Sunday School Notes: Romans 7:7-12

⁷ What shall we say, then? The Law [is] sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not know sin except through the Law. For I would not have known coveting except the Law said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, taking the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every [kind of] coveting; for apart from the Law, sin [is] dead. ⁹ Now, I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, ¹⁰ and I died, and this commandment [which was] unto life was found in me [to be] unto death. ¹¹ For sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and, through it, killed [me]. ¹² So, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

This section begins with one of Paul’s now-famous rhetorical questions. And like the others, this one follows naturally from the prior discussion–it’s what we might expect people to be saying in response to what Paul has just said about the Law. If the Law arouses our sinful passions, and the Law is something we need to die to and be free from, then surely the Law must be something bad. We have noted in previous weeks that the word for Law, nomos, doesn’t tell us whether Paul means law generally, or the Mosaic Law (the Ten Commandments, etc.) particularly. This is something we need to determine from the context. I have said before that I think often we can assume general-law, but Paul clearly has Mosaic Law in the back of his mind to a greater or lesser extent. Given the citation of the tenth commandment in verse 7, I think the Mosaic Law is  much more in view here. This means his comments are aimed more to the Jewish believers, but the gentiles (who, as Christians, would not have been unaware of the Law) are not exempt.

Paul’s response is with the familiar mê genoito–“certainly not!” This is a very emphatic “no!” He then goes on to credit the Law with his ability to know sin. What does he mean here? Did he not know what sin was until the Law told him? Doesn’t this contradict what he discusses in Romans 1 and 2? We think Paul is referring here to a depth of knowledge. He certainly did wrong, and probably knew that it was wrong, prior to being told the Ten Commandments. However, up until that time, he neither knew what the sin was, nor that it was a violation of God’s Law. He coveted, but he didn’t know that it was coveting, and that it was God who condemned it, until he was given that commandment.

Some commentators suggest that Paul had a particular issue with coveting, or, perhaps lust (the Greek is epithumia, which we’ve seen used before in the context of “passion” or “desire”), which is why he picked this particular commandment as an example. However, there is precedent in Jewish literature for quoting the tenth commandment as a short-hand for all ten of the commandments, so it is possible he is using this commandment to refer to all of them. Commentators are also divided over who Paul is actually referring to in this passage when he says “I.” Is this Paul himself, speaking autobiographically? Or is he referring to himself as a representative of Israel? Or is he referring to himself as a representative of Adam, or mankind as a whole? One can argue for or against any of these possibilities using verses in this section, so it’s possible that it’s more a question of emphasis. Certainly, Paul speaks from personal experience, but his experience is one that at some points relates particularly to the Jewish people, and at others to mankind as a whole.

Returning to the text, Paul goes on in verse 8 to say that for sin to be alive in this way, it needs the Law, such that without the Law, sin is dead. Once the Law is revealed, sin can take the opportunity to use the Law as a means of invoking sinful activity. As we discussed last week, the sinful heart presented with the command of God does not desire to obey–in fact, often the opposite reaction happens. When told that God says “Don’t covet,” the sinful heart wants to covet, if only to “thumb the nose” at God.

In what way was Paul “alive apart from the Law”? This may be a reference to the Garden of Eden, and Paul is here using “I” in the sense of “I, as a representative of Adam and mankind.” Prior to God telling Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit, there was life in the Garden. Once that command came, sin, in the form of the serpent, used the command as an opportunity to bring sin into Adam’s (and Eve’s) heart by seducing them to disobey. Thus, the commandment which was to bring life in fact brought death. It might not be sufficient, though, to see this simply in terms of the Garden of Eden. When the Rich Young Ruler encountered Jesus, he thought he was living life to its fullest, even though he felt something lacking spiritually. When Jesus brought the command to sell his possessions and follow him, the depth of his sin was revealed: he loved money more than obedience to Christ’s command. Is this not something we find paralleled in our own lives? We think we have it all together until God’s righteousness reveals our sin.

Verse 11 seems to be another reference to Eden: though Paul was “alive,” he died because sin took the opportunity, through the commandment, to deceive and kill him. The serpent twisted God’s command in order to provoke Adam and Eve to sin, and that sin brought about spiritual death. There was certainly deception involved, but that is the way of sin. As Paul says in verse 12, God’s commands, the Law, is good, righteous, and holy. It is sinfulness in the hearts of men that twist the Law and use it to lead them into sin.

I offered a caution about Paul’s use of terms like “life,” “death,” and “kill” here. There is the temptation to be over-analytical about Paul’s use of such terms. Sometimes it’s warranted, such as when he uses “baptism” in chapter 6, or speaks of marriage in verse 7. There’s something about baptism and marriage that means something in Paul’s mind for him to use that language. However, Paul’s overarching theme is freedom from the bondage of sin and death, and being united to Christ–a change of allegiances. So when he speaks of life and death, he is probably speaking somewhat poetically (though dying to sin and rising to new life in Christ are certainly spiritual realities in the life of the believer). Paul is not above using poetic language (wait till we get to the end of chapter 8!), so it’s well to bear in mind that Paul is using vivid language to communicate deep spiritual truth.

As usual, I invite those that were at the study on Sunday to add or elaborate on my notes in the comments. And anyone is welcome to ask questions or offer thoughts and insights.