The Apostle Paul wrote this statement to the Romans, “that in the sight of God no flesh could be justified under the Law.” To be justified or free from the knowledge of sin we must be in Christ and under grace. He wrote this so that they and we would begin to know that our fallen nature could not be overcome under the Law. I wonder if we today really understand the depth of what the Apostle was conveying to us. Have we understood the depth of evil that our flesh, the world and the devil represent? Also have we understood that these three cannot be rendered powerless under the Law? Only in Christ and through the power of Christ resting upon us can these three tempters be rendered powerless. Have we taken the time necessary before the Lord to know what it is to be just in Christ by grace accessed by faith? It is in these three adversaries where our temptations to sin originate from. Learning to resist temptation is what our life of faith in Christ is all about. To be the just now we must overcome the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil. Gal 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery. Matt 5:27-28 ' 28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 3715 Lust: excitement of the mind ie longing after. This is the desires and passions of the flesh that cannot be rendered powerless through the Law.
1 John 2:15-17 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Until we learn to question our motives we are subject to being caught in the snare of the tempters. God wants us to have and enjoy all things in life. What God doesn’t want is for us to lust after anything because lusting for something will lead us into sin and sin will lead us into spiritual death. James 4:3-7 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"? 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Lusting after things is compared to committing spiritual adultery and giving place to the tempters. What is more important desiring our fellowship with the Father or desiring and lusting after forbidden things? If we submit ourselves unto the Lord He will strengthen us to resist lusting by increasing our ability under grace.
Have we understand that there is a difference between having been justified from the Law and “now living as the just in Christ?” We were justified from our sinful deeds under the Law by being joined to Christ. Now we must walk by faith under grace to remain justified or holy in the gift of righteousness. The gift of righteousness is only effective to us as we live in the strength of grace by faith. When we seek to be righteous in our own deeds we actually negate the gift of righteousness. We must be seeking righteousness in Christ. In order to walk by the flesh we have to step outside of grace and the gift of righteousness. When we step outside of grace we do not feel righteous because we have rejected grace through faith for the pleasures of sin after the flesh. We cannot find peace, joy and righteousness except by our union to and our agreement with Christ. When we seek to satisfy our needs by the lust of the flesh we first begin by ignoring the Holy Spirit for guidance of faith. As long as we reject the Spirit for the way of faith we cannot experience being righteous in the gift of righteousness. Romans 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh (Adamic nature) will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
The Law is the knowledge of the sinful nature Adam brought upon all of human kind. Now we must grasp that if we seek to be justified or seek to be free from sin under the letter of the Law or the flesh we are giving power to lust which will bring about sin. The Law is the knowledge of sin not the freedom from the knowledge of our sins. Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. The passions and desires of our flesh are acted out in the members of our body and lead to a lack of holiness. It is the passions and desires of our flesh that cannot be justified or rendered powerless under the Law. They can not be justified under the Law because the Law is the knowledge of sin and that sin becoming more sinful. The more we look to the Law or the flesh the more we are found to be sinners. The only way to be just in Christ is under the liberty of grace accessed by faith.
Now sin is residing in our fleshly nature because that is where sin has been condemned by Christ. That is why it is sin to fulfill the lust of our flesh. Romans 8:3 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, Sin has not been condemned to our members but to our fallen character residing in our flesh. The promise to Abraham was that through his seed we could receive the Holy Spirit. We are no longer under the tutelage of the Law but under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Gal 3:14 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The Law could not give life so God promised the Spirit to those who are in Christ so we could learn to live in the power of His resurrected life. Gal 3:21 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly Gal 3:23 23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Now as we reside under grace and allow it to keep us through faith we are free from the knowledge of sin. There is no knowledge of sin because residing under grace there is only the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. Romans 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. When we demonstrate less than the character of Christ we are not truly residing under grace. So, the qualification to be free from the knowledge of sin is to be fully residing under the strength of grace. Eph 4:30-32 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. We must understand that we cannot reside under grace and walk by the lust of the flesh at the same time. Either we are surrendered to grace or we are surrendered to the world, the flesh or the devil. Our choices become critical in determining who we surrender to in maintaining our justified life under grace.
To be free from the knowledge of the sin that now dwells in our fleshly nature we must reside under grace to be free from the desires of sin. For the grace of God to be effective we must not frustrate or set it aside by our choices out side of faith. We set grace aside by seeking our way of life outside of the gifts in Christ. Our liberty or freedom from sinning is why we must understand what the righteousness of faith is from the voice of the Holy Spirit. In the trying of our faith we understand if we have accepted the sufficiency of Grace to resist the temptations to sin. The trying of our faith proves to us if we have frustrated grace by seeking to be righteous outside of grace which is accessed by faith. The consequence of seeking to be free outside of grace renders us weak and we are found to be sinners. Grace is how we are strengthened to resist the temptations in the gift of righteousness. Faith is how we access the abundance of grace to experience this liberty to choose. In order to understand what true faith is we must have the Words of God written on the tables of our hearts and placed in our minds. John 6:63 63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. To be renewed in the spirit of our mind and have life Jesus said “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. These are not the Words of the Law spoken to Moses. If we are going to save our soul today we MUST hear the voice of the Holy Spirit to know the words for life. This is why a book of rules will not maintain this new life in us. If it could the Law would have been sufficient for life. We must reside under grace for our strength to resist our temptations to follow after the world, the flesh or the devil. We must fellowship with the Holy Spirit to receive the words of faith to live a righteous abundant spiritual life apart from our sin nature. If we attempt to live according to our fleshly nature or the Law we are no longer living by faith. Therefore our decisions become sin unto us and we are found as transgressors.
Now that righteousness is a gift apart from the Law, should we be asking ourselves how are we to live in the justification of life that this gift of righteousness offers us? To find this “righteous life apart from the Law” we must first be residing under the freedom of sin consciousness created by Grace. What happens to our standing of being righteous if we are found to be transgressors while seeking to be justified in Christ? Outside of grace we experience the knowledge of sin in our conscience. This would mean that we have frustrated or set Grace aside. This happens when we seek to be righteous apart from Christ by seeking from the Law or from our flesh. Do you see how we have called good evil and evil good? We have said that we are saved by Grace while still living in the sins of our flesh and seeking to be blessed under the Law. We have done this by insisting that Grace is favor instead of God’s power in love to resist the temptations to follow the world, the flesh and the devil. We are supposed to receive an abundance of Grace to reign in this life. We access this abundance of Grace by faith. 1 Gal 3:11 1 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." The righteous shall live by faith. The Law was the power to make sin abound. Now in Christ Grace is the strengthening power that gives us our freedom from our sin nature. For us to be the just our faith must be appropriating this Grace to stand in this gift of righteousness. When our Christ-built character is being attacked, it is the strength of grace that gives us the stability to stand firm in the truth. No matter what anyone may say or do to us it is the abundance of Grace that keeps us faithful to our calling. Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Through Christ we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand in this gift of righteousness. This is why it is so important that we do not frustrate the grace of God by seeking to be blessed in the world, the flesh, or the devil. These are not of faith and we will not stand the test in the fire to prove that WE ARE THE JUST WHO LIVE BY FAITH. When we fall short of being the just, God tells us to surrender our weaknesses to “My grace is sufficient.” God has never said we are to remain “just an old sinner saved by grace” after coming to Christ. Just as the Lord said to Paul, “My power is made perfect in your weakness.” This doesn’t tell us to remain in our sins or weaknesses as Paul called them. Christ tells us to give Him our weaknesses and He will make us strong to resist all temptation to sin through the power of His grace resting upon us. We can go on rejecting God’s gift in Christ but we will answer at the judgment for our rejection of the empowerment for eternal life. Heb 10:26-31 26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Do we really think that we will not be judged accordingly for rejecting what Christ has provided by His death, burial, and resurrection?
Our insistence on living our lives according to the world, the flesh and the devil rejects Christ, tramples the blood of the covenant under our feet and Insults the Spirit of Grace who is to save us. The reason we will answer for continuing to live in sin is because we have rejected the power of Christ in our lives. The power of Christ that is to rest upon us so we can live free from our sin nature is the power of His Grace. When we continue life as we always have we are saying that grace is not sufficient or that it is favor. I wonder if we have understood the difference between favor and grace.
When we give someone favor we are a respecter of that person we have given this favor to. This favor can be removed anytime the one offering it chooses. Grace on the other hand will never be taken away by the giver. We are to receive more grace in time of need by our humble request. We have the ability to set grace aside or frustrate it. We are the ones who control the amount of grace we receive by our attitude. We are the one who can receive grace in vain. God does not remove His grace we are the ones who deny its power for the pleasures of sin. The world came into favor with God when Christ said “It is finished.” But it is the children of God who have access to grace through our union to Christ.
If we seek to experience the righteousness of Christ anywhere but under grace we cannot experience righteousness according to God. If our righteousness is not of faith it is Sin. Romans 7:4-6 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another-- to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. We must understand that returning to the Law to know righteousness in our spiritual life results only in the knowledge of sin and death. Romans 7:5-6 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. The Law cannot be our measure for righteousness or sin now because we are dead to the Law. This is why the strength of grace is so important to us in following the Holy Spirit for the righteousness of faith. The Law was the knowledge that increased sin and grace is the power for the freedom to not know sin. Romans 5:20-21 20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace MIGHT reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If we are still under the impulses of our sinful nature then we are not secured in this gift of righteousness under the power of Grace. We are still frustrating the grace of God by our decisions in seeking to be righteous outside of Christ. Romans 5:17-18 17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
Think about what these scriptures are saying to us. Where temptation and sin abound unto death, the abundance of grace might reign in our life through the righteousness of Christ. Do we know that through Christ’s righteousness the power of grace should reign in our lives? For grace to reign in our life we must seek what is faith through the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Word tells us “do not let sin rule in our lives.” Eph 2:7-8 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Yes, grace is a free gift. We cannot earn it we must ask for it to save us in time of need. But the how and why to receive an abundance of Grace seems to have eluded the gospel teachers of today. We have been given the gift of righteousness. We have been offered the ability of grace so that we might remain in this state of righteousness. Walking after the world, the flesh or the devil would negate the STATE of righteousness not the gift of righteousness. It would negate the state of righteousness because of our rejecting the strength of grace to stand just in this gift. We can return to the state of righteousness by returning to grace. What we have misunderstood is the difference between the Gift and the State of righteousness. The gift of righteousness came as a judicial declaration by God through Christ. The given was so that we could receive the justification of life by escaping the Law of death. Romans 5:18 18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
The state of righteousness would be maintained through our actions or conduct deemed to be right before God. Our actions and conduct that are godly are what our holiness is. So, our actions or conduct that is not deemed right before God would change our state of righteousness or holiness. Rev 3:4-5 "You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. Rev 3:17-19 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked-- 18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. By repenting these would return to the state of being just by faith. Also having repented they would not be frustrating grace and so would be eligible for grace to strengthen them to resist in temptation.
We must learn to receive an abundance of grace. That grace is to rule in our life in our new creation. Because grace is to reign in our life it must be to rule over the desires and passions of the world, the flesh, and the devil. When we believe what God has said about the need for understanding divine grace. Then our faith will be able to receive the abundance of grace to live life in the freedom of Grace. We must begin to grasp the depth of freedom that God has given us in Christ. If Christ had not lived a sinless life He could not offer us His ability to live sinless under the power of grace. Christ is the first fruit of those who follow in His footsteps. So if the first fruit is holy shouldn’t the many that follow expect to have to be holy also? This is why it is imperative to understand that Christ didn’t accomplish a sinless life so we could continue in our sins. We have been commanded in Matt 22:37 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Could we say that we love the Lord as this command if we are still living by our sinful flesh? We could only say this if we believed that we are not responsible for the desires and passions of our flesh that the Word of God says we are. We have been commanded to live in the light as He is the light. 1 John 1:5-7 5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. The question we all should be asking is where are we walking today, in the light or in the darkness? The answer to this question determines where we are in our state of righteousness for holiness. It also determines what will happen at the judgment seat of Christ if we do not repent.
Paul tells us that in his flesh dwells no good thing. Why would Paul make this statement unless he wanted us to understand that our fallen nature is what we must recognize as sin? We were saved or justified from the Law by being joined to Christ. We were given a new nature in Christ. Today many are following their old fallen nature and claiming to be saved and fellowshipping with God? Paul, in many letters, is referring us to our new life in Christ and how to live in this new life. The question is, have we understood that we are responsible to overcome the desires of the world, the flesh and the devil to be saved? To overcome we must first understand what makes us desire those things. Romans 7:15-18 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Paul is telling us that if we live according to our fleshly passions and desires we will not experience being free from our old nature. We cannot be an overcomer by submitting to the desires and passions of our flesh. If we attempt to serve God and our flesh we are trying to serve two masters and this is not possible. Matt 6:24 24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Do we really believe that if we walk after our flesh we will die spiritually. Romans 8:13-14 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Who has to put to death the deeds of the body? We do by the Spirit revealing what is not faith, but deeds that are sin.
For us to experience being free from our sinful nature we must walk according to the Spirit. The Spirit leads us into fulfilling the righteous requirements of the Law as we obey faith. Paul said there is NOW no condemnation to those who walk according to the Spirit. Paul did not say there is no condemnation to those who walk after the flesh. The reason there would still be condemnation is because we have been given the power to serve Christ sinless. If we remain in our sins the results are condemnation or the judgment of God upon us. Romans 8:1-4 1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Paul is telling us that because sin is now condemned in the flesh we must not follow the flesh to be free from the consequences of sin. Romans 8:5-11 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. The carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God therefore it had to be rendered powerless. It is rendered powerless by our being joined to Christ and our surrendering to the abundance of grace. The carnal mind remains powerless as long as we do not seek knowledge from it. Now our determination for righteous holy behavior can only be faith through the Word of God to us by the Holy Spirit. Does this next statement remind us of anything? “Now the just shall life by faith.” To be just or in the state of righteousness we must live our life by faith. We can no longer seek knowledge from anything but the Holy Spirit to be “the just who live by faith.”
When we walk after the flesh we give the carnal mind its power over us through sins that we act out in our members 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Our body was in death while we were under the Law. Our body was quickened to life by the Spirit who now dwells within us (justification of life). Now we have the choice of whether we have life or death in our mortal bodies. The choices we now make determine whether we have life or death in us. If we live after the Spirit we have life through His righteousness. If we live after the flesh we have death through our own unrighteous decisions. This does not say there is a happy medium. There is either life or death. What does the Word say our reasonable worship or service is onto the Father? Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. When we live according to our sinful flesh and death becomes present in our bodies we have not performed our reasonable service or worship to God. How do we present our body a living sacrifice to God? By seeking and living to be the just who live by faith? It is faith that requires us to learn to live a sinless life.
Now that we are in Christ we have become obligated to live after the Spirit and reject all fleshly desires and passion. Romans 8:12-14 12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Our choice here is to die in the sins of our flesh or we can walk by the Spirit and be a son of God. Romans 8:15-17 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. What could Paul be telling us here about suffering with Christ so that we may be glorified together? We are to suffer the pain of crucifying our fleshly passions and desires daily through Christ. In order to be glorified together with Christ we must take up or cross daily and resist temptation. Jesus suffered every temptation known to man. Is this what Paul is alluding to here? Are we to be tempted with every temptation known to man as well? If this is true then we must begin to understand what all the temptations. As Christians have we understood that in order to be tempted we must first desire that which is forbidden. Think about Eve in her temptation to eat from the forbidden tree. Gen 3:5-7 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
It was when the temptation was before them that they disobed the one commandment God had given them of not to touch or eat from the one tree. It was their rebellion to the word of God that produced the knowledge of evil in their heart. Do we see how when we reject the word of God that the knowledge of evil enters into our life? 1john 2:15-16 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
We have a similar situation today if we follow the leading of the world, the flesh, or the devil. We too will find the knowledge of evil present. The purpose of being joined to Christ was to free us from the knowledge of evil. The moment we were joined to Christ we were pure as the new driven snow. It is the choices we have made after being joined to Christ that has soiled our garments. If our choices are not of faith they become sin to us because “the just shall live by faith.” Can we say we are living by faith if we are living in sin and rejecting the power of grace? As the bride of Christ our desire must be to our own Husband who is Christ. When we follow the world, the flesh or the devil our desire is no longer for our husband. We are joining ourselves to the antichrist spirit through our sins of rebellion. 1 John 3:5-8 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was ma

The Apostle Paul wrote this statement to the Romans, “that in the sight of God no flesh could be justified under the Law.” To be justified or free from the knowledge of sin we must be in Christ and under grace. He wrote this so that they and we would begin to know that our fallen nature could not be overcome under the Law.
 

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