NOT THE LAW, BUT MEN'S HEARTS, TO BE CHANGED.
"WHAT the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4. What was it the law could not do?—It could not justify those who transgressed it. In what particular was it weak?—It was "weak through the flesh," or through the natural man. The natural man has a "carnal mind," a mind that impels him to walk after the lusts of the flesh, a mind that is "enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." That was the condition of the whole race (Ch. 3:23), therefore the law could do nothing but condemn them. Then why did not the Lord change the law so that it would be available for justification?—Because it was "perfect" (Ps. 19:7) and could not be changed without making it imperfect (Luke 16:17). It is "holy, and just, and good" (Rom. 7:12); therefore it could not be changed by a "holy, and just, and good" Lawgiver. Then, it, being "weak" in the matter of accomplishing a desired purpose, why was it not abolished?—Because it is the righteousness of God (Ps. 119:172), and His righteousness is "an everlasting righteousness," and His "law is the truth" (verse 142). Truth and righteousness can not be abolished. The Lord says, "My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished." Isa. 51:6. Therefore God sent His Son to do what the unchangeable law could not do—to provide a way by which righteousness might be imputed to the sinner. This He did by overcoming temptation, and thus condemning sin (the "transgression of the law") in the flesh, and then He suffered death for every man (Heb. 2:9), as a propitiation for sins that are past. The benefit of this humiliation and sacrifice is made available to every one who will accept it by faith. Rom. 3:19-31. Christ came not only to fulfil the law Himself, and thus prove Himself an acceptable sacrifice and an efficient helper of those who are tempted; but His purpose was also that "the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." This is possible only to those "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Hence the necessity of being born again, born of the Spirit. So then, Christ came not to abolish, or to change, the law, but to change the sinner, the transgressor of the law. He came to take away that enmity that exists in every carnal mind against God, that he may be "subject to the law of God." That is just what it means to be reconciled to God. "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." His righteousness is imputed to us for all time past, and in Christ we become new creatures, walking after, or being guided by, the Spirit. "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Cor. 5:17. "Behold!" yes, it is wonderful to behold. "All things are become new." An entirely new life is before us—new purposes, new prospects, new aspirations. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The law is not taken away, but it is "fulfilled" in those who thus walk; therefore there is nothing in them against the law for it to condemn. The law itself is written in the hearts of those who enter this new covenant relation with God. Jer. 31:31-34. It is not that which is perfect that needs to be changed, but that which is faulty. So Christ came to change men's hearts, and reconcile them to God. There is no change in the attitude of God, for He changes not. Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8. He has not gone out of the way. Man has departed from the right way, and he must turn about or be lost. This is God's unchangeable appeal to the estranged race: "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin." Eze. 18:30. "Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 3:2; 4:17. God does not want men to perish (2 Peter 3:9); He gave His only-begotten Son as a sacrifice to honor the unchangeable law of righteousness, that condemned man might have life (John 3:16; Isa. 42:21). He has patiently overlooked the days of ignorance, "but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent [to change]; because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness." See Acts 17:29-31. It is the transgressor of the law that must change, in order to be reconciled to God; for the law, in every jot and tittle, is unalterably fixed.