Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 97)

Grace Thoughts

Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 97)

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. Romans 7:7-8

We are currently studying Romans Chapter 7. In Chapter 6 we learned that Christians are dead to sin and alive to God. We used to be slaves to sin, but are now slaves (servants) to God.

In the last part of our series we looked at Roman 7:5-6 where we continued to see what it means to be freed from the Law.

We move now to Romans 7:7-8 where we learn about sin’s advantage.

Verse 7

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.’

τι ουν ερουμεν ο νομος αμαρτια μη γενοιτο αλλα την αμαρτιαν ουκ εγνων ει μη δια νομου την τε γαρ επιθυμιαν ουκ ηδειν ει μη ο νομος ελεγεν ουκ επιθυμησεις

τι ουν ερουμεν (ti oun eroumen) “what then shall we say” .. Paul uses this literary technique to introduce a new division in the topic .. keep in mind that Paul’s audience includes Jews and Gentiles, however he said clearly just a few verses earlier that he was speaking “to those tho know the law” (Romans 7:1) .. Paul is addressing his Jewish audience at this point in the letter .. Paul has already claimed that believers in Christ are not under the Law .. the apostle now takes it to the next level by asking a question that some in his audience may have been asking at this point in reading the letter .. we might imagine how a Jew would have viewed what Paul had been claiming about the law and sin ..

ο νομος αμαρτια (ho nomos hamartia) “is the law sin” .. could it be the the Law of God is in itself sin or sinful? Was that what Paul was claiming? Jews would not have taken kindly to that, so Paul was quick to put that concern to rest ..

μη γενοιτο (mē genoito) “never may it be” .. the literal is “may it not become” .. Paul was saying “away with that thought!” Today, we might say something like “certainly not!” or “no way!” The Law being or becoming sin is not the point at all .. so, then, what is the point? Paul makes his point in an interesting way. He uses a personal experience from his spiritual life to answer the question about whether the Law could be sin.

αλλα την αμαρτιαν ουκ εγνων ει μη δια νομου (alla tēn hamartian ouk egnōn ei mē dia nomo) “but sin not have I known if not by law” .. Paul said he knew what sin was because of the Law of God ..

Paul wrote this in an earlier letter to Christians in the region of Galatia that helps us understand what Paul was telling the Romans: “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The Greek word for “tutor” is paidagōgos and means “trainer, tutor, schoolmaster, legally appointed overseers for training.” The Law, Paul wrote, is a tutor “to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The next verse is insightful – “But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (Galatians 3:25). The words are consistent with what Paul later wrote the Romans.

Paul said he would not have known sin “if not by law.” The Law of God acted as a tutor, a trainer, to show Paul that he had sinned against God. What was the specific sin that opened Paul’s eyes to his sinfulness?

την τε γαρ επιθυμιαν ουκ ηδειν (tēn te gar epithumian our ēdein) “then for covetousness not I had been conscious of” .. the Holy Spirit convicted Paul of the sin of covetousness .. that’s how the Law tutored Paul about his spiritual need .. until that time Paul had seen himself as a model Jewish leader .. as most Pharisees of his day, Paul would have looked down on common sinners .. reminds me of what Jesus taught His disciples about the truth of sinfulness in the parable of the Pharisee and tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) .. Pharisees had a very high view of their personal righteousness based on their keeping every aspect of the Law (though they couldn’t and didn’t which Jesus made clear in the Gospel accounts) ..

ει μη ο νομος ελεγεν ουκ επιθυμησεις (ei mē ho nomos elegen ouk epithumēseis) “if not the law had said not you shall covet” .. the words of the Law are what the Spirit of God used to tutor Paul .. because the Law said “you shall not covet,” Paul realized he had sinned against God .. the word for covet is epithumia and means “strong desire, passion, longing, lust” .. what did Paul covet? We don’t know for sure, but my guess it had something to do with his desire to climb the ranks of Pharisaism .. the reason I think that is because of something the apostle wrote to the Philippians ..

If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:4-11

You can see in Paul’s words that he had once viewed his Jewish pedigree, training and service as a Pharisee, and his zeal in persecuting the Church as reasons to believe he was blameless and righteous. I think this is some of what Paul thought about during the three days after he was blinded and talked with Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul came to realize he was not blameless nor righteous. He saw clearly that covetousness had spiritually blinded him to the truth of the Gospel he was trying to destroy. As he continued to reflect in the months and years to come, that realization probably grew.

Verse 8

But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.

αφορμην δε λαβουσα η αμαρτια δια της εντολης κατειργασατο εν εμοι πασαν επιθυμιαν χωρις γαρ νομου αμαρτια νεκρα

αφορμην δε λαβουσα η αμαρτια δια της εντολης (aphormēn de labousa hē hamartia dia tēs entolēs) “an occasion however having taken sin by the commandment” .. aphormēn means “starting point, launching point, opportunity” .. Paul is the only New Testament writer to use the word (Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 2 Timothy) .. Vincent wrote that the word carries the idea of a starting point for a base of operations .. “Emphatic, expressing the relation of the law to sin. The law is not sin, but sin found occasion in the law.” (Vincent, Word Studies, 1887) .. “a starting place from which to rush into acts of sin, excuses for doing what they want to do” (Robertson, Word Pictures, 1931) .. “Sin is unable to act upon man without the co-operation of law, without being able to hold up law before him, and so show itself in its true colours.” (Ellicott, Commentary on Romans, 1905)

κατειργασατο εν εμοι πασαν επιθυμιαν (kateirgasato en emoi pasan epithumian) “it produced in me all covetousness” .. kateirgasato means “to work out, work down to the end point, achieve, accomplish” .. Paul used the same word from the previous verse for “covet” – epithumian – “strong desire, inordinate desire, lust, passion, longing” ..

Paul wrote that once sin took opportunity by the “commandment” (entolēs), it “produced” (worked out) in him “all” (pasan – every kind of, every part of) “manner of evil desire” .. context determines whether epithumian is positive or negative and it’s clear from the context here that Paul used the word in a negative way .. Paul realized that his desires were evil because of what the law produced in him .. “Denny says, ‘He, Paul, says that the consciousness of sin awoke in him in the shape of a conflict with a prohibitive law” (Wuest, Word Studies, 1955) .. Paul is not claiming to have been sinless at an earlier time of his life, but to have been unaware of his sinfulness until the commandment of the Law produced in him every kind of evil desire .. the Law was his spiritual wake-up call .. when we read about Saul of Tarsus in Acts 7 with the outer clothing of witnesses lying at his feet as those witnesses murdered Stephen, Paul had not yet awakened from his spiritual stupor .. it was the blindness from Heaven and the Voice of the Heavenly Man that led Paul to waken to his sin and realize his need for salvation ..

χωρις γαρ νομου αμαρτια νεκρα (chōris gar nomou hamartia nekra) “apart from law sin is dead” .. chōris means “separate from, apart from, without” .. nekra means “corpse, without life, lifeless, inactive, powerless, ineffective” .. Paul’s claim is that sin is dead “apart from law” .. the apostle is making a strong claim to the legal understanding of his Jewish audience .. even as sin is dead apart from the Law, sin is active and powerful with the Law .. the Mosaic Law activated the Jewish understanding of sin and acts as a tutor to lead Jew and Gentile to Christ because only Christ can destroy sin and death .. here’s an interesting way of looking at this teaching ..

“Without the incitement produced by the law, the evil nature was relatively dormant. A fulcrum is an instrument in the form of a pole or long stick, which when applied beneath an object, will pry that object loose from its position. Just so, the sinful nature uses the law as a fulcrum by which to pry itself from its relative inactivity into activity.” (Wuest, Word Studies, 1955)

Other Commentaries

For without the law sin was dead — Neither so apparent nor so active; nor was I under the least apprehension of any danger from it. Sin, which he still represents as a person, would have had no being, or at least no strength to kill men, had not the law, revealed or natural, existed; for the essence of sin consists in its being a violation of law. Though the apostle speaks this primarily and directly of the law of Moses, it is equally true of the law of nature, and may be applied to the state of mankind before the law of Moses was given. For unless there had been a law written in men’s hearts, sin would have been dead, or have had neither existence nor power to kill. Benson Commentary,

Paul was once a Pharisee, ignorant of the spirituality of the law, having some correctness of character, without knowing his inward depravity. When the commandment came to his conscience by the convictions of the Holy Spirit, and he saw what it demanded, he found his sinful mind rise against it. He felt at the same time the evil of sin, his own sinful state, that he was unable to fulfill the law, and was like a criminal when condemned. But though the evil principle in the human heart produces sinful motions, and the more by taking occasion of the commandment; yet the law is holy, and the commandment holy, just, and good. It is not favourable to sin, which it pursues into the heart, and discovers and reproves in the inward motions thereof. Nothing is so good but a corrupt and vicious nature will pervert it. The same heat that softens wax, hardens clay. Food or medicine when taken wrong, may cause death, though its nature is to nourish or to heal. The law may cause death through man’s depravity, but sin is the poison that brings death. Not the law, but sin discovered by the law, was made death to the apostle. The ruinous nature of sin, and the sinfulness of the human heart, are here clearly shown. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

It is supposed by most commentators that the expression κατειργάσατο in this verse means, not only that “the commandment” brought out lust as sin, but further that it provoked it, according to the alleged tendency of human nature to long all the more for what is forbidden. Pulpit Commentary

this is particularly true in regard to a sinner. He is calm often, and apparently tranquil. But let the Law of God be brought home to his conscience, and he becomes maddened and enraged. He spurns its authority, yet his conscience tells him it is right; he attempts to throw it off, yet trembles at its power; and to show his independence, or his purpose to sin, he plunges into iniquity, and becomes a more dreadful and obstinate sinner. It becomes a struggle for victory; in the controversy with God he re solves not to be overcome. It accordingly happens that many a man is more profane, blasphemous, and desperate when under conviction for sin than at other times. In revivals of religion it often happens that people evince violence, and rage, and cursing, which they do not in a state of spiritual death in the church; and it is often a very certain indication that a man is under conviction for sin when he becomes particularly violent, and abusive, and outrageous in his opposition to God. Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

The law reveals the divine standard, and as believers compare themselves against that standard, they can accurately identify sin, which is the failure to meet the standards … Sin uses the specific requirements of the law as a base of operation from which to launch its evil work. Confronted by God’s law, the sinner’s rebellious nature finds the forbidden thing more attractive, not because it is inherently attractive, but because it furnishes an opportunity to assert one’s self-will. John MacArthur, Notes to The MacArthur Study Bible, Second Edition, Thomas Nelson, 2019

Romans Resources

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1 Verses 1-15

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1 Verses 16-17

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1:18 – 25

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 1:25-32

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 2:1-29

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 3

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God”Chapter 4

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 5

Commentary on Romans “The Gospel of God” Chapter 6

Next Time

We will look at Romans 7:9-10 in the next part of our study of the Gospel of God.

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Romans – The Gospel of God (Part 97)