A Right View of the Law
Living theChristian Life is a Bible study series thatexplores Paul’s teaching about Christian growth and sanctification in Romans6:1–8:17.
IntroductoryThoughts
After a lengthydiscussion of the need for and basis of justification by grace through faith inChrist (i.e., salvation or conversion), Paul now explains how this same truthshould transform our mindset and lifestyle as Christians (i.e., sanctificationor Christian growth). The believer’s close identification with Christ’s death,burial, and resurrection places him or her in a new position. He is no longer aslave to sin but serves Jesus Christ instead.
Passage: Romans7:7-8
In English(NKJV)
v.7 What shall we saythen? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have knownsin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless thelaw had said, “You shall not covet.”
v.8 But sin, takingopportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. Forapart from the law sin was dead.
Key Words andInsights
Mounce’sComplete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006) together with an interlinearBible, like The NKJV Greek English Interlinear New Testament (ThomasNelson, 1994) is an excellent way to get accurate definitions for your Biblestudy based upon Greek and Hebrew meanings.
Some words wehave already considered from our study of Rom 6, so you can refer to thoselessons or to Mounce for their definitions. As you study this passage, youshould review the meanings of these words even though they are not listed onthis study guide.
- Certainly not! (μη γενοιτο): this phrase expresses an emphatic denial or rejection and appears three times in Romans (Rom 3:31; 6:2; 7:7). A literal translation would be something like, “May it never be!”
- Through (διά): this word can be translated in a variety of ways based upon context. In this case it means something like “of immediate agency, causation, instrumentality,” as in, “by means of, by.”
- Covetousness (ἐπιθυμία): an “earnest, irregular, or violent desire” or an “impure desire or lust.”
- Take (λαμβάνω): to “take, seize, seize upon.”
- Opportunity (ἀφορμή): “a starting point, means to accomplish an end, occasion, opportunity.”
- Commandment (ἐντολή): “an injunction, commandment, law, order, direction,” etc.
- Produced (κατεργάζομαι): “to work out, effect, produce, bring out as a result.”
Questions for Meditation and Reflection
Why does Paul ask an odd question like whether the “law is sin” (v.7)?
“What shall we say then?” is a rhetorical (or teaching) question.Paul is not actually perplexed, looking for answers. He is raising a questionso that his audience will think about something important.
This question is asking something like, “Is there something wrongwith the law?” or “Is the law bad somehow?” He asks this question because hepointed out in previous verses (Rom 7:5-6) that the law stimulates sinfulpassions and enslaves people. Since this is the case, then is the law a bad thingrather than a good one?
What reason does he use to explain why the law is not sin (v.7)?
The law is a good thing because it reveals to us the reality ofsin. Without God’s law, we would do bad things and not even know it. As aresult, we would do bad things without realizing our need for God’s help. Forinstance, without the 10th Commandment, “You shall not covet,” Paulwould not have recognized coveting as a sin. He would have coveted withoutrealizing he was doing anything wrong.
If the law is not a problem, then what is (v.8)?
The problem is sin itself within us. When we know that something iswrong, we have a strange tendency to want to do it even more than wewanted to do it before when we didn’t realize it was wrong, or we didn’trealize how really wrong it was.
What helpful function does the law serve in our lives (v.8)?
The law reveals to us what is wrong in God’s sight. According to asimilar verse in Gal 3:24, the law is like a tutor who teaches, instructor,professor, guide, or coach who helps us to properly identify sin so that we candiscover our need for Christ.
How does our sinful nature respond to the commands of the law (v.8)?
It produces more numerous, more frequent, and more intense desiresto break the law and commit the sins that the law reveals.
Paul refers to himself frequently in this passage (“I would nothave known,” “produced in me,” etc.). What is he doing when he speaks this way(vv.7-8)?
Paul is describing his own personal experience before he believedon Christ for salvation. He is also using his own experience to represent andidentify with the experience that is common to us all.
Questions for Personal Application
- What attitude should we have towards the law now that we are living under grace?
- How should God’s law continue to benefit us today?
- What wrong tendency does a legalistic lifestyle encourage?
- What do Paul’s frequent references to himself teach us about speaking to other people about their experiences with sin?
