5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law awere at work in our members bto bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve ain the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.
Sin’s Advantage in the Law
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, aI would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, b“You shall not covet.”
8 But asin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all mannerofevil desire. For bapart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, awhich was to bring life, I found to bring death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.
12 Therefore athe law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Law Cannot Save from Sin
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, asold under sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. aFor what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that itis good.
Regarding God, law awakens a consciousness of sin, exposing the contrast between what one ought to do and what one actually does. Unlike secular law, whose transgressions are called crimes, God's law relates directly to the divine and reveals duties to Him. The law is holy, just, and good, defining sin as attitudes and behaviors contrary to God's will and way of life. It provides a standard; sin, not the law, produces death, for "the wages of sin is death." Paul, though learned in Old Covenant law, did not consider consenting to Stephen's death sinful. After conversion, understanding the law's spirit, he saw sin throughout his conduct and recognized he owed God a debt payable only with his life.
Romans 7:7
Law shows us our duties. In reference to God, it awakens us to a consciousness of sin. Through law, we become aware of the contrast between what we ought to do and what we actually do. Our civil legislators enact laws, and thus they tell us what is ethical, right, and good in a particular, secular area of life.
Instead of calling a transgression of the state's laws "sin," we call it "crime." Many crimes are also sin. The difference between secular law and God's law is that God's law relates directly to the divine. It reveals our duties to Him.
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Regarding God, law awakens a consciousness of sin, exposing the contrast between what one ought to do and what one actually does. Unlike secular law, whose transgressions are called crimes, God's law relates directly to the divine and reveals duties to Him. The law is holy, just, and good, defining sin as attitudes and behaviors contrary to God's will and way of life. It provides a standard; sin, not the law, produces death, for "the wages of sin is death." Paul, though learned in Old Covenant law, did not consider consenting to Stephen's death sinful. After conversion, understanding the law's spirit, he saw sin throughout his conduct and recognized he owed God a debt payable only with his life.