The Law Condemns Sin
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! 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.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. Romans 7:7-13
The law has been characterised by Paul as barring marriage to Christ, arousing sin, causing death and impeding life in the Spirit. No wonder Paul has asked, ‘What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful?’ (7:7). If the law is responsible for sin and death should we have anything more to do with it? But his answer is not what we might expect, ‘Certainly not!’ (7:7). ‘By no means!’ (7:13). The law may have had a disastrous effect but the fault is not in the law itself. The fault, as 7:7b-11 will explain, is sin which uses God’s good law to bring death.
Paul has explained two aspects of the relationship between the law and sin: (1) the law reveals sin and (2) the law provokes sin. We come now to a third.
(3) the law condemns sin
‘Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death’ (7:9,10). In other words, the law condemned him. To explain this further Paul repeats from 7:8 that sin seized ‘the opportunity afforded by the commandment’ and adds that sin first ‘deceived me’ (probably meaning it promised blessings it could not deliver) and then ‘through the commandment put me to death’ (7:11). So in 7:9,10 and 11 Paul has spoken of the commandment in terms of death. This anticipates 7:13 where he will clarify that what caused his death was not the law but sin which exploited the law.
So there are three devastating effects of the law in relation to sin. It exposes, provokes and condemns sin. As Paul wrote elsewhere, ‘the power of sin is the law’ (1 Corinthians 15:56). But the law is not in itself sinful, nor is it responsible for sin. The culprit is sin itself, our sinful nature, which uses the law to cause us to sin and so to die.
This teaching is summarised by the question of 7:7 and the answer of 7:12: ‘Is the law sin?’ (7:7). ‘So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good’ (7:12). The law’s requirements are holy, righteous and good in themselves.
If the law is not in itself sin, a second question needing to be answered is: did the law ‘become death to me?’ (7:13). Is the law responsible for death? Was the law guilty of offering life while in reality it was really only offering death? Again Paul answers emphatically ‘By no means!’ (7:13). The law doesn’t cause sin; it exposes and condemns it. The law doesn’t cause death; sin does. ‘Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognised as sin, it produced death in me through what was good [the law], so that [this was God’s intention] through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful’ (7:13). The extreme sinfulness of sin is seen in the way it exploits a good thing (the law) for an evil purpose (death).
In answer to both questions then, ‘Is the law sinful? (7:7) and ‘Did that which is good, then, become death to me?’ (7:13), Paul has declared that the culprit is not the law (which has good designs) but sin (which misuses the law). 7:8 and 11 both describe sin as ‘seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment’ either to produce sin (7:8) or to inflict death (7:11).
If someone commits a crime today and is found guilty and sentenced to prison, the law is not responsible for their imprisonment. The law did convict and sentence the offender but they are entirely responsible for their own behaviour. In like fashion Paul recognises that the law is not the problem; we are. The law cannot save us because we cannot keep it, and we cannot keep it because of indwelling sin.