Is the Law Sin? Romans 7:7-12
Romans 7:7-12
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures! Today in Romans we take a quick detour from the main topic of sin, and address the law.
It could be taken from the previous verses (and chapters), that since the law and sin are so entwined we might start to think of the law as evil – or as sin itself. At this point we should take a quick step back and ask the question – who did the law come from?
God. It is God’s law.
So straight away we have a problem if the law is evil. In fact, the law could even be seen as a partial reflection of God. It The goal for us is to live righteous lives – and the law is one way of guiding us towards that.
So firstly, and as Paul concludes, the law is not evil – it is holy, just as God is holy.
The problem comes again with us and sin! Everyone is born into sin – everyone is capable of sin and everyone (except Jesus) has sinned against God at some point – and if you are like most people, pretty much every day. But in some ways, we only sin in the ways we know how – ie, we can only do wrong what we know to do wrong. So it is only by then having things written down as the law do we sometimes learn of these things – and then the sinful desires within us might want us to try it. Had we not seen the law that said ‘don’t’ – we might not have known to try. But the law that is good and holy, has been twisted by our sinful desire into something that we want to do!
The law in the end then is just a tool. It is a tool of God to show us the way we should live, but the thing inside of us that wants to sin twists and turns it in ways not meant to be.
Let’s take a look at Exodus 20:17 -
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
You might have all that you want or need. You may be totally content with your life. But – then you read ‘do not covet’ these things – and that sinful thing inside of you starts with ‘why would I want to covet’ and ‘maybe what they have is better’ – and before you know it, you are coveting other things! I am sure we all could give plenty more examples, but you see what I mean!
All this proves is that we are indeed sinners – in need of a Savior. Not only are we dead in our own sins, but we then take what is good and holy – the law of God – and turn it into an excuse for more sin.
Lord God, thank you for providing a way out of the bondage of sin. Thank you for you Son Jesus who has freed us from this – and allowed us back into right relationship with you. Help us to not only understand that, but to now live lives that honor you. In Jesus Name. Amen.


Recent Conversations