This latter is to be preferred, for the original words are frequently so used, both in the Old and New Testament. The full phrase is a sacrifice fot sin. See precisely these words in Heb. 10 : 6. Lev. 6 : 25. Num. 8 : 8. Ps. 40 : 6. This sense, too, is best suited to what follows.
Condemned sin in the flesh. The phrase condemned sin may be under- stood to mean he destroyed sin, or he punished sin. In either case the words in the flesh may mean in human nature. According to the former view this clause means ' He destroyed sin in our corrupt nature ;' and the whole point of the verse is, that because the law could not effect our sanc- tification, God sent forth his Son on account of sin, and destroyed it in us. According to the other view, the meaning is, ' That God sent his Son as a sin-offering and thus punished sin in the flesh,' i. e. either in his flesh, of which mention had just been made, or in human nature, a nature like our own. That the latter is the true meaning, appears evident, 1 . Because the word rendered condemned never means simply to destroy or remove. The other interpretation, therefore, is contrary to usage. 2. This inter- pretation best suits the other part of the verse. A sacrifice has reference rather to the guilt of sin, than to its impurity ; it procures pardon imme- diately, sanctification only mediately. By the sacrifice of Christ, sin was, therefore, condemned, rather than destroyed or removed. 3. The following verse requires this interpretation. Sin was condemned in Christ, in order that we might be justified. 4. The whole context requires it. The apostle argues thus, ' There is no condemnation to be- lievers because they are not under the law. They are free from that legal system, because God, seeing its insufficiency, sent his Son as a sacrifice for sin, and thus condemned sin, that we might be free from the demands of the law, or might thus satisfy its claims.'
It is not meant to be denied in the interpretation just given of this im- portant verse, that the deliverance of believers from sin is the result of the mission and sacrifice of Christ, or that this idea was not uniformly associated in the apostle's mind with their justification. All that is intended is to show that, in this connexion, where freedom from condemnation, deliverance from the law, the sacrifice of Christ, and condemnation of sin are spoken of, the main idea is the justification and not the sanctifi- cation of believers.
(4) That the righteousness of the law might he fulfilled in us, &c. These words express the design and result of the sacrifice of Christ. The righteousness of the law means that which the law demands. ' That the demands of the law might be fulfilled in us,' may, however, mean either that we might obey the law, or that we might be freed from its demands, that is, be justified. That the latter is the true meaning here, seems evident, 1. Because this interpretation alone suits the context, if the view given of the previous verses is correct. All the arguments, therefore, in favour of that view, support this interpretation, and need not be repeated. 2. Because in scriptural language the pardon of sin is the direct .object of the sacrifice of Christ, and, therefore, this verse, which