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what current 'rules' in our lives might inadvertently be exposing our failings rather than guiding us?

Adds the setting and its conversation across both testaments.

Romans 7:7-13

“What then shall we say? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn't have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn't have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead. I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. The commandment, which was for life, was found to be to me unto death. For sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good. Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good, might become exceedingly sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.”

The apostle Paul, writing to the church in Rome around the mid-1st century CE, is exploring the relationship between God's law and human sinfulness. He has just discussed how believers are freed from the law's condemnation, and here he clarifies that the law itself is not bad, but rather reveals sin.

What 'good' rules or structures in your life, intended for guidance, might actually be highlighting areas where you fall short?

Then — the setting

Paul is writing to a mixed audience of Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome during the mid-1st century CE. For Jewish believers, the Torah (Law) was central to their identity and covenant with God, often seen as a gift for flourishing. Gentiles would have been less familiar with its intricacies but would understand legal codes. Paul is navigating a complex theological issue: if Christ's death freed people from the Law, does that mean the Law was bad or sinful? His argument defends the Law's goodness while explaining its inability to justify or save, instead serving to expose the pervasive nature of sin.

Across the Testaments

This passage is in the New Testament. The Old Testament, particularly books like Deuteronomy and Psalm 119, often presents the Law as a divine gift, a source of wisdom, life, and blessing for God's people. It was meant to guide them in righteousness and preserve their covenant relationship. Paul, however, while affirming the Law's holiness and goodness (Old Testament perspective), emphasizes its New Testament function as a revelatory tool that exposes humanity's inability to perfectly keep it, thus highlighting the need for divine grace. It's not a contradiction, but an expansion of understanding the Law's purpose in the broader story of salvation.

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

Galatians 3:19
This passage also discusses why the Law was given, suggesting it was 'added because of transgressions.'
Deuteronomy 30:19-20
This shows the original intention of the Law as a path to life and blessing, not death.
James 1:22-25
This speaks to the importance of not just hearing the law, but acting on it, and the self-deception in failing to do so.

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