Romans 8:3 is a verse that is difficult to translate and also difficult to understand. Other translators also discovered the problem in the construction of verse 3. For example, the New American Standard Bible reads, “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.” In order to solve the problem in translation, they added the word did. That which the law could not do, God did. So this translation says, “God did.” After the word did the translators added a colon, indicating how the matter could be worked out, that is, “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.” The fact that they added the word did indicates that the translators realized the difficulty involved in this verse. Otherwise, they did not need to add did.
The Berkeley translation of Romans 8:3 reads: “For what the Law was unable to do, weakened as it was through the flesh, that God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and on account of sin; He thus condemned sin in human nature.” This translation is nearly the same as the New American Standard Bible. “On account of sin,” or concerning sin, is much better than “as an offering for sin.” The use of the clause that God did indicates that these translators also discovered the problem with this verse.
Conybeare translates this verse as, “For God (which was impossible to the Law, because by the flesh it had no power), by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and on behalf of sin, overcame sin in the flesh.” He used the word overcame for condemned. Condemned here really means “to subdue or to deprive of its power” or “to overcome.” He placed a parenthesis around the problem clause: which was impossible to the Law, because by the flesh it had no power. Still, grammatically speaking, this clause is difficult to understand.
Wuest translates the verse in this manner: “For that which is an impossibility for the law, because it was weak through the sinful nature, God having sent His Son in likeness of flesh of sin, and concerning sin, condemned sin in the sinful nature.” This version indicates that God sent His Son in the likeness of flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the sinful nature in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be brought to completion in us, or might be fulfilled in us. The two main clauses in a simplified way would read: “For that which is an impossibility for the law...God...condemned sin.” The Greek word gar is used here as a conjunction, joining the two clauses.
The Amplified Bible reads, “For God has done what the law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [that is, the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh—subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power [over all who accept that sacrifice].” This version also indicates that God has done what the law could not do.
By comparing these different authorities in translation, we can realize that there is a problem. Also by comparing these translations, we can get the right meaning. The best translation of this verse should be as follows: “For that which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin and concerning sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” This translation is very close to the Greek text. This is grammatically correct, and this is very logical. The law of the Spirit of life has freed me from the law of sin and of death, for God has condemned sin in the flesh with a reason. And the reason is found in the clause that which the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh.
The clause God...condemned sin may be considered in parallel with the clause for the law of the Spirit of life has freed me in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and of death. Actually, verse 2 is a definition of the fact that the law of the Spirit of life has freed us from another law. Verse 3 then continues to tell us how or by what way the law of the Spirit of life has freed us. The reason there is such a law to free us is because God has condemned sin. God condemned sin by sending His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin because the law was weak because of the flesh. Because of this we can understand that this verse strongly gives us the definition, the reason, the explanation, of how the law of the Spirit of life frees us from the law of sin and of death, and it also refers us back to chapter 7 where there is the definition of the law of sin. Only in chapter 8 do we have the definition of the law of the Spirit of life.
Previously, I told you that all of chapter 8 after verse 2 is a full definition of the law of the Spirit of life. Actually, this definition is the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Have you noticed that in chapter 8 these three terms of the Trinity are strongly mentioned? In verse 2 there is the Spirit; in verse 3 there is the Son; in verse 15 there is the Father. In this chapter there is also the strong indication that these three are one. Verses 9 through 11 speak of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, Christ, and the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead. Because these terms are used interchangeably, it indicates strongly that the three are one. God is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ. So here is the Trinity. Although the Trinity is mentioned clearly in John 14 and 16, actually, the most complete and perfect and clear mention and explanation of the Trinity is in Romans 8. In Romans 8 there are the three—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—and there is the strong indication that these three are considered as interchangeable terms, indicating that They are not only three but also one. So They are three-one. No other chapter in the Bible has as many hints and indications concerning the Trinity.
Furthermore, in this chapter, there is the clear indication that this Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—has passed through the process of incarnation, because the Son was sent in the form of the flesh (v. 3). This chapter also indicates, or implies, the crucifixion because it mentions Jesus being raised from the dead (v. 11). This chapter also indicates resurrection because it speaks of the Spirit of the One who raised Jesus from the dead (v. 11). Furthermore, this chapter includes ascension, because in verse 34 it mentions that the resurrected Christ is now at the right hand of God interceding for us. This chapter also indicates that all three eventually become the indwelling Spirit who dwells in our spirit. It also indicates the mingling of the indwelling Spirit who is the Triune God and who, after being processed, is with our spirit. He has mingled with our spirit. Verse 10 says that when Christ is in you, the spirit is life. This indicates that the very Christ is in your spirit. Then verse 16 says that the Spirit Himself witnesses with our spirit. This means that the two are mingled as one. How can we tell that these two spirits are mingled? Verse 15 says, “You have received a spirit of sonship in which we cry, Abba, Father!” The parallel verse, Galatians 4:6, says, “God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father!” Romans says that we cry, and Galatians says that the Spirit cries. Surely these are not two cryings but one. These two verses strongly indicate the mingling. It means that His crying is my crying, and my crying is His crying. When I cry in my spirit, He cries. He and my spirit are mingled as one.
The revelation of the Trinity in Romans 8 is very high. Such a Triune God, processed and becoming the indwelling Spirit, is the law of the Spirit of life. The law of the Spirit of life is just such a God. He is not merely the Jewish God nor the God of many Christians. The Jews have God, but they do not believe that their God is triune—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. If they believed this, right away they would believe in Jesus Christ. The Jews believe that God is the Father in a very broad sense, as the source of everything. They do not believe that in the Godhead there is the Son. If they did believe this, right away they would become Christians. They say that Jesus was an illegal son, born before his mother was married. This is their mistaken belief. Of course, they do believe that God is the Creator who created the earth and the heavens, but the God in whom they believe is short of too many aspects.
Many Christians, on the other hand, believe in a God who is triune with three separate persons—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Actually, eventually, ultimately, and consummately, they believe in three Gods. This is tritheism. For more than forty years we have been fighting for the truth concerning the Trinity. We believe in the Trinity, whereas many of them believe something that actually is tritheism. We believe that the Son is the Father, and the Son is also the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are one because God is Spirit. The very God in John 4:24 not only indicates the Father but also indicates the Son and the Spirit. The entire God is Spirit: God the Father is Spirit, God the Son is Spirit, and God the Spirit is Spirit. All three are the Spirit. Because all three are Spirit, it is surely right to say that Jesus Christ is the Spirit. Some, because of their ignorance and blindness and darkness, have considered that this kind of teaching is heretical. But this is the pure Word of God.
Romans 8 reveals to us that God is triune. But the Father, Son, and Spirit are not three Gods but one. The God of many Christians today is triune in three separate persons as three Gods. They have not seen that the Triune God has gone through a process. They only consider that God the Father so loved the world and sent His Son to save the world. The Son came to be born in a manger to be a man. This Son died on the cross for our sins, He was resurrected, and today He is in the heavens on the throne with the Father. And the Spirit has been sent down to work on us as the Son’s representative. To their realization these are three Gods separate one from another. A well-known painting shows an old father sitting, a young son standing, and a spirit soaring in the air as a dove. This is the so-called Triune God of many Christians. In their consideration there are three separate and distinct persons. This kind of teaching is a kind of drug, and I am a little concerned that this drug may yet remain in your subconsciousness. I have the assurance that what we have been teaching concerning the Trinity is absolutely from the pure Word of God without a bit of the traditional leaven. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, according to the revelation of the Scriptures, are not separate as three Gods but one unique God. Such a clear and complete and perfect revelation of the Triune God includes the process of incarnation and of His becoming the life-giving Spirit and includes the indwelling. All this is in Romans 8. This is the God in whom we believe.
How marvelous that this complete and perfect God has been installed into us. He is now indwelling us in our spirit, and Romans 8 also indicates that He will spread into our mind, and eventually He will saturate our body.
As we have mentioned in previous chapters, there are four layers of life in chapter 8. First of all there is the Spirit of life (v. 2). This means that the divine Spirit of God is life. Then after Christ comes into our spirit, our spirit is life (v. 10). When we set our mind on the spirit, our mind is life (v. 6). When we coordinate or cooperate with the indwelling Spirit to put to death the practices of our body, our body also is life (v. 13).
The very God who is triune and who has been processed and who has become the indwelling Spirit is first installed into our spirit. Then from our spirit He spreads into our mind, and from our mind He eventually saturates our body. The very God installed into us is the law of the Spirit of life. Today this God does everything for us not by activity but always by law. Let me illustrate once again what it means to do things by law. Suppose electricity had never been installed into this building. When we need power, we might cry to and beg the general manager and the power plant for power. Because we need heat and light, we beg for mercy that he would send these things to us. It might be that the general manager would hear our pitiful prayer and send some power and heat and light to us. This is by activities. Later, we would need to repeat the same thing. But once electricity has been installed into this building and all the systems have been put in, the power plant gives us heat, cooling, power, light, sound, and so forth not by activity but by law. Because it is by law, you do not need to pray or to fast or to cry. That would be foolish.
As a Christian, I am afraid that you have done this kind of foolish crying many times. For example, after you were saved, you wanted to be a nice husband. After I got saved, I wanted to be the best husband—meek, gentle, nice, slow, with no temper, always smiling. Not only did I make up my mind to do these things, but I also prayed concerning these things. It is so strange that if I did not make up my mind, I might be able to be gentle and meek and nice for several days. But once I made up my mind and prayed concerning these things, right away after praying I might lose my temper. It seems there was no answer to my crying and praying.
Once electricity is installed, if you need power, you should simply go to the switch. If you need light, you should simply turn on the switch. This is not a miracle. This is just an operation by law. Sometimes in our earnest and yet foolish prayer, we accidentally pushed the right button, and for several days we were such a nice husband. But it was not consistent because we did not know the secret. Many saints discovered through the Scriptures that praying is the secret, but they did not have such a clear light as we have seen today. Today we do not need to grope in the darkness. We do not need to cry. We just need to walk according to the spirit. That means we set our mind on the spirit. When we walk according to the spirit, many wonderful doings are going on within us by the law. That is God working within us.
Romans 8:2 says that the law of the Spirit of life has freed us from the law of sin and of death. Without chapter 7 of Romans it would be difficult for us to know about the law of sin and of death. Chapter 8 does not explain such a law. But we have to remember that chapter 8 is a continuation of chapter 7. In chapter 7 Paul had already explained the law of sin and of death. When he wrote chapter 8, he simply referred back to the law of sin and of death explained in chapter 7.
Let us consider the verses concerning the law of sin and of death in Romans 7. Verse 21 reads, “I find then the law with me who wills to do the good, that is, the evil is present with me.” Paul found a law. This is not the law of God given through Moses. This is a law just like the law of gravity. When I throw something into the air, I do not need to pray that God would send it back. It comes back because of the law of gravity. Furthermore, if you drop a book, and it falls to the earth, you should not condemn Satan, saying that he took away your book. That is not fair. That means you do not know the law of gravity.
We also need to read verse 20: “If what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me.” Paul discovered that what he did not want to do, he did. Then he said it was no longer he that did it but something within him that did it. He said that it was sin dwelling in him that did it. He discovered that there was a law working within him. When he wanted to do good, a law came in to frustrate.
In verse 22 Paul says that he delighted in the law of God. This refers to the law given on Mount Sinai through Moses. This law was outside of Paul. Verse 23 goes on to say, “But I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me a captive to the law of sin which is in my members.” The Mosaic law was outside of Paul, but another law was within him, warring against the law of God. This law was in his members, in his flesh. It goes on to say that this law is warring against the law of his mind. The law in the mind is another law. This is not the Mosaic law. This is a law in your mind, in your very nature created by God, always trying to do good, to keep the law of God. The mind represents the soul, and the soul is the being. This means that in the living part of your being is another law, which wants to keep the law of God and to do good. But the law in our members is always warring against this good law in our mind and making us captive to the law of sin, which is in our members. This one verse makes it very clear that the sin in our members is the law of sin in our members.
How can we prove that the law of sin in our members is sin? We must go back to read verse 18: “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but to work out the good is not.” This proves that the law of sin in our members is sin. This is sin personified, and in verse 21 it is also called the evil. Paul says that the evil is present with him. We must realize that in the whole universe what is evil is Satan. And this evil is the very sin that is in our members, that is, in our flesh.
Let us also read Romans 5:12: “Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and through sin, death; and thus death passed on to all men because all have sinned.” The world here means mankind, human beings. Through Adam, sin entered. This means that something living entered into human beings, into mankind, into the world. This something living must be that evil one, Satan. In Genesis 3 the devil tempted Adam and Eve to take the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At that time Satan entered into man, and this entering in of Satan is nothing less than Satan himself becoming a system in us. That system within us, that set-up principle within us, is called the law of sin and of death.
This means that at the fall of man Satan entered into man. In other words, Satan has installed himself into man as an evil “electricity.” Satan has installed himself into man as an evil system. That system, that set-up principle, is the law of sin. From that time onward, when man wanted to steal, to commit fornication, to kill people, he did not need to do it by activity but by law. No human being needs to be taught to steal or to commit fornication. That evil law in you simply works. No one needs to be taught to be selfish or to be covetous or to be greedy. It is not a matter of an activity. It is simply the law of the greedy lust.
We can see that there are two set-up principles within us. One is the evil principle set up in the members of this fallen body, in our flesh. But the other is a wonderful, good principle, set up in our spirit. This means that both God and Satan have been installed into us. It is because of these two installments that we always have trouble. Why then, in Romans 7:25, does Paul say, “Thanks be to God”? First, he says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (v. 24). Then he answers, “Thanks be to God, through Jesus Christ.” It is not that Jesus Christ delivers you directly, but something delivers you through Him. What is this something that delivers you through Jesus Christ? This brings us to chapter 8, which tells us that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? Because of another law, the law of the Spirit of life. There were three laws mentioned already in chapter 7—the Mosaic law; the law in our members, which is the evil law, the law of sin; and the law of good in our mind. But now there is a fourth law, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which can deliver us and free us from the law of sin and of death. The deliverance is through Jesus Christ by the law of the Spirit of life. How could this be? That which the law could not do, God did. He did it by sending His Son in the form of the flesh of sin. This means that by becoming a man, by incarnation, He sent His Son concerning sin. Because of the impossibility of the law, God had to become a man. Also, because the trouble was in man, God became a man. He became a man in the form of the flesh of sin. The troubling sin is in the flesh just like a tiger is in a cave. The trouble, the problem, is the tiger in the cave. If you are going to deal with the tiger, you have to be in the cave. Our flesh may be likened to the cave, and sin may be likened to the tiger. The Lord Jesus was so bold that He came into the cave, into the flesh, where the tiger was. He even came in the form, in the guise, in the mask, in the appearance, of the cave. Where is this troubling sin? It is in the cave, in the flesh. Who is this troubling sin? It is Satan. This means that the sin in your flesh is Satan.
Satan thought he was being wise to get into man’s flesh so that he might gain man and possess him. He did not know that actually he was foolish, that he was getting himself into a trap. The “tiger” got himself trapped in man. He was trapped in the flesh. Then God incarnated to become the flesh and to bring the flesh to the cross. This means that when the flesh was crucified on the cross, Satan and sin were condemned. This word condemned implies being subdued, overcome, deprived of power. This corresponds with Hebrews 2:14. The Lord took upon Himself the blood and the flesh so that He might destroy the devil who has the might of death. Furthermore, Ephesians 2:15 says that He abolished the ordinances in His flesh. This corresponds with Hebrews 10:20, which says that while He was on the cross, the veil which was His flesh was rent. Through the cross, the flesh and sin and Satan are all finished so that we could be released from the law of sin and of death.
