that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Parallel translations
- KJV That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
- BSB so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
- NLT He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Christ's work fulfills the law's righteous requirement in those who walk by the Spirit. The Spirit produces in us the obedience the law demanded.
Overview
The purpose of Christ's atoning work was that the law's just requirement be fulfilled in us. This fulfillment comes not by our striving but through the Spirit who directs our walk. Those who live by the Spirit, rather than the flesh, increasingly embody the righteousness the law always intended.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gal 5:22–25But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
- Gal 5:16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
- Col 1:22yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him,
- Eph 5:26–27that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
- Heb 12:23to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
- Jude 1:24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,
- Rev 14:5In their mouth was found no lie, for they are blameless.
- 1 Jn 3:2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
- Rom 2:26If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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