Sunday School Notes: Romans 8:3-8

³ For [that which] the Law was powerless [to do] because it was weak [being] through the flesh, God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [did] even concerning sin; He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous requirements of the Law may be fulfilled in us–those not walking according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set [their] mind on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the aspirations of the flesh are death, but the aspirations of the Spirit are life and peace. ⁷ Because the aspirations of the flesh are at enmity to God, for it does not submit to the Law of God, for it is not even able. ⁸ And those being in the flesh are not able to please God.

This week we turned our attention mainly to verses 5-8, though we did recap the whole section. It is interesting in verse 3 that because of the flesh, the Law was powerless to save, however Christ came in the flesh, or rather the likeness (Greek: homoiôma) of the flesh to condemn sin and bring salvation. And Christ did this so “the righteous requirements of the Law may be fulfilled in us”–that is, while we are not able to keep the righteous requirements of the Law, Christ did. Part of the transaction that occurred on the cross is that Christ’s righteous life, his perfect obedience to the Law, is imputed to his people. In this way, we are seen by God as having kept the Law, not because we have obeyed the Law perfectly, but because Christ obeyed the Law perfectly on our behalf.

The end of verse 4 qualifies who the intended recipients of Christ’s righteous obedience are: “those not walking according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Paul goes on in the following verses to unpack this. Interestingly, he changes the verb from one of activity (“walking according to the flesh”) to one of being (“those who are according to the flesh”). What you are affects how you act, so clearly this is what matters most. At conversion, it is the nature that is changed–a person goes from being one who doesn’t care for the things of God to one who loves God and wants to please Him. This is the kind of difference we see here between one whose mind is set on the flesh, on worldly concerns, and one whose mind is set on the Spirit, on the things of God.

Is it really as black-and-white as this? Is it possible that Christians can set their minds on the world? Isn’t it often the case that as Christians, we go about life not really thinking about the Lord, His word, or spiritual things? We are thinking about challenges at work, what’s for supper, or the guy driving like an idiot in front of us. But just because spiritual things are not on the forefront of our minds, our orientation has been set to the things of God. That means, the context of our lives is the Lord and pleasing Him. When we sin, we repent–we don’t ignore our sin. Why? Because our minds have that God-ward orientation. Those who are in the flesh don’t have the same godly concern over sin. When we face challenges at work, we will pray about them. We will deal with any ethical challenges, whether at work or at home, from a biblical perspective. That’s our worldview, our frame of mind. Those who are worldly-minded won’t think in those terms.

Someone in the group suggested the term “distractions” to describe the way the world tugs at the spiritually-minded to tempt them to think fleshly thoughts. I think this is a good way to think of it. As Christians, we are free from bondage to sin. Sin and the ways of this world don’t have a hold on us. However, we can be lured into thinking in those ways. When we do, that’s sin, but it is sin that is contrary to our new, redeemed nature. These sins don’t represent what we are now, and they are not a part of our new mindset. They are there to distract us from the Lord, and try to keep us thinking carnally. We need to beware these distractions, repent when we fall to them, and move on.

The Greek word I have translated “aspirations” is the word phronêma. This refers to a way of thinking, or a mindset. I like the notion of “aspirations,” because this also includes the idea of one’s hopes and dreams–what’s important to a person. And so it conveys the sense that those who are in the Spirit have God as their central concern, and their highest aspiration is to honor Him. Not so the fleshly-minded, whose highest aspirations will be self-centered, or at best worldly-centered.

Paul says that the fleshly aspirations are “death.” This is quite a stark statement, but that is their eventual end. Life and peace can only be found if we are in Christ, and this is demonstrated by our spiritual mindedness. There is a danger, however, that we might use this as a gauge, or a measuring rod, to see how spiritual we, or someone else, is. We must remember that our justification is secure: we are saved, and are no more saved, or loved by God now than we will be in Heaven. However, our sanctification is progressive. We are daily putting to death the temptations of the world, and becoming more like Christ. This doesn’t make one person a better, or “more saved” Christian than another–just in different stages of growth.

There are those in our lives who have greater spiritual maturity. These people are not more saved, or are more loved by God, they have just grown in grace to a deeper and greater extent. God puts people like this in our lives to encourage us, and to help us grow. It is people like these that Scripture calls to church leadership. One of the qualifications for an elder in the church is to be “blameless.” They need to have an exemplary life so that they can be an example to the church of how to deal with the peaks and valleys of life. Yes, they sin, but how they handle sin is a lesson to us all.

There are some further aspects of verses 7 and 8–particularly the concept that those who are in the flesh are not able to please God–that we didn’t really get to. We’ll pick up there and press on next week.