1 Do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives?

7 What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have been mindful of sin if not for the law. For I would not have been aware of coveting if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”

8 But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.

10 So I discovered that the very commandment that was meant to bring life actually brought death.

11 For sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through the commandment put me to death.

12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

— Romans 7:1; 7-13

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

We all might have felt that tension between the feeling of knowing what is right, the wanting to do it, and yet finding ourselves pulled in the opposite direction. Paul’s confession in Roman 7 shows us that this battle is part of the human experience. Even the most dedicated believers face this kind of struggle that pull them to the law. The law reveals what is good and right yet it also exposes our inability to live up to it perfectly. It’s like looking into a mirror that shows every flaw.

Paul says the law is holy and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good. While the law teaches us what is right, it doesn’t give us the power to overcome sin. Instead, it makes us aware of how much we need a Savior. Paul uses powerful language to describe the sin, calling it a law within himself that is waging war against his desire to do good. This struggle reflects a deeper truth that is not just a matter of behavior, but a spiritual battle being fought within our soul.