Is the Law sin?

Romans 7:1-13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? ² For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

⁴ Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

⁷ What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, 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.” ⁸ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; ¹¹ for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death… 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.”    Paul makes the case that the law is responsible for the awareness of sin. He says sinful passions are aroused by the law; that the knowledge of sin is only because of the law. It is not the law, God’s commandments for righteousness which cause sin however. Sin, unrighteousness, disobedience is part of the inherited human nature in man since the original sin, when through Adam and Eve’s disobedience sin entered and impacted the world. Even without the law we have the witness or the testimony of our heart and our conscience to help us to do what is right. We know the difference between right and wrong. The problem is as Jeremiah 17:9 says:   “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?         Our heart, our conscience cannot be trusted to control our actions. Surely every person knows within their heart that murder is wrong, yet some still murder. The same is true of other acts of violence, rape, abuse and of things such as stealing etc. If the heart of man cannot be trusted to control the actions of man in these areas, how can it be trusted to guide us in doing what is right in areas of morality and integrity?

With human laws, we have a choice how we will respond to them, if the speed limit is 45, we can choose to remain within the legal limit, we can choose to set our own cushion, believing that as long as we stay under 50 it’s okay, or we can disregard the law completely, choosing to make our own laws, doing what we see fit, without limit.  Chances are that the one who completely disregards the law, will eventually be subject to the consequences of violating the law. The one who goes just beyond the limit, may seemingly be able to continue unaffected, but when they are found guilty, in violation of the law, they too are subject to the full penalty of the law. We tend to treat God’s laws concerning righteousness in much the same way. Often we set a cushion of our own making, we extend grace to ourselves to go just a little bit beyond God’s guidelines. We recognize that those who act without limits, recklessly endangering themselves and others, are violating the law and will and should be punished. Yet we allow our deceitful hearts to cause us, to ourselves, live outside of God’s limits. Again, as Paul says:     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.”    The law, God’s commandments do not cause sin, they cause us to be aware of and make a choice regarding sin. Will we obey? Will we create our own law, extending additional grace where we see fit? Or will we completely disregard the law, living however we choose?  The previously quoted verse from Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17:9 continues in verse 10, saying:     “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?  “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”

The law; God’s commandments regarding righteousness are not the problem. If we eliminate either God, the law or both the deceitful heart of man will still cause evil to be prevalent in our society and culture. Neither can we eliminate God and create more of man’s laws to rightly control our actions. There are human laws against murder, rape and theft, yet all these are present and prevalent in our society. More laws have not been able to better control the actions of man. Human laws do not change the heart of man, they simply give men a choice of whether or not to obey. It is true that God’s law also was/is not able to change the hearts of men. So He made another way. The text says:       Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.  For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.  But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

God is a righteous and just God. He says:  “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.”    Yet He is also a God of love and grace. He extends grace not by redefining righteousness, not by creating a cushion of acceptable sinful behavior, but rather He extends grace through love.   God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)  God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16) By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9) What man could not do, with or without God’s law; with or without human laws, God did for us through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Savior and Redeemer.

God’s word did not and will not change. He has not relaxed His commandments concerning righteousness. What He said is still true: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” We do have a choice of which ways or deeds we will be judged. We can be judged by our own ways and deeds, according to what we have done following our own heart or the laws of man; or we can be judged by the ways and the deeds of Christ, who died in our place. Salvation, the grace of God, is a free gift, but it is packaged only in the cross of Christ, not through any other way of our making.

Thank You heavenly Father for Your law, for Your Word and Your commandments concerning righteousness. Thank You that while those were unable to change my heart, they did indeed make me aware of my sin, through the conviction of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You Jesus, my Savior, my Redeemer, my Lord; what I could not do, You did for me. Thank You, that I  have been released from the Law, having died to that by which I was bound, so that I serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.   Amen