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Romans 7: 7-12

7. What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Thou shall not covet”

In our upbringing, we could distinguish right from wrong using our natural human understanding—discerning what is good and what constitutes sin. However, the spiritual depth, power, strength, and force of sin remained unknown to us, we have no knowledge of the spiritual nature and intensity of sin.

Our attention is naturally focused on the outward sin, it gravitates towards regulating and controlling outward behaviour, with human-established rules and laws governing these actions. Yet, there exists no human law addressing our wrongful desires and illicit motives. While there are laws against murder, prohibiting the act of killing, there is no human law specifically targeting hatred, malicious or hostile intent. But God sees and judges differently and his judgement is right. we studied this in Romans 3; God sees the relentless evil within, inside us. He knows all our evil intents, evil desires and he calls it as it truly is - evil.

Now, the law comes and serves as the revealer; it opens our own eyes to perceive our sin in its true form. The real meaning of the word covet or desire, “thou shall not covet” , same thing as don’t desire wrong things, mean, to forbid your heart from desiring or reaching out to anything apart from loving God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and your neighbour as your self.

Any desire in a man or creature other than the Glory of God - the praise and honor of God is sin! “Imagine Angel Gabriel in God’s presence entertaining desire for something for himself : It would be the beginning of another Lucifer!”Anyone who seeks righteousness and holiness by the law must hear the law and understand this, “ thou shall not have evil desire” William Newell.

The full extent of sin is revealed by the law, the law serves as a huge mirror showing us not only our outward sin - Romans 1, but also, our abhorrent inward corruption - total depravity - Romans 2, which is IMPOSSIBLY for anyone to conquer.

however, a mirror holds no value for a blind man who is unable to see, a natural man, a sinner , an unregenerate man remains oblivious, careless, indifferent to his sin, his indwelling corruption. He is unaware of the weight, burden, guilt, and condemnation of his sin, he stands in contrast to the Christian in our study, Pilgrim's Progress, who carried the heavy load of sin, guilt, and the fear of impending judgment.

but once the Holy Spirit opens our eyes of understanding as written and explained in Ephesians 1:18, and we see our sin through the mirror - the law, the spiritual nature of it and we abhor ourselves, our sinfulness. We were all born blind, it was our natural inheritance from Adam. 2 Cor. 4:4 but through divine election, God chose us, Romans 8:29, made us alive by His Spirit and through the law, our eyes are opened, so we can seek the help we desperately need.

Is the law evil, no! Certainly not. The Holy Spirit quickens us and through the law, our eyes are opened to see the evil outside and inside us. “Loose vagrant (homeless & beggarly) thought of sin and inclination to it, such innumerable swarms of lusts in our hearts, gross sinfulness, which we never saw and didn’t know was in existent. just as in a sunbeam we behold those numerous little bits of dust, which otherwise are indiscernible by us.” John Gill commentary.

Without the law, we have no real knowledge of the “fiery serpent” - sin, living inside us, no knowledge of it’s spiritual nature; sin was at home in us, fully rested; we were dead in trespasses and sin, but didn’t know it. Ephesians 2:1

Remember, we said earlier in chapter six that the law offers no help, but demands absolute obedience in thoughts (desires), words and deeds. this is important for anyone who wants to hold on to the law. Thank God we died to Mr. law and are now married to Him who was raised from the dead - Christ. Romans 7:5

Yet, we see that the law is not evil, a mirror is not evil, the law, just like a mirror has no fault. It reveals the true nature of sin in us,

8. But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.

Sin like a fiery serpent living inside us has no plan or intention of revealing itself, it has no means of making itself known till the law showed up and exposed it. Also, Sin like a coiled - folded snake had no power to inflict and condemn me unto death till the law entered my conscience. Through the law, I saw the pristine nature of the commandments and my utter helplessness in meeting its requirements.

For instance, "thou shall not covet" doesn't eliminate covetousness; rather, it directs my attention to it. I become conscious of this struggle, attempting to fulfil the command with human willpower, only to be repeatedly defeated by indwelling sin—evil desire. Sin, by concealing itself, caused me to become the ultimate sinner, as I was unaware of my own sin, my transgressions and wholeheartedly embraced it, just like Paul who believed himself to be righteous. He, in fact, became the greatest sinner due to his misconception of his actions, he wrongly judged himself as being virtuous - morally good.

Regardless of our level of determination and resolve, we are unable to conquer the sin that resides within us. Human strength is not the method prescribed by God to overcome this internal sin. The sole and constant source of power to overcome indwelling sin lies exclusively in the Holy Spirit living in us. We need help! and that help is Christ.

Therefore, it is extremely important, imperative that we turn to Christ, we must come to Christ! humbly seeking His assistance through the power of His grace, for without it, we are destined to perish eternally, as stated in John 3:3, this is serious. we must beseech Him to fill us with His Spirit, granting us the ability to triumph over sin. It is crucial to understand that this is a continuous journey, because the ultimate victory over sin is achieved through unwavering faith in Christ, as mentioned in 1 John 5:4.

Verse 9: Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

Prior to the introduction of the law, before the law came, I held the belief that I was sufficiently righteous, good enough. I would often boast about my accomplishments, such as never having taken a life, being obedient to my parents, and never engaging in theft. Never stole a thing, this led me to believe that I was morally acceptable.

But you need to understand this, a natural man, unregenerate man is primarily concerned with external actions and material possessions, finding contentment and ease in these superficialities (outward appearance and performance) without experiencing any inner turmoil or struggle. he lacks the spiritual understanding of the true nature of sin, he remains oblivious, indifferent to feelings of guilt, condemnation or fear of eternal death.

Unlike Christian (pilgrims progress) who feared the judgement to come.

But once the law is introduced, a heightened conscious, awareness of sin emerges. Sin, in all its dreadful magnitude and like a monster, becomes evident; overpowering and leading to our spiritual death. We become deeply aware of our inability to conquer sin through our own efforts, and any hope we once held in ourselves diminishes - dies. Sin gains control over our flesh, leaving us defeated and resigned- we give up!. It becomes apparent that relying on self-help and personal endeavours is utterly futile - totally useless in the face of sin’s power.

10. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death.

The commandment I believed would bring life ended up shattering my confidence. Instead of boosting my self-hope, self-will, and self-confidence, it brought death to these aspects. It extinguished, quenched, snuffed out, killed all hope in my own abilities—this is the experience of all who place their faith in Christ, the reality of every saint, every true believer in Christ Jesus.

11. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.

Sin like a cunning serpent, deceived us into relying on our own power and strength to adhere to the law, to obey the law, Eventually, we saw the futility - uselessness of our efforts, leading to profound despair within ourselves, the death of self will.

No doubt, we make honest attempts, we try things like new year resolutions, we form strong determination, we go through fasting, boxing ourselves in, etc, the more we try, the more the law reveals an innumerable swarm of maggots - lust, settled within us and we die, We give up on every self effort, any hope of being able to prevail against sin.

Imagine an inbuilt (built into every wall) hidden pot of filthy stagnant water breeding mosquitoes in your room, with a room full of over a million mosquitoes, you give up all hope of killing them, void of a sound sleep, you despair of yourself, yet, this stagnant polluted water keeps breeding mosquitoes non-stop. This scenario is deeply troublesome only to someone who is alive, a dead man is without this concern. Natural man, sinners are not troubled by sin, indwelling sin, they carry no burden or guilt and they see no need for repentance or need for help.

Sin, evil desire is like a pot of stagnant polluted water, hidden within us, breeding corrupt desires relentlessly. We have no rest, no peace till we cry for help. Romans 10:13, by God’s Grace we will get to this chapter and study it,

12. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.

13. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

The law as a holy instrument is given by God, does it mean that that which is meant for good, brought evil instead? No! through the law, we saw the horrid, hideous nature of sin, the absolute sinfulness of sin, our powerlessness over it and knew we need help or we will perish.

You are blessed if the burden of sin has come upon you, but don’t stay there, run to Christ. John 6:37.

Last week, from Romans 7:1-6, we learnt of our death to the law and are no longer bound by the law, we died to Mr. Law, which governed us and are now married to Him who was raised from the dead, Christ. Through Christ's death, we are freed from the law's jurisdiction, allowing us to serve God in a new way—guided by the Holy Spirit, not by the letter of the law. This new relationship draws our attention to a transformed life and a relationship with God that goes beyond legalistic adherence - written rules.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Romans 8:14.

The law offered us no help when we were married to it, but through the Holy Spirit, Christ, our new husband empowers us to subdue our sin continually, this is a constant sweet victory as we live daily in union with Him. How do we live daily in union with Christ? through His word and through prayer, we must learn to read our bible and to pray daily.