Romans 7:12

Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. WHEREFORE, [ "hooste (G5620 ), 'SO THAT,' 'THUS, THEN,'] THE LAW IS HOLY, AND THE COMMANDMENT - that one in particular, so often referred to, which forbids all lusting, and on which some reflection might seem to have been cast in the preceding verses-even that commandment is holy, "and just, and good....

12._So then the law is indeed holy_, _etc. _Some think that the words _law _and _commandment _is a repetition of the same thing; with whom I agree; (216) and I consider that there is a peculiar force in the words, when he says, that the law itself and whatever is commanded in the law, is _holy_, and therefore to be regarded with the highest reverence, — that it is_just_, and cannot therefore be charged with anything wrong, — that it is _good, _and hence pure and free from everything that can do harm. He thus defends the law against every charge of blame, that no one should ascribe to it what is contrary to goodness, justice, and holiness. Having spoken of the law in connection with sin, the Apostle may be supposed to have had the character of sin in view in characterizing the law. Sin works depraved desires and lusts; the law is _holy: _sin deceives and acts the traito

7-13 There is no way of coming to that knowledge of sin, which is necessary to repentance, and therefore to peace and pardon, but by trying our hearts and lives by the law. In his own case the apostle would not have known the sinfulness of his thoughts, motives, and actions, but by the law. That perfect standard showed how wrong his heart and life were, proving his sins to be more numerous than he had before thought, but it did not contain any provision of mercy or grace for his relief. He is ignorant of human nature and the perverseness of his own heart, who does not perceive in himself a readiness to fancy there is something desirable in what is out of reach. We may perceive this in our children, though self-love makes us blind to it in ourselves. The more humble and spiritual any Christian is, the more clearly will he perceive that the apostle describes the true believer, from his fi...

Verse Romans 7:12. _WHEREFORE THE LAW_ IS _HOLY_] As if he had said, to soothe his countrymen, to whom he had been showing the absolute insufficiency of the law either to justify or save from sin: I do not intimate that there is any thing _improper_ or _imperfect_ in the law as a _rule of life_: it prescribes what is _holy, just_, and _good;_ for it comes from a holy, just, and good God. The LAW, which is to regulate the whole of the _outward conduct_, is holy; and the COMMANDMENT, _Thou shalt not covet_, which is to regulate the _heart_, is not less so. All is excellent and pure; but it neither pardons sin nor purifies the heart; and it is because it is holy, just, and good, that it condemns transgressors to _death_....

WHEREFORE - So that. The conclusion to which we come is, that the Law is not to be blamed, though these are its effects under existing circumstances. The source of all this is not the Law, but the corrupt nature of man. The Law is good; and yet the position of the apostle is true, that it is not adapted to purify the heart of fallen man. Its tendency is to excite increased guilt, conflict, alarm, and despair. This verse contains an answer to the question in Romans 7:7, “Is the law sin?” IS HOLY - Is not sin; compare Romans 7:7. It is pure in its nature. AND THE COMMANDMENT - The word “commandment” is here synonymous with the Law. It properly means what is enjoined....

EXPOSITION ROMANS 7:1 Here comes in the third illustration of the moral obligation of the baptized. It rests on the recognized principle that _death _cancels the claims of human law on a person (cf. Romans 6:7); and this with especial reference to the law of marriage, as being peculiarly applicable to the subject to be illustrated, since the Church is elsewhere regarded as married to Christ. As has been observed above, it is from _the Law _that Christians are now said to be emancipated in the death of Christ; not from _sin, as _in the previous sections. Hence this section might at first sight seem to introduce a new line of thought. But it is really a continuation of the same, though differently viewed; for, in the sense intended by St. Paul, being under th

THEREFORE THE LAW IS HOLY,.... This is a conclusion or inference drawn from the preceding discourse, in commendation of the law; that standing clear of any charge or imputation of sin, as being the cause of it. This epithet the apostle gives to the law is what the Jews frequently give it; worthy are the Israelites, say they h, "to whom is given אורייתא קדישא "the holy law"; in which they study day and night.'' By "the law" is meant the whole body of the precepts of it in general; and by THE COMMANDMENT, either the same, or everyone of the commandments in particular, and especially that which is cited, "thou shall not covet". Some have thought that the three properties of it design the threefold division of the law; and suppose that by that which is "holy" is meant the ceremonial law, which sanctified to the purifying of the flesh; by that which is "just", the judicial law, which point...

Romans 7:1. _Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law), how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress, but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man._ He merely states this as an illustration. Romans 7:4. _Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God._...

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Law and its Dominion. (Romans 7:1 .)_ 2. Dead to the Law and Married to Another. (Romans 7:4 .) 3. Concerning the Law; its Activities and Purpose. (Romans 7:7 .) 4. The Experience of a Believer in Bondage to the Law. (Romans 7:14 .) 5. The Triumphant note of Deliverance. (Romans 7:25 .) Romans 7:1 The law is now more fully taken up. We have learned before that by the works of the law no man can be justified before God. But

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE MAN UNDER LAW. What it means to be in bondage to the old letter (6), the apostle will show from his own experience. That the following description belongs to Paul's legal past appears from ch. 6, and from the contrastive now of Romans 8:1. Failing to reckon himself dead unto sin, the believer may, doubtless, relapse into the misery of Romans 7:24. ROMANS 7:7 F. The legalist interjects: What shall We say then? is the law sin? Paul has, indeed, in a sense, identified it with sin (Romans 5:20; Romans 6:14; _cf._...