Who Remedies the Problem?
Romans 8:1-11 New International Version
Life Through the Spirit 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life[d] because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[e] his Spirit who lives in you.
Wednesday - May 26
Luther: “It is simply impossible for us of ourselves to fulfill the Law, and [it] is of no value to say that we can fulfill the Law. …The apostle refers to ‘what the Law could not do,’ even though this disability belongs to no one but to us, who were weak or unable to fulfill the Law. But… he is arguing primarily against those who trust in the powers of their own nature and think that no other help is necessary for righteousness. (As pastor R.J. Grunewald points out: ‘The Law does not make us better. The Law doesn’t fix the problem. The Law makes us aware of our [sin] problem in order to point us to the One who remedies the problem.’)