Romans 8:3: For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
It was impossible for the Law to produce righteousness in man. This is not the fault of the Law. The fault lay in man and the sin in his flesh. The Law was totally incapable of producing any good thing in man. Paul could say, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing” (Rom. 7:18). And friend, that is Scripture, and that is accurate. Man is totally depraved. That doesn’t mean only the man across the street or down in the next block from you, nor does it mean only some person who is living in sin; it means you and it means me. The Holy Spirit is now able to do the impossible. The Holy Spirit can produce a holy life in the weak and sinful flesh.
What the Law could not do, the Holy Spirit is able to do. We are not to try to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps. We’ll never make it that way, my friend. We make resolutions and say, “I’m going to do better”—all of us have said that. But did we ever do better? Didn’t we do the same old things? 1
Application
- Surrender all your good intentions to Him right now.
- Receive now: His instructions and His empowerment for this day. He wants to give them to you, because He loves you. Be blessed by His leadership over your life.
Prayer
Lord, please do whatever You want to do in my life today.
1. McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Romans 1-8) (electronic ed., Vol. 42). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
