“Is the law sin?”

[Romans 7:7-9]

                Look at Romans 7:7-9: “What shall we say, then?  Is the law sin? Certainly not!  Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law.  For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.  For apart from law, sin is dead.  Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.”  “Is the law sin?” (v.7)  The law is not sin.  The law given by God cannot be a sin.  Rather, the law is holy, righteous, and good.  Look at Romans 7:12 – “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”  That’s why Apostle Paul said, “Is the law sin? Certainly not!” (v. 7)  Look at Romans 6:14 – “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”  Look at Romans 7:4 – “So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.”  Look at Romans 7:6 – “But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”  Looking at these three verses, the question arises, “Is the law sin?” (v. 7).  The Apostle Paul said, “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (v. 7).  The law reveals sin.  No sin can be known except by the law.  Look at Romans 3:20 – “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.”  As an example, the Apostle Paul said, “… I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet’” (7:7).  Since the law said covetousness is a sin, we know that covetousness is a sin.  Look at Exodus 20:17 – “You shall not covet your neighbor's house.  You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  The tenth commandment of the Ten Commandments says, “You shall not covet” twice.

                But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in us every kind of covetous desire (Rom.7:8).  Sin is what we commit.  It is a sin that we do not live according to the law.  In the phrase “sin, seizing the opportunity,” sin refers to Satan.  That is, Satan takes the opportunity to work out all kinds of covetousness in us through the commandment.  An example is Adam, the first human being in the book of Genesis.  Genesis 2:7 tells us that the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.  However, Satan saw an opportunity how to make Adam, the first man who became a living being, break the God's commandment and sin.  Here the God's commandment is, “… you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (v. 17).  The satanic serpent is the most cunning of the wild beasts that the Lord God has made (3:1).  The serpent asked the woman, Adam's wife, “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?” (v. 1)  Look at the woman's answer: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die’” (vv.2-3).  Looking at this woman's answer, first, God did not say, ‘You must not touch the tree of knowledge of good and evil,’ and second, God said, ‘you will surely die’ (2:17).  But the woman said, “or you will die” (3:3).  Satan (“the serpent”) said to the woman, “You will not surely die” (v.4), which is the exact opposite of God’s word, ‘You will surely die’ (2:17) and said that in the day you eat, you become like God (3:5).  Eventually, the woman and Adam disobeyed God’s commandment, “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (2:17).  Look at Genesis 3:6 – “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”  Satan looked for an opportunity and twisted God's commandment, eventually causing Adam to sin and put him to death.

                Sin has produced in us every kind of covetous desire (Rom.7:8).  Satan tempts us to make us want all kinds of covetous desire out of covetousness.  An example is the covetousness for material things.  The more material we have, the more powerful we are, and the more we are dissatisfied, the more we want power (higher authority) and the desire for honor arises.  This covetousness for material continues to spread to all kinds of covetous desire.  Here, the word “produced” (v. 8) means fulfillment of greed.  We try to get more drunk in dissatisfaction.  We cannot be satisfied.  Whether it be material, fame, or popularity, it cannot give us satisfaction.  Then, even after enjoying it more and more, we are not satisfied and even commit suicide.  We cannot be satisfied with the things of this world.  We must be content only with Jesus.  We should be grateful and content for the blessings God has given us by grace.  We should be grateful and content for the eternal life God has given us as a gift (6:23).  We must also be thankful and satisfied for the faith and all spiritual blessings (Eph.1:3; 2:8).

                For apart from the law, sin is dead (7:8).  Satan caused Adam to fall into sin through a commandment (God's commandment).  Without the law, sin has no power as if it were dead.  But if there is the law, sin comes to life and tempts us and leads us to sin.  Once we were alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and we died (v. 9).  If we do not understand the law, it means ‘I have lived’.  For example, the fourth of the Ten Commandments is “Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy” (Exod. 20:8).  We broke the Sabbath when we did not understand this law.  We must know the commandments of God.  If we don't know, we're sinning.  Because we are weak, we often sin even knowingly.  But there are many more sins we are unaware of.  So we need to know a lot of God's word.  And we must be armed with the word of God.  At the same time, we must know the word of God rightly.  The reason is because Satan tempts us by adding or subtracting from God's word.  This is because Satan tempts us by distorting the word of God.  If it's dark, we don't know.  Only when the light shines can we know the darkness.  We must try our best not to sin because we do not know.  We must live holy lives.  We must resist Satan's temptations with the word of God.  When Satan tempts us by distorting the word of God, we must overcome it with His word.

                I am reminded of the hymn “Sing Them Over Again to Me”: “Sing them over again to me, Wonderful words of life; Let me more of their beauty see, Wonderful words of life; Words of life and beauty, Teach me faith and duty; ….”  It also reminds me the hymn “More About Jesus Would I Know”: “More about Jesus let me learn, More of His holy will discern; Spirit of God, my teacher be; Showing the things of Christ to me,” “More about Jesus in His word, Holding communion with my Lord, Hearing His voice in ev-'ry line, Making each faithful saying mine.  More, more about Jesus (2x); More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me.”