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Studies in Romans

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 20, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 21.

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Studies in Romans

OUR last study in Romans was in the paper of two weeks ago, and brought to view the blessed experiences of absolute freedom from condemnation, and from all the sorrows and disappointments and griefs that this life brings to us. All of this much-to-be-desired condition is obtained by submitting ourselves completely to the teaching, the power, and the life of our Lord and Saviour. The purpose and object of bringing about this perfect freedom in Christ are set forth in the next verses of the chapter as follows:
"That the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace: because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh can not please God." Rom. 8: 4-8.
The verse preceding the foregoing quotation must be given in order to get the connection. It reads, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak thru the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." Rom. 8: 3. And then follow the words of verse four, quoted above, "That the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
The weakness of our flesh makes it impossible for the law to give us perfection, and hence Christ came to do for us what neither we nor the law could do. He came to free us from the bondage to the lusts of the flesh. He came to give us the power of His Spirit, and to show us how to live perfect lives thru Him. The gratification of the flesh—with its appetites, ambitions, and passions—can never bring happiness. The individual who is seeking happiness from this source is doomed to constant disappointment. The Lord knew this and hence He came to set us free from this bondage to the flesh so that the real righteousness called for in the law might be wrought within us. And the accomplishing of this great work for the sinner does bring to him perfect happiness,
ness, perfect peace, and an ever-increasing joy that are simply beyond the powers of description. Any one who has tasted the joys of pardon and cleansing thru Christ knows that this is so.
"They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh." The mind is all the time dwelling on some gratification or some form of pleasure that will minister to the flesh. And ministering to the flesh is always ministering to one's self; it is selfishness pure and simple. And since those who are after the flesh "mind" the things of the flesh, it should be clear that to be set free in Christ means to have the mind emancipated from this slavery to the flesh. And to have the mind emancipated means to have it recreated; or, what is a better way of expressing it, it means to have the mind of the flesh completely taken away, and the mind of Christ given to us instead. "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. 2: 5. And the same thought is expressed more strikingly by Peter: "Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God." 1 Peter 4: 1, 2.
The natural, sinful man is subject to the whims of his fleshly appetites. If he has acquired the habit of drunkenness, he is held to the drink curse by his appetite. The clamors of the flesh are so strong that he can not break away from drink. It matters not how much he hates himself for being a slave to the habit, yet he is led to the cup and the bowl by his fleshly appetites in spite of himself. He will resolve not to drink any more, but his resolutions become ropes of sand before the fierce onslaughts of the demands of the flesh for indulgence. If the man is not a slave to drink, he may be a slave to tobacco, or perhaps he is gluttonous in his habits so that he is always in misery thru overeating. But it matters not what the form of fleshly gratification; so long as the flesh is allowed to control, we aredragged into the indulgences of sin in spite of ourselves.
It is to relieve men from this accursed slavery to the flesh that the Gospel of Christ has been given to every one who will receive it. And the Gospel of God, as we learned in one of the earlier chapters of Romans, "is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The Gospel itself is the power that brings complete salvation.
"For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace." Death is the portion of him who keeps the mind of the flesh. The lusts and passions of the flesh are all the time sowing the seeds of death and decay. They do this by destroying the mind and so debasing the individual that he is not fit to live eternally in the land of purity and righteousness. But while the mind of the flesh produces death, thank the Lord, the mind of the Spirit brings both life and peace.
"The mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: and they that are in the flesh can not please God." The mind of the flesh is enmity against God because it can not be subject to His law. Then the individual must learn to love the law of God in order to be made in harmony with the character of God.
The carnality of sin and the law of God are the exact opposites. And to claim, as some do, that the law of God is abolished means simply to hurl all the believers of such a wicked theory into the very anarchy of sin and death. They that are in the flesh can not please God because they are not subject to His law. This is the plain and clear teaching of this text. And incidentally, it emphasizes the fact that the book of Romans keeps the binding claims of the law of God constantly before us. Some of the reasoning of the apostle might lead the superficial thinker to believe that the law had been abolished. And hence he fortifies the point over and over that the law is an essential factor in the plan of salvation and in the work of regeneration. The law is just as binding and just as necessary now as it ever was.
It is only when we see the law of God in its true light that we learn really to enjoy and to appreciate the cleansing power and the infinite peace of the Gospel. T.