² For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 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, ⁴ so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Law simply cannot aid us in meeting its requirements. The problem is not the Law, but rather our inability to keep the Law. It is perfect, but we are not. The form of religion that is based in the flesh has the false notion that God grades on a curve. For the individual, that means there is hope, because there are always others who are not as “good” as we are. We all readily acknowledge that no one is perfect, but hopefully I am better than the next person and will make the cut with God.

The Law represents the holiness of God and gives us a more objective comparison than with other people. When compared to God’s holiness, however, we all come up short. Therefore, the Law, which is perfect has become the law of sin and of death for all of us, because we all sin (Rom 3:23). The Bible depicts this as spiritual slavery with seemingly no hope of freedom in the Law. For the religious person trying to live by the Law, that is depressing.

Praise God, there is another way, namely, Jesus Christ—so that we are no longer judged by the Law. He has accomplished what the Law could never do, and made us righteous. For the Law provided the standard of God’s holiness, but did not provide the means for meeting that standard. It doesn’t make us righteous; it proves that we are not righteous.

But Jesus physically gave Himself as the sin offering, essentially condemning sin in His flesh, that is, He died bodily for us. And this sacrifice was perfect, as we are told in another place. He was “One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15b). Also, “[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor 5:21). Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Law. He was perfect, and His offering for sin was not for Himself, but for us. This applies to all who have come to faith in God’s provision “according to the Spirit” and not “according to the flesh.” We have left the life of being judged by the Law, and now live the life of faith, being justified by Christ. We are not perfect, but we are free from God’s condemnation. Therefore our struggle with sin now has nothing to do with our justification; we are secure forever.

Lord, thank You for reminding me that my sin has already been condemned in the Lord Jesus, and I am set free from the Law’s judgment.