Freed from the Law . . . by the Law?

I recently reread Romans 8 in its immediate context.  It’s interesting how we often take the classic verse referring to our acquittal and justification (Romans 8:1) out of the context which follows it.  I think it is worth another look:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

~Romans 8:1-9

Okay, so let’s break this section down and follow Paul’s line of reasoning.  He begins the section by telling us that there is no condemnation for those who are “in Christ Jesus.”  This is consistent with Paul’s language elsewhere of being “in Christ,” vitally and covenantally (Romans 6).  To be “in Christ Jesus,” then, is to be justified.  We no longer stand condemned before God.  But that is not where Paul stops.  In the next eight verses he goes further.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

The “For” (γὰρ) here does not necessarily mean that this presents a cause to the lack of condemnation.  It is likely that Paul is elaborating on the further results of the justification we have already received in Christ.  Cranfield takes it as “confirmation of the reality of the fundamental liberation described in v. 1.”¹  Douglas Moo, on the other hand, takes “for” here to indicate the “basis on which the person ‘in Christ’ is forever saved from condemnation” (i.e. justification), and this is probably the reason he must interpret certain subsequent phrases as he does.²

We often say without much thought that we have been freed from the bondage of the Law by grace.  Christ has taken upon himself to obey the Law in its entirety, and so fulfilled the “righteous requirement” of the law himself in our place.  His works are accounted to us.  This is all true (see my post on imputation in Paul), and I actually appealed to Romans 8:1 to show this.  But the following verses also show us that this is not the whole story.  Paul tells us here that we are freed from the law by the law.  Specifically, we are freed from the “law of sin and death” by the “law of the Spirit of life.”  So often the law is spoken of only as a condemning imprisoning entity, which we must escape.  Usually it is Romans 7:6 that is quoted, which speaks of us being released from the law.  How then does Paul speak of the law as being the thing that has freed us?

First, one may argue, as Douglas Moo does, that Paul here is not even speaking of “law” in the Torah sense.  It is possible Paul is using the word to refer to an abstract principle or power.³  In which case we do not have such a difficult passage here, at least in the first couple of verses.  With this reading, we would say that the principle (or power) of the Spirit of life has freed us from the principle of sin and death.  Indeed, Paul speaks of sin and death and cosmic powers which are defeated by Christ.  And if all we had were the first couple of verses in Romans 8 we might read it this way and be very comfortable.  But Paul does not stop there.

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.

Can Paul really be speaking of some sort of abstract principle?  Here he refers to “the law,” which is deficient because it has been “weakened by the flesh.”  This is strikingly in line with how he often speaks of the Mosaic law and administration.  In fact, he is referring back directly to Romans 7:14.  “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.”  The law is spiritual, but fallen humanity is of the flesh.  The deficiency then is not inherent to the law, but is found in our sinful unregenerate natures.  If we take the “law” of vv. 2 and 3 of chapter 8 to mean the same thing (and I see no good reason in the text why we should not), then we must conclude that Paul is speaking specifically in this section of the law as given by God (i.e. the Mosaic law, under the Old Covenant).  This becomes even more clear immediately in the next verse:

By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

God condemns the sin in the flesh through Christ, who took on himself the just punishment for sin, though sinless.  And what is the result—or rather, the purpose—of this?  “In order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us“!  Well, this is something unexpected, is it not?

We are used to saying that Christ has fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law on our behalf.  Sin has totally corrupted us, and we have no ability to fulfill the law.  Christ must do it for us.  Even as redeemed and saved people, we cannot obey the law perfectly, which is perfectly evident, since we know that we fail and sin constantly.  1 John tells us that if we say we are without sin, we are liars!  So what can Paul mean by saying that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us?

Perhaps he means that the law is fulfilled by Christ and that we simply receive the benefits?  Again, this is how Moo reads this section.⁴  After all, Paul says the requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, not by us.  In this case, it is still Christ’s obedience to the law that is in view.  We are simply vessels of that fulfillment, the evidence of Christ’s work done.  However, I am not convinced this is the best reading of this verse.

First of all, this would be a rather curious and round about way of expressing that idea.  But more than that, is what Paul says in clarification of this fulfillment.  The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in whom?  In those “who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  The fulfillment of the law in us is directly related to how we walk.  And again, immediately after, Paul continues:

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Paul is concerned with how we walk and how we live.  And again he uses the contrast of the Spirit and the flesh.  If we walk and live according to the Spirit, we put to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13).  Remember again what Paul said in v.2.  The law is deficient because of the flesh.  But if we put to death the flesh, as Paul says we must do, then this deficiency is no more:

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Again the contrast.  In the flesh we cannot please God, but in the Spirit we are able.  Paul says that those in the flesh are hostile to God, specifically because this one “does not submit to God’s law; indeed it cannot.”  The implication then is that the one who is in the Spirit does live in submission to God’s law, and so is able to please him.  In a similar way, in Galatians 6:2 Paul exhorts us to “fulfill the law of Christ.”

If the Spirit of God dwells in us we are freed from the law of sin and death!  The law of the Spirit has liberated us.  In case we should mistake him, he emphasizes that all who are in Christ must also be in the Spirit and have the Spirit:

Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

So then.  The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us through our walk and our living in the Spirit.  Does this diminish grace?  Certainly not.  The very fact that we are in the Spirit is because of God’s grace, and only through the instrument of faith.  In Ephesians 2:10, Paul makes it clear that even our works done in the Lord are “prepared for us” beforehand.  It is God who works in us to will and work his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).  In this sense, the good works we do in Christ are truly Christ’s works, graciously given to us.  Do we continue to sin?  Certainly we do.  But our sin is covered by the perfect blood of the Lamb.  We are in Christ, and so God continues to look on us with grace and favor.

What then is the implication for imputation (in the classical Reformed sense of the word)?  Christ’s work is indeed accounted to us, because we are united to him.  It must be, for we certainly do not bring anything to the deal in terms of our own works.  Even in this very section, Paul makes clear that in the flesh (before we are regenerated) it is impossible to please God.  But in Christ, all that is Christ is ours.  With him as our covenant representative (Romans 5), in the court of heaven the just judge cannot do otherwise but to justify us.  This is, as it were, a down payment.  It is a totally unmerited justification, based solely on our identification with Christ.

Having now been placed in Christ, we continue in that state of no-condemnation, for we show forth the walk and the living of one who is in Christ and has his Spirit.  Paul says that for us who walk in the Spirit, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us.  This, also, is totally unmerited justification, again based solely on our identification with Christ.  Yet it is not another justification, or a rejustification.  Rather, it is the outworking and continuing effect of that one declaration of God—it is faith made perfect (as in James 2:22, “faith completed” in ESV).  The good works we do cannot even be said to be truly our own.  They are not of ourselves, for only the works done in faith can truly be called “good.”  And just like faith, God has given these works to us and prepared them ahead of time that we should do them.  You cannot claim a gift as your own merit, particularly to the person who gave it to you. ⁵

In this way, then, the law has set us free from the law.

This law is not essentially a different law.  It still has righteous requirements, and still must be fulfilled.  Instead, it is we who are different.  We once made the law weak through the flesh, and so could not fulfill it.  But God did what the law in that state could not do, condemning the flesh and giving us his Spirit so that we could walk and live before him.

Is Paul saying then that we are saved by works?  Not at all.  For only the saved can work.  Only in the already-transformed are the righteous requirements of the law fulfilled.

Just want to end by saying that this is still an area of study for me, and I’m open to any thoughts and interactions.  So please feel free to comment!

Did Paul Teach the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness?

This is an unavoidable question from my last couple posts on Paul and Romans. Does the apostle Paul teach the Reformed doctrine of imputation?  One might come to the conclusion that I don’t think he does, based on my post on “Perishing Apart from the Law.” And one would be correct.  Sort of.  It’s not so clear-cut as that, since the question is actually asking two things.  So let me lay out clearly what I think, at least at this point.

First, it’s necessary to define the Reformed doctrine of the imputation of the righteousness of Christ.  Here’s how I would define it:

A sinner is justified by God, not because of any merit of his own that might be brought to judgment as righteousness, but only for the sake of the righteousness of Jesus Christ laid to the sinner’s account.  God, as the just judge, when he looks upon a redeemed and believing sinner, sees instead the righteousness of Christ and on that grounds alone justifies.

I think that is a satisfactory definition.  If anyone has anything to add to it, feel free to comment.

So, to our question—or actually, questions, which might have very different answers:

• Does Paul teach this doctrine?
• Does Paul have this doctrine in mind when he uses the word “impute”?

I must answer “yes” to the first question and “no” to the second.  I believe Paul does teach that Christ’s work of righteousness stands in place of our own before God, since we have nothing of our own to offer.  However, I think Paul is talking about something else, something more general when he talks about imputation, especially in Romans 5.  So there is “imputation” in the Reformed sense, and there is “imputation” in the Pauline sense, which I don’t believe are quite the same thing, but nevertheless do not exclude each other.

First the Pauline.  In Romans 5:13 Paul says that sin is not imputed where there is no law.  This cannot be in reference either to the accounting of Adam’s sin to fallen mankind, nor to the accounting of Christ’s righteousness to justified man.  It would render the Reformed doctrine nonsensical if there were an entire stretch of generations to which imputation in the Reformed sense does not apply (to say nothing of its implications for the Gentiles, who, Paul appears to be arguing, are under the same paradigm as those generations between Adam and Moses).  Therefore, it must be the imputation of man’s sin to his own account.  I believe this is also the sense in which Psalm 32:1-2 (quoted in Romans 4:7-8) speaks.

For Paul, imputation is not necessarily a transfer of sin or righteousness from one account to the other.  Rather, imputation is the accounting itself of the thing, regardless of where it originally came from.  If your sin is imputed to you, then God holds you especially accountable for what you’ve done.  You are counted as a transgressor.  This is what Paul means when he says that sin is not imputed where there is no law.  Yes, sin persisted during this period, and was strong enough to maintain the associated reign of death.  But sin was not imputed because there was no transgression of stated commandments.¹

In Romans 5:20, the law comes in through Moses so that transgression and resulting guilt might be increased.  That is, with the coming of the law, sin is then imputed, thereby making the sinner accountable under the law.  This is the same situation as the Gentile who was once perishing apart from the law and then learns of the law as a God-fearer (which is, by the way, what I believe Romans 7 is describing).

Similarly, when Paul says in Romans 4:3 that “Abraham believed God and it was imputed to him as righteousness,” we must not insist that “it” refers to the alien righteousness of Christ transferred to Abraham’s account, for the idea is nowhere found in the context.  Rather the picture we get is as if Abraham had faith (given by God through the work of the Spirit) and in lieu of any deeds by which he might otherwise be declared righteous—indeed, Paul points out, before the law of circumcision had even been given that he might keep it—God says, “I’ll take that; consider yourself justified.”

By the means of  faith then, Abraham apprehended God’s promises to him and to his seed, just as we receive the promises of God through a true and living faith in Jesus.  As with Abraham, this faith itself is credited to us by God as righteousness, apart from any works of the law.  This is what I believe Paul is talking about when he talks about imputation.

So what about imputation in the Reformed doctrinal sense?  Does Paul teach that we are justified on the grounds of Christ’s righteousness alone?  He certainly does.  God’s declaration of righteousness on us is a free gift that was attained by Christ’s work alone.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.  Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.
Romans 5:16-18

Here we see Christ’s “act of righteousness” is what leads to our justification.  In a Reformed theological sense, we might say that it is imputed to us.  As a side, I must insist that Romans 5:18 is speaking of a single act that attains justification, otherwise it destroys the parallel to Adam’s one trespass.  It is one act of righteousness that makes the whole thing possible.  Imputation of Christ’s life-work not explicitly found here.

What was this single righteous act?  Paul has already told us in Romans 5:8-9.

. . . but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

We are justified by Christ’s blood.  This does not necessarily obliterate the idea of the imputation of Christ’s active obedience, but I would say Paul makes no such distinction.  Justification is more organic than taking a log entry from one roll and arbitrarily transferring it to another in order to settle the books.  The key is that we are placed “in Christ.”  For Romans 4-7 is Paul’s entire argument to bring us to one conclusion:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Romans 8:1

This is the grounds for our justification.  For if we are in Christ, then all that he is has become ours.  That is our imputation.  When we by faith receive Christ, God regards all that is Christ’s as ours, for we are in him.  How are we placed in him?  Romans 6 gives us this answer: by baptism, and all that it represents.

Whether Romans 6 is speaking of water baptism, or only of “spirit baptism,” or both, is a topic for another discussion, but whichever it is speaking of, this baptism is the means by which we are placed in Christ, by which we receive his righteousness to our account, and are therefore judged righteous before God.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:3-11

Does this render the Reformed doctrine of imputation “redundant” with union with Christ?  Not at all.  Rather, with this understanding, imputation and forensic justification are the inevitable result of our vital union with Christ and his covenant headship.  That is, union and imputation are related but distinct concepts.

It was Jonathan Edwards who said:

“The atonement worked by Jesus’ life and death is achieved by such a community of him and us that if the Father loves the Son, he must love us also.” ²

We might take this thought and apply it just as legitimately to forensic justification.  If we are found “in Christ,” as Paul says, then because of that union, if the Father regards the Son as righteous, then He must justify us also.

. . . for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Galatians 3:26-27

If we are united to Christ his righteousness must appear on our account because his account and ours are the same account.

So does Paul teach the Reformed doctrine of imputation?  Yes.  He just doesn’t call it that.

Perishing Apart from the Law

This is actually an observation that I had when I was writing a paper on Romans 5:12-21  a few years ago.  I’ll start by laying out the two verses I want to look at here:

. . . for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted (imputed) where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam . . .
Romans 5:13-14

I think sometimes people just pass over these verses without really thinking about them and trying to understand what Paul is really saying here.  I know I did before writing that paper.  After all, as a Reformed Christian, I would skim over Romans 5 and think, “Oh yeah.  Imputation of Adam’s sin.  I know that.”  And then move swiftly along.

When I took up that section for my exegetical study, I thought I knew exactly what I was going to find.  What a surprise I had!  I might write later posts about some of the other things I discovered in that study, but I’ll just concentrate on verses 13 and 14 here.

First, I think it is clear that Paul is speaking here specifically to Gentile believers.  That is not to say that the text has no relevance to the Jews, but he is clearly zeroing in on a state where one is not “under the law.”  He has made this distinction before in Romans, and he maintains it now for the sake of the Gentile who might say “But what has the Torah to do with me?  Why does God yet condemn?”

In answer to this, Paul makes clear that sin was in the world even “before the Law was given”—that is, in the period of time between Adam to Moses—and that this sin was enough to condemn, even apart from the Law.  However, Paul also make clear that there is a qualitative difference between the sin of Adam and the sin of those between Adam and Moses.

This brings to mind Romans 2:12, where Paul tells his readers that all are under condemnation.  Those who sin apart from the Law will perish even without it.  Those who sin under it will be judged by it.  Note that it is possible to sin apart from the Law; this is a clear reference to Gentiles and Jews.

Here’s the real kicker though, and the part that really challenged me to reconsider everything I thought I knew about Romans 5.  Sin, Paul tells us, was in the world “before the law was given,” but is not “imputed” apart from the Law.  From Adam to Moses was the period “before the law was given.”  So if we give the text its due, we must conclude that sin was not imputed to sinners from Adam to Moses.

Now, if we take the text to mean what it says, we must either rethink our traditional systematic definition of the theological term “impute,” or we must adopt a weird interpretation that says that those between Adam and Moses did not receive condemnation of Adam’s sin.

If we take the context into account, then we must also recognize that Paul is likening his Gentile readers to those “before the Law was given.”

I will not attempt to define “imputation” in this post.  I’ll save that for later.  I just wanted to encourage everyone to take another look at Romans 5 here.  Because how we read it has broad-sweeping implications for how we read the rest of the book.  Romans 7, for instance, where Paul says (whether of himself or of another is another related discussion), “I was once alive apart from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.”

” . . . apart from the Law. . . .”  Hmmm . . . we’ve heard Paul use that kind of language before, haven’t we?