Why was the Mosaic Law weak according to Romans 8:3?
Romans 8:3 states the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, was weak through the flesh. It could not accomplish what was needed because the problem was the old Adam in human flesh. The Law could not overcome that; the indwelling Holy Spirit, not the Law, provides the answer.
Les explains that Romans 8:3 is speaking specifically of the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, and even the whole sphere of Judaism, not merely a principle like the law of gravity or the law of sin and death. The Law could not do what was needed because it was weak through the flesh. In the first seven chapters, Paul laid the groundwork of how we ended up in sin and under condemnation, and how Christ died so we might be justified and forgiven. Romans 7 presents the dilemma of overcoming the old Adam and keeping it in defeat. Romans 8 gives the answer: the Holy Spirit, the indwelling Spirit, becomes our Law.
For 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:
More Questions
When Paul says 'the Law' in Romans 8, does he mean the Mosaic Law or just a principle like gravity?
When Paul speaks of 'the Law' in the context of Romans 8, he is referring to the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments, not to an impersonal fact or principle like gravity or a generic law of sin and death.