that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Parallel Translations
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that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
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that the rightewesnes requyred of the lawe myght be fulfilled in vs which walke not after the flesshe but after the sprete.
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That that righteousnes of the Law might be fulfilled in vs, which walke not after ye flesh, but after the Spirit.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Romans 8:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
- Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let’s also walk by the Spirit.
- Colossians 1:22 yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
- Ephesians 5:26-27 that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the assembly to himself gloriously, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without defect.
- Hebrews 12:23 to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
- Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,
- Revelation 14:5 In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.
- Romans 2:26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
- 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. That the justification of the law might be…
4. That the justification of the law might be fulfilled, etc. They who understand that the renewed, by the Spirit of Christ, fulfil the law, introduce a gloss wholly alien to the meaning of Paul; for the faithful, while they sojourn in this world, never make such a proficiency, as that the justification of the law becomes in them full or complete. This then must be applied to forgiveness; for when the obedience of Christ is accepted for us, the law is satisfied, so that we are counted just. For the perfection which the law demands was exhibited in our flesh, and for this reason — that its rigor should no longer have the power to condemn us. But as Christ communicates his righteousness to none but to those whom he joins to himself by the bond of his Spirit, the work of renewal is again mentioned, lest Christ should be thought to be the minister of sin: for it is the inclination of many so to apply whatever is taught respecting the paternal kindness of God, as to encourage the lasciviousness of the flesh; and some malignantly slander this doctrine, as though it extinquished the desire to live uprightly.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain The very substance of the law of God might…
The very substance of the law of God might be fulfilled, or that same which the law requireth, that we may be found just before God: for if with our justification there be joined that sanctification which is imputed to us, we are just, according to the perfect form which the Lord requireth.
He returneth to that which he said, that the sanctification which is begun in us, is a sure testimony of our ingrafting into Christ, which is a most plentiful fruit of a godly and honest life.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 That the righteousness of the law might be…
4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Ver. 4. Might be fulfilled] In us applicative, in Christ inhaesive.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled…
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us: here is another end of God’s sending his Son, as before; it was that he might perfectly fulfil the righteousness of the law in or for us, which for us ourselves to do in our own persons was utterly impossible; and yet upon which (as being imputed unto them, and accepted of God on our behalf) we shall be accounted just and righteous, as if we had done it ourselves. Christ’s being a sacrifice for sin was not sufficient to answer all the ends and demands of the law; there must be doing of what it commanded, as well as suffering of what it threatened: therefore Christ was sent for both, and both were accomplished by him; and what he did and suffered is accounted unto us as if we had done and suffered it. This is the imputed righteousness which was so often spoken of, Rom 4:1-25; and in reference to this he is said to be made righteousness for us, 1Co 1:30, and we are said to be made the righteousness of God in him, Rom 5:19; 2Co 5:21.
Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: this was the description before of those that had union with Christ, and exemption from condemnation; and it is again set down, as the description of those who partake of the righteousness of Christ in this way of imputation; and it is added here again, to stave off all others from laying claim to this grace. None but holy walkers can warrantably apply Christ’s fulfilling or satisfying the law to themselves: because Christ hath fulfilled the righteousness of the law for us, none may infer there is nothing for us to do, we may live as we list; for though Christ hath fulfilled the law in all respects, yet all those for whom he hath so done, or have benefit thereby, are, and must be, such as walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: for the opening of which terms, see Rom 8:1.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain Our apostle here assigns another end and cause, for…
Our apostle here assigns another end and cause, for which God sent his Son into the world; namely, to do what the law commanded, as well as to suffer what the law threatened; perfectly to fulfil the righteousness of the law for us, which it was impossible for us to do for ourselves; for the sake of which we are accounted righteous in the sight of God.
Learn hence, 1. That our Lord Jesus Christ, being made under the law, fulfilled the law; whatsoever the law did or could demand, is fully satisfied and fulfilled by Christ.
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Learn, 2. That Christ having fulfilled the law on our behalf, whatever can be required of us by way of punishment, is discharged likewise.
Learn, 3. That though the righteousness of the law be fulfilled for us by Christ, yet the gospel-righteousness must be performed by us ourselves.
Christ has answered the demands of the law for us, but will never fulfil the conditions of the gospel for us. We must repent ourselves, obey ourselves, or Christ’s obedience will profit us nothing; none can safely or comfortably pretend to an interest in Christ’s obedience, either active or passive, but only such who in their course are actuated and influenced by the spirit, and not by the flesh. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled…
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,.... By the righteousness of the law, is not meant the righteousness of the ceremonial law, though that was fulfilled by Christ; but of the moral law, which requires holiness of nature, righteousness of life, and death in case of disobedience; active righteousness, or obedience to the precepts of the law, is designed here. This is what the law requires; obedience to the commands of it is properly righteousness; and by Christ's obedience to it we are made righteous, and this gives the title to eternal life: now this is said to be "fulfilled in us"; this is not fulfilled by us in our own persons, nor can it be; could it, where would be the weakness of the law? man might then be justified by it, and so the grace of God, and the righteousness of Christ, must be set aside: there never was any mere man that could fulfil it; for obedience to it must not only be performed perfectly, but with intenseness of mind and spirit; a man must be sinless in thought, word, and deed; and this would be to put man upon a level with Adam in a state of innocence, and the angels in heaven: nor is this to be understood of any righteousness inherent in man; internal holiness is never called the righteousness of the law; and could it be thought to be righteousness, yet it can never be reckoned the whole righteousness of the law: and though it is a fruit of Christ's death, it is the work of the Spirit, and is neither the whole, nor any part of our justification: but this is to be understood of the righteousness of the law fulfilled by Christ, and imputed to us; Christ has fulfilled the whole righteousness of the law, all the requirements of it; this he has done in the room and stead of his people; and is imputed to them, by virtue of a federal union between him and them, he being the head, and they his members; and the law being fulfilled by him, it is reckoned all one as it was fulfilled in, or if by them; and hence they are personally, perfectly, and legally justified; and this is the end of Christ's being sent, of sin being laid on him, and condemned in him. The descriptive character of the persons, who appear to be interested in this blessing, is the same with that in Rom 8:1,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: See Gill on Rom 8:1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law - The holiness…
That the righteousness of the law - The holiness it required, described, ver. 11. Might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit - Who are guided in all our thoughts, words, and actions, not by corrupt nature, but by the Spirit of God. From this place St. Paul describes primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers only to illustrate this.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. That the righteousness of the law might…
Verse 4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us] That the guilt might be pardoned through the merit of that sacrifice; and that we might be enabled, by the power of his own grace and Spirit, to walk in newness of life; loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves: and thus the righteousness, the spirit, design, and purpose of the law is fulfilled in us, through the strength of the Spirit of Christ, which is here put in opposition to the weakness of the law through the flesh.
It is very likely that the concluding clause of this verse, which is the very same as that found in the common text of the first verse, has been transferred to that verse from this place.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law - That we…
That the righteousness of the law - That we might be conformed to the Law, or be obedient to its requirements, and no longer under the influence of the flesh and its corrupt desires.
Might be fulfilled - That we might be obedient, or comply with its demands.
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Who walk - Note, Rom 8:1.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain That the justification of the law. That is, that…
That the justification of the law. That is, that was aimed at, but never attained to, by the written law, might now be fulfilled in us; that is, that we, by the grace of Christ, may be enabled to fulfil and comply with the law, and its moral precepts, by walking according to the spirit of Christ. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law--"the righteous demand," "the…
That the righteousness of the law--"the righteous demand," "the requirement" [ALFORD], Or "the precept" of the law; for it is not precisely the word so often used in this Epistle to denote "the righteousness which justifies" (Rom 1:17; Rom 3:21; Rom 4:5-6; Rom 5:17-18, Rom 5:21), but another form of the same word, intended to express the enactment of the law, meaning here, we believe, the practical obedience which the law calls for.
might be fulfilled in us--or, as we say, "realized in us."
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who walk--the most ancient expression of the bent of one's life, whether in the direction of good or of evil (Gen 48:15; Psa 1:1; Isa 2:5; Mic 4:5; Eph 4:17; Jo1 1:6-7).
not after--that is, according to the dictates of
the flesh, but after the spirit--From Rom 8:9 it would seem that what is more immediately intended by "the spirit" here is our own mind as renewed and actuated by the Holy Ghost.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Righteousness of the law—The righteousness required by the…
4. Righteousness of the law—The righteousness required by the law, and which the law cannot condemn. This is not an “imputed righteousness,” nor the simple innocence or freedom from guilt included in justification, but an actual and active personal righteousness, energized by the Spirit, and individually, through grace, our own.
Walk… Spirit—(See note on Rom_8:1.) Spirit-guided, justified Christian life is actually and actively holy life.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. that the righteousness of the law, &c.] Here…
4. that the righteousness of the law, &c.] Here is the (for us) Final Cause of the Atonement. Both as a satisfaction of the Law as regards God, and as the manifestation and pledge of Divine Love as regards man, it was to give man peace with God (see on ch. Rom_5:1, &c.), and so to bring his will into real working harmony with the will of God. Atonement was to result in love and holiness.
righteousness] Better, legal claim; that which the Law laid down as the requisite for man, as his only possible right state. (The form of the Gr. word is different from that usually rendered “righteousness.”) What this “claim” is we find in the Lord’s definition of the Great Commandments; supreme love to God, and unselfish love to man.
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fulfilled] The context, as now interpreted, will explain this word. The saints “fulfil” the law’s “claim” not in the sense of sinless perfection, (for see last chapter, and cp. 1Jn_1:8-10,) but in that of a true, living, and working consent to its principles; the consent of full conviction, and of a heart whose affections are won to God. The Law could not compel them to “delight with” itself; but the gift and work of the Son of the Father do draw them “with the cords of love” to find the Law (as the expression of His now all-beloved will) “good, perfect, and acceptable.” This state of things is further described in the next clause.
in us] The justified.
who walk, &c.] “Who live and act;” a very frequent Scripture metaphor, from Gen_5:22 onwards.—“After the flesh:”—on its principles, by its rule. So “after the Spirit:”—as the Spirit animates and guides.
The Flesh—The Spirit
This seems to be a proper place for a few general remarks on these two important words.
A. The Flesh. In N. T. usage, on the whole, this word bears in each place (where its meaning is not merely literal) one of two meanings. It denotes either (a) human nature as conditioned by the body; (e.g. Rom_9:3; Rom_9:5; Rom_9:8; 2Co_7:5, &c. &c.;) or (b) human nature as conditioned by the Fall, or in other words by the dominion of sin, which then began, and which works so largely through the conditions of bodily life that those conditions are almost, in language, identified with sinfulness. (See e.g. the present passage, and Rom_7:5; Rom_7:18; Rom_7:25, Rom_13:14; Gal_5:17-24, &c., &c.) In the first connexion “the flesh” may bear a neutral, or a holy, meaning; (Joh_1:14;) in the second, it means a state which is essentially evil, and which may be described with practical correctness as (1) the state of man unregenerate, and (2), in the regenerate, the state of that element of the being which still resists grace. For manifestly (see Gal_5:17) “the flesh” is an element still in the regenerate, not only in the sense of corporeal conditions, but in that of sinful conditions. But, in the latter sense, they are no longer characterized by it; they are not “fleshly,” because the dominant element is now not “the flesh,” but the renewed will, energized by the Divine Spirit.
B. The Spirit. In the present context this word, in our view, denotes the Holy Ghost, except in Rom_8:10; Rom_8:16, where the human spirit is spoken of. That it means here the Holy Ghost seems plain, because it is regarded as a regulating principle, and immediately below (Rom_8:13-14) the Divine Spirit is described as the regulator of the will of the saints. We do not of course deny the reality of the human spirit, even in the unregenerate (1Co_2:11; Ecc_12:7). But here, as in a large majority of N. T. passages, the personal Divine Spirit is depicted as in such a sense inhabiting and informing the regenerate human spirit that He, rather than it, is regarded as the dominant rule and influence in the being. Thus, Rom_8:9, the regenerate are said to be “in the Spirit,” not “in the flesh,” not because their human spirits are in command of their being, but because the Divine Spirit dwells in them. He does not dispossess their spirit, but so possesses it that He in and through it is the ruler of the man.
As regards the human spirit, (Rom_8:10; Rom_8:16;) the word, in both O. T. and N. T., has now a wider, now a narrower meaning. Now it is the whole incorporeal element of the being—the whole antithesis of “the body;” now it is the “nobler powers” of that element—the antithesis of “the soul,” in that narrower sense of “soul” which concerns instincts rather than conscience, reflection, and deliberate affections. Man is thus sometimes “body and soul;” (e.g. Mat_10:28, and cf. Rev_6:9;) and sometimes “body, soul, and spirit;” (e.g. 1Th_5:23). And in 1Co_15:44, in the Gr., a remarkable contrast is drawn between the present body, “characterized by soul,” and the future body, “characterized by spirit.”—It must be remembered, however, that, unless in passages of exceptional antithesis, the distinction of soul and spirit may easily be pressed too far, and that in no case are they to be thought of as distinct in the sense in which they both are distinct from the body. We have no hint that they are two separable elements; they are rather different aspects and exercises of the same incorporeal element.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) The consequence of this was a great change.…
(4) The consequence of this was a great change. Hitherto the Law could not be kept because of the antagonistic influence of the flesh; henceforth it may be kept for the reason that this influence has ceased and that its place is taken by the influence of the Spirit.
The righteousness.—The just requirement of the Law, its due and rightful claims.
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Might be fulfilled in us.—That we might be examples of its fulfilment.
Who walk not after the flesh.—Who direct our conduct not as the flesh would guide us. but according to the dictates and guidance of the Spirit—i.e., the indwelling Spirit of Christ, as in Rom_8:2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain That the ordinance (or, righteous requirement, rather than righteousness,…
That the ordinance (or, righteous requirement, rather than righteousness, as in the Authorized Version. The word is dikaiwma , not dikaiosunh . It Occurs elsewhere in the New Testament, Luk_1:6 Rom_1:32 Rom_2:26 Heb_9:1; and in a like sense often in the LXX; also, though with a difference of meaning, Rom_5:16, Rom_5:18) of the Law may be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. This, then, is the purpose of Christ"s victory over sin that the requirement of the Law in us too may be fulfilled; which evidently means more than that his victory may be imputed to us, on the ground of our faith only, while we remain as we were. The expression, di , and also the condition appended at the end of the verse, imply that the "Spirit of life" must so dominate over the flesh in ourselves that the Law may forfeit its claims over us. The sinful propensions of the flesh remain in us still (as the verses that follow distinctly show); but the Spirit that is in us is strong enough to overcome them now. (cf. Gal_5:16-18) It does not follow from this that any Christians will actually avoid all sin, or that they can be accepted on the ground of their own performance: to say this would be to contradict other Scripture; (cf. Jam_2:10 1Jn_1:8) and Paul confessed himself to be not already perfected. (Php_3:12) But perfection, through Christ who lives in them, is put before us as, at any rate, the aim of the regenerate; (cf. Mat_5:48) and by actual and progressive holiness they are to show that their union with Christ is real. His Spirit within them must, at any rate, give a new direction and tone to their characters and lives.
And in us Leo (united to him by faith, and having spiritually died and risen again with him) the requirement of the Law is fulfilled, so that it forfeits its claim to condemn us now; but only on this condition in ourselves, that we walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain That the righteousness of the law might he fulfilled…
Rom_8:4
That the righteousness of the law might he fulfilled in us.
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Righteousness fulfilled
I. The design of God in thus, by Christ, condemning sin in the flesh. The penalty of the law is fulfilled in us when, as members of Christs body by spiritual union, we are freed from condemnation; but it is in sanctification that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled--i.e., when we have the law written in our heart, and obedience, flowing without constraint, is the inward instinct and law of life. Bear in mind that Love is the fulfilling of the law. In this respect the law and the gospel are one. But as two dispensations or modes of treatment they differ in toto. The action of the law is by precept and constraint--it seeks to guide from without--urging its minute details upon a reluctant heart. The gospel frees us from this bondage of verbal precepts and details, and by the manifestation of Gods love awakens love, thus beginning where the law left off, with love, which was the end of the commandment. There is nothing in the way of obedience that we cannot by love accomplish. Note--
1. That the gospel does not destroy the law. Do we make void the law through faith?--nay, we establish the law. We are free from the law only that we may be under the law to Christ.
2. That the salvation of the gospel is not only a salvation from wrath, but from sin.
3. That however imperfectly this salvation is realised by us it may be fully accomplished--a righteousness fulfilled.
II. The persons in whom this design is accomplished--In us who walk, etc.
1. Only in proportion as the spirit works within can we take full possession of our privilege as believers in Christ, as free from the bondage of the law. Hence it is that character becomes the test of our Christian state.
2. Character is determined by the prevailing principle (or law) which governs the life. Two such principles divide all mankind--the flesh and the spirit.
3. Christian experience is a practical realisation of the spiritual life. It is not thinking or feeling, but walking after the spirit. They who sit down in spiritual sloth are not walking after the spirit, and therefore we have no evidence of their acceptance with God. Examine yourselves. Is your life Christ-like, or worldly? (P. Strutt.)
The righteousness of the law fulfilled
In this verse the apostle lays down the end of Gods sending His Son in the flesh for the condemnation of sin, and that is, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. There are two general parts which are here observable of us. First, the benefit itself which is conveyed by Christ, and that is, a fulfilling of the righteousness of the law in us. Secondly, the qualification of the persons who have particular interest in this benefit, and those are they who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
I. We begin with the first, viz., the benefit itself. That the righteousness of the law, etc. Where first we are to explain the words, and then to come to the doctrine observable from them. That whatsoever the law could demand and require of us, the same is fully satisfied and fulfilled by Christ. He hath fulfilled the righteousness of the law in our behalf. For the opening of this present point unto us, we must know that the righteousness of the law may be taken two manner of ways. There is a double right which the law of God does challenge in us--a preceptive or commanding right, and a vindictive or avenging right. Now both these rights has Christ satisfied and discharged for us. First, He hath satisfied the right of obedience, in that He hath fulfilled the whole law of God in our stead. Secondly, He hath satisfied the right of punishment, in that He hath endured all the wrath which was due unto us for our transgression of this law. Thirdly, Christs satisfaction of the law, as concerning obedience unto it, is accounted as ours; insomuch as the righteousness of the law is said to be fulfilled in us. Fulfilled in us; how is that? Not in our persons, but in our Surety. In regard of the intention and purpose of God Himself, who does bestow Christ upon us to this end; Christ was given by God for righteousness, and for righteousness in this explication, namely, of full and perfect observation of the whole law. The use and improvement of this point to ourselves in a way of application comes to this--
1. As a word of singular comfort to all the true servants of God which groan under the burden of their own failings and omissions.
2. We may hence also take notice of the infinite wisdom and goodness of God which hath made such a happy repair of that righteousness which we lost in Adam; and that upon two considerations it is more full and complete.
(1) It is more full and complete. For Adams obedience to the law, it could at the most have been no more than just answerable and adequate to the law. Yea, but now Christs obedience, through the excellency and infiniteness of the person, is transcendent and far above the law. As for a Kings Son to pay our debt for us is a more transcendent and meritorious act than our own payment of it would be, from the dignity and transcendency of the person; even so is it here.
(2) As this righteousness of Christ is more full and complete, so it is also more certain and sure. The second follows, that whatever could be required of us for punishment is discharged likewise. This must needs be so upon this account--First, Gods acceptation of Christ for a full and sufficient redemption. Secondly, Christs suffering itself, which was of the whole anger and wrath of God, expressed in all particulars. Thirdly, the infiniteness of the person.
II. Now the second is the qualification of the persons. Who walk not, etc. From hence observe, first in general, that all men indifferently have not a share in the comforts of the gospel. Therefore let none too rashly and over-hastily apply them to themselves. Secondly, in particular observe this, that justification and sanctification must go together; they only who walk after the spirit have Christs righteousness imputed to them, and have the law fulfilled in them. Secondly, because Christ came by water as well as by blood; there is His spirit as well as His merit. Thirdly, because God is exact and complete in His works in us; and so as He justifies, so also will He sanctify. It shows the vanity of those who hope to be saved by Christ, while they live in all manner of sin. Those that walk in the spirit, they have here an evidence of their justification from their sanctification. We see here that it is not enough to abstain from evil, but we must also do good. (Thomas Horton, D. D.)
The righteousness of the law accomplished in the believer
I. The exalted character of the law.
1. Emanating from a Being infinitely perfect, it follows--
(1) That the law, designed to be a transcript of God, must be in every respect perfect. The law of the Lord is perfect.
(2) That the law being perfectly holy, all its requirements must be equally so. It cannot compromise, nor soften down a single enactment.
2. In requiring this, the creature shall have no ground for impeaching the Divine goodness. As if fearful of perplexing the mind with a multitude of enactments, our Lord has presented one precept, the perfect keeping of which involves a virtual fulfilment of all (Mat_22:37). What an unfolding of the wisdom of God is here! In securing to Himself the supreme love of His creatures, He wins a willing obedience to every precept of His law.
II. Is what sense is the righteousness of the law accomplished in the believer?
1. Not in our own persons. Where, then, would be the weakness of the law? The law has never yet received a complete fulfilment in any fallen creature. Where is the creature who can assert his plea of perfect love to God?
2. The Lord Jesus fulfilled the righteousness of the law in the behalf of His people. He only could do so who was Himself holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners. The first step in this wondrous achievement was His being made under the law. Having made Himself amenable to the law, He then proceeds to its fulfilment. Trace the outline of His obedience. Is the grand moving spring of the law, love? Where was ever seen such love to God as our Surety displayed? And did not that affection constrain Him to a supreme consecration to His Fathers glory? In addition to supreme love, was there not the most perfect sanctity of life? Accompany Him to the baptismal waters, and hear Him exclaim, Thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then follow Him to Calvary, and behold His obedience unto death--was there ever such a law fulfiller as the Son of God?
III. In what way are we to reconcile the honouring of the law by Christ and the fulfilment of its righteousness in us? The difficulty is solved by a reference to the federal union of Christ and His Church. Standing to His people in the relation of a covenant Head, the law being fulfilled by Him in a legal sense, it was virtually a fulfilment of the law by us, His obedience being accepted in lieu of ours (2Co_5:21; Rom_5:19). Thus every humble sinner who, feeling the plague of his own heart, breaking away from his dependence upon a covenant of works, and reposing in simple faith beneath the righteousness of the Incarnate God, shall never come into condemnation.
IV. The rightful claimants of this privileged state are described as those who walk, etc. A Christian may be ensnared and stumble, but he walks not after the flesh. A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again. An unrighteous man falls, but where he falls he lies. He that is unrighteous is unrighteous still. But those in whom the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in their Surety, and in whom a gospel righteousness, an evangelical obedience, is performed by themselves, walk after the Spirit. Conclusion:
1. Behold, what an open door does this subject set before the humble, convinced sinner. The law, now honoured as it never was--think you that the Lord will reject the application of a single sinner who humbly asks to be saved?
2. Saints of God, keep the eye of your faith immovably fixed upon Christ, your sole pattern. Our Lord did not keep that law that His people might be lawless. The righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us when we walk after the Spirit, in conformity to Christs example. (O. Winslow, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 4. That the righteousness of the law. The righteous…
4. That the righteousness of the law. The righteous demand of the law, its substance, is a loving obedience to God (see Luke 10:27). By the Gospel the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Spirit. Hence, we comply with its righteous demands when we walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. To walk after the flesh is to obey the dictates of the flesh; to walk after the Spirit is to obey its dictates. It dwells in the believer to help him, but its dictates are found in the “words of the Holy Spirit.”
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain 4. “In order that the righteous judgment of the…
4. “In order that the righteous judgment of the law may be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” The righteous judgment of the law is, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Eze 18:4). Hence the sin-principle in every heart must die. God’s method with sin is extermination. That is always done in “those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” When your walk is mixed you never get sin destroyed. It is only those who are solidly out and out for God who get sin exterminated.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled…
that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit . [For what the law could not possibly do (viz.: condemn sin in the flesh, so as to destroy it and free us from it), because the flesh through which it operated was too weak, God, by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did; that is to say, he condemned sin in the flesh, that justification from the law might be accomplished in us who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Though the law was designed to condemn and banish sin, and was in itself a perfect means of deliverance from sin and death to those who kept it, it was really, because of the sinful weakness of the human race, to which it was given, no means of deliverance at all, but a source of complete and perfect condemnation. Hence, some other deliverance became necessary. God provided this other means of salvation by sending his Son to die for man, and man's sin. That he might do this, God sent his Son to become a fleshly human being, to be incarnate in the same kind of flesh as that belonging to the rest of sinful mankind, thus fully sharing their nature. He sent him in this manner for the purpose of dying, to remove all the sin of the flesh he bore thus representatively, no matter by whom committed. Jesus, by his sinless life, lived in the flesh, as the Son of man, resisted, conquered, condemned, sentenced, and destroyed the power of sin in the flesh. Thus God sent his Son as a conqueror of sin, and as an offering for sin, that the ordinance of the law, which we fail to fulfill, might, by him who bore our flesh, and was our federal head and representative, be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the outward, fleshly nature, which lusts to do wrong, but after the inward, spiritual nature, which desires to do right.]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 8:4 just requirement of the law . . .…
8:4 just requirement of the law . . . fully satisfied for (Greek en, “in”) us: The Greek preposition en might indicate that the law is fulfilled in us because of our connection with Jesus Christ, who perfectly fulfilled the law for us. It could also mean that by setting us free from sin’s power, Jesus Christ enables us to please God and fulfill the true intention of the law. • As in the Old Testament (see Gen 6:3, 12; Ps 78:39; Isa 40:6), sinful nature refers to human weakness and bondage to sin (also in Rom 8:5-9, 12-13). Paul uses the phrase to describe the conflict between the ingrained human tendency to sin and the Holy Spirit.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.