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What Good is God's Law? Romans 7:7-13 |
July 25, 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum |
I think every family probably has a catalogue of stories that tend to get told at various family gatherings. One of the stories in our families' catalogue involves an incident in which I was a key player, but it's an incident that I don't remember since I was only about 5 years old at the time.
My parents love telling about the time that we were all sitting in the living room on a Saturday morning talking about our plans for the day when there was a knock at the front door. I jumped up and ran to the door and was greeted by the man who lived next door to us. He said, "Hi, there Tommy. I came over to ask your dad if it would be OK for me to borrow his lawnmower."
At which point I replied, "Well, he's sitting right here so come on in and ask him yourself…but I'm sure it's OK because just a few minutes ago he said, 'That yard next door looks horrible. I wonder if that guy's ever going get around to mowing it?'"
It's amazing the way one little statement can send a shock wave of horror through a room.
A similar shock wave was recently sent across many of California's leading politicians when our governor…or should I say, our "Governator"…became the first politician in history to describe his opponents as "girly-men." It was, for even the most veteran of politicos, a jaw-dropping moment that left them stunned and amazed.
As we move further, this morning, into the 7th chapter of the book of Romans it's important for us to be aware of the fact that some of the statements that Paul has made about the law…the written revelation of God's will preserved for us in the Old Testament, have been every bit as shocking as anything our "Governator" has ever said. Why have his statements about God's law been so shocking? For two primary reasons.
Reason #1 is that many of those who were reading Paul's letter had come from a Jewish background and all of their lives they had been taught that keeping God's law was key to a right relationship with God. Consequently, all of their lives they had also been encouraged to delight in and love God's law.
Reason #2 is that Paul's major thesis thus far in Romans has been that through faith in Christ, God has provided a way for us to get right with Him that has nothing to do with keeping the law. The process is called, "justification by faith." And to make his case for "justification by faith" and faith alone, Paul has said some things about the law that were absolutely shocking to those trained since birth to love the law.
For instance, in Romans 3:20 Paul wrote, "…no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law…"
Then, in Romans 3:28 Paul wrote, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."
Then, in Romans 5:20 Paul wrote, "The law was added so that the trespass…(that is, sin)…might increase."
Then, Paul wrote in Romans 6:14, "…you are not under law, but under grace."
Then, in Romans 7:4 Paul wrote, "…you…died to the law through the body of Christ…"
Finally, in Romans 7:6 Paul says emphatically, "…we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit…"
Folks, for people who have been taught their whole lives that keeping the law was the key to their lives it was absolutely stunning to hear Paul talk about being "dead to" the law; "released from" the law; being "not under" the law; and being "justified apart from the law." And Paul is surely aware of the cumulative force of the shock that these pronouncements have created. So, in verse 7 he employs a familiar technique to try and lead them from shock to understanding. He asks and then answers the question that must surely be on their minds.
THE LAW IS HOLY, RIGHTEOUS AND GOOD
In Romans7:7 he writes "What shall we say, then? Is the law sin?"
Paul imagines one of his stunned readers jumping up to ask, "Is that where you're going with all of this Paul? Is that your point? Have you said all of these negative things about the law to prepare us to hear your ultimate pronouncement, namely, that the law itself is actually sin?"
And as we continue in verse 7, Paul quickly offers this emphatic response, "Certainly not!" In other words, nothing could be further from the truth. It's easy to see how someone could jump to such a conclusion but that is certainly not Paul's conclusion. In fact, the very opposite is true.
Dropping down to verse 12 Paul uses 3 powerfully descriptive words to tell us the truth about God's law. He writes, "…the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good." "Is the law sin? Certainly not!" God's law…the revelation of His will for us…is "holy," "righteous" and "good."
Folks, this is a wonderfully clarifying verse for us to hold on to. Paul has said some things about God's law that have led a lot of people to draw a lot of mistaken conclusions about that law. Maybe even some of us. But, here in verse 12, he's offered us an unambiguous assessment of the ultimate value of God's law. And the clarity of this statement can help us greatly as we strive to rightly understand some of the more difficult statements he's made about God's law.
--First, he says here in verse 12 that the law is "holy." That means that the character of God is reflected in the law. It means that as we grow in our understanding of God's law we will also be growing in our understanding of God.
--Second, he says that the law is "righteous." That means that God's law teaches us the difference between what is right and what is wrong.
--And, third, he says that the law is also "good." That means that there are practical benefits that result from actually doing those things that God's law identifies as "right" and avoiding those things that God's law identifies as "wrong." In other words, blessings flow to those whose lives are consistent with that which God's law has identified as right.
Now, in between verses 7 and 12 Paul is going to offer some reasons to justify his ultimate conclusion about the law being "holy," "righteous" and "good."
THE LAW HELPS US TO KNOW SIN
Returning to verse 7 he writes, "Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law."
In other words, one of the ways we see the holiness, the righteousness and the goodness of the law is that it helps to know sin. So, the question was, "Is the law itself sin?" And Paul's emphatic answer is, "Absolutely not. The law isn't sin; rather, the law helps us to recognize sin when we see it. The law helps us to understand sin for what it really is."
In his commentary on Romans, James Edwards likens the relationship between the law and sin to that between a physician's diagnosis and an illness. The patient may notice some general loss of vitality in his life but it's not until he actually goes to a physician to get diagnosed that he discovers the full extent and cause of his problem. The diagnosis isn't the illness, the diagnosis doesn't cause the illness and the diagnosis doesn't cure the illness. But, the diagnosis is still a very good thing because it identifies the illness and helps us understand the problem. So, in the way that a physician helps us identify an illness, the law helps us identify sin.
A PERSONAL EXAMPLE
And, now, to further clarify the relationship between the law and sin Paul offers us a personal example of how he has experienced this process at work in his own life. At the end of verse 7 he writes, "For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, 'Do not covet.'"
Looking at his own personal experience with the revealed will of God, Paul says that the challenge for him came with the tenth commandment-"You shall not covet." The other nine commandments all prohibit various forms of actions: don't steal, don't murder, don't worship any God but the true God and so forth. As a devoutly religious man, Paul had always avoided those kinds of things. But when he got to the tenth commandment…this commandment that forbids us from desiring things we shouldn't have…it felt like a knife had stabbed him in the heart. Apparently he'd recognized this tendency in his life, but he hadn't recognized that it was wrong…after all, he wasn't actually doing anything, it was just a desire. But, suddenly, there it was in black and white-"You shall not covet." Paul's sin is now known.
SIN USES THE LAW TO ENCOURAGE MORE SIN
But now that the law had done this "good" and "righteous" work of identifying Paul's sin, look what happens next. He writes in verse 8, "But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire." Paul says that once he realized that coveting was actually a sin an amazing thing happened-instead of being freed from his covetous desires; he was filled with covetous desires. This newfound knowledge of sin actually increased his temptation to sin.
So, someone might say, "Well, doesn't that prove that the law is sin after all?" No, we've already established that the law is "holy, righteous" and "good." What it proves is exactly what Paul says at the beginning of verse 8, namely, that "sin" never misses an "opportunity" to lead us astray. So, the law does a good thing in helping us to identify our sinful inclinations and then sin immediately rushes in and says, "Well, as long as you're thinking about sin anyway, just imagine how fun it might be to…", and the next thing you know sin has corrupted the good work that was begun by the law.
Let me offer you a little scenario to illustrate the point. Let's imagine that mom and dad are going out to dinner and they're going to leave their 12 year old son…let's call him, Tommy…home alone for a couple of hours. And let's imagine that as they're heading out the door the last thing dad says is, "Tommy, whatever you do, do not open the bag in my bedroom closet. Under no circumstances are you to look inside that bag or even go near the bag. Do I make myself clear?" And Tommy says, "Absolutely."
Now, here's the question: "How far down the block will mom and dad be when Tommy opens the bag?" Actually, it's a trick question because that bag was open before they even reached the car.
Folks, it's just part of our human nature. As soon as we know we're not supposed to do something, our desire to do it increases exponentially. So, that's the dynamic that Paul experienced once the law showed him that coveting was sin and it's the same dynamic that we experience when sin and the law meet in us.
SIN'S METHODOLOGY
And in the verses that follow Paul offers us some insight into the methodology that sin uses to accomplish its purposes in us. As we read these verses I'm going to offer some commentary along the way to clarify the main points that Paul is making.
Beginning in verse 8 and continuing down through verse 11 he writes, "For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law;…(in other words, before the law showed me that my behavior was sinful, I didn't live with the burden of guilt or worry about the consequences of my behavior…I just thought I was enjoying life)…but when the commandment came…(that is, once I saw my behavior for the sin that it was)…sin sprang to life…(in other words, the blinders came off and I saw my sin for what it was-a self-centered, self-indulgent act of rebellion against God)…and I died…(in other words, I now recognized that this sinful behavior that I had previously seen as an expression of freedom in fact was nothing more than proof that I was hopelessly enslaved to sin. I wasn't fee at all. I was a slave. And in that moment of recognition, I died spiritually)…I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death…(In other words, the law of God points us in the direction of life but the law is ultimately powerless to lead us to life. Why? Because there's something wrong with God's law? No. But because we're so very weak and sin is so very strong)…For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death."
So, here's the process that Paul has unfolded for us. God has revealed His will to us to help us see sin for what it really is and to lead us away from the destructive consequences of sin…the ultimate consequence being death. But sin seizes the opportunity created by our newfound knowledge of sin to actually lead us further in the direction of sin. And how does sin do this? Paul tells us in verse 11: sin deceives us.
God's law says, "This is sin." And sin says, "That can't be sin, everybody does that."
God's law says, "This is sin." And sin says, "How can that be sin if no one's getting hurt."
God's law says, "This is sin." And sin says, "That's not sin, that just a personal choice. In fact, I'm offended that you would even suggest that its sinful!"
God's law says, "This is sin." And sin says, "And sin is bigger than you so why fight it?"
And on and on it goes in a thousand different ways. Sin is never at a loss for ways to deceive us.
So, Paul now concludes this portion of his lesson by offering a single verse summary of everything he's said in verses 7-12. In verse 13 he writes, "Did that which is good…(that is, the law)…then, become death to me? By no means! (In other words, even though sin has abused God's law, the law remains holy, righteous and good) But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it…(that is, sin)…produced death in me through what was good…(that is, the law)…so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful."
So, why does God allow sin to twist and distort something as holy, righteous and good as His law? Because, as Paul says here at the end of verse 13, in doing so sin reveals just how "utterly sinful" it really is. To take God's law and turn it into a tool to encourage us to break God's law is as utterly sinful as anything that we could imagine.
THE SOLUTION
So, now we understand the relationship between God's law and sin. Unfortunately, it appears that we have also discovered a terrible predicament-God gives us His law so that we can know sin when we see it. Unfortunately, being able to recognize sin doesn't make us want to avoid it…it makes us want to engage in it.
So, the question is: what in the world are we supposed to do?
And the answer is, we hold on to the truth that we are justified by faith, not the law. We remember, that by faith we have not only been made right with God but we have also been united with Christ. And through our union with Christ we died to the law and we now live by the power of God's Spirit. As Paul wrote in Romans 7:6, "By dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code."
God has us die to the law, which points us in the direction of life, so that we are free to be joined in a new relationship to our Savior who can actually give us life.
Folks, this is the very heart of Gospel.
Jesus died so that sinful people like us can get right with God by faith and slowly grow in righteousness through the power of the Holy Spirit.
It's not about trying to earn God's acceptance by trying really, really hard to keep His commands. It's about walking in faith with our God, who has already accepted us because of our relationship with His Son.
© Copyright 2004 Pastor Tom Marcum