What does Romans 8:4 mean by the righteousness of the law being fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit?
Romans 8:4 means the righteousness the law requires is fulfilled in us through God sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemning old Adam in the flesh, so we walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. The phrase belongs in verse 4, not verse 1; salvation remains faith plus nothing.
Les teaches that the clause “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” does not belong in Romans 8:1; the earliest manuscripts omit it, and it fits Romans 8:4. Leaving it in verse 1 would imply a person gets into Christ by not walking in the flesh, contradicting salvation as faith plus nothing, with no human energy or merit. In verse 4 it is perfect: because God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin took care of old Adam, condemning old Adam in the flesh, the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. It is not accomplished by human effort; it rests on verse 3 and God’s work in Christ.
That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
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
Where do the words 'who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' really belong in Romans 8?
The words 'Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit' do not belong in Romans 8:1; all the earliest manuscripts do not have it there, and the words belong down in verse 4.