The start of verse 3, literally translated, reads: ‘For the impossible thing of the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God [has done] . . .’ Most English translations, like my own, have turned this round, starting the sentence with ‘God’. But Paul’s wording should force us to ask, what was it that Torah could not do? Many have supposed that the answer has something to do with the ‘condemnation’ of sin at the end of verse 3. But that ignores Paul’s overall argument – not to mention the fact that Torah had no problem condemning sin! The answer, following once more from 7.10 and now from
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