Romans 7:8
But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Sin uses the commandment, above all the command not to covet, to stir up every kind of sinful desire and lust in the person, and apart from the law sin lies dead in the sense of unrecognized, unknown and unfelt, bringing no knowledge of guilt until the law exposes it. The commandment reaches inward to thoughts, feelings, desires and purposes and not to outward conduct only, so that one who seemed blameless by human measure is shown to be a sinner once its spiritual depth is discerned. The law itself is not sin and does not create sin, but is holy, just, good and spiritual as God's standard of character and righteousness, while sin in the person takes what is good and ordained to life and uses it to deceive and to slay. It acts as a holy mirror, light and schoolmaster that gives knowledge of sin, detects defects of character, convicts and condemns the transgressor and holds him in bondage, yet it cannot remove guilt, pardon, cleanse or save from sin's consequence. When the commandment comes home to heart and conscience, sin revives in its true hideousness and the sinner dies to self-esteem, self-sufficiency and all claims to goodness and merit, which is the first work in true conversion leading to confession, repentance and laying hold by faith on Christ's grace, pardon, cleansing and restored connection with God. The law remains immutable and unchangeable while the sinner dies, so that Christ came not to set aside its precepts or to impute righteousness for continued violation but to vindicate it and bring strength to obey it, and true sanctification is conformity to its will rather than a claim to holiness while refusing it.
Words and Meaning
Sin seizes the commandment, above all the command not to covet, as its occasion and opportunity to stir up and produce in a person every kind of coveting, and concupiscence means sinful desire and lust of heart. Without the law sin is dead in that it lies unrecognized, unknown, unexposed and inactive in awareness, bringing no knowledge of sin and no conviction of guilt until the commandment names it, brings it to life and brings it to light. The law does not create the sin it thus exposes, for the sin is in the person and is roused into activity only when the commandment comes home to the conscience.
The commandment reaches not outward conduct only but the thoughts and feelings of the soul, the desires and designs, requiring the soul itself to be pure, the mind holy, and all thoughts and feelings to be in accordance with love and righteousness. Hence one who is outwardly blameless by human standard is shown to be a sinner when the spiritual character, breadth and depth of God's law is discerned as God sees it. Paul himself did not know what coveting meant and supposed himself to be zealously keeping the law while persecuting the saints, until his spiritual vision was enlightened and he saw in the light of the law that he had transgressed that very law. When the commandment so came, sin revived in its true hideousness and deformity and the former self-life and self-esteem died under its condemnation.
Law's Holy Office
Sin is not in the law but in the person, and the law does not create sin but exposes it by naming it, especially in the command against coveting. Sin seizes that good commandment as an occasion to stir up every kind of covetous desire, reviving in awareness where without the law it lay dead, unrecognized and inactive. Sin is Satan's work of leading people to disobey God, and it uses what is good to deceive and to slay, so the commandment ordained to life is found unto death. The commandment does not become sinful by this use; it reveals sin and makes its sinful character and deformity clear.
The law is holy, just, good, and spiritual, and the Holy Spirit presents it as God's standard of character to show the sinner what sin is. It is the great moral standard of righteousness, whose violation is transgression against God, broad in its requirements and laying men under obligation to God. Until its holy requirements are applied as the rule of life to will and desires and works, fallen man cannot understand his guilt or realize his condemned, lost condition. It requires a pure soul, a holy mind, and thoughts in accordance with love and righteousness, giving knowledge of sin such as coveting.
The law acts as light by which sin is detected, as a holy mirror by which defects of moral character are discerned, and as a schoolmaster that shows the sinner the need for Christ. By the law is the knowledge of sin; it makes the sinner answerable, convicts and condemns him, holds the transgressor in bondage, and brings the carnal mind under condemnation. Yet it has no pardoning power to release from the consequence of transgression, for it cannot remove guilt, pardon the transgressor, cleanse from sin, remove defects, or save from its consequence. Its conviction is meant to lead the sinner to repentance and faith in Jesus for pardon, whose blood alone removes the stains of sin and whose merits alone justify.
The commandments remain the same while the sinner dies when the commandment comes and sin revives, which proves the law is immutable and unchangeable. If God could have changed His law to meet man in his fallen condition Christ need not have come, but God sent His only begotten Son to die for the fallen race. Christ came to vindicate His Father's law, not to make it of none effect, and not to take guilt and impute His righteousness so sinners might continue to violate the precepts of Jehovah. Because man could not keep the law in his own strength, Christ came to bring strength to obey its precepts, so the repenting sinner may plead forgiveness through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour and be accepted in the name of Jesus.
Conviction to New Life
When the commandment comes home to the heart and conscience, sin revives and is seen in its true hideousness and deformity, and the sinner dies under its condemnation to self-esteem, self-sufficiency and the former self-life, though the commandment itself was ordained to life. Sin takes occasion by the commandment to work every kind of covetous desire and to deceive and slay, so what was ordained to life is found unto death. Judged as God sees him, the one who was outwardly blameless by human standard bows in humiliation when the spiritual depth of the law is discerned.
That shattering of self-esteem destroys all claims to goodness and merit and is the first work in true conversion, for the sinner realizes he is a transgressor of God's law, that the Lord has claims upon him which He will not relinquish, and that the connection between himself and God has been broken. The law is not itself sin; it reveals sin and makes the sinner answerable, exposing sin by naming it, especially in the command not to covet, while without the law sin lies dead, unrecognized, unknown and inactive in awareness, bringing no knowledge of sin or conviction of guilt. As a holy mirror, light and schoolmaster the law gives knowledge of sin, brings the carnal mind under condemnation and shows the sinner the need for Christ, but it cannot remove guilt, pardon the transgressor, cleanse from sin or save from its consequence. Its conviction leads the humbled sinner to confession of guilt, repentance of transgression, and taking hold by faith upon the grace of Christ for pardon, washing, cleansing and healing of sin that is repented of and confessed, so the broken connection is restored. A person must first be convicted by the law to know what to be converted from, which is transgression to obedience.
The convicted sinner thus dies to sin to live unto Christ, the sinful nature being slain by the law so the person lays hold of eternal life when God is honored by obeying the commandments in spirit and in truth. The cleansed life becomes humble, gentle, meek and lowly of heart, no longer thinking highly of self, seeking earthly honor, pulling others down, or indulging ambition, revenge, sensitiveness and self-uplifting, but ascribing all glory to God and bending all energy to Christ and to winning souls and growing into the image of Christ.
This work rebukes those who claim sanctification while refusing the law, since sanctification is conformity to the will of God expressed in His holy law and living by every word from God. It draws a sharp distinction between the avowed transgressor who defies the law yet claims holiness and sows rebellion, and the believer who yields to the law, sees defects of character, humbly confesses sin, and seeks pardon through Christ.