Romans 7:8–12

Freedom from the domination of the law

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!

But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

Paul says, “Apart from law, sin is dead.” Twice previously Paul has expressed a similar thought (4:15; 5:13). His point is not that sin is totally lacking or nonexistent when the law isn’t spelled out. Rather, the activity of sin is different when there is no specific commandment to transgress. We might paraphrase the verse as follows: Apart from law, sin is dormant. Sin is there, but it needs a line in the sand to step over in order to show itself as sin. The law draws that line in the sand, and sin incites the sinner into stepping over it. In a manner of speaking, the law, or commandment, provides the “opportunity.” It did that in Paul’s life, and he has to admit, “Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire.”

If a freshly painted park bench has a WET PAINT sign on it, as surely as night follows day, people will go up and touch the paint to see if it really is wet. The fault lies not with the sign but with the perversity of the passersby. The end result, however, can easily be that the thing that which intended to be helpful and protective now appears to be the problem. The sign on the park bench that was intended to be helpful can appear to be the cause of paint-stained hands and ruined clothes. So it was in Paul’s life. When the commandment stating God’s will became known to him, dormant sin “sprang to life.”

10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

Sin is the villain, not God’s law. Sin serves up all kinds of deceptive rationalizations: it will be enjoyable; everyone is doing it; nobody will be hurt by it; it’s necessary for survival in a dog-eat-dog world; and so on. Sin offers all kinds of deceptive encouragement to step over the line—until the sinner has fallen into the trap. Then it turns on him and confronts him with the death penalty, the just consequences of disobeying God’s will as spelled out in the law. Hence Paul can tell the Corinthians, “The power of sin is the law” (1 Corinthians 15:56), and the law shows its power when it thunders, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Thus the law that was given to be helpful actually ends up bringing death.

Is the law, then, the problem? Not at all! Follow the simple line of thought in verse 11. Stripped of its modifiers, the sentence reads, “Sin . . . deceived me, and . . . put me to death.” Sin is the villain, not the law. “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.”