The Law Reveals Sin

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be!
–Romans 7:13

In Romans 7, Paul said that the Old Testament Law not only describes sin and arouses sin, but it also reveals sin. Some people would say, “If the Law stirs up sin, then why don’t we just get rid of the Law? Let’s eliminate all rules and commandments, and we will not have any more sin.” Paul said, “Do not misunderstand. The Law is not causing the sin; it is simply revealing the sin.”

Let me illustrate that for you. If you get an MRI, and the MRI reveals you have a brain tumor, do you cry and lament and say, “If only I had not gotten that MRI, then I would be fine today!” No, the MRI did not cause the tumor; it revealed the tumor and pointed you to the way of healing. It is the same way with the Old Testament Law. Romans 7:13 says, “Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.” In this verse, Paul was talking about a non-Christian. He said for a non-Christian, the Law describes sin, it arouses sin, and it reveals sin.

Then Paul changed from the non-Christian to the Christian. He said the same benefits of God’s Law to the non-Christian were also at work within him. “We know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin” (7:14). What was Paul saying here? He was not saying that he was in the flesh. There is a difference between being in the flesh and of the flesh. The non-Christian is in the flesh. Romans 7:5 says, “For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.” Do you know what it means to be in the flesh? It means the flesh is all you have. There is only one force working in your life: the force of sin that is pulling you downward and ensuring your condemnation by God. There is only one set of desires. There is only one operating system at work in your life, and it is the operating system of sin. You are not able not to sin. But when you become a Christian, God places a new operating system within your life, so to speak. He gives you a new power: the power to say yes to God and no to the flesh. But there is one part of you that has not been redeemed, and it is your body. It is the flesh where those sinful desires still reside. So Paul said, “As a Christian, I am no longer in the flesh, but I am still of the flesh. There is that unredeemed part of me with which I struggle and will continue to struggle until I die.”

In Romans 7:22, Paul talked about this conflict. He said, “I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man.” In other words, the real inner man of Paul had been sanctified. The law of God resided in him, and he wanted to obey God’s law. But Paul continued, “I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind” (7:23). Paul said there is an uncivil war going on in the life of every Christian. But there is good news: even though we will experience this war and struggle until the day we die, it is a winnable war.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Uncivil War” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2014.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.