ISB ~ Romans 7 v7 - 25

Paul contemplates the mystery of sin and man’s natural inability to resist it. He defends the Law of Moses as innocent and good (7:12), but accuses sin of murder and enslavement (7:11, 23). To dramatize this, he personifies “sin” as a predator lurking in our members who deceives, kills, and wages war on our desire to follow God. Paul is approaching these issues from a Christian perspective, where the experience of grace magnifies the reality of sin. His consciousness of sin was not nearly so acute when he was a Pharisaic Jew (Phil 3:5).

• The Law was given neither to create sin nor to remove sin, but merely to make it known. Thus the Law, in giving the soul a sense of guilt rather than innocence, makes it ready to receive grace (St. Augustine, To Simplician on Various Questions 1, 1).