Is The Law Sin? Certainly Not!

Alba 10-17-2021

IS THE LAW SIN? CERTAINLY NOT!

Romans 7:7-13

What if your child or grandchild, only three years of age, would take off on a journey on her own to explore the area around your home. She wouldn't know the dangers that are out there.

If you lived in town, she might blissfully cross a busy street, enter a store in the neighborhood and walk around to see what she could see. How would you react if you caught a glimpse of her as she was walking back from the store?

I think you would be very angry, and very upset. You would probably be in the mood to punish her. Why? Well, she left the house without telling you, she went across the street without you, she went into a public place all alone as a three year old!

She did all this and placed herself in a very dangerous situation! You love her and want to protect her. And want her to know that what she did was very wrong, and that she should NEVER do it again!

She had put herself in great danger, but she did not see it. She had been having a great time. The manager at the store gave her a candy bar, and someone had helped her to cross the street. And she does not understand why you are upset!

You would tell her, “Child, what you did was WRONG!” And she would tell you in her cute little voice, “Well, you never SAID I couldn’t cross the street. You never SAID I couldn’t go to the store alone. Why am I in trouble?”

The rules were not in place. She had not been told of the danger.

And that’s really the point of the Law of God. He gave it to show us just how messed up we really are, and warn us of the danger that sin poses in our lives. The purpose of the Law is to reveal the extent of our sinfulness.

Without an accurate understanding of our sinfulness we won’t have a clear understanding of why we need a Savior. That is what the apostle Paul explains in our text for today. Turn with me to Romans 7:7-13 as I read:

7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”

8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.

The question here is, “Is the Law sin?” The answer is clearly “No!”

When God gave the Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai it was good, very good. That Law wasn’t something that men made up; it was given by God Himself. The Law itself is holy and right and good because it reflects the character and will of God Himself, who is holy.

So God's Law is good because He is good. But then there is another question one might have. If we’re not under the Law anymore, and the apostle Paul's letter to the Romans makes it clear that we are not, does that make the commandments bad?

Again the answer is “No!” The purpose of the law is to teach us right from wrong, to give us guidelines, and to show sin for what it is. But it is true, it does not save us.

Because the commandments of the Law are limited in what they can do, some might conclude that they’re really not all that important. But Paul rejects that line of reasoning and says the law is holy, righteous, and good.

That's because the commandments God has given are a reflection of His character. They are bound up in His own integrity. They give us a window into the purity of God.

Look at Psalm 119. Verse 127 says, “I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!” Verse 128 says, “Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.”

Verse 138 says, “Your testimonies, which You have commanded, are righteous and very faithful.” Verse 151 says, “all Your commandments are truth.” And verse 160 says, “The entirety of Your word is truth.”