Jeff wrote:
The fact is that Paul is discussing sin. He gives an example of a sin he still believes is a problem for him, covetousness. He dispairs over it. But he also admits in verse 7 that if there wasn't a specific prohibition on covetousness taught to him, he woudn't have known it to be wrong and to thus feel guilty about it.
Let's look at some other scriptures to put this in context:
Romans 2:
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
We are created in Gods' image. Although man is fallen, under the curse of vanity, and cannot accept God on his own power.... there are still substantial vestiges of justice and conscience written in the DNA of man. I personally believe that on Judgment Day this will be a factor in the decision God pronounces on individuals. What did you do with what you knew, or agreed with? Did you follow your own rules consistently? When you failed to do so (and all have), and then quickly excused yourself, did you ever judge someone else for doing the same thing against you? Gavel comes down....God says, "my laws are irrelevant in this case. You are guilty as charged out of your own mouth." Place him with the hypocrits.
In Romans Chapter 7 God isn't addressing the heathen gentiles:
1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,)
He is speaking to his covenant people who were given a vast expansion of the natural DNA embedded law, and that they agreed to live by. After more than a dozen centuries, Paul under the action of the Holy Spirit draws some conclusion on the matter. He points out how, although he agrees that the law is "good"...
12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
It had some unexpected (not to God) effects:
8 But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence.
One of the surprising unexpected consequences:
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
Paul found that sin was exacerbated by the Law. In other words, a part of him experienced an elevated sense of excitement when sinning, as result of it. Since he had greater knowledge of what was wrong, it made doing that wrong all the more enticing and irrestible. I have certainly experienced this "forbidden fruit" syndrome as have many others.
13 ... But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
Since you bring sexuality into the discussion: Here, professional purveyors of perversion capitolize on the aphrodisiac inducing nature of breaking God's laws at a Sodomite street fair:
God is a warrior God. He knew that the Law would stregthen sin. So he empowered it's existence by stating his Laws, first by Moses and then further clarifying them by Jesus. A person might at first think, "why would he do that?. I though he didn't like sin"
The answer is that God wants to take sin on in its full force and defeat it there, on the battlefield of life, in full force..... in open view, in the lives of his witnesses. The Law has had the unexpected effect of strengthening sin to the point where it is obvious to many people that they are caught in its vice, and cannot escape from its grip even if they want to. This powerlessness over sin should lead honest people to the conclusion that they need a Savior from its power.
Of course, the neo-pagan religions, humanists, and other secularists seek to encourage vice as a goal...even in the face of it's very short lived, addictive, and repetetive nature that relates to its delivery of happiness out of the doldrums of existence.
Paul does not suggest getting rid of the Law to reduce sins power. He faces it in full force and humbly concedes its power. This is why Jesus said that a person must be born again. Man simply cannot obey God.... period. If the job is going to get done, if man will ever perfectly live by any standard, even his own, God must put something inside of him to enable him to defeat sin. Paul confirms this in Galatians 2:
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Trying to be good on your own is usesless. It causes mental illness I think in some cases. In the re-birth man is given new "DNA" from God ... a new spirit that cannot sin. In this condition, man has a force inside that cannot sin. Yes, it can be overridden by the will of the flesh. But all the same, in this new condition sin loses much of its power. Additionally, punishment is no longer a factor for the believer, having been previously wrought on the cross. The monkey is off his back in that regard, no stress. This allows the believer much freedom to try the new Spirit that now resides in him and to "prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." - Romans 12: 2
God is a warrior God. He deals in success, not failure. God truly loves us. He sees our condition. His solution is to first put a new Spirit inside of man that actually puts us on an even battlefield with sin; and then next he takes away any possibility of punishment as we flex our new muscles in Christ and begin to experience success and failure along the road of "Sanctification"...... which will be the Subject of my next thread in "Modern Bibles".
