When Sin Came Alive

Day 202: Romans 7:1-13

“I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” - Romans 7:9-11

The Bible is very clear about us being fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139). So much care went into God forming us to be who we are. Though we were born into this wicked world, we were not born wicked. We do, because of the sin of Adam (go back and read Romans 5:12-19), have an inclination to evil, and this is when our flesh starts to war against us (come back for tomorrow's reading!).

There is a moment in everyone's life (the age varies) when we learn what is right and what is wrong. God's standards activate our consciences. Even if we know nothing about God, we know that what we've done is wrong. Guilt, shame, and their effects start to set in; and when the guilt and shame are ignored, we die spiritually. This is what sin does to us. It kills us by using God’s standards (law) against us.

Jack Cottrell says it so well:  "But Paul makes one thing very clear: the real culprit is sin, not the law. Sin is personified as a formidable and powerful enemy who attacks us and kills us. The law is only the instrument used by sin to accomplish this awful deed. Thus sin, not the law, is the true source of death." - Cottrell, J. (1996). Romans (Vol. 1, Ro 7:11)

I remember this happening when I was ten years old. I knew I had done wrong in God's eyes. It was heavy on my young heart. I was convinced I needed to be saved. I was ready to accept Jesus' free gift of salvation and to be reborn into His family (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Is this heavy upon you or someone close to you right now? 

We may do well to go back into Acts and re-read what Ananias told Paul (also remember our reading from yesterday):  "And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name." - Acts 22:16

Only Jesus can set right what our sin made wrong.