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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”
“Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.”
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.”
Romans 7:7-14
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Before Jesus came from heaven to earth to usher in a new covenant relationship between God and His people, there was the law, the commandments God gave to His people so that they might turn from sin and toward the righteousness He desired. These commands formed the accountability structure between God and His people but one thing became obviously clear: no one could perfectly comply with the law.
This flaw in the human condition came from a spiritual infection that ranged back to Eden’s Garden and the disobedient behavior of the first couple, Adam and Eve. Their sin first spread to their own children and then onto every other person up to present times. And no matter how many expectations God placed on His people, Satan was always there, working to lead those people in the other direction, to a place far from where God wanted them to be. The deceiving work of the serpent in Eden has been repeated over and over again through different mediums over time with the same primary goal: to lead all mankind into a life of iniquity, one where their desires trump the will of the Lord. And no matter how righteous a person tried to be in accordance with the law, they were continually stymied and shown how much they needed intervention from God to bring any hope of reconciliation and salvation.
Given that many of the people Paul wrote to were Jews, he spent dedicated time talking about the law and contrasting it with the saving work of God through His Son Jesus. We find one such exposition in today’s passage as we continue to look at the seventh chapter of Romans. Look again at what Paul has to say here:
“What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”
“Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.”
“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.” Romans 7:7-14
Because of the truth that all sinned and fell short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), many Jews started to view the law of God as being sinful in and of itself. This error in thinking needed to be corrected quickly and Paul wasted no time in letter his readers know that the law didn’t cause sin but rather exposed and revealed it within the heart and mind of the transgressor. Without the law, sin was dead but by informing people about sinful behavior, the law actually breathed it back to life.
As an illustration, Paul conveys that the Lord didn’t want His people to covet and so He ordered them not to do it. The apostle even confesses that he didn’t know what coveting was until the law informed him about it. And when he learned about what it meant to be covetous, Satan came on the scene and seized the opportunity to tempt him into “every kind of coveting” for this is the essence of sin. It leads one to live in ways counter to what God expects.
In the end translation, the law was holy and righteous and good and mankind, Paul included, was the polar opposite. While the law was spiritual, all people under the auspice of the law were unspiritual, sinful, and wicked by nature, all slaved to sin. Again, the law served to expose the sinfulness in a person and their need for rescue from death and God’s judgment.
That deliverance would come through Jesus but before a person would opt to believe in Him, they needed to know they were hopeless without Him and that knowledge came through the law of God, the holy blessed commands of our Lord.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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