Condemned sin in flesh

When Jesus died as a sin offering, God “condemned sin in the flesh” (Romans 8:3), with the result that the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us (v. 4). James Dunn paraphrases: In the cross, God “passed effective judgment on sin.” In Christ’s death, sin is brought before the Judge, and declared guilty.

That way of putting it suggests that “sin” is distinguishable from sinners. And that idea is rooted deeply in Paul’s argument in Romans. From chapter 3, he has personified “sin” as a power that, along with death, enslaves and plagues humanity. In the immediate context of 8:3, Paul has been talking about the bondage of his flesh to sin (7:14) and the fact that nothing good is in his flesh (7:18). He ends chapter 7 by describing his schizoid state: serving the law of God with the mind, but serving the law of sin with the flesh (v. 25).

Condemning the sin that resides in Paul’s flesh is precisely what needs to happen if Paul is going to fulfill the law that he longs to fulfill. And that’s what happens on the cross: In Jesus the sin offering, who came in the likeness of sinful flesh, sin is condemned in the flesh, put to death and killed, so that those who walk in the Spirit can fulfill the law’s demands.

The cross takes as given Paul’s divided state; on the cross, the sin is judged; what’s left is Paul’s “I” that serves the law of God. By the Spirit, the old nature is crucified with Christ, so that the body of sin might be destroyed (6:6).