“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever. “
Tale of Two Cites, Charles Dickens
After this iconic opening, Dickens goes on to introduce three characters; Darnay Evremonde, Carton, and Lucie. Both Carton and Darnay are in love with Lucie. There is something else that bonds these two, they are twins. Now they are not twins in the conventional sense. In fact Darnay is from France, and Carton from England, but they are almost identical in looks. The novel describes the times in both England and Franc during the revolution, or more precisely, the time immediately after known to us as the Terror. In the beginning of the book there is a crime, rape, that will be one of the driving plot point throughout. It is because of this crime that Darnay (although innocent) will later be rounded up and sentenced to death for being an enemy of the revolution.
Before this happens though, Darnay wins the prize of Lucie, and the have a child, little Lucie. Carton is still in love with her, and his now friend Darnay, when the novel comes to its dramatic conclusion. In the middle of the night, Carton is allowed to visit Darnay in prison, who is in the middle of writing his last words. As he is writing Carton pulls out a handkerchief that had been soaked in some sort of ether, and he gently puts it over his friends face. Darnay falls to sleep, and Carton then exchanges his clothes with the condemned man, who is going to visit La Guillotine in the morning.
Carton has men take Darnay out, who is now dressed as Carton, and brought to be reunited with his family. Carton then prepares to die in his friends stead. The next morning the prisoners are rounded up, and a woman who knew Darnay previously sees who she thinks to be him, and begins a conversation. She soon realizes that it is not whom she thought it was. Dickens writes:
“As he [Carton] stood by the wall in a dim corner, while some of the fifty-two were brought in after him, one man stopped in passing, to embrace him, as having a knowledge of him. It thrilled him with a great dread of discovery; but the man went on. A very few moments after that, a young woman, with a slight girlish form, a sweet spare face in which there was no vestige of colour, and large widely opened patient eyes, rose from the seat where he had observed her sitting, and came to speak to him.
"Citizen Evremonde," she said, touching him with her cold hand. "I am a poor little seamstress, who was with you in La Force."
He murmured for answer: "True. I forget what you were accused of?"
"Plots. Though the just Heaven knows that I am innocent of any. Is it likely? Who would think of plotting with a poor little weak creature like me?
The forlorn smile with which she said it, so touched him, that tears started from his eyes.
"I am not afraid to die, Citizen Evremonde, but I have done nothing. I am not unwilling to die, if the Republic which is to do so much good to us poor, will profit by my death; but I do not know how that can be, Citizen Evremonde. Such a poor weak little creature!"
As the last thing on earth that his heart was to warm and soften to, it warmed and softened to this pitiable girl.
"I heard you were released, Citizen Evremonde. I hoped it was true?"
"It was. But, I was again taken and condemned."
"If I may ride with you, Citizen Evremonde, will you let me hold your hand? I am not afraid, but I am little and weak, and it will give me more courage."
As the patient eyes were lifted to his face, he saw a sudden doubt in them, and then astonishment. He pressed the work-worn, hunger-worn young fingers, and touched his lips.
"Are you dying for him?" she whispered.
"And his wife and child. Hush! Yes."
"O you will let me hold your brave hand, stranger?"
"Hush! Yes, my poor sister; to the last."
She is now intrigued and strengthened by Cartons sacrifice, and goes proudly (but also innocently) to La Guillotine. After Carton’s (Darnay’s ) execution the crowd observes that there never was a more at peace person on the device. And while all this is happening, Darnay is on his way to another country, where he will live out his life with his family as a free man.
Very often the analogy is quickly drawn between Carton and Christ. The crucifix has changed to La Guillotine, and Carton is by no means “good”, but nonetheless, we can easily see the analogy to substitutionary atonement. But when we focus on Carton, we miss half of the picture. Not only did Carton die in Darnay’s (and his family’s place), but Darnay was set free. When Darnay is carried out of that jail cell, he is not only freed, but also pardoned. There is no condemnation for him any more. If he had only escaped, the jailers would have been looking for him, and he says as much in the cell with Carton, but that is not what happens. He is not escaped. A price is still paid, a head still roles, and because of this, and only because of this, can he live life fearlessly.
He need not worry about the Revolution hunting for him, for he is already dead. When he leaves France, he is no longer Darnay, Darnay was executed. He is given a new Identity, that of Carton, the very man who died in his place, and for this reason he is freed from condemnation.
And Paul proclaims the same in Romans 8:1-4. He says
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
He says there is now therefore no condemnation. Before we wrestle with the rest of this section, we must first ask what is the “therefore” referring. And it is clearly referring to something. We may be tempted to think it is just talking about the last words the Apostle wrote, and we wouldn’t be totally wrong, but we would also still be missing the mark. Although he is certainly referring to this last section, he is also talking about everything that came before, and at the risk of being redundant from week to week, we need to summarize what the text before this said.
If we remember the sermon last week, we will recall a few things. In Chapter 7 of Romans we have a brutally honest confession from the author. He tells us that he doesn’t do the good he wants, but the evil he doesn’t want to do he does all the time. He says that the law is good, but he is of the flesh, and as such, is evil. He tells us that the Law that promised life, brought to him death, since he could not follow any of it. He cries out and says, “What a wretched man I am.” And asks who will save him from this prison of death.
In the chapter before this one, chapter 6, Paul tells us to live not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. That we should offer our members to God as instruments of righteousness. That we no longer need to be slaves to sin. And more than this, he tells us that we are either slaves to God or laves to death, and that we have the ability to choose whom to obey.
And he arrived at this point by asking a rhetorical question. In the very beginning of Romans 6 Paul asks if we can continue to sin so that grace may abound. This question is in context of the previous 5 chapters, in which Paul lays out the Christian Idea of Created, Fallen, Redeemed. In it he speaks of all humans knowing of God, either through the Law, which are first 5 books of the Bible, given to the Jews, or by their conscience, which gives all humanity knowledge of right and wrong. But we being broken, choose evil and forsook God. We choose to worship creature and creation rather that Creator, and as such were given over to our lusts and passions.
God decided to save us though, by sending his Son, to fulfill the Law, and all who faith in Him are saved. And the more one has sinned, the greater the grace, and this is all because God is good. But it raises the question that Paul answers in Chapter 6, that if more sin produced more grace, should we all not just sin a lot. And remember again, that Paul’s answer is an emphatic “No”. We are to offer our bodies to God as instruments of righteousness. And the reason Paul gives is that we are new creations. We have died to that old self, we are something completely other, how could we go back to that life.
He concludes the Chapter telling us that we are slaves to the one we serve, either God or sin, and more than this, God rescued us from having to serve sin. So we are to be righteous and holy and good and live this new life offered us.
Which brings us back to Chapter 7, where Paul says that he doesn’t do what he wants, but does what he doesn’t want. He confesses that the Law is good, but he is of the flesh. He desires to do good, but instead does evil. Again he says, “Oh what a wretched man I am!” But if you remember last week, that is not where he ended the section. He has one more, very important sentence. He says:
24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
He concludes with thanks be to God through Jesus Christ. He tells us that he then serves God with his mind, but his flesh serves the Law.
And so with all this previously written, he then boldly proclaims:
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
It is with the entirety of God’s plan that he proclaims that there is no condemnation. For most of the previous chapter we are in a hopeless place. We have been told to follow God, but know we can’t. We are told that the Law is Good, but we can’t live up to it. But at the very end there is hope. Remember Christ will save us from this death. And here the hope culminates. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We are not guilty anymore. Paul is telling us here that there is real freedom. We are not held responsible for what we do but don’t want to. When we struggle against the flesh, and the flesh wins, we are not to stand trial for it. There is no condemnation. Now this is a sticky passage, isn’t it? I just told you that you are not responsible for your sin. What will keep all of us from sinning since we are not guilty anymore?
I think this is why the previous 7 chapters were written first. Remember we are new creations, we have been freed from sin. But we also still have struggles. But just as previously Paul writes that we should not continue to sin so that grace may abound, so here do we not given a free pass to sin. But at the same time, know that we are not punished for our sin any more. Think back to the introduction. Darnay is freed from condemnation because of what Carton had done. Now I won’t tell you how to book ends, but do you think that Darnay went back to his French estate and began living his old life since he was not condemned anymore? The answer is No. He leaves his old life completely behind. He knows what has been given to him- new life- and he won’t forget it, neglect it, or abuse it.
Now, he is still French. He still has French blood, a French accent, French customs, but he is not French anymore. He has been set free. This is analogous to our situation. We have been freed. In a very real way La Guillotine was going to drop on us and we were given new life. We may still fall back into old habits, have an accent, if you will, but we are no longer French. We have been given a new Identity. It is after we have this truth firmly in our psyche that Paul tells us there is no condemnation. We are not brought back to La Guillotine because our “Frenchness” slips out against our will, there is no condemnation, but we also must not try to be the French Aristocrat we were. Remember that life lead to death.
And it is here that the second verse of Romans 8 clarifies our position. Paul says there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but that is not the end of the thought. He continues to say that the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the Law of sin and death. There is not just no condemnation anymore. We are not freed so that we are not under any law. We are freed from the law that condemned us, the law of sin and death, and brought under a new law- the law of the Spirit. We are not rogues or mavericks who now get to live by our own code and don’t answer to the law, we are citizens of a new kingdom. The reason we are not condemned is that the old laws no longer apply to us, not because no laws apply to us.
Again think back to a Tale of Two Cities. Darnay is freed from the Law of France. He is not condemned anymore, but he is going to another country. The reason he will not be condemned again to death is that he is not a citizen for France anymore. But he is also not under no law. He will move to a new country and be subject to a new set of laws. He has been freed from the law that condemns, but not freed from law in general. So it is with us. We too have been freed from the law that condemns. We are no longer under sin. As Paul writes 2 chapters previous we can offer our bodies to God. We are his slaves, part of His kingdom. We are not freed from law, but freed from one law to be ruled by another.
This is also one of the reasons we are not to just sin because we can. We are still under a law, the law of the Sprit, we are just not under the law of sin. We have been brought to a new kingdom, one where we stand condemned no more, but that isn’t a reason to sin again carte blanche; instead it is a reason to celebrate all the more. We are no longer under the Revolutions whims and laws, but under a new kingdom. As Darnay celebrated and vowed never to be French again when he was revived, so we too must celebrate our freedom and vow to never be our old selves. How could we?
And Paul continues. He says in the first part of the next sentence:
3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
If we remember Paul told us that the Law was good. He even says that it offered life, but proved to be death. And the reason he gave in Chapter 7 for this was that he was of the flesh sold under sin. He said the Law is good, but he is not. As he sums up the previous 7 chapters of Romans in these 4 verses, he is going to clarify that thought a little.
He says God did what the law weakened by the flesh could not. Before we join Paul in the discussion of what God did, or how he did it, let us explore for a moment how the law, which is good, could not save. I could go into a big theological discussion here, but Paul did that and a much better job, (which if you know me and how prideful I am of my own writing, is saying a lot) so I will not embark on the same ship. Analogy is a better technique here I think, so that is what I will do.
Imagine yourself on an ocean liner, and suddenly it begins to sink. As it goes down, the Captain tells us that land is 10 miles east, and if we can make it there, we will be safe and live. Now that is kind of like the Law. It tells us what we need to do to live, and points the way. If we were to swim east for 10 miles and make it, we would survive. Here’s the thing though. We won’t. We can’t swim that far, especially in the open ocean. We are weakened by your flesh. It is not that the law is bad, it is in fact good. It is beneficial to know where land is, and how far. You know what you need to do. That is a good thing. The problem is that humans just cant swim that far in open ocean (some can, but that is not my concern, make it 100 mile if you like). The knowledge is good, but we are too weak to use it.
If you know anything about sea rescues, the rule of thumb is never swim. Almost 100 percent of people who try to make it to land, even when it is less than a few miles in open ocean are never found again. It is just to hard to swim in the currents, large waves, and to get ones bearings to know if one is really traveling in the right direction. What you are supposed to do if your ship goes down is stay with it and everyone else. This isn’t so you can all move as a group, or wait until the tide washes you ashore. The reason is so rescuers can find you. You can’t save yourself if your ship capsizes, even if you know exactly what to do, you need to be saved.
This is what Paul is saying here. The law is good, but it was weakened by the flesh. It meant to give us life, telling us where we need to go, and how to get there, but unless we are saved and brought to that place, there is no chance for us. We can not swim to shore, we need a Savior to bring us there. So then God did what the law was unable to do. He brings us to land.
And how does God bring us to shore? Paul tells us. He says:
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
And here Paul summarizes the entire book thus far. God does for us what we couldn’t by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. Here I do want to pause a moment and discus this phrase. It is a cornerstone of Christian belief that Christ was sinless. This is how he could be sacrificed as a spotless lamb for our transgressions. It is also a Christian assertion that he was human. If either of these two things are not true, among some others, then Christ’s sacrifice would not be what it is. He needed to be human to fulfill the Law. The same Law that Paul is talking about. He had to fulfill this so that he could die spotless and be a sacrifice for our sins.
Here it seems though that one or both of these things may not be true. Instead of saying he came in the flesh, Paul says in the likeness of sinful flesh. So, as in the past we have taken a break from the theoretical to talk about the practical, so here are we going to take a break from the practical to rise up to the theoretical.
What does Paul mean when he says he came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and does this agree with the rest of Scripture and theology? First, let’s examine a few other ways he could of phrased this statement, but didn’t.
He could have said that God sent his Son in sinful flesh. If he had said this, then certainly we would see that Christ was human, but it would also say that he was sinful. He would come in sinful flesh implies that there was sin in him. However if this was the case he could not have atoned for our sins. We are told throughout Scripture, beginning in the Law, that the way to be forgiven is to sacrifice a spotless lamb. The sacrifice must be pure to begin with. As the sacrifice is being offered the sin of the individual is transferred to the offering. If it was already stained, this would mess up the whole system. The sacrifice must be spotless. So if Christ was sinful, this would not fulfill the law.
Paul could have also said that Christ came in the likeness of flesh. This would certainly imply he did not have sin, but also that he was not actually human. He would only be in the likeness of a human, like a phantom or ghost is. And this is certainly the beliefs of some other world religions who deny Christ’s divinity. But then all of Christianity falls apart as well. If he was only a likeness, then we could not be like him. We are told he is a new Adam, a new Father of humanity. If he was not human, but only human-esque, or just wearing a costume of human, then we certainly wouldn’t be new humans with him. As Paul says through one man all sinned, and through one man all can be made righteous. Jesus can not be our prototype if he is not like us.
What Paul does say is that Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh. What he is here communicating is the Orthodox Christian teaching. Jesus came in the flesh. He was human. But he was also sinless. The likeness here refers not to Jesus humanity, but to his sinful flesh. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh means he came in the likeness of the rest of us. He looked like us, walked like us, talked like us. He was of the flesh, a full fledged human. The likeness refers to the sinful part. Since we had never really seen someone without sin, Jesus sinlessness looked like us. He came in the flesh, but came in sinless flesh to fulfill the law. But he looked like the rest of us, in our sinless flesh.
This can be seen most clearly I think when it wasn't true. In the book of Mark (and Matthew and Luke) we read of something called the transfiguration. The story is found in Mark 9
2 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." 6For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." 8And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
At this moment Jesus was not in the likeness of sinful flesh anymore. And people noticed a difference. This wasn’t his default mode though, nor was it a turning point in his life. He didn’t change, and from that point on glow everywhere he went. When people looked at him they didn’t see this radiant figure, they saw someone who looked a lot like them. Now what happen at this time was not that Jesus became less human, his humanness, or flesh was not stripped away. The disciples still saw him as Jesus, the guy they hung out with. What happened was the likeness of sinful flesh was taken away. They saw what sinless man looked like.
When Paul writes that God sent his son in the likeness of sinful flesh, it is the likeness of sin he is referring to, not the likeness of flesh. And at the same time he is no way saying Jesus was sinful. He wasn't. This is why Paul writes this the way he does.
And what does God do with this. He condemns sin in the flesh. He says
he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
In the same way that someone had to be condemned in A Tale of Two Cities, so here does something get condemned. What is condemned though is not us, for we are not condemned, but rather sin. As Jesus came to our jail cell and took our place, he also took the punishment that was to come. He was going to be executed in our stead, so that we might go free and be given new life.
And as he does this, since he was in the likeness of sinful flesh, he condemns sin in the flesh. Let us go back to a Tale for a moment. The reason the Carton is able to take the place of Darnay is that he took his likeness. He assumed the likeness of Darnay’s flesh, and as such is able to substitute himself for him. And as he does this Darnay’s flesh is condemned- Darnay is not however because he has been set free. If Carton did not assume his likeness then the entire scheme would never have worked. The requirement of the law of France was that Darnay be killed for his “crimes”. And so when Carton assumes Darnay’s likeness the law was fulfilled.
This is us as well. Because Christ assumed the form of sinful man, took on the likeness of sinful flesh, he could died in it, and as such, condemn sin in the flesh. We read earlier that the death died he died to sin, but the life he lives, he lives to God. When Jesus died, when he assumed our sin, our guilt, our sentence, he died our death. He was fulfilling the Law. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh so that we could go free and have a new life, a new country, and new Identity.
There is one more deeply theological question raised in this section we need to look at before we end. Paul writes :
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
What exactly does this mean? Are we now fulfilling the law? Are we now perfectly righteous? The answer to these questions is both yes and no. See, the law is fulfilled in us, but Paul doesn’t say we fulfill the law. Christ fulfilled the Law, and when we faith in him we are given a new life and a new law. Jesus tells us that he will send his Spirit on those who believe in him. When we faith in Christ we are united with him, remember, in his death, but also in his resurrection. The law is fulfilled in us because we have risen with Christ, have the Holy Spirit, and are given a new Identity. It is not because of anything we have done.
That being said, if we are not walking according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit, the requirements of the Law are fulfilled in us. We are truly righteous, we are holy, we are good, we are free.
Just as Darnay did nothing to earn his freedom, once he had it, it was his nonetheless. Just as Darnay could not free himself, but once Canton paid the price form him, he was given a new Identity. What Paul is communicating is something that is true and will always be true. Very often when we look at our selves in the here and now we see the picture that Paul painted in Romans 7. We are caught in a struggle that we can not win. We see a wretched, wicked, rebellious person. We see the battles, and the loses. Paul is reminding us here of what God sees. There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The righteous requirements of the Law have been fulfilled in you. Where we see demon, God sees deity. Where we see that we sometimes speak French, God sees that we are no longer a Frenchman.
Think back to the sinking ship. To survive all you have to do is make it to shore. But you can’t. Without a savior you are going to die. And then the rescue crew arrives and a helicopter takes you into itself, and flies you to land. The requirement of the law was fulfilled- you are on land, but it was not you who fulfilled it, but rather your rescuer. That doesn’t make you any more or less alive though. When others look at you they don’t see a corpse, but rather someone who has been brought from death to life.
This then is our standing. When God looks at us, he does not see that old corpse, but rather the survivor whom he saved. He does not see in us Darnay, but rather Canton. And this is our comfort. When Paul cried out in the last chapter, and we along with him that were wretched, sinful, and broken; that we were drowning and could not swim to shore; that we were prisoners on our way to be executed, God saw it different.
He saw a man coming to take our place, a rescuer who will do for us what we can’t do on our own, a new, righteous, sanctified person.
When we unite with Christ in his death, accept the sacrifice he is offering us, something happens. Like Darnay who exchanges places with Canton, we are set free. There is no condemnation over us anymore. We are given a new life and a new Identity. We are no longer under the old laws that sentenced us to death, but under a new king, part of a new kingdom.
We may sip back into our old French accent, but it isn’t us anymore. We are no longer Monsieur Darnay. We have been given a completely new life. The flesh may rebel. We may do the very evil we hate, and the good we want to do, we may not do, but it not us anymore. We are something different. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. If we unite with him in his death, then surely we will unite with him in his resurrection.
Let us rejoice with Paul in this hope, in this promise, in this new life. Like Darnay when he awoke, let us truly feel this new life we have been given. As one brought from life to death, as one who was sinful, and who is now righteous, as one who was once broke, but now is whole, let us rejoice. Know that someone else has died that you might live, and as such has utterly condemned sin in the flesh that you may be freed from condemnation.
Let us rejoice in our new identity. Let us rejoice in our new freedom. Let us rejoice in our new life.
All we need do is accept it. Jesus is in our cell, asking us to switch places with him. He is there willing to pull you to shore, if you would only let him. He is asking you to let him die that you might go free.
If you are here and not a Christian and want this new life, just ask. He is waiting for you. He has your clothes on, he has come in your likeness, all you need do is put on his. He is willing to make the sacrifice if you are willing to accept it. Accept it and be free. Move to a new kingdom, one where sin and death reign no more, but rather goodness and life.
If you are drowning and want to be rescued, crawl into the life raft. You can’t reach shore on your own. He knows this. He is here to do for you what you can’t do for yourself. He is here to rescue you, if you would only accept it. The shore is too far for you to reach, but I tell you can be there if you want.
If you are a Christian, know again, know in your inner most soul that there is no more condemnation. You are a new creation. You have been given a new life. The righteous requirements of the law have been fulfilled in you. Know that you are on shore now. You can not die any more. This life that was given you is truly yours, now go and live it. As one who was a prisoner, but is now free, use your freedom. As one who was sinful and is now righteous, claim your new identity. As one brought from death to life, go live.
Here the words of Paul one last time.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
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