Romans 7:7-8

Passage

What, then, will we say?  Is the Law sin?  Let it not be so!  But I did not know sin except through the Law.  For I had not even known covetousness except through the Law saying, “Do not covet.”  But after seizing the opportunity through the Law, sin accomplished in me every kind of covetousness.  For apart from the Law sin is dead.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage, Paul begins to speak to us about how the Law and sin interact.  First, Paul reminds us that sin is not able to be conceived until it is defined.  Until God told us what was wrong, we could not know it was wrong.  For the record, this doesn’t mean it isn’t wrong, it just means we aren’t able to be held accountable because we can’t understand it.  Take, if you will, the first sin.  God didn’t want Adam and Eve eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Had they eaten of this tree prior to God’s directive, Adam and Eve wouldn’t have been guilty of their sin because they couldn’t conceive of it as sin.  But once God said, “Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” now sin is defined.  Now they know.  Therefore, the mere telling of the Law gives definition to sin.

How is it that laws help to define wrong behavior?  How is this true in the home with parents and children, too?

Second Thought:

The second thing that the Law does is that it proves us guilty.  The Law – once sin is defined – demonstrates just how far we fall short.  We can’t live up to the Law.  We can’t accomplish the Law.  We are fallen and sinful.  There is no way around it.  The Law demonstrates to us just how much we live in the realm of sin – just how much sin is a natural part of who we are as human beings.

What part of your life is affected by your sinful nature the most?  Where is God actively giving you power to overcome your sinful nature that is inherent within you?

Third Thought:

Paul then begins to hint at how sin turns around and uses the Law.  One of my favorite examples of this principle is this one.  I learned it in seminary:

I do not want you to think of pink elephants.  Don’t think of their pink trunks, their pink ears, their pink tusks, their pink legs, and their pink feet. 

Of course, what are you picturing in your mind right now?  A pink elephant, of course, even though I told you not to do it!  Sin uses the Law the same way.  God says, “Don’t do this behavior.”  So we turn around and say, “What’s so wrong with that?  I bet it would be fun.”  And then before long we can’t help but think more and more about it.  Then we can’t help but practice it more and more.  That is precisely how sin uses the Law.

Why is something more attractive when we are told to not do it?  How does this fact point to the fact that we are inherently sinful human beings?

Passage for Tomorrow: Romans 7:9-12