The Law

Romans 7:7 – Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” ⁸ But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. ⁹ 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, ¹⁰ and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. ¹¹ Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. ¹² But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

¹³ But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

¹⁴ So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

¹⁸ And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. ¹⁹ I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. ²⁰ But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

This passage continues where we left off last week.  Paul now explores what he has hinted at previously in this letter, that the law actually serves as a means of bringing more sin into our lives.  Because we have this natural desire in us to deviate from what is right, our sinful nature sees the law and says “Hey that sounds good!”  To sin, the law is like wood to a termite.  What good, then, is the law?  It helps us to recognize sin.  We are all sinful, and our nature is fallen.  The law allows us to see this more clearly.

In verses 9 and 10, Paul states that learning the law stimulated the power of sin, and he died.  He is speaking in spiritual terms.  The law promises life – if we can obey the law.  However, who can keep the law at all times?  Yet, the law is holy (verse 12).  The law, which is holy, does not cause us to be separated from God.  It is our sin that separates us from God, not the law.

Verse 14 is critical to understanding this passage: “So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.”  In chapter 6 of Romans Paul writes that we are all slaves to something.  All too often, humans are slaves to sin.  In the remaining verses here in chapter 7, Paul writes about wanting to do what is right, but his sinful nature takes over.

Let’s consider verse 16: “But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.” The law offers to us a paradox – if we continually hold the law before us, even though we know the law is good, it stimulates our sinful nature.  If not the law, what then should a Christian look to as a guide to live by?  We should look to Jesus.  The law holds before us what we should not be doing.  Instead of looking at what we should not be doing, we should look at how we should be living, and Jesus is the model for how we should be living.   

Posted by Ramón Torres