The Law and Sin - Romans 7:7-13
INTRODUCTION:
This morning we come back to Romans chapter 7. Again, we have been away from the book of Romans for two weeks so now we come back and Paul spends a lot of time in chapters 3-8 talking about the Law. And he has taught us some things about the Law that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. First, in chapters 3-5 Paul established for us that the Law cannot save anyone. In chapter 6 he taught that it cannot make us righteous, it cannot sanctify us or justify us. Last time as we looked at the first six verses of chapter 7, we learned that the Law can no longer condemn us because we have died in Christ to the Law. This morning as we come into the second section of chapter 7 we will learn that the Law can convict both unbelievers and believers of sin, and then in the final section of chapter 7 which we will get to next week we will learn that it cannot deliver us from sin, either before or after salvation. Finally, as we get into the first part of chapter 8 in a couple of weeks, we will find that the Law can be fulfilled by believers in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
This morning we are going to see that the Law can convict both unbelievers and believers of sin and we will do this by first looking at the relationship between the Law and sin, then by looking at the relationship between the Law, sin, and the sinner, and then finally in the last two verses of our passage this morning we will see Paul’s summary of these relationships. Let’s pray and get into our passage of Scripture for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Romans 7:7-13, our passage for this morning. Please stand if you are able in honor of the reading of the Word of God and follow along as I read.
Romans 7:7-13,
“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.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.” (Romans 7:7–13, NASB95)[1]
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LAW AND SIN (Romans 7:7-8)
Paul had ended the first section of Romans 7 by stating in verses 5-6, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.” (Romans 7:5–6, NASB95)[2] Paul knew that by saying that while we were in the flesh the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law were at work in us, but now that we have died and have been released from the Law, we now serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter of the Law, Paul knew that saying this would provoke his readers to ask the next question that he asks in verse 7, anticipating their question he asks, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin?” (Romans 7:7a, NASB95)[3] Paul then goes on and answers this question for his readers and again he uses the strongest Greek negative that he has already used several times in this book. The NASB translates it “May it never be!” The ESV translates it, “By no means!” The NIV and the NKJV translates it “Certainly not!” And the KJV translates it “God forbid!” Paul in using this phrase is emphatic that the Law is not evil, that the Law is not sin. Paul will go on in this passage to show that the Law is not sinful, but instead has great value for the Christian and the sinner by convicting them of sin.
Paul continues in verse 7 and writes “On the contrary” which means just the opposite is true concerning the Law. God is holy, and His Law is holy. To say that it is anything but holy is blasphemy. The Law being perfect having come from a perfect and holy God reveals man’s sin and imperfection. Paul writes that he would not have come to know sin except that it was revealed to him through the Law. What Paul means is that God through the Law has given us His divine standard of righteousness, because we have the standard, we can more accurately identify sin, which is a failure to meet God’s perfect standard. Paul in this letter to the Romans has already stated this fact several times. One example, in Romans 3:20 he wrote, “…for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20b, NASB95)[4] Now understand that Paul is not speaking of man’s general awareness of right and wrong. We know that even pagan Gentiles have the law written on their hearts, we learned this back in chapter 2, verse 15. Paul in this passage is speaking about the knowledge that we receive of the magnitude and the depravity of man’s sin. Paul throughout the rest of this chapter uses the personal pronouns “I” and “me.” Paul uses his personal testimony to teach this universal truth to us. Paul is showing us how the Holy Spirit used the Law to convict his heart before that fateful day on the road to Damascus and during the three day of blindness that followed, sometime during that time he confessed his sin and trusted in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and salvation.
Remember that Paul was a pharisee of pharisees before his salvation, as a pharisee he sought to keep the Law to the letter and considered himself zealous for God. Paul before his conversion believed that he would be accepted by God, he trusted in his own self-righteousness to make himself acceptable to God. In Paul’s day rabbinical tradition had made the keeping of the Law very external making obedience to it much more attainable. They did not take into account faith in God nor the inner condition of their hearts. Even Jesus spoke of this during His life, He said concerning the religious leaders of His day, “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’” (Matthew 15:7–9, NASB95)[5] To the self-righteous person who lived up to the outward, observable demands of the rabbinical interpretations of the law, the precepts of men, they believed this made them acceptable to God. But Jesus says that their hearts are far away from Him and their worship is in vain. Paul before his salvation came to realize that the most important demands of God’s Law were not external but internal and he had not fulfilled these internal demands. To illustrate this truth that he was convicted by the Law he chose the most internal command of the Ten Commandments to show from his personal experience that the Law reveals sin. He writes, “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.’” (Romans 7:7b, NASB95)[6] Paul quotes from the tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments, and it was this strong desire for what others had that he saw in his own life and made him realize his own sin, it was this truth that finally broke his pride and opened his heart to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. When it comes to sin the real battle is in the mind and the heart and it is only when we are convicted by the Law and realize our sin that the Holy Spirit can by His power transform a sinful heart and make it pure and acceptable to God. The role that God’s Law plays in this transformation is to make a person aware of the magnitude of his sin and his need for forgiveness and redemption that can only come from the God whom he has offended. The Law of God is the only means by which we can accurately judge our sinfulness. It is the standard of righteousness given to us by God and by it we can see how far short of His righteousness we are and how we cannot achieve that standard of righteousness by our own efforts. Paul came to realize this in his own life.
The Law itself is not sinful, but rather Paul says that it is the sin that already resides in our hearts that takes the opportunity through the commandment of the Law to produce coveting of every kind. This command against coveting was the command that convicted Paul of his own sinfulness, it might be another command or commands for someone else. This is why the Old Testament and the Law is so important to the New Testament and to the Gospel, because a person who does not see himself as a lost and helpless sinner will see no need for a Savior.
This word translated “opportunity” literally means “a starting point” and was used to describe the base of operations for war or for an expedition. So, Paul in using this word is saying that sin in our heart uses the commandment (God’s law) as the base of operations to launch its evil work. Think about it, when something is prohibited it makes it all the more enticing to us. If we tell our children not to go near the water, where will they go? Growing up we had a creek that was about a block from our home, my Mom constantly warned us not to go near it, and because of this warning we had an almost irresistible desire to go to the creek and play in it or by it and many times we gave into our desire. The same is true with the Law, when we are aware of it the forbidden thing becomes all the more desirable to us. The Law cannot cleanse sin from our heart, but it can make us aware of our sin.
Paul goes on in the end of verse 8 and says, “…for apart from the Law sin is dead.” (Romans 7:8b, NASB95)[7] Paul is not saying that apart from the Law sin does not exist, because we know that is not true. Paul has already spoke to this fact back in chapter 5 he stated that sin entered the world through Adam, long before the Law was given. What Paul is saying is that apart from the Law sin is dormant or that it is not fully active, it is there but it does not seek to overpower the sinner as it does when the sinners comes to know the Law.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LAW, SIN, AND THE SINNER (Romans 7:9-11)
A relationship exists between the law, sin and the sinner, the law not only makes one aware of sin and arouses sin, but because of sin it ruins and destroys the sinner. Paul says in verse nine that he was once alive apart from the Law, meaning that the Law had not yet made him aware of his sin, he kept the external commandments of the Law, the precepts of men, he considered himself an expert in the law and that he was blameless in regard to the Law, he believed that his life pleased God and that he was accepted by God. But in truth Paul was just serving the oldness of the letter of the Law and there was no internal transformation. His heart was far from God and his worship was in vain. He goes on to say that when the commandment came, when he came to truly know the Law, when he was made aware of his sin, when he realized that he did not meet the standard of righteousness required by the Law, Paul writes that sin became alive and I died. He came to understand his true condition as seen in his sin. He died because all his self-righteous acts of keeping the Law were all spiritual rubbish. Paul realized that spiritually he was dead, that he was one who needed a Savior and a Redeemer because his own efforts would never and could never make him righteous and pure and acceptable before God. He came to realize that he deserved God’s wrath and judgment. What he thought would give him eternal life instead brought him spiritual death.
In the Old Testament when God gave the Law to the nation of Israel it was to provide blessing. A number of times God promised blessings on those who kept the Law. David wrote of this promise of blessing in the first two verses of Psalm 119, he wrote, “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the Lord. How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, Who seek Him with all their heart.” (Psalm 119:1–2, NASB95)[8] This promised blessing cannot be produced in the unbeliever, because he cannot fulfill the Law’s requirements and therefore is condemned by the Law instead of blessed. Paul writes that this commandment, which refers to the Law, which was to result in life, Paul says because I could not keep this righteous standard it resulted in death for me. The Law can only condemn to death those who cannot keep it righteous requirements. If man was able to perfectly keep the perfect standard of righteousness found in the Law then it would bring life, but that is impossible for fallen, sinful man and the result is condemnation that leads to death.
Paul again says that sin used as its starting point the commandment and it deceived me and killed me. How does sin deceive us? By making us think that what we are doing will make us acceptable to God, that we can become righteous by our own doing, our own good works, and if this is true then we have no need for salvation and no need to trust in Christ. All false religion is built on self-trust and self-effort, but self-righteousness is not righteousness it is sin. We are all sinners condemned by the Law as lawbreakers. Paul came to this understanding sometime before his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, he came to understand sin’s deceit in his life and the Law’s impossible demands and he came under the conviction of the Holy Spirit that he was a man condemned to die and could in himself do nothing about it. When he met the Savior on the road to Damascus his heart was prepared to respond to the Savior.
RELATIONSHIP SUMMERIZED (Romans 7:12-13)
Paul now summarizes the truth that he is teaching in this passage. He began by asking if the Law was sin, and answered that question with a resounding, “May it never be!” In his closing statement he gives us the true facts about the Law, He writes that the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. In other words, Paul is saying that because the Law exposes, arouses, and condemns sin and brings death to the sinner this does not make the Law evil or sinful. When someone breaks the law and he is justly convicted of the law which he has broken, there is no fault in the law or with those responsible for upholding the law. The fault is with the one who broke the law.
Paul again anticipates the question that will be asked because of what he has said, and he asks it himself, “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me?” (Romans 7:13a, NASB95)[9] And again Paul answers his own question with a resounding “May it never be!” (Romans 7:13b, NASB95)[10] Understand what Paul is saying, it is not the law but the breaking of the law that merits punishment. The law is good, it is the breaking of the law that is evil or sin. Paul goes on to explain that it was not the law but that it was sin that caused death. He writes, “Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.” (Romans 7:13c, NASB95)[11] The Law exposes and arouses sin, Paul says the Law does this to reveal that it is sin that caused death, death through that which is good. The deadly character of sin is revealed under the pure light of God’s holy Law. Paul goes on to say that God’s holy Law was given so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. It is when we see sin for what it really is, when we understand its utterly sinful character, it is at this point that we recognize our need for a Savior and a Redeemer. The Law must be preached with the preaching of the Gospel because until men see their sin for what it truly is, they will not see their need for salvation from it.
John MacArthur writes, “Paul’s point here is that sin is so utterly sinful that it can even pervert and undermine the purpose of God’s holy law. It can twist and distort the law so that instead of bringing life, as God intended, it brings death. It can manipulate the pure law of God to deceive and damn people. Such is the awful wretchedness of sin.”[12] But the pure Law of God through the power of the Holy Spirit can expose the utter sinfulness of sin, can expose sin’s deceitfulness and convict the sinner of sin. Sin can distort and twist the Law, but the Law can expose the sin. The ultimate purpose of the Law is to point men to Jesus Christ, He is the only person to ever live on this earth and fulfill the demands of the Law perfectly, and He did this on behalf of sinners who will put their faith and trust in His perfect righteousness instead of their own self-righteousness.
CONCLUSION:
Paul shares some of his testimony with us to teach us the universal truth of the relationship between the Law, sin and the sinner. Sin deceived Paul and caused him to believe that what he was doing by self-effort to keep the Law was enough to make himself right before God. The Holy Spirit used the truth of the Law to expose Paul’s sin to him, when Paul saw his sin revealed to him in the Law he knew that he was condemned, that he was spiritually dead in his sin and had no hope except in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What about you? Do you believe sin’s lie that you can be acceptable to God by your own means, that you by your good deeds can be declared righteous and have eternal life? Look at the Law and you will find that you can never meet God’s holy standard. You would have to carry out all the demands of the law perfectly for your whole life. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” (James 2:10, NASB95)[13] If you look at the Law it will expose your sin, it will condemn you, it will reveal to you that you are a hopeless and helpless sinner in desperate need of salvation. Salvation can be yours through agreeing with God that you are a sinner and trusting by faith that Jesus Christ died for you, that He became your substitute and suffered God’s wrath against sin in your place, that He died paying the penalty of death required for sin, that He was buried and on the third day rose from the dead. If you believe this your sins will be forgiven, you will be declared righteous by the One and Only true God, you will be transformed into a new creation of God in Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit will begin to conform you to the image of Christ through the Word of God. This can be done in the quietness of your heart, but do not keep this exciting news to yourself, share it with someone, I would love to know, share it with me.
Even after salvation the Law is still important and as Christians, we need continual exposure to God’s Law and the standard of righteousness that it gives us. As we are exposed to God’s standard of righteousness it will continue to expose the sin that is in our lives so that we can confess it and experience the full blessing that belongs to us as God’s children. David in Psalm 19 extols the Law and the benefits for those who heed it. He writes in Psalm 19:7-11, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7–11, NASB95)[14]
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]MacArthur, John F., The MacArthur New Testament Commentary–Romans 1-8. Chicago, IL : Moody Press, 1991.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.