What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.The Gift of Knowledge. The law does something very helpful for us. It lays out for us the way of life and the way of death. Once I drove a 2 ton truck loaded with construction material over a septic tank. The result wasn’t pretty. Of course, I didn’t know the tank was there. No one did. But a map that said ‘drive here’ and ‘don’t drive here’ would have been helpful. That’s what the law does. It points out the proverbial septic tanks of life. That’s good knowledge to have, and it may seem like that is all that we need, but it's not.
The Problem of Knowledge. Note that Paul doesn’t say the law makes us sin. He says the law informs us to what is sin. And armed with that knowledge, we not only break the law but are compelled to break it more and more. At first this sounds like a bit of an overstatement. Would I really covet less if I didn’t know that it was wrong? I know the cookie jar explanation (i.e. when you tell a child not to take a cookie from the cookie jar, you actually increase the temptation to do so), but it seems a little juvenile. But Paul’s argument is far from juvenile and shows deep and sophisticated insight into the human psyche.
Surprise Attack. Armed with the law it would seem sin doesn’t stand a chance. But the assault of sin is hardly ever frontal. It “deceives” as Paul says. The law keeps sin front and center in our minds. Take coveting for example. Of course, coveting is always there, but the law points it out. And suddenly with the gift of its knowledge I see coveting not only in a few isolated instances, but all over the place. Surprised by my own transgression, I dig in my heels. Coveting must go. But it doesn’t go at all, and soon I start coveting those who seem not to struggle with coveting. Then guilt starts taking root. Perhaps, I am a seriously flawed and sinful person. But there is an alternative. Who is to say that this “no coveting” law is the best way. There are many happy coveters in the world. I may even begin to resent God for making such an impossible rule. I may grow so resentful that not only do I give myself over to coveting, but I begin coveting with a vengeance. Now this is merely one path sin may take.
What’s Wrong With Me. This is the thought the text is driving into my heart. How can I be so messed up, that good information actually becomes my downfall. I was just having a discussion with someone about a person destroying their life with alcohol and drug addiction. “Some people,” I said, “have become so messed up that helping them actually hurts them.” I retract that statement. The truth is all people, all of us, are so messed up that the holy help of the law actually hurts us.
