Posted on 10/27/2021 5:13:12 AM PDT by metmom
“But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead” (Romans 7:8).
When confronted with God’s holy law, sinful men are motivated not to obey it, but to break it.
It is a perverse fact of fallen human nature that the surest way to get people to do things is to tell them not to do them. When people see a sign reading “Keep off the grass!” or “Don’t pick the flowers!” their first impulse is often to trample the grass and take some flowers.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. God’s law reveals what is right and what is wrong—and sinful men choose to do what is wrong. In his classic allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan vividly depicts the seemingly paradoxical truth that the law does not restrain sin but stirs it up. In the house of Interpreter, Christian was shown a large, dust-filled room. A man with a broom, representing the law, appeared and began to sweep. The resulting dust cloud nearly choked Christian. Bunyan’s point was that just as sweeping a dusty room does not remove the dust but only stirs it up, so the law does not restrain sin but merely aggravates it.
Does that mean the law is evil? Certainly not. “The Law is holy” (Rom. 7:12) since it derives from a holy God. And it does sinners good by exposing their sin and revealing to them their need for a Savior. The law, then, is not the culprit—sin is.
Using himself as an illustration, Paul notes that “sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind.” ”Opportunity” translates a Greek word used in military terms to speak of a base of operations from which attacks could be launched. Sin used the law—especially the knowledge of right and wrong it brought—to launch its attacks on Paul.
Don’t be afraid in your evangelism to confront sinners with the demands of God’s holy law. They must face their utter inability to meet its demands before they will recognize their need for a Savior.
Suggestions for Prayer
Pray that God would help you discern the subtlety of sin’s attacks against you.
For Further Study
Read 2 Kings 17:13-16. Did the Israelites’ knowledge of God’s law keep them from sinning?
Studying God’s Word Ping
This needs to be examined further. That is, when atheists dismiss God and His holy orders, they reject his holy sacraments (more or less this list): Baptism, Penance (Reconciliation or Confession), Eucharist (or Holy Communion), Confirmation, Marriage (Matrimony), Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction).
They also reject the seven virtues: the four classical Cardinal Virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage (or fortitude) with the three Theological Virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
But in their absence of both these lists, they embrace the seven deadly sins (more or less this list): pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth.
Along with these, they embrace the lesser known: Worship-of-the-old-gods (*Veterum Cultura Deorum*), and discord.
When a battle is engaged, it is essential that you know your enemy. But when was the last time we analyzed such people?
Could the Democrat party be called the Party of the Seven Deadly Sins?
It would certainly appear to fit based on their actions and agenda.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
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