM 8:4 that we are the type of creatures who walk according to the Spirit. It is who we are.

 

The requirement of the Law is fulfilled in us since our nature of sin has been condemned. The Law is no longer over us. We serve in the newness of the Holy Spirit and not in the oldness of the Law.

 

ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

 

We have been designed to walk by means of the Spirit in the resurrection life of Jesus Christ.

 

PHI 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  

 

ROM 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

 

ROM 8:4 in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

 

This is the second of 17 “for”s in this chapter. We must be careful not to rush it. Is Paul saying that if we don’t walk by the Spirit then we do not fulfill the requirement of the Law? If that were true, then today I might fulfill the Law and tomorrow I may not. But the Law is fulfilled through the death of Christ, who condemned sin, which is once and for all, ROM 6:10; HEB 10:10; 1PE 3:18.

 

The Law was over us because of our nature of sin, but now, if that old husband, that old man is dead, then I am no long bound by the law of that marriage (ROM 7:1-6).

 

It is important to understand this point. When we were born into this world, we were born under Adam’s original sin and married to our sinful nature. God gave a law to Israel that the sinful nature was under. The ones who hated the law or were indifferent to it, or hypocritically lived under it like Pharisees - missed the message that came from the laws of that marriage to the flesh, which was that both bride (your soul) and groom (the flesh) were doomed to condemnation.

 

Then there were those in Israel who loved the law because they loved God. They were the ones who saw clearest that they hopelessly fleshly, breakers of the law, condemned.

 

What the law could not do, save us or our flesh, in other words save our doomed marriage, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemning sin to death. As Rom 7 states, when the husband dies, in this case our flesh, we are no longer under the law of that marriage. Our new husband is Christ, and so are no longer under the Mosaic Law or any law. We are under Him.

 

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

 

GAL 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 

I am purposely repeating this.

 

ECC 12:11 The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

 

ECC 12:12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

 

ECC 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

 

ECC 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

 

The truth of ROM 8:1-4 needs to be a truth so ingrained in us that it is like a well driven nail.

 

When we believed upon Him, Christ became our Adam, and God dated our history back to Calvary, and commanded us to reckon ourselves dead to sin because we died with Christ - thus our history with Adam was ended before God: so that God plainly says to us, “You are not in flesh” - where once we were.

 

God condemned, or, as we might say, executed sin in the flesh for us by the death of Christ. He did not die only for my sins, but also for my sin - the root of sin that is in my nature.

 

That which worries and distresses the heart of the sincere believer daily, is put away for faith by death, and we are dead to it. God has settled the question, condemned the nature of sin in you, which you also condemn, as well as the sins you may commit, which you should also condemn.

 

1CO 15:50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

 

For the earthy to cross over to the heavenly, for the one in the flesh to cross over, there has to be a death. Christ killed sin and the flesh, so that now, we who believe are no longer wed to the flesh but to Christ, and we have forever crossed over to the kingdom of God. There is a reason that the word “gospel” means “good news.”

 

Sin has been condemned in connection with human flesh, and this gives the glorious right for the risen Christ to live in these bodies of ours while they are on earth; and to walk in us, therefore, daily, in resurrection victory.

 

And while we wait for our final redemption, we now reckon sins and our nature for sin as judged, condemned and dead. It is such a heart that the Spirit can lead into things unimaginable.

 

Before the cross, sin had to be judicially dealt with in the flesh. Now, sin is condemned to death in the flesh. As we shall see in verse nine, believers are not in the flesh before God at all.

 

We have been designed to walk by means of the Spirit in the resurrection life of Jesus Christ.

 

ROM 8:5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

 

The lack of the definite article before Spirit, “according to Spirit,” emphasizes His power and nature over His person. The article then appears in front of “things” - “the things of the Spirit” then referring to the identity of “the things.” So, “His power in us has brought about the things of His.” This is yet another motivation, for those who yield their lives to God in order to walk by means of the Spirit, will become intimate with “the things of the Spirit.” Certainly, we could define many of the things from scripture, like wisdom, the knowledge of the deep things of God, power, insight, discernment, etc., and we should search them out from the scripture and know them well, but “the things” will only be known fully when we come to know them by walking in the Spirit and not in sin.

 

Man earthy, of the earth, an hungred feeds

On earth’s dark poison tree -

Wild gourds, and deadly roots, and bitter weeds;

And as his food is he.

And hungry souls there are, that find and eat

God’s manna day by day;

And glad they are, their life is fresh and sweet,

For as their food are they!

[Ter Steegen]

 

Kata plus the present participle of eimi (“are according to”) means habitual dominance - referring to the unbeliever (flesh); referring to the believer (Spirit).

 

Ps 37:1 {the Wicked} Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.    37:2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.    37:3 Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.    37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.    37:5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.    37:6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.    37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.    37:8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.    37:9 For evildoers will be cut off, But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.