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, I found to be for 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—that through the commandment sin might become exceeding sinful.”
The Apostle Paul is writing to believers in Rome, explaining profound truths about faith, sin, and God's grace. In this section, he addresses questions about the role of the Jewish Law (Torah) now that people are saved by faith, not by following the Law.
What does this passage reveal about the inherent goodness of rules and boundaries, even when they highlight our shortcomings?