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Timothy: Romans 7:7-25
The Law of God and the Law of Sin

7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? Let it not be! But I did not know sin except through Law; for also I did not know lust except the Law said, “You shall not lust.” Ex. 20:17

8 But sin taking occasion through the commandment worked every lust in me; for apart from Law, sin is dead.

9 And I was alive apart from Law once, but the commandment came, and sin came alive, and I died.

10 And the commandment which was to life, this was found to be death to me;

11 for sin taking occasion through the commandment deceived me, and through it killed me.

12 So indeed the Law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

13 Then that which is good, has it become death to me? Let it not be! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, having worked out death to me through the good, in order that sin might become excessively sinful through the commandment.

14 For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, having been sold under sin.

15 For what I work out, I do not know. For what I do not will, this I do. But what I hate, this I do.

16 But if I do what I do not will, I agree with the Law, that it is good.

17 But now I no longer work it out, but the sin dwelling in me.

18 For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good. For to will is present to me, but to work out the good I do not find.

19 For what good I desire, I do not do. But the evil I do not desire, this I do.

20 But if I do what I do not desire, it is no longer I working it out, but the sin dwelling in me.

21 I find then the law, when I desire to do the right, that evil is present with me.

22 For I delight in the Law of God according to the inward man;

23 but I see another law in my members having warred against the law of my mind, and taking me captive by the law of sin being in my members.

24 O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then I myself with the mind truly serve the Law of God, and with the flesh the law of sin.

[Literal Translation of the Holy Bible]

Dear God, my beloved Father, I am grateful and rejoice in You for granting me another day in this life. Your Eternal Living Word is always available to nourish my soul and spirit, allowing my body to continue to be sanctified. Your love and grace towards me will never end. I pray that Christ will strengthen my body on this new day, healing any weakness or illness within me. I also pray that the Holy Spirit will grant me wisdom, keeping me in the truth of God’s Word. I am grateful to Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Dear Father, I would like to write down the understanding I received while meditating on Romans 7:7-25. Today, I want to record my understanding of each verse.

Dear Father, I understand verse 7 as follows: Before the law was given in writing, there was sin. Cain killing Abel was a sin of murder, even though at that time there was no written law to condemn and punish the sin of murder. But Cain knew in his heart that killing was wrong. For human beings were created in the image of God, meaning that they were endowed with knowledge of love, holiness, and justice. This is the law of God that is placed within the human spirit, called the conscience. God’s word spoken to Isaac about Abraham, recorded in Genesis 26:5, helps me understand that in the conscience of Abraham there was knowledge of the commandments and laws of God. That word states, “because Abraham listened to My voice and heeded My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws.” It was not until 430 years after Abraham had lived a faithful life to God, obeying His commandments and laws, that the commandments and laws were given in writing.

Before there were commandments prohibiting and laws punishing lust, humans already experienced lust. However, they did not know that it was a sin, and they were not punished for it. When commandments were established that prohibited and laws were enacted that condemned lust, humans began to realize that their lust was a sin and why they were punished for it.

Dear Father, I understand verse 8 as follows: Sin used the prohibition of commandments to stimulate humans to sin. Humans have a sinful nature, meaning they like to do things that go against God’s commandments to satisfy their wrongful desires. For example, if there were no commandment prohibiting adultery, humans would still commit adultery. But when there is a commandment prohibiting adultery, the sinful nature’s desire to sin stimulates people to commit adultery even more. Almost every time there is a prohibition, humans violate that prohibition.

Dear Father, I understand the phrase “apart from law, sin is dead” to mean that sin cannot use the prohibition of the commandment to incite people to sin. The word “dead” used for sin here means motionless, silent.

Dear Father, I understand verse 9 as follows: The period of time when a person lived without law is when he or she was still a child, not yet aware of committing sins. When he or she becomes aware of sinning, he or she cannot help but sin because sin urges and forces him or her to commit the crime. Therefore, sin lives within him or her and he or she dies because of sinning.

Dear Father, I understand verse 10 as follows: The purpose of the commandment is to help humanity avoid sin and live. However, humans do not have the power to resist the temptation of sin, so they continue to sin and die. This is similar to the warning messages on cigarette packages that say “Smoking is harmful to health” or “Smoking causes lung cancer,” but people still spend money to buy and smoke cigarettes. The warning on the cigarette package aims to guide people towards life, but smokers choose to move towards death.

Dear Father, I understand verse 11 as follows: Sin has taken advantage of the strict prohibitions of God’s commandments to urge humans to commit sin, accompanied by deceitful words such as “It’s okay”, “Just once”, “Everyone does it”, “God is love, God will forgive”…

Dear Father, I understand verse 12 as follows: The law and commandments of God are holy, just, and good. The purpose of the law and commandments is for humans to live happily and peacefully until they receive their new bodies. At that time, obedience to God will become second nature to humans, and the commandments and the law of God will be ingrained in their minds, no longer needing to be written down with letters.

Dear Father, I understand verse 13 as follows: It is not the commandments and the law of God that cause humans to die, but the sinful nature and rebellion against God within each person that cause everyone to sin and suffer the consequences of sin, which is death. Because sin has used the commandments to stimulate, urge, and deceive humans into committing sin, it has become extremely cruel.

Dear Father, I understand verse 14 as follows: God’s law is spiritual because it operates within the human spirit, which is the spiritual body of human beings, to govern all actions of the physical body. However, if humans commit a sin, they immediately become slaves to sin. Therefore, humans cannot help but sin under the influence of sin. The fleshly nature is a nature that only knows how to satisfy the desires of the flesh. Being sold to sin means becoming a slave to sin to enjoy the pleasures that sin brings.

Dear Father, I understand verse 15 as follows: Humans do not understand why they choose to sin, even though they know that sin leads to death. Humans want to follow the commandments to live, but they do not follow them; they hate sin because they know it brings death and moral condemnation, but they continue to sin.

Dear Father, I understand verses 16 and 17 as follows: Even when humans commit sins, they still know that God’s law is good, whether it is the law in their conscience or the law written in the Bible. Therefore, it is not the soul of humans that wants to sin but rather the sinful nature that they have inherited from Adam that drives them to sin.

Dear Father, I understand verses 18 and 19 as follows: Humans are aware of their own sinful and wicked nature, which violates God’s commandments by indulging the desires of the flesh. Therefore, there is no fear of God in the flesh of humans, only the demand to satisfy its desires. The intention to do good lies in the human spirit, through the knowledge in their conscience. However, humans do not find the ability to do good. Humans cannot do good but easily do evil, which their hearts do not want to do.

Dear Father, I understand verse 20 as follows: In fact, the self or soul of humans does not want to sin. But the sinful nature causes humans to sin. Since humans committed their first sin, sin has entered their bodies and continues to control them to sin, until they die.

Dear Father, I understand verses 21 and 22 as follows: Humans can find the laws of God in their conscience or in the Bible. The human spirit knows that the law is good, kind, and satisfying. But humans lack the ability to live according to the law, cannot obey the commandments, and instead easily commit actions that violate them, and are condemned by the law.

Dear Father, I understand verse 23 as follows: Humans find that there is another law in their body that is opposed to God’s law in their mind. That law has conquered humans and made them prisoners of war. This means that humans resist and do not want to obey that law, but they lose and become prisoners, slaves to that law. That law rules the fleshly body of humans, forcing their bodies to obey it. If they obey, there will be satisfaction in the flesh. If they do not obey, there will be misery in the flesh. But the pleasure in the flesh is temporary, fleeting, and leads to death. Dear Father, this makes me think of the dire situation of alcohol or drug addicts who must obey the law of addiction.

Dear Father, I understand verse 24 as follows: Humanity is extremely miserable in a state of being enslaved to sin and unable to escape on its own. Humanity needs salvation.

Dear Father, I understand verse 25 as follows: Only in God, through Jesus Christ, can humanity find salvation. It is worth noting that in the spirit and according to conscience, humanity knows that God’s law is just and submits to it. However, the flesh of humanity submits to the law of sin. This means that the flesh continues to do things that go against God’s commandments to satisfy its desires. It is called the law of sin because the power of sin also rewards and punishes. It rewards those who indulge in sinful pleasures and punishes those who do not commit sins by causing discomfort and dissatisfaction in the flesh because the desires of the flesh are not satisfied.

Dear Father, I thank You for Your grace of salvation. For when anyone receives that grace, the law of sin no longer has power over them, and God’s law no longer punishes them. On the contrary, they have the power of God to overcome the unjust desires of the flesh and to keep God’s commandments.

I thank the Triune God because I have been in the grace of salvation, living a victorious life over the flesh, making it submit to God’s law.

In the grace of Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Timothy Christian Huynh
03/22/2023