Romans 8:3-4

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature [or flesh], God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Notice the “for” at the beginning of v3. This tells us that God sent His Son as a human so that God could condemn our sin in His Son’s death rather than condemning us. The ground of our freedom from condemnation is the work of God for us on the cross, and it is given as the basis of v2. “The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death, because God condemned sin in His Son’s death.” So the very thing that accomplishes our freedom from condemnation is not given as the result of our triumph over sin by the Spirit (v2), but as the foundation of our triumph over sin by the Spirit. No condemnation therefore precedes and supports our liberation and transformation. Not the other way around. This means that v2 (our liberation from sin) is the evidence, not the basis or cause, of our justified condition without condemnation in v1. Why go to such lengths to point out what could be seen as obvious? 4 Reasons:

First, it’s the difference between fighting fearfully to get justified and fighting confidently because we are justified. Second, it’s the difference between your heavenly court-trial being behind you with an irrevocable verdict of not guilty, and your trial being in front of you with the verdict up in the air depending on your performance. Third, it’s the difference between the freedom of confidence and the bondage of fear. Finally and most importantly, it’s the difference between giving Christ the double glory of both being our righteousness as well as working righteousness in us, and giving him only the single glory of helping us become our own righteousness.

On a practical level, Paul elaborates on the principle he offered in v1-2 and explains how it works to help us understand our freedom in Christ. God accomplishes through Jesus what neither we nor the law could ever accomplish because of sin. And he gives us five things to consider: (1) God did what could not otherwise be done; (2) God not only did what could not otherwise be done, but He did it through Christ and in Christ and with Christ—at Christ’s expense; (3) He did it by making Christ in the likeness of sinful man (God actually became fully man, in the closest possible relationship to us); (4) God did this for the purpose of dealing with sin; He sent Christ for sin, to conquer it; and finally, (5) Jesus has vanquished sin’s power; He’s freed us from sin’s enslaving dominion; He has condemned sin in the flesh.

Paul explains in v4 that Christ’s victory over sin not only liberated us from the curse of the law, but it frees us not from, but to the obedience of the law. God justifies us in order to sanctify us. God grants us pardon and declares us to be free from the condemnation of sin in order to work the requirement of the law within us, so that we ourselves actually become those who are godly and holy. Christ died so that we could and would become holy. He died so that the requirements of God’s law would not only be fulfilled for us, but in us. Paul is teaching here that God’s work of justification is inseparable from His work of sanctification. And v1-4 really show us that without justification, sanctification is impossible. The latter is a result of the former. This is the method of holiness that glorifies him, not the law and not us.