Q2. The Law Reveals and Provokes Sin

[Commissioned]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

We wouldn't be better off not knowing what the law reveals as sin. When we know what is sin we develop knowledge of truth. The flesh response to being told "Do not covet" be coveting all the more because of the rebellious nature within that has not been brought under the rule of Christ.

[taray]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

Sin existed before the law, yet we were not aware of it. We sinned yet we did not know. It was God's mercy that the law came and shone a light upon sin, that we may know we sinned; whereas before we simply sinned without knowing it, when the law came, we sinned against the law. As Dr. Wilson said, "knowing something is wrong is the first step toward truth," the law was given by God to instruct us, to give us light to save us from the darkness of ignorance. Yet our flesh is weak and we continued to sin under law, perhaps even more than before, enticed by our "sinful passions aroused by the law". But now that we are dead to the law and alive to the Spirit, we're no longer under the rulership of sin. We choose to follow the Spirit that guides us closer to God.

"I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death." The first example of this was in the Garden of Eden, when God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Sin "sprang to life" and they disobeyed God's commandment, and "died." It was not God's commandment that was sinful, but the disobedience of Adam and Eve. If God had not given them the commandment, they would've lived, but they would not have known sin either. They were in a state of ignorance, not knowing right from wrong; but when they did know, it was already too late; they had wronged. And they died.

But through the death of Jesus, and our death in Him, we died one last time, this time to sin. And we are reborn into the Spirit. We still know right from wrong, but this time, guided by the Spirit, we choose to do what is right. The flesh no longer has power over us to drag us into sin. All these are in God's plan to teach us and grow us into the perfect image of Him that He created in the beginning.

[Charles Sanger]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

We would not have been better off if we did not know what sin was. I believe that the laws of Moses was introduced, not just for us to behave nicely, but to give us a true glimpse of what God really stood for

[jon burke]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=811

It is in our rebellious nature (the flesh) that when we are told that we can

[Paul G]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example?

ANS - Knowing something is wrong is the first step towards truth. If we understand something is sin (by naming it), the we understand that we have to deal with it, so that we can be free from it, be forgiven of it, and get victory over it.

Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

ANS - It is like a little monkey that latches onto our shoulder and rides around. "Oh, isn't this so cute?". He (the sin) gets hungry so we feed it. He begins to grow, until eventually he gets so big he hangs onto our neck, and we can't get rid of him, and eventually he chokes us to death. So with sin, it demands to be fed. And the more we feed it, the more destructive it becomes in our life.

[Foofee's Nana]

The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

We would not be better off for not knowing what sin is....we would be ignorant of the facts, but we would still be in that sinful state. I think when things are made clear to us, when we know the meaning our conscience begins to act....the thought process of knowing what coveting is set in motion. But by knowlege, we are also given freedom.....to not give in to the desires of our flesh. Yes, we are all human but with that we have choices.....

[Old Jerry]

The reason that it isn

[wifee]

a)We would not be better off knowing when something is wrong, as God

[Ramon]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

Answer:The law governed and ruled our old sin nature.

Why wouldnt we better off just not knowing that we should not covet,because we can only covet for something that is forbidden.In sexual realm,we dont covet for our wife or husband,because even if we want them,IT IS NOT COVETOUSNESS FOR IT IS LEGAL,because of the bondage of marriage.

We dont covet something that we have legally,but for the things that we dont have.

The flesh just respond,to thou shalt not by doing the opposite.God has made man without restriction, and before we are born again,our sin nature,strengthened by the law motivated us to sinful action.

[Moody Grad]

The flesh responds to "do not covet" by coveting more because our flesh always desires to break the law. In order to stop coveting, we must make our flesh submit to the Spirit of Christ within us. Our Spirit desires to do what is right and have nothing to do with evil.

[rosegarden]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

- Because by the law is the knowledge of sin and the flesh responds by coveting all the more. The more we are told "Do Not", the flesh wants to do it all the more.

[ljmnkscart]

We would not be better off not knowing that we should not covet because not knowing does not mean we are still not committing acts which displeases God. As a result of the covetousness we will have to suffer with the consequences or penalty of committing the act. When we are told not to do something we always want to do the opposite because there is another power at war within ourselves that is making us a slave to sin.

[ljmnkscart]

We would not be better off because we would continue to covet which is wanting something that does not and cannot legally belong to us and this would cause harm to us and others. Not knowing that you are sinning does not mean that you are not in the wrong. In fact you are, and you will have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Our flesh, sinful nature is in rebellion to God and His laws. When our sinful nature is told not to do something it will do the very thing told not to do. That is our natural state. We want to do right but we can't because of the power that sin has over the natural state of mind. Romans 8:7 NIV The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God

[Guitar Jim]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

The Bible says that the heart is evil above all things. It seems we are just waiting to find more bad things to do. We covet things that don't belong to us or are not meant for us, then we find out that it's wrong to covet. Our fleshly desires take over and we can't wait to covet something else. It's like the disobedient child who gets told, "Whatever you do don't do . . .(fill in the missing word with just about anything a parent normally tells the kids not to do)". Sure enough, that's exactly what the kid goes straight out and does. That's why reverse psychology often works so well. If they think we're quite OK with them doing whatever undesirable thing it may be, it loses its appeal.

Nothing rankles a teenager as much as his/her parents liking the same music as they do. How can they scratch their rebel itch when we like it too? That's how Death Metal and Gangsta Rap came to be so popular. The older generation simply can't stand it and no matter how broad minded we try to be, it just offends our sensibilities so much that we can't listen to it or even pretend to like it. Kids can spot if you fake a liking for something.

My girlfriend's eldest boy is 16. Smoking is legal at 16, so he's smoking. The younger boy is cracking his neck to take it up too. It's bad for them and they know it. But the lure of smoking, the image of tough worldliness that they THINK smoking will somehow give them outweighs the good sense God gave them.

The god of this world is the Devil. He is in control of the flesh, whether we like to admit it or not. That's why we do the evil we really don't want to do. We give in to the flesh and its lusts.

Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet or whatever other sin we struggle with? Simply because ignorance is no excuse. Deep down we know it's wrong, despite the cultural acceptance of covetousness and greed. The Law of God points out that coveting is wrong. Our sinful flesh then engages in rebellion, urged on by the god of this world. We need to bring our thought life under the control and influence of the Holy Spirit.

[Chichii]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example?

We need the consciousness of sin so that we realise we can not by our strength stop sinning and know that we need a saviour. Someone or something other than oursleves that can purify us.

Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

I think that because the flesh is contrary to God whenever it knows that this is what God wants it instinctively does the opposite.

[Barbara A. Lee]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

As a FLESHLY body we need the sinful nature to begin to know right from wrong. Then we shall begin to understand that we as a sinful body need the Goodness of the Lord as our savior.

[pastor neal]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveal sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

The law does, in fact, reveals the nature of sin. These boundaries and foundations are needed so that we know when we are sinning. These are important in establishing right from wrong.

The flesh responds negatively to any sort of boundaries. When faced with such do's and don'ts we become rebellious against God's value system; seeking to sin all the more.

[iam4_1god]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

The flesh, in and of itsself, is sinful-to be told not to do something only makes flesh want it more! That's one reason why illegal drugs are so desired-they are "against the law"! Anything that is bad for us or illegal is just what we want more than anything because we are selfish, and we don't like the word "no"!

[ross_laoshi]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

We wouldn't be better off not knowing, because the sin issue would not be getting dealt with and we would be sinning against God and hurting others and ourselves. Ignorance is not bliss.

The flesh (or the sinful nature) want's to sin all the more when it's told not to because it's very nature is rebellion against God and his righteous laws.

[Janissi]

(Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

I don't think we would be better off. As stated in the lesson, ignorance of sin does not excuse it. However, once we KNOW something is a sin, and we continue in the action, we are now accountable to it because we KNOW it's wrong.

To answer the second part of the question, I thought of children. The more you tell them not to do something, the more they want to do something. It's the same as adult. We want what we can't have. We covet more because our flesh rebels against the Spirit. It's human nature.

[Joeraja]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

Without the law we would not be able to differentiate the right from the wrong. We will be involved in sinful living without knowing that it was sinful and pay the price that is death. We may not face the struggle to choose between right and wrong because either actions will not bring about a feeling of guilt. There would be chaos and disorder, people will be harmed and there will be a lot of suffering. We would be spiraling into anarchy because there are no laws to determine what is right or wrong so that someone can bring about order. Not knowing what is sin does not stop us from sinning which wouldn't be good because God loves us and wants us to live holy lives.

The flesh, inherited from Adam, has a rebellious spirit. As human beings we are still flesh so it is in our nature to go against the law. When we are told "do not covet" we become all the more determined to covet. But thank God that we have Jesus Christ who died on the cross to release us of the bondage of sin. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can overcome the desires of the flesh and thus overcome sin.

[robertprice]

We would not be bettter off by being ignorant of part of God's full range of commandments - it would be like mixing and matching to our own selfish ends. No, if we are seriously to consider God's Law, its implications and its effects upon us, we surely have to regard the whole lot. The flesh, that human beast within us, may try to ignore covetousness, but sooner or later, it has to explore that avenue, often with devastating results. That is the nature of our 'Flesh'.

[awylie1949@yahoo.co.uk]

I am thinking of the old saying Ignorance is bliss. We can blithly go on our way behaving badly and not feeling condemned. Maybe our conscience would trouble us but we could just brush it off because we did not know what we were doing was wrong and we were ignorant of sin. God gave the law to educate us and to make realise that what we were doing wrong was sin so He brought it to our attention for us to address the issue.. Now that we are aware of sin, our fleshly nature governed by satan, who is at war against God, wants us to be destroyed by our sinning. But there is answer and that is Christ who died for our sins and by His Spirit can give us the strength to overcome them

[lynnjaylynn731]

Because the flesh only knows its own selfish desires and the bible says within it dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18 King James Bible For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.), because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden, we are born into sin and shaped into inquiry. (Psalms 51:5 King James Bible Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.). (Romans 5:12 King James Bible Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.).

So the flesh only knows disobedience and disobedience brings forth death so the flesh had to be made aware of sin (1 Timothy 1:19 New International Version We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,), but through the spirit all truths concerning man's intended nature are revealed. But, we have that constant uphill battle because the word says, indeed the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak in nature. (Matthew 26:41 New International Version "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

[lynnjaylynn731]

Q2. (Romans 7:7-8) The law reveals sin for what it is. Why wouldn't we be better off just not knowing that we should not covet, for example? Why does the flesh respond to being told "Do not covet" by coveting all the more?

Romans 7:7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.

A1. I really do not get this statement or why Paul made it? It sounds like Paul is being sarcastic. I mean how can the law be sinful. The law does not say this, the commandments say "Thou shall not covet thy neighbors things." The commandments and the laws are separate to me because the law said you had to be circumcised. The law said if a woman's husband died, his brother was to take her as his wife. The law said if a woman had a baby, she had to have a seven day separation. The law was like any municipal, state or federal laws to me, a set of rules to govern people by. The bible says the laws were made for lawless people and without the laws we would not know how to govern ourselves because there would be no rules and we could just go around shooting each other and it would be alright.

By the law, now sin is understood and now we can see all the sin which is within us like coveting and coveting in many circumstances whether a cow, horse, a spouse, children, handmaiden.

But I understand that Paul is speaking to the Romans so I believe he is trying to make them understand what sin is and remind the Jews that before the law came into existence, they did not know what sin was either.