Thoughts on the Epistle to the Romans (124) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2026

The law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
Romans 7:12.13

Thoughts on the Epistle to the Romans (124)
In verse 11 Paul has already demonstrated that it is not the commandments of the law that cause the sentence of death for sinful man. It is sin that leads people to resist the commandments and thus suffer death.

Let us take note how respectfully Paul speaks of the law and its specific commandments: "holy and just and good". A few further general remarks on this point:

When Christians resolutely hold that a believer has been "delivered from the law" (v.6) and that he is no longer "under law but under grace" (ch.6, v. 14), they are sometimes reproached with not honouring the law sufficiently.

Like Paul, we acknowledge that "the commandment is holy and just and good" and that the sentence of death passed on the sinner is justified. This sentence has been carried out in Christ's death. Could the law be honoured more than by this moving deed? Simultaneously, in Christ's death the believer has become "dead to the law" (v.4), i.e. taken out of its power.

On the other hand, the law is not honoured by any insistence that it is the Christian's rule of life. Were that the case, then every transgression of the law would have to be punished as it prescribes.

The law that is "good" cannot possibly be the cause of a sinner's dying. Sin is the cause, and its character is brought fully to light by the law.

(to be continued next Sunday)


Today's reading: Exodus 8:1-20 · Luke 3:1-14