Romans 7:7-13: The Holiness of the Law

Romans 7:13.. "Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure."

[Note: Sorry for the incosistency in devotions over the past week. Now that I am back at school, they should be more regular.]

Why in the world does Paul keep talking about the law? It seems like he can't let this topic go. Since the begining of Romans, he has been talking about the law. However, we must remember that all scripture has a purpose, and that if scripture talks about something a lot, that means it is because it is very important. In this case. the law is very important because its function is key to our Christian faith. Without having a correct understanding of the law, we will not have a correct standing of our religion.

In Romans 7:1-6, which we went though a few days ago, we noted that we are dead to the law. In Romans 6, we learned that we died to sin, and now live to righteousness. Romans 7:1-6 simply draws out one more implication of that: we are also dead to the law since we have died with Christ, and now quite literally "re-married" to Christ. This does not mean we do not serve the law at all, but rather that we serve the law "in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code" (Romans 7:6). We serve God because he has saved us, not in order that he might save us. We serve the law because the law is good and it pleases God that we serve the law, but we do not serve the law in fear of its condemnation.

Romans 7:7-13 takes this a step futher. It asks the question we are all thinking: since we have necessarily died to the law, then is the law bad? "By no means!" proclaims the apostle. The law is not sin, but rather it is in fact holy (Romans 7:12). Then why a was it necessary to die to the law, you might ask. Answer: Romans 7:1-6. We must be dead to the law so that we do not bear its punishments. Yet, the law, in its holiness, still has a divine purpose. We see this purpose in verses 8-11. The law firstly brings knowledge of sin, and secondly brings life to sin. This is truly amazing. The law is both a mirror and a life-giver, though it is in fact a mirror of shame and a life-giver of death. Why would I call that "amazing"? Because through the law, we see our sin, and therefore have the ability to be drawn to our Savior. Without the law, we would not know how in need we are of a Savior because we would not see our sin or feel the deadly weight of it. Praise the Lord for the law! For without it, no man would draw near to Christ.

Verse 13 sums this entire argument up. "Did that which is good [that is, the law], then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me though [the law], in order that sin might be shown to be sin." In other words, the law did not bring death, but the law brought life to sin which then brought death to us. One may see this as something "bad," but praise the Lord that that is not so. The law is "holy and righteous and good" as the apostle says (Romans 7:12). Why? Because it's righteousness has brought life to our sin, which therefore caused sin to bring death to us, which therefore allowed God to give needed life to our souls.

Praise the Lord! Who is sovereign over both the holiness of the law, and the sinfulness of our flesh.