How is the law fulfilled in us?

Explanation:

Paul explained that believers are not condemned because God sent his Son to condemn sin. He then writes in Romans 8:4 that God sent his Son to condemn sin so that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled in us. To understand what he means, it is important to notice that Paul goes on to specify that it is those who walk by the Spirit, and not the flesh, in whom the law is fulfilled. That Paul specifies that it is those who walk by the Spirit that fulfill the law is important, because the verb to walk suggests action.³ In other words, those who fulfill the law are those who walk a certain way, that is, behave a certain way. So those who behave according to the Spirit fulfill the law.

Counterargument:

This argument makes an assumption about Paul’s use of the participle form of the verb to walk. In particular, it assumes that the verb is being used in an instrumental sense, which entails that it is those who walk according to the Spirit who can fulfill the law. Of course, Paul may be using the participle form of the verb not in an instrumental but in a descriptive sense. That is, he may be describing the condition of those who fulfill the law, not the power by which the law is fulfilled. This makes a difference because when Paul says that the law is fulfilled in us, given that only Jesus Christ fulfills the law, Paul may be saying that we fulfill the law only in the sense that Christ fulfills it and we identify with Christ. He then describes those who identify with Christ and therefore share in his fulfillment of the law as those who walk according to the Spirit. Thus, walking according to the Spirit is a description, not an instrument for fulfilling the law.⁴

Response to counterargument:

Even if Paul uses the participle form of to walk descriptively rather than instrumentally, this does not negate the fact that fulfilling the law has to do with believers behaving a certain way. In other words, God sent his Son to condemn sin so that believers could behave in such a way as to fulfill the requirements of the law, and it is those who walk by the Spirit who perform such behaviour. Thus, Paul could be describing those who fulfill the requirements of the law as those who walk according to the Spirit.⁵ In either case, to fulfill the law is for a believer to behave a certain way.

Explanation:

We can detect from other related passages what it means to fulfill the law. In Romans 13:8–10 Paul specifically explains that fulfilling the law has to do with loving one’s neighbour.⁶ In Romans 13:8 he says that the one who loves another fulfills the law. And he goes on to write in Romans 13:9 that all of the commandments are summed in the command, Love your neighbor as yourself. Likewise in Galatians 5:14 Paul says that the whole law is summarized in the clause, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.⁷ Jesus also explained that the first and greatest commandment is to love God, and the second is to love one’s neighbour as oneself, and that all the Law and Prophets hang on these two commands (Matthew 22:37–40). Thus, when Paul says that the Son condemned sin in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fulfilled, he is saying that the Son condemned sin in order that believers might love God and one another.

Counterargument:

The problem here is that this argument overlooks the prepositional phrase in us. That is, Paul writes that God sent his Son to condemn sin so that the law might be fulfilled in us. That Paul has in mind the law being fulfilled in us is not appropriate to the idea of fulfilling the law by loving God and one’s neighbour. For the law being fulfilled in us has a passive connotation, whereas loving one’s neighbour is an action we perform.⁸ Thus, while loving one another does fulfill the law, given the passivity of the prepositional phrase in us, we can detect that this is not what Paul has in mind in when he refers to fulfilling the law in Romans 8:4.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument misunderstands Paul’s use of the prepositional phrase in us. Paul is not saying that the law is fulfilled in us, in the sense that the fulfillment of the law is an event that transpires inside the believer. In other words, the preposition does not locate where the law is fulfilled. Rather, the preposition in us is being used to denote that group of people who fulfill the law.⁹ In other words, Paul is saying that the law is fulfilled in us, that is, by the corporate group of people who walk according to the Spirit.

It is hard to see what the weakness of this view might be. To walk according to the Spirit is to behave in a way that is empowered by the Spirit. Thus, the law is fulfilled in those who behave in a way that is empowered by the Spirit.

Explanation:

Paul explains that God sent his Son to condemn sin in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. We can detect what Paul means by noticing he uses the passive from of the verb to fulfill. The passive form indicates something that is done to and for us.¹⁰ In other words, the law is fulfilled in us, not by our own effort, but by the effort of someone else.

Of course, if the law is fulfilled, not by us but by another, then when Paul says that the law is fulfilled in us, he does not mean that we are obedient to the law. Rather, he means that someone else is obedient to the law, and that this obedience is imputed to us. And we know that the Son was obedient to the law, so Paul is saying that the Son’s obedience to the law is imputed to us.

Counterargument:

This argument makes too much of the passive form of the verb to fulfill. It is true that we do not fulfill the law, but that the law is fulfilled in us. Still, Paul also explains that the way the law is fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit.¹¹ By walking according to the Spirit, which has to do with us walking by the power of God, the law is fulfilled. So, while we do not actively fulfill the law, the law is passively fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit.

Response to counterargument:

When Paul has in mind our actions in relation to the fulfillment of the law, he uses the active, rather than passive form of the verb to fulfill. For example, in Romans 13:8 he writes that by loving one another the law is fulfilled, where the verb is in the perfect active form. Thus, he says that by loving one another, one actively fulfills the law. Contrast this with Romans 8:4 where Paul says that for those who walk according to the Spirit, the law is fulfilled, not in the sense of actively fulfilling the law, but passively, as something that happens to the believer. In other words, the believers fulfill the law in the sense that Christ’s fulfillment of the law is imputed to us.

Of course, if Christ’s fulfillment of the law is imputed to us, then when Paul says that it is those who walk by according to the Spirit who have the law fulfilled in them, he is offering a description.¹² That is, he is not saying that by walking by the Spirit the fulfillment of the law is imputed to believers, but he is explaining that the fulfillment of the law is imputed to those who walk according to the Spirit, not because they walk according to the Spirit, but because Christ fulfills the law and imputes this fulfillment to believers.

Explanation:

To understand what it means that the law is fulfilled in us, it is important to understand the logic of this passage. In particular, Paul writes in Romans 8:3 that God has done what the law could not do because of our flesh, namely, produce a righteous life. In other words, because of our flesh we cannot fulfill the law. And the removal of the barrier that prevents us from living a righteous life is due to God, not to our own actions. For our obedience always falls short of perfection. Of course, Christ lived in perfect obedience to the law, so he fulfills the law perfectly. God then made it possible for Christ’s obedience to the law to be transferred to us, so that it is as though we fulfilled the law.¹³ So, according to the logic of this section, we fulfill the law in the sense that Christ’s fulfillment of the law is imputed to us.

Counterargument:

While it is true that our interpretations must make sense with an author’s logic, this view seems to misunderstand Paul’s logic. As this view rightly points out, Paul says in Romans 8:3 that the law could not produce righteousness, so God made this possible by sending the Son. Paul says not only that the law could not produce righteousness, but also that it was the law, weakened by the flesh, that could not produce righteousness. So the problem is not with the law, but with the flesh. Thus, God sends the Son into the world to condemn sin, which allows for believers to live, not according to the flesh but to the Spirit. Thus, the problem of the flesh is removed, and believers are able to live according to the Spirit, so they are able to fulfill the law. For, as Paul explained, the weakness of the flesh prevented the law from producing righteousness, but since believers walk by the Spirit, that problem is solved.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument assumes that when Paul refers to fulfilling the law in Romans 8:4, he only has a partial fulfillment in mind. For we know that even those who walk by the Spirit continue to sin, so it as not as though Christians in this life can fulfill the law perfectly. Of course, it may be that when Paul refers to fulfilling the law in Romans 8:4, he has in mind perfect fulfillment. And if he has perfect fulfillment in mind, since we know that even those who walk by the Spirit do not fulfill the law perfectly, this fulfillment could only be due to imputation.

The weakness of this view is that it seems to correlate justification with sanctification. That is, Paul will speak about being justified by faith, and he will also describe our ongoing growth in holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit, which we call sanctification. When Paul is referring to the ongoing growth by the power of the Holy Spirit here, this argument wrongly assumes that Paul is actually speaking about justification. If Paul were speaking about justification, he would have said that the law is fulfilled by those who have faith in Christ, for Paul often reminds us that justification is about faith, not works. But this is not what Paul does here. Rather, he speaks about walking by the Spirit, which has to do with ongoing growth in holiness, which is referred to as fulfilling the law.