Romans 7 is a difficult chapter and last time we to a look at the first six verses and looking at dying to the law and what that meant. Now, we look at Paul circling the wagons to make sure you do not misinterpret him.
What shall we say then? Is the Torah sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Torah; for I would not have known about coveting if the Torah had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Torah sin is dead. I was once alive apart from the Torah; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. Romans7:7-13
Paul, just to make sure you understand what he previously said in the first six verses wants us to understand that the Torah is not sin. The only way you know sin is through the Torah. Paul teaches the same concept at the end of Romans 3 and 5. The Torah is not sin and we should not continue sinning. The Torah is good, holy, and righteous. Sin is the issue in our lives, not Torah. Through the Torah we understand what is sin and how we are to live our lives. Sin kills, but through the process of true teshuvah (repentence) we turn from our ways and turn towards the ways of G-d and He forgives our iniquity.
Are we to follow other gods or follow the One and Only G-d? Deuteronomy 11 comes to mind here. Following other G-ds means you are not following Him in His ways…not following the commandments:
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the L-rd your G-d, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your G-d, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known. Deut. 11:26-28
So you see that not following the commandments is the same as following other gods. How? If you do not listen to G-d then you are listening to someone else whether it be yourself (evil inclination) or someone else. Which G-d tells us in Deut. 13:1-4 not to listen to those who are telling you to follow other G-ds.
Until next time…kadosh, kadosh, kadosh is HaShem!
Yochanan's Thoughts 