Some Key Words (8/26/00)

Know (ginosko [1097]):

to know experientially (rather than intuitively), to perceive, be acquainted with, understand, be conscious of, discern, approve, acknowledge; to learn to know, come to know, to have knowledge of, to become acquainted with; to know absolutely

Sin (hamartia [266]):

missing the true point of our lives (God), an offense in relation to God – emphasizing the guilt; to miss the mark, to be mistaken, to wander from uprightness, from God’s law, to violate God’s law; a sin

Covet (epithumeo [1937]):

in the mind, to have one’s affections turned toward a thing, to desire, long after – in a healthy sense, or in a lustful sense; to turn upon a thing, to have a desire for, to lust after; to set the heart upon

Commandment (entole [1785]):

a commandment of God or man, to charge upon, command; an order, precept, injunction; a prescribed rule according to which a thing is done; injunction, authoritative prescription

Proved (heurisko [2147]):

to find, learn, discover; to come upon, meet with, to find a thing sought, to find by chance, to find by enquiry, examination, or observation, to find out by experience, to learn, discover, understand, to get knowledge of God; to find

Opportunity (aphorme [874]):

a place from which attack is made, a base of operations, that from which an endeavor goes forth, that which gives occasion or supplies the matter, the incentive, the resources; a starting point, an opportunity

Deceived (exapatao [1818]):

to deceive; to seduce wholly

Killed (apokteino [615]):

to kill, destroy, allow to perish, to extinguish, abolish, inflict mortal death, deprive of spiritual life; to kill outright, destroy

 

Paraphrase: (8/26/00)

7 So is the Law sin? No way! Without the Law, I wouldn’t even know what sin was. If the Law didn’t say “You shall not covet,” I wouldn’t even know what coveting was. 8 But sin took advantage of the Law, and had me coveting after everything. Without the Law, sin would be dead. 9 Once I was alive without the Law; but when understanding of the Law came, sin became active and killed me. 10 Thus, the Law of life proved death to me, 11 for sin, taking advantage of the law, deceived and killed me.

Key Verse: (8/26/00)

7:8b – Apart from the Law, sin is dead.

People Mentioned: (8/22/00)

N/A

Some Parallel Verses (8/27/00)

7:7

Ro 3:5 – Shall we accuse God of unrighteousness when He displays wrath? Ro 3:20 – The Law cannot justify, for it is through the Law that we know sin. Ro 4:15 – Thus, the Law brings wrath, for without Law there is no violation. Ro 5:20 – With the Law came greater transgression, but along with the greater transgression came an even greater grace. Ex 20:17 – We are not to covet our neighbor’s house, wife, servant, animals, or anything else that is theirs. Dt 5:21 – Repeated for emphasis.

7:8

Ro 3:20 – Through the Law, we understand our sin, leaving the Law incapable of justifying us. 1Co 15:56 – The law is the power of sin, which leads to death.

7:9
7:10

Lev 18:5 – By keeping His statutes, a man may live, says the Lord. Lk 10:28 – If one were to love God and his neighbor properly, he would live, says Jesus. Ro 10:5 – The one whose righteousness is based on the Law will live by that righteousness, says Moses. Gal 3:12 – The Law is not of faith, but rather the means by which its practitioners shall live [or not], says Paul.

7:11

Ro 3:20 – No flesh is justified by the Law, for it is the knowledge of sin. Ge 3:13 – Eve is deceived by the serpent, and caught by God. She broke the one law she had, and thus sinned.

 

New Thoughts (8/28/00)

The immediate thing that jumps out at me is the parallel between the original sin of the Garden, and the sin that came of the Law. In both cases, God had provided a good thing, but a good thing bound by commandments. The tree of knowledge of good and evil was a good thing by design, but it became a “place from which to attack” for sin, it provided an opportunity. The Law, which described all that a man must do to live before His God, was a good thing by design, but it became a “place from which to attack” for sin. In both cases, Satan took advantage of the resources around him to deceive and destroy.

It’s interesting to note that in both cases, the past actions of those who broke the commandments hadn’t changed, but their understanding of what they had done did. Adam and Eve had walked “naked and unashamed” for a great deal of time, but with the breaking of God’s commandment came a new awareness of what they had been doing all along. They had broken out from under God’s covering, and now lie exposed to their own view, and guilt and shame came in.. As Paul points out, before the Law, there was no great understanding of what sin was all about. There was certainly intuitive understanding of what sin was, for God makes such plain in His creation. But the experiential knowledge was lacking. With the Law came a more direct understanding of our own sinfulness – a realization that we, and not just the other guy, had truly sinned against our God. Again, what we had been doing beforehand hadn’t changed, but our perception of our own actions had. We, too, tend to break out from under God’s covering, and when we do, once the blinders come off, we, too, are not glad of what we see.

In our current day, there’s a lot of talk about grace covering it all, no longer needing to do. And there’s truth in that, but it gets pushed beyond the point of truth. The Law still matters. It is still God’s rule of life. Yes, we live under the covering of God’s grace, but that does not provide us with an excuse to ignore the rules of our God. It provides forgiveness for our failures, past, present, and future, but not until we avail ourselves of that forgiveness. And why do we need such constant forgiveness? Because the Law remains in effect, and we remain incapable in ourselves of following it. And every time we break with the Law, we come out once more from under the covering of grace. And our enemy still occupies that base of operations, and is ready to take advantage of the opportunity we give him in coming out. Each time, he comes with the blinders, hoping to keep us from realizing that we’re exposed. Each time, he binds them on a little tighter, for he knows we took them off last time. Thanks be to God that His grace is greater! He is willing and able to come to the aid of His lost sheep. But He yearns for a time when we will learn to abide with Him, He yearns to write that Law upon our hearts, so that we won’t wander off again.

Lord, even today, I ask that You would re-inscribe Your Word in my heart, in my spirit. I cannot afford to walk beyond Your set limit. I fear to face the enemy without You, for I am assured of defeat if You do not come stand by my side, and surround me with Your strength. I know how much I struggle with You, how much I try to push the rules, like a willful child. And such I am. God, I want to be obedient to You. Is this what my child feels? I want to be obedient, but it’s so easy to slip away into some foolish error or another. Keep me, oh Father, in the shelter of Your commandments. For they are the commandments of my loving Father, who cares for my safety and wellbeing. God, protect me from my foolish pride, that drive in me that says I can do it on my own. Lord, remain near to my mind today, that I might remember You in those times of temptation, that I might remember You in those times when tiredness or anxiousness, or any other ness, seems like a reasonable excuse to be angry, to be out of control, to be out from under Your grace. Father, I love You dearly, and I am so tired of finding myself outside Your tent once more. Oh, that You would bind this freedom for me, so that I could remain true without the struggle! Ah, but where’s the growing in that? Lord, You know my need, better than I know it myself. Once more, today, I declare my intention to cling to You. Once more, today, I commit myself to the struggle to do so. Once more, today, I call out to You to hold me, even if I begin wriggling to get free, for that freedom is no longer a thing I can desire.