The Trouble of Law is Sin
Regarding the Law • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 35:42
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· 7 viewsPaul has been reasoning out why he not only would not have come to know sin except through the Law, but now he also turns to explain how it arouses sinful passions within us, going yet deeper to reveals just how very awful and dominating sin itself is.
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Is the Law sin?
Is the Law sin?
Now let us remember that we have come to the second partition in Romans 7, where Paul is answering a very specific charge which was often levied against him as he proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to both Jew and Gentile, as relayed in this seventh verse of Romans 7, asking “What shall we say, then? Is the Law sin?”
And Paul’s immediate answer is to say that such a statement is a complete and utter denial of reality – “may it never be!”
Instead, Paul proclaims, a very high view of the Law is necessary; that far from the Law being itself sin, that it is an absolutely essential element of the gospel in that it exposes and brings us a personal understanding of sin.
But this is only the first part of the answer, because now we seem to have a contention between this high view of the Law, and how Paul can say in Romans 7:5, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.”
How can something so very high and exalted “arouse sinful passions” within us, in a sense cause us to sin? Doesn’t that mean that it is evil, that the Law itself misses the mark, that the Law itself is incapable of accomplishing what it was meant to do?
And so, Paul answers this question initially in verse 7, saying
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! Rather, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law. For I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.”
He says that the Law is essential, in that by the Law, and by the Law alone, do we understand and know sin. Notice, the Law is not what makes us sin, nor is the Law what causes us to sin. But what the Law does do, is to strip the disguise off of sin, removing its mask so that we can recognize sin for the ugliness it is! And nowhere is that disguise more evident than when our own internal thoughts and attitudes are stripped naked and exposed to the light of God’s holy Law.
But this doesn’t account for why Paul claims that the Law arouses sinful passions in verse 5. He’s only explained its usefulness in terms of knowledge of sin.
So he goes on in verse 8, in which he finishes his reasoning out why he not only would not have come to know sin except through the Law, but to explain how it arouses sinful passions within us, going yet deeper to reveals just how very awful and dominating sin itself is.
But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, worked out in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the Law sin is dead.
You will at once notice the very great distinction which Paul makes between sin on the one hand, and the law on the other. This has been, of course, a recurring theme he’s continually made, most prominently in Romans 5:20 where he had said, in part, “now the Law came in so that the transgression would increase”. Sin, he is saying, existed before the Law and apart from the Law. And, of course, you ought to be realizing that this verse before us today is laying down the principles by which he will show in subsequent verses the mechanics of how the Law causes the transgression to increase.
So, we are still very much in involved in the discussion of doctrine, an exposition of principles which impact our lives and our thinking. It is, however, an intensely personal matter, this isn’t some dry and detached doctrine that can only be understood by only the brightest and most intelligent among us, but rather it is so very fundamental to salvation that each and every one of us can, and must, reflect and realize that just as Paul describes himself here, even so he also describes each and every one of us as well! This must be understood in the most intimate and personal of terms, or else we really don’t understand at all what he’s telling us.
The Problem is Sin
The Problem is Sin
Having now so exalted the Law, saying that it is necessary, he now is demonstrated to us that the real trouble we have is on account of Sin, rather than the Law.
Each and every one of us, Paul declares, has trouble because sin took the opportunity through the commandment to increase our transgression – in the case of coveting, it worked out in each of us coveting of every kind. Our trouble, then, is not with the Law in itself, but with Sin.
Something which is simply passive, something that can only be described as a lacking or a deficiency, cannot “take opportunity” to do anything! We must always remember that, rather than a failing in some way, Sin is powerful. It acts, it does, it controls. It is so very powerful that through Paul the Holy Spirit declared in 5:21 that “sin reigns in death” for all who remain under its rule and authority.
Indeed, is this not what all of chapter 6 was declaring to us? That in order to be free from the tyrannical dominion of sin as the ruling power we had to die to it? And even though we ourselves have died to it through our organic union with Christ Jesus, it even still has power over our mortal bodies and our members which we must restrain?
And what Paul declares here in chapter 7, is that Sin is so very powerful, that it even uses that which is perfect, that which is holy and righteous and good, namely the Law, to its own corrupt ends! This is why we must be released and removed from being under the Law just as a wife is released and removed from being under her husband!
We’re once again not talking about specific and particular individual transgressions which a person does, but Sin as a presiding and ruling power which enslaves and rules over all who are in Adam! Slave-master Sin “takes opportunity” through God’s Law, which “is perfect restoring the soul… sure, making wise the simple… pure, enlightening the eyes… clean, enduring forever… true [and] righteous altogether”, as Psalm 19 declares.
Now this idea of “taking opportunity” here could perhaps be better translated as “to leverage”, as in “But sin, leveraging the commandment, worked out in me coveting of every kind.”
Much like a giant fulcrum, a long beam whose pivot is offset in such a way that enormously large objects may be moved with very little effort, Sin also uses the commandment to produce in us coveting of every kind.
Or, perhaps better, consider a military base established near the front lines in a conflict, from which the armies may then launch their various campaigns into enemy territory to great effect. The armies then take opportunity of that base of operations to accomplish their purposes.
Both of these concepts – the concept of the fulcrum, and the concept of a base of operations – find their basis in the phrase translated here for us as “taking opportunity”. There is a well-supplied basic starting point in the Law, which sin seizes hold of in order to use for its own evil ends, as a starting or launching point.
Now, it’s not that the Law is sinful or evil, any more than a fulcrum or a base of operations is evil. Rather, it is that which controls the fulcrum which directs and commands its power, which determines its effect. Likewise, it is the one who uses the base of operations that determines the campaigns and sorties which may be launched by it.
In the same way, the Law itself is good and beneficial and truly necessary for us to understand what sin is, but yet at the same time, Sin uses it as a launching point to work out in me yet more sin – continuing the example of “knowing about coveting” on account of the Law, it then in me works out “coveting of every kind.”
And in this, we begin to realize the sheer, terrible power of Sin. Far beyond any bomb, any gun, any weapon ever devised by men, Sin is so very powerful that it can, and will, use anything – even that which is holy and pure – to its own twisted ends, and for its own purposes.
And so Sin takes even that simple command “you shall not covet”, through which I can now know and understand just how abhorrent coveting is to God on account of meditating on it, of realizing the rebellious nature against God coveting represents, of realizing its utter cruelness to my neighbor, on account of understanding how coveting destroys my contentment with God’s will for me, and on account of that understanding, sin will even then produce within me “coveting of every kind.”
But even that is not quite the right way of saying it. Sin as the authority does not come to me afresh once I realize the command and start something new. No, it “works out” the mark-missing which already exists within me. Remember our Lord’s explanation in Matthew 15:18-19, in which He states “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
These things don’t come out of Sin personified, but what Paul is saying here in Romans 7 is that sin takes the very small spirit of rebellion inherent within man, and by means of the Law leverages that rebellious spirit to great effect. It’s once again that same idea of exposing and bringing to prominence what is already there by means of getting rid of the fluff that obscures it from view.
But just as Sin is powerful, so also is the Law powerful. It cannot help but to be powerful, for it is the directly revealed will of God; the Law is reflective of God’s supreme holiness, it is reflective of His justice, it is reflective of His righteousness. It is no wonder that we read then in 1 Corinthians 15:56 that “the power of sin is the law”.
And because the Law is reflective of God’s infinite manner holiness rather than the finite and limited mind of man, the Law will of course make mention of things which I would never have thought of on my own. I might never have thought about murder, or about adultery, or about theft on my own, I may have never thought about coveting my neighbor’s wife, or his house, or his fields, and so on. But the holy Law of God with great power comes to me, lays these things before me, and declares that these things are abhorrent to God.
But because of Sin’s presence in my members, my mind then dwells on these things, they are enlarged and emboldened in my mind and in in my heart.
I may be okay, I may be unoffended by a law that merely says “you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal”, but the moment you go so very much further as to say that you shall not covet your neighbor’s life so as to wish to deprive him of it, you shall not lust after your neighbor’s wife so as to wish you could commit adultery with her in your heart, you shall not desire your neighbors possessions so as to be offended that he has the house you desire, the field you desire, and so on rather than you yourself having these things...
“You go too far”, they will say. “Look and desire but don’t touch, to go further isn’t fair”, they will say. And they are offended, and think this an impossible and unreasonable standard.
But once we are introduced to the idea that the thought itself is wrong, Sin will leverage that awareness and try to fill our minds completely with those very thoughts, as if to try and prove that having such thoughts are normal, and the standard unreasonable.
And so, we must be aware, we must realize that if Sin is able to use even the law, in which the holiness of God is seen, Sin will of course be able to use anything lesser than that perfect Law as well – the books and magazines we read, the shows and videos we watch, the songs we sing... all these types of things are likewise able to be used by Sin in such a way.
Why? Paul explains in Titus 1:15 that “To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”
But none of those things – books, movies, social media, and the like – have the ability to curse a person in the way the Law does, which itself declares in Deuteronomy 27:26, “‘Cursed is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.’ ”
And it is in this sense that we ought to have in our minds as we return to Romans 7:8 and we read, “apart from the Law, sin is dead.”
When the Law is present, not meaning just its existence, but more pointedly our knowledge and awareness of its existence, it empowers sin, and sin in turn uses the law to magnify itself in our hearts and in our minds and in our lives. This is very nearly the same things that Paul had written in Romans 5:13, “for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”
But when we are separated from the Law, when we are apart from the Law such that the Law may no long provide such condemnation of us, sin is unable to produce such a tremendous and terrible effect!
It lacks the strength, the power the sting of condemnation – this is why this same apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 of the corruptible putting on the incorruptible, the mortal putting on immortality,
“O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?” Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law;
Oh, brothers! Is it then no wonder that we need to be removed from even the Law if we are to be sanctified? If we are to be fully delivered from the power of sin?
For the power of sin is now demonstrated to be so very great, that it can use even the holy and perfect Law of God as its own base of operations, or fulcrum lever, in order to work out sin of every kind in my life.
It’s not merely that the Law cannot justify me, that much has been clear to us for a while now. But even though the “me that is”, my inner self that is the real me, has been delivered from the reign and rule of sin, my body of sin – sin’s body, my mortal flesh and members that include my body yes, but also my faculties, my likes and dislikes and thoughts and dreams and affections – this all remains under the sway of sin, it is still beholden to sin, which is why Paul commands us in Romans 6:12-13 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting your members to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
I myself may be removed from the power and realm of sin, but this mortal body and these members can still be corrupted by Sin.
And so in order to sanctify me, to deliver the whole of me from the incredible power of sin, I must also be delivered from the Law, not because the Law is evil, but because the Law provides such strength to sin:
But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, worked out in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the Law sin is dead.
In order to be rid of the power of sin over me, I must also then be delivered from the Law; we who are now in Christ Jesus “were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that [we]might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” (v4)
Is there any wonder, then, why I contend that the gospel must, of necessity, reveal what sin is? And why it is we must be delivered from it? It is a terrible power which can even use the holy Law of God to further its own ends, and so simply “making a decision” to follow Christ, or to live a moral life, or to “do the Jesus thing on Sunday”, is completely insufficient to free us from the awful and absolutely corrupting power of Sin.
Consider the thief on the cross in Luke 23, that great demonstration that there is no need for elaborate creeds, nor affirmations of catechisms and doctrines, nor even for water baptism as a requisite for salvation.
And what we truly love about this is that we read the thief saying “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” We often rightly point to this as the thief’s necessary affirmation of Jesus’ being God’s Christ.
But what we just as often skip over in our excitement of seeing salvation by faith alone, as great and as powerful and as necessary as this realization is, is what that same man called out immediately beforehand to the thief on the other side of Jesus in verses 40 and 41, saying to that man “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for what we have done; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
In other words, just as important as this man’s affirmation of Jesus as God and Christ, just as important as his wantonly casting himself at the proverbial feet of Jesus, was his affirmation that he was sinful, his acceptance that he deserved to die, not only deserving to die in general but deserving to die on a tree, dying in a manner which declared to everyone that he was rightly cursed of God and deserving of death.
No, the man’s sinful standing before God had been made plain to him, and he rightly understood that his only hope of salvation lay in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is what the Law accomplishes for us; far from being evil itself, the Law is necessary to strip bare and show us our need for a savior, for no one can be justified by the Law.
But the teaching goes further, that the Law doesn’t simply reveal sin, but because Sin is so very powerful, it can use even the Law as a fulcrum to work even greater sin in us, so we can never be sanctified until our marriage, our subservience to the Law is abolished; we must die to the Law in order to be married to another, to Jesus Christ, before we are able to be sanctified.
No amount of morality, no amount of good behavior, no amount of ethics can overcome the power of Sin to corrupt; only being united to Jesus Christ by faith like that of Abraham, in which we are organically united to Christ Jesus in His death and in His burial which then separates us from the Law by our death through the body of Christ, and united with Him in a resurrection which allows us now to be legally and ethnically joined to Him as a bride betrothed to a husband, can accomplish such a glorious end!
Praise God!Let us pray!