7 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.
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. Romans 7:7-13
This section is raw. Paul says the law isn’t sinful—it’s holy. But when it came into the picture, sin sprang to life. I get that. The moment I know the rule, something in me wants to break it. Not because the rule is bad, but because sin is alive in me. The law acts like a mirror—it doesn’t cause the dirt, but it shows it. And sin, being what it is, uses even good things to bring death. That’s how twisted it is. It takes what’s holy and turns it into a weapon.
I see this with so many things in our culture that in and of themselves are not bad, but what we as humans have done, in our sin, have so entirely corrupted them. The flesh wants to see how far it can go…it wants to push the barriers…it wants to feel more. At the end of the day, our flesh wants to please itself.
APPLICATION
When I feel convicted, I don’t blame the standard. I let it expose what’s really going on inside me. That’s uncomfortable, but it’s necessary. The law shows me my need, and that need drives me to grace. I don’t run from conviction—I let it lead me to the cross, where mercy meets me in my mess.