ACC ~ Romans 7 v7 - 13

OVERVIEW:

The law revealed to us that desires that we previously supposed were innocent were in fact culpable. Covetousness is a case in point. Before the law came people were living in a fool’s paradise, imagining that everything was all right. But when the law arrived they became aware of how wrong their previous actions had been. In itself the law is holy and shows us what God expects of us. But because we are sinful, the effect of this is the opposite of the one intended. The devil makes use of this and incites us to sin by transgressing the commandment. The Fathers were well aware of the psychological tendency to find in the commandments of the law a prod to disobedience, and they did not hesitate to bring out this aspect of the matter whenever they could. The law cannot cause death by itself, because it is spiritual by nature. Rather, it is our sin which does this, because we are carnal by nature. The law makes our sin worse because it makes it more obvious.

7:7 | Sin Made Known by the Law

WHETHER THE LAW AS SUCH IS SIN. TERTULLIAN: The apostle refrains from any criticism of the law. … What high praise of the law we get from the fact that by it the latent presence of sin becomes manifest! It was not the law which led me astray but sin. AGAINST MARCION 5.13.

NO KNOWLEDGE OF SIN. ORIGEN: What Paul is really saying here is this: “Understand what law this is which I am talking about, which if it did not exist, no one would recognize sin.” Was it by the law of Moses that Adam recognized his sin and hid himself from the face of God? Was it by the law of Moses that Cain recognized his sin … or Pharaoh? … This is the law of which we have often spoken, which is written in men’s hearts not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and which teaches everyone what he should and should not do. This is the law by which a man recognizes his sin. Here Paul says openly that the natural law was unknown to us until we were old enough to know the difference between good and evil and to hear our conscience tell us what it was.

It is not that we did not have sin in us before this, but we did not know what it was. But when natural law and reason implanted itself in us as we were growing up, it began to teach us what was good and forbid us to do what was bad. Thus when it said: “You shall not covet,” we learned what we did not previously know, viz., that covetousness is wrong. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

LAW DEFINES WHAT SHOULD NOT BE DONE. DIODORE: It is clear from Romans [2:14] that even without the law the Gentiles knew what was required of them. It must therefore be accepted that they knew, though they did not know everything. For there are things which some Gentiles regard as good and proper while others reject them as bad and unlawful. Therefore the giving of the law was necessary to define for us what should and should not be done, outlining for us and showing us what the behavior of a righteous person is. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

LEARNING WHAT IT IS TO COVET. AMBROSIASTER: Paul shows that the law is not sin but the yardstick of sin. For Paul demonstrated that sins lie dormant in us and that they will not go unpunished by God. When a man finds this out he becomes guilty and thus does not thank the law. For who would be grateful to someone who tells him that he is running the risk of punishment? But he gives thanks to the law of faith, because the man who was made guilty by the law of Moses has been reconciled to God by the law of faith, even though the law of Moses is just and good in itself (because it is good to show that danger is near). . . .

Paul takes on a particular role in order to expound a general principle. For the law forbids covetousness, but because it is a matter of desire it was not previously thought to be sin. For nothing could be easier than to covet something which belongs to a neighbor; it is the law which called it sin. For to men of the world nothing seems more harmless and innocent than desire. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GUARDING AGAINST MANICHEAN ANTINOMIANISM. CHRYSOSTOM: Note how Paul gradually shows how the law was not merely an accuser of sin but to some extent its producer as well. This was not from any fault in it but from the disobedience of the Jews … for he has taken care to guard against the attacks of the Manichaeans, who accuse the law of being evil in itself. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

CONVERTING THE SOUL BY ANXIETY. AUGUSTINE: In this passage [to v. 25], it seems to me that the apostle is portraying himself as a man set under the law and that he speaks in that role.

The law was given not to introduce sin nor to extirpate it but simply to make it known; by the demonstration of sin to give the human soul a sense of its guilt in place of the assurance of its innocence. Sin cannot be overcome without the grace of God, so the law was given to convert the soul by anxiety about its guilt, so that it might be ready to receive grace. … Desire was not implanted in him by the law but was made known to him. TO SIMPLICIAN ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS 1.1.

HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR THE LAW. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul wants to show that the weakness of the law was not in the attempt to keep it but in human nature. For in saying: “If it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin,” Paul assumed the role of a child who is not bound to keep the law because of the weakness of his age, but when he grows up, he knows what the commandments are and begins to be under the law. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

NOT KNOWN COVETING WITHOUT THE LAW. PELAGIUS: From here on Paul speaks as one who accepts the law, i.e., of one who first comes to know God’s commandants while he is still in the habit of breaking them. Paul does not say that without the law he would not have been in the habit of coveting, nor does he say that he would not have done it; rather, he says that he would not have known that coveting was a sin. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: We often covet the things of this life, not merely food and drink and sex but fame and fortune as well. We have these desires inside us and would never know there was anything wrong with them unless the law told us so. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

MAKING SIN KNOWN. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Paul did not say that he had no sin apart from the law but rather that he was unaware of it. Therefore the law is not the cause of sin but rather the instrument which points it out, making it clear to those who did not know what it was. It did not do this in order that, once sin was made known, those who committed it should continue in what they were doing. … On the contrary, its intention was to convert people to better things by making their sins known to them. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

7:8 | Sin Is Dead Without the Law

THINGS FORBIDDEN ARE DESIRED MORE. ORIGEN: I do not know why it is, but things which are forbidden are desired all the more. Thus it happened that although the commandment is holy and just and good, since because it forbids evil it must be good, yet in forbidding covetousness it provoked and inflamed it all the more, with the result that something good wrought death in me. COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

DIODORE: By “sin,” Paul presumably means the devil. For just as Scripture sometimes calls the Savior “life” and “righteousness” because he is the source of life and righteousness, so it calls the opposing power by what it causes—sometimes “sin,” sometimes “lie,” sometimes “death.” PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

ALL KINDS OF COVETOUSNESS. AMBROSIASTER: By “all kinds of covetousness” Paul means every sin. [In the last verse] he mentioned covetousness according to the law, and now by adding other sins he shows that all covetousness works in man by the impulse of the devil, whom he calls “sin,” so that the law was given to man to promote the opposite. For when the devil saw the help provided by the law for man, whom he was delighted to have snared as much by his own sin as by the sin of Adam, he realized that this was done against him. For when he saw man placed under the law he knew that he would escape from his control, for now man knew how to escape the punishment of hell. For this reason his wrath was kindled against man, in order to turn him away from the law and get him to do what was forbidden, so that he would again offend God and fall back into the devil’s power.

“Apart from the law sin lies dead.” This is to be understood in two ways. First, you should realize that the devil is meant when the word sin is used and that it also refers here to sin itself. The devil is said to have died because before the law came he did not conspire to deceive man and was quiet, as if unable to possess him. But, second, “sin was also dead,” because it was thought that it would not be reckoned by God. For that reason it was dead as far as natural man was concerned, as if he could sin without being punished. In fact sin was not absent, as I have already indicated, but this was not realized until it became clear by the giving of the law, i.e., that sin would revive. But how could it revive unless it had previously been alive and after the fall of man was thought to be dead when in fact it was still living? People thought that sin was not being reckoned to them, when in fact it was. Thus something which was alive was assumed to be dead. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SIN FINDS OPPORTUNITY IN THE COMMANDMENT. CHRYSOSTOM: Note how Paul clears the law of all blame. It was sin which took advantage of the commandment and not the law, which increased the covetousness and brought about the opposite of what the law intended. This was caused by weakness rather than by wickedness. For when we desire something but are prevented from obtaining it, all that happens is that the flame of our desire is increased. It was not the law’s fault, because the law hindered us and did what it could to keep us away from desire. It was sin, i.e., our own laziness and bad disposition, which used what was good for the opposite. It was not the fault of the physician but rather of the patient who used the medicine wrongly. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

SIN LIES DEAD. AUGUSTINE: Not every sort of lust existed before the prohibition increased it. For since the prohibition increases lust when the Deliverer’s grace is missing, it is clear that not all lust existed beforehand. But when, in the absence of grace, lust was forbidden, it grew so much that it reached its own kind of completeness, to the point that it appeared in opposition to the law and added criminal offense to the transgression. When Paul says: “Apart from the law sin lies dead,” he does not mean that it does not exist but rather that it lies hidden. He makes this clear [in verse 13]. The law is therefore good, but without grace it only reveals sins; it does not take them away. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 37.

AUGUSTINE: By “sin lies dead,” Paul means that it is “latent” in us. TO SIMPLICIAN ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS 1.4.

AUGUSTINE: By “sin is dead” the apostle means that it is not “imputed” to us. QUESTIONS 66.4.

SIN DOES NOT LIVE WHERE THERE IS NO LAW. [PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Just as light in the darkness reveals stumbling stones and pitfalls, similarly the law, by decreeing what must be observed, shows sinners what their sins are, and for this reason we say that the law is good and holy. If sin were dead when there was no law, those who say that sin has come to us by inheritance from Adam would be mad. But Paul says sin was dead because it does not “live” in children, who are without the law, i.e., it is committed without incurring blame. For a child who curses his parents has sinned, but this sin is “dead,” not “alive,” because it does not count in his case. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul says that without the law to define it sin would not be effective. Why? Because it is not the deed by itself which is sin but rather doing something when you know that it is wrong. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

SINNING IGNORANTLY AND KNOWINGLY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: I think that what Paul means here is something like this: Even though the person who sins in ignorance is guilty, there will be a harsher punishment for the one who sins knowingly. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

SEVERIAN: It is not reasonable to condemn completely someone who has sinned in ignorance. But when the law was given and revealed sin, it gave sin power. This was not a condemnation of the law but a punishment of the contempt shown by those who did not keep it. For if it is true that without the law sin lies dead, it is also true that sin is dead when the law is kept. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

7:9 | The Commandment Came and Sin Revived

SIN REVIVED AND I DIED. BASIL: When the commandment, i.e., the power of the discernment of the good, came, the mind did not prevail over the baser thoughts but permitted its reason to be enslaved by the passions. Then sin revived but the mind died, suffering death because of its transgressions. EXEGETIC HOMILIES 10.5.

DIODORE: If sin “revived” it is clear that it must have been alive at some earlier point and then died. When was that? It was when the devil deceived and defeated Adam, who had received the commandment and knew what transgression meant. Cain too knew that he was sinning, having been commanded not to murder his brother. It was after that that there was no commandment and no law, and so sin was knocked out by the ignorance of those who committed it. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

LAW INCREASES AWARENESS. CHRYSOSTOM: This looks like a condemnation of the law, but when you look more closely at it you will find that really it is an encomium in praise of the law. For the law did not give existence to a sin which was not there before; rather, it pointed out what had previously escaped notice. This is why Paul is speaking in praise of the law, since before it came people were sinning without realizing it. If they gained nothing else from the law, at least they became aware that they had been sinning. This is no small point if you want to be delivered from wickedness. If they were not in fact set free, this had nothing to do with the law, which framed everything with that end in view. The accusation lies wholly against their spirit, which was perverse beyond all imagining. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

AUGUSTINE: Nothing can be said to revive if it had not been previously alive. TO SIMPLICIAN ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS 1.4.

AUGUSTINE: When he says “I died,” Paul means that he realized that he was already dead, because one who sees through the law what he should do but does not do it sins with transgression. QUESTIONS 66.5.

[PSEUDO-]CONSTANTIUS: Paul says that when he was a child he was not bound by the law. If sin revived, that means that it had previously lived at some point, even before Satan himself rebelled. Paul says that as he grew up he began to be under the law, and the sin which had been dead in him because of his ignorance as a child sprang to life as the law took control. Thus the commandment which was given for life turned out to be a means of death, because of the custom of childhood and the habit of sinning. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

I WAS ONCE ALIVE APART FROM THE LAW. PELAGIUS: Paul means either that he once imagined that he lived as a righteous and free person or that he was alive, at least for the present life. But when the commandment arrived to put an end to forgetfulness, sin was once again recognized, so that everyone who commits it knows that he is dead. Because sin had lived by natural knowledge and died through forgetfulness, it is said to have come back to life through the law. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We were not righteous before the law came, but given that sin was dead as long as there was no law to condemn it, we lived having the excuse that we did not know what it was that we ought to be doing. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

THEODORET OF CYR: Adam had no fear of death before he sinned. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

7:10 | Promising Life, Proving to Be Death

LAW, GIVEN FOR LIFE, TURNED OUT TO BRING DEATH. AMBROSIASTER: Man died when he realized that he was guilty before God when he had previously thought that he would not be held accountable for the sins which he committed. It is true that the law was given for life, but because it made man guilty, not only for the sins which he committed before the coming of the law but also for those which he committed afterward, the law which was given for life turned out to bring death instead. But as I have said, this was for the sinner, because for those who obeyed, it led to eternal life. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHRYSOSTOM: If death was the result, the fault lies with those who received the commandment and not with the law, which was leading them to life. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

PROVED TO BE DEATH TO ME. [PSEUDO-] CONSTANTIUS: “Death” is what Paul calls the punishment which sin has brought on us by its deception, holding out to us temporal and earthly things as if they were good and persuading us to transgress the law, which promises eternal life to those who keep it. THE HOLY LETTER OF ST. PAUL TO THE ROMANS.

PELAGIUS: Paul says that he died because then he transgressed knowingly. The commandment which would have led to life had it been kept in fact led to death, because it was disregarded. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

THE SENTENCE OF DEATH UPON ADAM AND EVE. THEODORET OF CYR: As soon as God gave Adam and Eve the commandment concerning the trees, the devil came to Eve in the form of a serpent and lied to her. When she saw the beauty of the fruit she ate of it, being overcome by desire, and broke the commandment. Both she and Adam were immediately placed under sentence of death, for Adam too ate the fruit along with her. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

7:11 | Sin Deceives and Kills

SATAN AS SOURCE OF SIN. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: The word sin does not refer to a particular substance but to the manner and life of one who has sinned. … Paul calls nothing sin except the one who is the source and begetter of sin, viz., the devil. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

SIN, FINDING ITS OPPORTUNITY. AMBROSIASTER: “Sin” in this verse is to be understood as the devil, who is the author of sin. He found an opportunity through the law to satisfy his cruelty by the murder of man, so that as the law threatened sinners, man by instinct always did what was forbidden. By offending God he incurred the penalty of the law, so that he was condemned by that which had been given to him for his own good. For as the law was given to man without his asking for it, it inflamed desires to man’s disadvantage in order to stain him even more with sinful lusts, and he could not escape its hands. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

CHRYSOSTOM: Notice yet again how Paul blames sin and clears the law of any accusation. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

SIN DECEIVED ME. AUGUSTINE: Paul means by this that the fruit of a forbidden desire is sweeter. For this reason, sins committed in secret are sweeter, even if this sweetness is deadly. … It deceives us and turns into very great bitterness. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 39.

AUGUSTINE: Paul means either that pleasure’s persuasion to sin is more powerful when something is forbidden or else that, even if a man did do something in accordance with the law’s requirements, if there is as yet no faith resting in grace, then he endeavors to attribute this to himself and not to God, and he sins all the more because of pride. QUESTIONS 66.5.

7:12 | The Commandment Is Holy, Just and Good

PREPARATORY DISCIPLINE. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: This is true as far as a sort of training with fear and preparatory discipline goes, leading as it did to the culmination of legislation and finally to grace. WHO IS THE RICH MAN THAT SHALL BE SAVED? 9.

GOODNESS AND JUSTICE CONCUR. ORIGEN: If the law is found to be good, undoubtedly we shall believe that he who gave it is a good God. If, however, it is just rather than good, we shall think of God as a just lawgiver. But Paul the apostle says in no roundabout terms: “The commandment is holy and just and good.” It is plain from this that Paul has not learned the doctrines of those [Gnostics] who separate the just from the good. Rather, he had been instructed by that God and illuminated by the Spirit of that God, who is holy and good and just at the same time. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.5.4.

AMBROSIASTER: Paul commends the law in this way so that no doubts about it might remain. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

MOSAIC, NOT NATURAL, LAW. CHRYSOSTOM: Some people say that here Paul is not talking about the law of Moses but rather about the law of nature or of the commandment given in paradise. But surely Paul’s aim is to reach beyond the authority of the law of Moses; he has no quarrel with the other two. And rightly so, for it was because the Jews feared the abolition of their law that they so obstinately opposed the working of grace. Moreover, it does not appear that Paul ever called the commandment given in paradise a law, nor has any other writer. Following Paul’s logic, let us pursue the argument a little further. Having spoken to the Romans about proper standards of behavior, Paul goes on to say: “Do you not know, brethren—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? But you are discharged from the law.” … Now if these things had been said about the natural law, we would now be without it. And if that were true, we would be more senseless than the irrational creatures are. But surely this is not so. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

AUGUSTINE: Man needed to be shown the foulness of his malady. Against his wickedness not even a holy and good commandment could avail; by it the wickedness was increased rather than diminished. THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 9.6.

PELAGIUS: Contrary to those who attack the law and those who separate justice from goodness, the law is called a good and holy grace as well as a just grace. God is regularly called “good” in the Old Testament and “just” in the New. This contradicts the Marcionites. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

HOLY, JUST AND GOOD. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul calls the law “holy” because it gives us the principles on which to tell the difference between good and evil, … “just” because after showing us what is good it necessarily points out the punishment for the transgressor, but also “good” because it is the source of good things, showing us what they are and persuading us that they are desirable. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

THE LAW IS HOLY. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The law was holy because it testified that those who kept it were holy, righteous and good and were not guilty of sin in any way whatsoever. EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

THE RELATION OF LAW AND CONSCIENCE. THEODORET OF CYR: The law is what was given to Moses; the commandment, what was given to Adam. What Paul praises so highly the average person condemns. For those who have given themselves over to idleness and run away from the works of righteousness blame God for having given a commandment in the first place. They say that, if God did not know what was going to happen, how can he be God? And if he did know that men would sin but nevertheless gave the commandment, then he is himself the cause of sin. But these people ought to realize that the knowledge of good and evil belongs to all who have the gift of reason. Only those without reason lack the ability to distinguish one from the other. The wolf is vicious, the lion devours, and bears and leopards do the same sort of thing but they have no sense of sin, nor do they have a conscience which is offended by their actions. But men are ashamed even if nobody else sees what they do and are afraid to admit what they have done. For their conscience accuses them. How could this be if they lived without any law? But God gave them a commandment so that they would recognize their own rational nature and fear the lawgiver. Yet they knew that the lawgiver was merciful and that the law was not difficult to keep.

The commandment is “holy” because it teaches what is right. It is “just” because it pronounces the correct sentence on those who break it. But it is also “good” because it prepares eternal life for those who keep it. INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

GENNADIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE: “Law” and “commandment” are synonymous in this case. The commandment is called “holy” because it takes us away from sin and sets us apart from evil; “just” because with its righteousness it honors those who obey it and punishes those who transgress it; “good” because it leads us to the good, and this because of the goodness given by God. The law is not sin just because it shows me what is evil but the opposite. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

7:13 | Sin Works Death Through the Law

CHOOSING DEATH. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: Here Paul is expounding the person of Adam. For although he had the image of God dwelling in him, he turned away from true life and chose death instead. Moreover, this death was not just the common death of our bodily members but the spiritual death of disobedience as well. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

WHETHER GOODNESS BRINGS DEATH. AMBROSIASTER: Although even before the law came, the devil obtained death for man because of the first sin of Adam, nevertheless, after the law came he found still greater punishments for him in hell, where death followed him. For to have sinned before the coming of the law was a lesser crime than to have sinned after it.

The wording here suggests that a limit was imposed on transgressors when they were forbidden to sin. … What the apostle means is that sinning after the law came was much more serious than sinning before it. He means that after the law came the attacks and tricks of Satan grew worse. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

SHOWN TO BE SIN. CHRYSOSTOM: By the very way he accuses sin, Paul shows how excellent the law is. … It was the commandment which showed us just how evil sin is. At the same time, Paul also shows how grace is so much greater than the law. Grace is not in conflict with the law; it is superior to it. HOMILIES ON ROMANS 12.

SIN WORKING DEATH IN ME. AUGUSTINE: Here Paul elaborates on what he said [in verse 8]. It is not that a good thing (i.e., the law) had become death for him but rather that sin worked death through the law’s goodness, i.e., that it became apparent whereas without the law it had lain hidden. For everyone recognizes that he is dead if he cannot fulfill a precept which he recognizes as just, and because of the criminal offense of the trespass he sins even more than he would have if it had not been forbidden. Before the coming of the law the offense was less, because without the law there is no transgression. AUGUSTINE ON ROMANS 40.

SIN REVEALED THROUGH THE LAW. PELAGIUS: The law does not become for me the actual cause of death, but I do when I encounter death by sinning. Sin was revealed through the law, which is itself good, and was also punished by it. Before the law came sin was limited because of ignorance, but when it is committed knowingly these limitations are taken away. PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON ROMANS.

SINFUL BEYOND MEASURE. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Even those who do not know God’s will deserve God’s punishment because they sin, even if it is in ignorance. Nevertheless, they have some excuse, for when the law is explained to them they will probably excuse themselves in front of those who are under the law, on account of their ignorance. But those who have chosen to sin and do so not out of ignorance have committed a crime of madness and have completely rejected God. Such people are said to be “sinful beyond measure.” Someone who sins in ignorance is still sinful, but he is not, nor is he said to be, “sinful beyond measure.” EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.