Romans 7:7-13 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. No, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust… I. FOR DECEPTION. Sin's nature, like Satan's, is to deceive. Eve was seduced by Satan through the commandment (Genesis 3:1-6). How intensely evil must that be which makes so vile a use of what is good. Sin — 1. Seduces men to break the law, and so works their ruin. 2. Persuades men to an equally fatal extent that they are able to keep it. A man's case is never worse than when expecting heaven from his works. Israel was thus deceived (Romans 10:3); and the Pharisee (Luke 18:11). 3. Excites to rebellion against it as if opposed to our good (ver. 8). II. FOR DEATH. Sin, like Satan, only deceives to destroy. This death is — 1. Judicial death: the condemnation of the law. 2. Moral death: despair of ever being able to satisfy the requirements of the law. 3. Spiritual death: the execution of the sentence of the law. (T. Robinson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. |
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