Romans 7:7

Freedom from the domination of the law

Paul is aware that some of the things he has said in urging the Christian’s freedom from the law could sound negative and uncomplimentary to God’s law. Someone might wonder, Is the law perhaps something bad? Paul anticipates such a reaction on the part of his readers and therefore poses the question:

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not!

Perhaps the remark most likely to raise a question would be the apostle’s description of the believer’s former condition. When we were under the law, Paul says, “sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies.”

If sinful passions were aroused by the law, is the law of God perhaps responsible for sin? Paul stoutly denies that, but it still leaves him with the task of explaining the connection between sin and the law. He proceeds to supply that explanation in the next paragraph. His division of material there is as follows: In verses 7 to 13 he recalls the role of the law in his early life; in verses 14 to 25 he speaks of his present life as a Christian.

Paul begins his defense of God’s law with an illustration of the good service it rendered him early in his life. He points to the law’s useful function of alerting people to what God’s will is so they can know and avoid what is evil.

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.”

Paul uses the first person singular throughout this chapter. What he describes is actually true for the life of every person, but seemingly for reasons of tact, Paul restricts his remarks to himself. In that way he is protected against anyone’s feeling accused or confronted by what he says about the law. But even more important, it lends credibility to Paul’s observations. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s been there!

As an illustration of the service the law rendered to him, Paul chooses the example of coveting. The word he uses for “coveting” is a neutral term, meaning simply “desire.” It could be a good desire, as in the case of Jesus’ use of the term on Maundy Thursday evening when he says to his disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).

But the term also allows a wide range of evil desires. It often includes the idea of lust, as well as the more common English meaning of “covet” in the sense of the Ninth and Tenth Commandments, namely, having a strong desire to obtain what belongs to one’s neighbor.

Paul no doubt had learned early in life that stealing was wrong. However, he would not have known the full extent of God’s will. He would not have realized that not only is taking a neighbor’s property wrong, but it’s wrong even to want to take or to entertain thoughts of getting a neighbor’s property.

The law did Paul a service by pointing out to him something that was wrong and harmful, much as the park ranger does us a service when he warns us of a steep drop-off next to the path on which we’re hiking.

Hence the law in itself was something good that served Paul well—until the scoundrel Sin appeared on the scene and misused God’s good law!