7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."
8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.
9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;
10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me;
11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
12 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
V. 7:7 - “Is the Law sin? May it never be!” - A fair question. If the Law points out sin, does that make it sinful? When our criminal law forbids us to rob banks. Is the forbidding or is the robbing wrong? Of course the Law, or our laws are not the sin or source of sin. Plus, the Ten Commandments and Torah were handed down by a Holy and righteous God.
“I would not have come to know sin” - The Law is there so we will not be ignorant! To be clear, adultery or covetousness are sins whether we know it or not. How do we repent if we don’t realize the sin of our actions? But when revealed, there is now no excuse. Before the Law exposes the sin, we may have unsettling and unfocused feelings about certain activities - but we don’t know for sure.
V. 7:8 - “produced in me coveting of every kind” - So, he had no idea, then he is told coveting is a sin. Suddenly, he realizes we wants all kinds of things, especially when others have them.
“Apart from the Law sin is dead” - Is this saying sin does not exist outside the Law? In other words, if you can remain ignorant of the Law, you can get away with almost anything. I’m pretty sure that is NOT what this verse says. For example: If someone tells you that the newer model VW Bugs have a small flower vase on the dash. You will begin to see VWs with plastic flowers on the dash, and think, “I never noticed that before.” They’ve been there for years, you just weren’t aware of them.
In a similar way, sin has always been there, but without the Law identifying the sin, you might not know the sin. You would not know that sin leads to death.
V. 7:9 - “when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died” - The reality of the wages of sin became known. Once you know and understand that sin and death are inextricably joined, you know the ultimate fate - death. A movie from a few years ago was titled, “Dead Man Walking”, about death row inmates. This is an apt title for the person who has just realized sin and its consequences.
V. 7:10 - “this commandment... proved to result in death“ - The Law was given to show the Israelites how to live for God - things to do, and things to not do. The downside of the Law there is no excuse - we now know we need salvation.
The New Living Translation reads thusly: “At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law's commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.” (Rom. 7:9-10)
The key concept here is “spiritual death” - eternal separation from God. Physical death is ahead for us all - one of the consequences of the original sin. Spiritual death is also a result of sin, but is inevitable only for those who reject the gift of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This consequence is far more serious than physical death.
V. 7:11 - “Sin... Deceived... Killed” - The deception of sin leads us into eternal separation from God. We are deceived in a couple of ways.
We believe we are in control of our lives and our future. Our sin nature tell us since we are the ultimate end of the evolutionary process, we are the ultimate decider of right, wrong, the direction of our lives. The problem: this ignores that God is in charge.
We want to believe that if we do more good than bad the ‘scales of justice’ will be in our favor. We like to think our lives are graded on the basis of a ‘curve’. The problem with this line of thinking: it ignores that God is perfect, and the ‘grade’ is more like a plumb line. (A plumb line shows what is perfectly vertical.) Either we are perfect, or we are lost, deceived, and dead. It is impossible for our natural self to be perfect in our own power.
We want to believe if we tell ourselves every thing will be fine, it will be. “If it is so natural, how can it be wrong?” The problem: sin has warped our view and understanding of what is good and right. What we see as good and right, God sees as sin against Him.
V. 7:12 - “So then, the Law is Holy” - Is this a big jump - going from the Law identifying sin, to the Law is Holy? The Law says, “Do not covet.” Coveting is the sin. The Law warning us avoid sin is not sinful. If a sign on the freeway warns you that sharp curves are ahead and your speed should be less than 60 mph, it is not the sign’s fault if you are going 75 mph and careen off the road into the canyon.
It is good for the Law to warn you about sin. It is good for you to know what to avoid. You can either ‘blunder’ into sin by being ignorant of sin, or you can go forward, head up, knowing you are sinning. Sinning on purpose means you are rejecting God’s warning. God is holy, righteous, and good, and you must bear the consequences of your decisions.
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