Romans 7:7-8
(7) What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
(8) But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
Is the Law sin? Paul’s response again was a vehement denial. Certainly not! (me genoito; cf. comments on 3:4) The Law arouses sin (7:5) but that does not mean the Law itself is sin. In fact, Paul said later, the Law is holy (v. 12) and spiritual (v. 14). Paul went on to explain that the Law made sin known (cf. 3:19-20). Then to be specific, he mentioned coveting. The Law’s prohibition, Do not covet (Ex. 20:17; Deut. 5:21), makes people want to covet all the more. Paul knew sin as a principle and specifically, covetousness as an expression of it, and that knowledge came through the Law. Paul described how it worked. The indwelling principle of sin, seizing the opportunity (lit., “taking a start point” [aphormen, a base for military operations or for an expedition]) afforded by the commandment (cf. Rom. 7:11), produced in me every kind of covetous desire. The Law is not the cause of the act of sin; the principle or nature of sin within an individual is. But the Law’s specific commandments stimulate the sin principle into acts that violate the commandments and give those acts the character of transgression (4:15; cf. 3:20; 5:13b, 20a). As Paul concluded, Apart from Law, sin is dead. This does not mean that sin has no existence without the Law (cf. 5:13), but that without the Law sin is less active, for the Law arouses “sinful passions” (7:5).
It is significant that, beginning with verse 7 and continuing through this chapter, the Apostle Paul turned to the first person singular, presenting his personal experience. Up to this point he had used the third person, the second person, and even the first person plural. But now he described his own experience, allowing the Holy Spirit to apply the truth to his readers.
Excerpt from:
Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-c1985). The Bible knowledge commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
