Romans 7:7-12

                                                             Romans 7:7-12

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

 

Paul continues to demonstrate just how perverse sinners are in that they have their desires for sin increased by the commands of the law.  That law then turns around and condemns them.  Paul has two goals in this argument.  First, he want so demonstrate just how sinful our flesh truly is.  Second, he wants to prove, once and for all, that it is absolutely foolish to think that any man could be justified by the works of the law.  Not only is mankind unable to keep the law, but his flesh is so corrupt, that the law ends up promoting sin in his life.

 

SIN IS AWAKENED BY THE LAW: The law in not to blame for the results we experience in our bodies.  The law is holy and just, but the sinful urges of our flesh are so strong that the law does not serve as a deterrent to sin, but it becomes an encouragement to sin.  It not only informs us what sin is but it actually becomes a means of temptation to sin.  We naturally desire that which is prohibited because of the sinfulness that is a part of who we are.  This is not a condemnation of the law but a condemnation of our sinful flesh that could never be justified through the keeping of a law that constantly tempts us to sin.

 

THE LAW CONDEMNES THE SINNER: Since the law provides a standard required by God, it is the means by which we stand condemned before God.  No person, besides Christ, has ever kept the law.  The law does not provide a way of salvation but is the standard that condemns us.  The sentence of that condemnation is death.  This is the just requirement of the law.  This is what we deserve and what God requires in order that His justice might be satisfied.  This is why it was necessary for Jesus to die on the cross.  He took our death upon Himself and transferred His righteousness to us by faith.

 

APPLICATION: Recognize that all temptation to sin is a demonstration of our guilt and reason for our condemnation before God.  Never strive to be acceptable to God based on our own works.  The desire to sin is proof of our guilt so should always point us to faith in Christ as our only hope.