BIBLE STUDY MANUALS: ROMANS 7:7-13 THE LAW IS HOLY AND MAKES ONE CONSCIOUS OF SINS

ROMANS CHAPTER 7, (cont.)

[Ro 7:7-25]: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LAW AND SIN

[Ro 7:7-13]: THE LAW IS HOLY AND IT'S CHIEF PURPOSE IS TO MAKE ONE CONSCIOUS OF SINS

[Ro 7:7]:

(v. 7) "What shall we say, then? Is the [Mosaic] Law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through law [law, no article = any rules of moral behavior]. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the [Mosaic] Law had not said, 'Do not covet.' [Ex 20:17, Dt 5:21]

"What shall we say then? Is the [Mosaic] Law sin?" = In verse 5....

[Ro 7:5]:

"For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the Law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death."

Paul concludes that the Law produced sinful passions in the individual who is controlled by the sin nature. This Paul said caused him to bear "fruit for death", i.e., commit further sins, which in turn further condemned that individual to death in the Lake of Fire.

"sins" = any actions on the part of man which violate the holiness of God regardless of accountability or any law being in place:

[Ro 3:23]:

"For all have sinned and are constantly falling [ = "usterountai", present tense] short of the glory - the holiness - of God."

Sin is equated here with falling short of the glory of God, His absolute holiness.

On the other hand, verse 6 concludes:

[Ro 4:6]:

"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."

We paraphrase the above: 'But now' that the individual has 'died', (i.e., realized his spiritual death), as a result of the Law's conviction of his sins and instead trusted in Christ as Savior for his salvation, (v. 4), so then the purpose of the Law which bound him up unto condemnation was fulfilled so that that individual is freed from having to perfectly keep the Law in order to be saved and instead can now serve God "in the new way of the Spirit"

Objectors might then accuse Paul of calling the Law sin because it points to man's sins and convicts him unto condemnation, hence verse 7 begins as it does:

[Ro 7:7 cont.]:

["Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through law" = This strongly infers that Paul did indeed commit sins in his life but was not conscious of them until he finally became convicted of what the Mosaic Law was actually saying; one cannot become convicted of something one never did.

God instituted moral codes of behavior to man at various times in history, including the Mosaic Law, for a number of purposes not the least of which was to make individuals aware of what sin is and what it is not:

[Compare Ro 3:20]:

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing law...

[law, no def article = a set of moral code rules to live by]

...rather, through law we become conscious of sin."

[Notice that acts of sin is inferred as already existing and being demonstrated in the individual's behavior and that law made one conscious of those wrongful actions. So one cannot be sinless and therefore saved from conception until one became aware of law nor before law was in effect as some objectors maintain.

Other passages also indicate that all individuals are born sinning:

[Compare Ps 58:3]:

"Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies."

[Eccl 7:20]:

"There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins."

[Ro 3:23]:

"for all [men] have sinned and are constantly falling short of the glory of God"

"constantly falling short of the glory of God" = usterountai, present tense, which signifies that all men are constantly falling short of the glory of God, i.e., all men are constantly sinning = all men are constantly committing sins - from birth, since no exception is indicated here.

It it were the case that no sins are committed before the Law or any law came then all sins committed would be caused by that Law which makes the Law evil and God evil for instituting such an evil thing. Furthermore, if that were the case then one could live a sinless life while one were not under any law. But then this would make our Lord's sacrifice on the cross of no effect. In actuality, before any law even existed there was continual sin on the earth in Noah's day:

[Gen 6:5]:

"The LORD say how great man's wickedness [acts of sin] on the earth had become and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time [sins of the mind]."

As a matter of fact Ro 5:13-14 settles the issue of being saved before one is conscious of law because it indicates that in spite of times when there was no law at all, all men were still guilty before God and physically died and still do. This is a sure sign that they still had a problem before God:

[Ro 5:13-14]:

(v. 13) "For before law [= code of behavior] was given, sin [= acts of sin] was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law [any code of behavior].

[Notice that there was sin in the world before law came]

(v. 14) Nevertheless, death [God's judgment on all men, all of whom are guilty before Him] reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the One to come."

[Ro 7:7 cont.]:

Paul's lack of awareness of the impossible demands of the Mosaic Law or any law's conviction of his sins was in fact deliberate self-deception to the point of searing his conscience from believing that he was accountable at all to God for any sins. How could Paul NOT really be aware of sins in his life after he reached the age of accountability, studied the Law under Gamiliel like no one else, and became a Pharisee of Pharisees? The answer lies in one who convinces himself that he has no sin problem when he actually does:

[Compare Acts 22:3]:

["Then Paul said,] 'I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, [Jerusalem]. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the Law of our father and was just as zealous for God as any of you today."

So Paul was expertly knowledgeable in the details of the Law long before his conversion. But he put his confidence in the flesh to deal with any problem he may have had before a holy God instead of becoming conscious of his own sins before God and coming to Him for mercy. Instead, he actually considered himself "blameless" before God, a self-deception in the extreme:

[Phil 3:4b-6]:

(v. 4b) "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:

[Notice that Paul put his confidence in the false idea of his Hebrew birthright guaranteeing him eternal life in the Kingdom and in the works of the flesh to produce righteousness and arrived at the totally false conclusion that he was thereby blameless before a Holy God]:

(v. 5) circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the Law, a Pharisee;

(v. 6) as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, blameless."

So Paul was at the height of Pharisaical self-deception, and thereby unrealistically claimed that in his view he was blameless before God. But no one is blameless but God alone:

[Mt 19:17]:

"There is only One Who is good [God]"

Paul was the epitome of the self-deceived religious Jew convinced of his own righteousness before God yet totally lost in his transgressions and sins:

[Compare Ro 2:17-24]:

(v. 17) "Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the Law and brag about your relationship to God;

(v. 18) if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the Law;

(v. 19) if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark,

(v. 20) an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and truth -

(v. 21) You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? [The inference is yes]. You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [The inference is again, yes]

(v. 23) You who brag about the Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law? [The inference is yes on all counts previously mentioned]:

(v. 24) As it is written: 'God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

So just as Ro 1:18-23 teaches that all men are made aware of their Creator through the Creation, yet most deny God's existence and worship the Creation instead, searing their consciences to the truth; so the Mosaic Law makes men aware of their acts of sin, yet Paul and the other Pharisaical Jews believed in their own self-righteousness all the while violating the Mosaic moral code - the height of self-deception and a seared conscience.

Consider the fact that Paul actively persecuted Christians even to the point of death, actions not strictly justifiable under the provisions of the Mosaic Law, specifically the command, "Thou shalt not murder". So was Paul in fact blameless? Not at all.

[Compare Acts 26:9-11]:

(v. 9) "I [Paul, (v. 1)] too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

(v. 10) And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them."

(cf: Gal 1:13; Acts 7:58-8:1; 9:1-2; 22:4)

[Ro 7:8]:

(v. 8) "But sin [singular = sin nature within Paul] seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment ['do not covet', (v. 7)], produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law [no article = a moral code of behavior], sin is dead."

"But sin [the sin nature]... afforded by the commandment ['do not covet'] produced in me every kind of covetous desire" = As a result of the prohibition 'do not covet' Paul experienced every kind of covetousness yet he still convinced himself that he was blameless before God, (Phil 3:6). Although the purpose of the Law was to produce in Paul a consciousness of his acts of sin, his sin nature instead took over his conscience, searing it and Paul sinned all the more, while becoming 'convinced' that he had no sin problem with God at all. This is not to say that before this he never sinned - never coveted. For it is clear in this passage that he was a sinner before the true meaning of the Law came into his consciousness. What the words do say is that they simply "produced in [Paul] every kind of covetous desire."

[John A. Witmer states, Bible Knowledge Commentary, Walvoord & Zuck, Editors, Victor Books, USA, 1988, p. 466]:

"Paul went on to explain that the Law made sin known (cf 3:19-20). Then to be specific, he mentioned coveting. The Law's prohibition, 'Do not covet' (Ex 20:17; Dt 5:21), makes people want to covet all the more. Paul knew sin as a principle and specifically, covetousness as an expression of it, and that knowledge came through the Law. Paul described how it worked. The indwelling principle of sin, seeing the opportunity (lit., 'taking a start point' = "aphormen" = a base for military operations or for an expedition) afforded by the commandment (cf. Rom 7:11), 'produced in me every kind of covetous desire.' The Law is not the cause of the act of sin; the principle or nature of sin within an individual is. But the Law's specific commandments [or of any code of moral behavior] stimulate the sin principle into acts that violate the commandments and give those acts the character of transgression (4:15; cf. 3:20; 5:13b, 20a)....

[Ro 7:8 (cont.)]:

"For apart from law sin is dead" = "law" has no article and therefore in this context it must refer to a code of moral behavior. So apart from a code of moral behavior, sin is described as dead.

"sin is dead" = dead, i.e., inactive. Just as the expression "Oh, He's dead to the world" can mean not cognizant to what is going on in the world about you so "dead to sin" can therefore mean not "cognizant of sinning" even though the reality is that you are committing sins. In the context of this passage this phrase can only mean inactive in the mind and not inactive in reality, in history, since Scripture reports otherwise:

[Ro 5:13]:

(v. 13) "For before law was given [law, no article = a moral code of behavior. Before a moral code of behavior was delivered to mankind] sin [= acts of sin] was in the world, but sin is not taken into account when there is no law."

["sin was in the world" = committed acts of sin were in the world. Notice that acts of sin existed in the world even though there was no code of moral behavior given to man to abide by]

[Compare Ps 58:3]:

"Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies."

[Ro 7:8 (cont.)]:

"For apart from law sin is dead" (cont.) = Furthermore it cannot be said that Paul did not sin until law came into effect because the Law was already in effect before Paul was born. This phrase therefore can only refer to one's mental cognizance and honest acceptance of what the Law actually required, pointing to man's consistent shortcoming. On the other hand, relative to the matter of children and the mentally handicapped who are not truly cognizant of law, they are not held accountable for their sins and will by God's grace not remain under condemnation from birth but be saved if they die before they reach accountability:

Ref: children.htm

[Ro 7:9]:

(v. 9) Once I was alive apart from law [any set of rules of behavior]; but when the commandment came [of 'do not covet'], sin sprang to life and I died. [Paul actually became aware and his being dead in his trespasses and sins, i.e., not in favor with God at all]

"Once I was alive apart from law" = At one time Paul is saying he falsely viewed himself as alive, i.e., favored by God and thus destined to make it into the eternal life kingdom of God.

"apart from law" = unaware of or denying to oneself the concept that a moral code of behavior proves out that one is indeed a sinner because one cannot keep that code perfectly in order to make it into the kingdom. This could not be saying that there was no law, even the Mosaic Law, in existence when Paul was physically alive, especially since he was born many years after Moses received the Law from God.

[Harrison, op., cit., p. 80]:

"Paul's statement that he was once alive apart from the law should be taken in a relative sense, for there was actually no time in his life before his conversion when he was unrelated to the law. He was the son of a Pharisee (Acts 23:6) and lived in strictest conformity to the regulations of his sect (Acts 26:5). He seems to mean, then, that here was a time when he was living in a state of blissful indifference to the intensely searching demands that the law made on the inner man. He was careless and self-deceived as to his own righteousness. This state is reflected in Philippians 3:6 where he speaks of his preconversion days when he was 'faultless' with respect to legalistic righteousness."

[Cp Phil 3:4b-6]:

(v. 4b) "If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:

(v. 5) circumcised on the eight day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the Law, a Pharisee;

(v. 6) as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless."

[So was Paul sinless or saved before the law: not hardly]

Just as one can say, 'I was so alive when I was a child, thinking that I could live forever, which is not actually true, but when I became old, I died to that idea, and realizing my mortality, I understood that my life was approaching its inevitable physical end.' In other words, just as one says that when one was a child one was alive to the idea of living forever, although not a reality; but when one is old one comes to the realization of an approaching end to one's life and dies to that idea of immortality;

so in the same way, Paul said, "once I was alive apart from law" meaning that he denied the concept of being a sinner and thus accountable to God for his sins. Although in reality he did commit sins. He considered in his mind that he was alive - spiritually alive. But upon becoming fully aware of the commandments, especially 'Do not covet', he "found the very commandment...brought death, (v. 10)" - "it put [him] to death, (v. 11)" not actually but relative to a mental understanding of his standing before God that he was indeed a sinner, and that he was "dead in [his] trespasses and sins" which he had been committing all along, (Eph 2:1).

[Ro 7:10]:

(v. 10) I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death [conviction that one cannot make it with God via one's own good behavior because "No one is good - except God alone.", (Lk 18:19)]

"the very commandment that was intended to bring life" = the commandment - the whole Law - was a code that told mankind, 'this is what you need to follow perfectly in order to be in favor with God and "bring life" to yourself, i.e., have eternal life in the kingdom.

"the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death" = but that commandment, that moral code actually made mankind aware of his shortcomings, his inability to follow that moral code, thus bringing man to the cognitive conclusion that he was always dead in his trespasses and sins, certainly not alive before God.

[Ro 7:11]:

(v. 11) For sin [the sin nature] seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

"sin seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment deceived me" = the sin nature deceived Paul into believing that he was keeping the commandments when in effect he was not.

"and through the commandments put me to death" = "through the commandments = When Paul finally realized the truth that he was in fact NOT keeping the Law - through what the commandments stipulated for him to do which he was not doing - he was put to death, i.e., the commandments finally made him aware of his spiritual death before God in his trespasses and sins making him liable for eternal death and condemnation in the Lake of Fire.

[Ro 7:12]:

(v. 12) So then, the Law is holy [The Mosaic Law, which Paul specifically focused on of all of the moral codes of behavior] and the commandment of [do not covet] is holy, righteous and good.

[ "So then the Law is Holy" = "Holy" = set aside for a purpose. Holy = The set aside purpose of the Law is to make man conscious that he is a sinner, (Ref. Ro 3:20).

"Holy, righteous and good" = The Law and all commandments therein are set apart as righteous and good = set apart for a purpose that is righteous and good - to convict man of his sins and sin nature so that he will come to rely solely on the mercy of God and thereby be saved through faith alone in Christ alone. This is certainly a righteous goal indeed.

And here in the next verse is further answer to those who would say that Paul was claiming he was actually saved = alive until the Law came. Paul answers the question here: 'Did the Law actually make Paul dead = unsaved, Ans: No, by no means]:

[Ro 7:13]:

(v. 13) Did that which is good [The Law], then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin it [The Law] produced death in me through what was good so that through the commandment [of do not covet] sin might become utterly sinful"

["But in order that sin might be recognized as sin" = This phrase negates the idea that Paul was saved before the Law came and then when the Law came it caused him to die spiritually. Instead Paul indicates here that he was a sinner all along but did not recognize it. Therefore by his own admission, he could not have been saved]

"it [The Law] produced death in me through what was good" = Paul is recognizing that he was dead in his trespasses and sins all along, (cp. Eph 2:1)]. So the phrase "produced death in me" refers to the Law making Paul cognizant of his dead in his trespasses and sins all along.

"so that through the commandment [of do not covet] sin might become utterly sinful" = Paul's cognizance of the Law of Moses, especially of the commandment of 'do not covet', made him realize that he had all the time been utterly sinful]

[Everett F. Harrison states, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Vol 10, Regency Ref. Library, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Mich., p. 78]:

"This matter requires clarification if for no other reason than that Paul has flatly stated that the believer has died to sin (6:2) and to the Law (7:4). Are these, then, so similar as to be in some sense equated? The explanation has been touched on briefly in 7:5...

[Ro 7:5]:

"For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the Law [Mosaic Law] were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death."

...but Paul now expands it. In essence, the solution of the problem is this: the Law cannot be identified with sin, because it is the Law that provides awareness of sin...

[Compare Ro 3:20]:

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing law...

[law, no def article = any set of rules to live by]

rather, through law we become conscious of sin."

[Notice that sin is inferred as already existing in the individual and that law made one conscious of that sin. So one cannot be saved beforehand, as some objectors maintain]

...Can one say of an X-ray machine that revealed his disease that the machine is diseased because it revealed a diseased condition? That would be utterly illogical."

"Once I was alive apart from law" = since "law" = a code of moral behavior, not necessarily the Mosaic Law. This indicates that before one was once truly aware of what the law required, one viewed oneself as alive and well with God, and unaware of acts of sin in one's life - til the Law took hold in one's mentality, then the consciousness of what was required made one aware of being dead in sins. And then they sinned all the more; this time trespassing the very law that 'killed' the individual.

[]