The Struggle. Romans 7:7-13 When we first faced up to the danger we were in because of our nature as sinners, the law of God clarified the position sin had left us in. The sense of something missing, of dissatisfaction and of guilt was brought into the light of God's holiness when the law that condemned us was used to bring us to Christ. It truly was our schoolmaster that directed us to the Savior. What joy and thankfulness we had when the Gospel revealed the grace of God to us in Christ giving His life as a ransom for us. The delight and relief of being in Christ was the occupation of our mind and heart. We had died with Christ and were risen with Him and free in Him.
And then - after the morning glow of new life had settled into the routine of everyday new life, we were conscious of the indwelling sin that was still with us. There was no doubt that Christ had "suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." But this sin within still made itself known. The Holy Spirit is within, so why is there this struggle? This "Slough of Despond" often bogs down the new believers who thought they were done with sin, and they try various means to deal with this struggle. Some become discouraged and wonder if they are saved at all. Some fall under the influence of teachers who say they have lost their salvation. Thinking this is true, they re-profess salvation again, believing they can start all over, and the confusion increases rather than is solved. Others will go back to being "law-keepers" and try by self-imposed, or others-imposed "do's and don'ts" to overcome the evil desires (coveting) within. There are some misguided instructors who seek to move them into a legalistic frame of reference so they can seek to maintain holiness and live in good conscience.
V.7. The law is not sinful, but rather, the holy law of God exposes sin. Sin is not taken away because it is exposed. Sin has to be legally and justly dealt with and the price for sin must be paid. Both sin and the law put people in bondage, but the law is not evil like sin. The law makes the knowledge of sin clearer such as in the words, “Thou shalt not covet.” Sin, on the other hand, takes advantage of that knowledge.
V.8. The illustration Paul used to clarify this, was his own experience so that we can understand the law from the perspective of a Jewish Christian. He was alive physically and emotionally before he realized the law condemned him to spiritual death because of sin. Unawareness of the seriousness of sin and its consequences is common to young children. They know they do wrong things because of parental guidance that points out what is right and wrong. In young minds that simply means certain things are acceptable or unacceptable in this house.
V.9. There are a number of ways this consciousness of the bondage of the law and the condemnation of death it produced may have been driven home to his consciousness. For Jewish boys, at age thirteen, there is a ceremony called “bar mitzvah” when he is personally responsible for the demands of the law. It may have been then or perhaps at his conversion he faced the full force of the law and realized he was dead because of trespasses and sins.
Paul, the apostle whom the Spirit of God used to write this letter, seemed to have been doing pretty well when he was first saved. He was giving his testimony and preaching the Gospel publicly. He kept in with the Christians at Jerusalem and was a power for God and a help to God's people. Then he was sent to Arabia for three years and from there to Tarsus. It may have been at one of those places he became conscious of the evil desires (coveting) within him still. The law said, "Thou shalt not covet," and he coveted. Perhaps Paul, like most law-keepers, was concerned with the outward things of the law - the positive and negative things people try to keep.
V.10. We all have to admit that there is within us the tendency to evil desires and that sin tends to exploit its power over us by using the commandment to condemn us. Hence the struggle that seeks to empower a believer and make them ineffective. This struggle can be avoided if we grasp the true fact of having died with Christ and now have been raised with Him. Faith claims what we may not feel. I am dead unto sin and I am alive unto God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The law points out the evil desire and sin seeks to condemn me because of that. But a living, vital faith in Christ and what He has done, and what the Word of God says is true, keep that evil desire, the temptation, from being yielded to. Faith in what God says keeps this from being a concern to us in relation to stumbling with doubts and fears.
V.11. The intention of the law is to show us how to please God, but when we face the demands of the law and look at ourselves, it condemns us. Instead of producing a desire for holiness, it stimulates sin. The law makes us realize we are sinners but offers no help as to how to deal with sin. The law is like a sign that says, "Danger Ahead." We are thankful for the sign that warns us but the sign doesn’t get rid of the danger. Wise people will obey the sign and find another way to reach the desired destination without a struggle. The headstrong person who does not obey the sign (the law) will have to face the consequences imposed by the law. The law is not the problem. It is doing what it is supposed to do. Yielding to self-will is the problem. That self-will was dealt with when we died to the old Adam. Believe it, and live in the good of it.
V.12. The law is not to blame for the sins we commit. It is holy because it came from God, belongs to God, and in love for us, He has given it for our benefit. The law is just because God is just and all His judgments are just. The law is good because it comes from our good God and its intention is for our good. Even though it condemns us and exposes our sins, it is good because we are awakened to the consequences of sin. And earnest seekers for forgiveness of their sins will repent to God and the Holy Spirit, and the word of God will point that person to the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior from their sins.
V.13. Sin will try to take advantage of us by using legalism imposed sometimes by the man-made laws of men, who interpret the law to be our guide into ongoing righteousness and victory over sin. This keeps us from the liberty we have in Christ. The law is good because it does what it is supposed to - expose sin. Sin will deceive anyone who thinks they can keep it to be accepted by God. An honest person will apply that law with its commands to himself, and praise God that he is free from it because he had died in Christ. The law has no authority over a dead person. Now he lives in the Risen Christ in freedom from the law that showed him how terrible sin really is.