What Do You Want to Blame For Your Sin?

It is human nature to want to blame. There have been times in my life that I knew I was in the wrong but wanted to blame my reaction to a situation on someone or something else. Can anybody relate? The blame game goes all the way to the beginning of man’s creation. Come with me, and we will read how Eve blamed the serpent and how Adam blamed God.

Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, ” I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” and He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” Genesis 3:9-11

The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman. ” What is this you have done?” and the woman said, ” The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  Genesis 3:12-13

Paul is going to move us through Romans 7:7-13 explaining the goodness of the Law. He will show us that our enemy is not the Law but sin. All of our blaming will be torn down.
In Romans 5, Paul taught that sin entered into the world through the one man Adam. We cannot blame Adam for our sin because Paul goes on to say that when sin entered into the world, death came through sin. Death spread to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED. We cannot get away from it, can we? The blame game! By the time we walk through God’s word on this subject, I believe we will see the goodness and the mercy of God through the Law.

Is The Law Sin?

May it never be! Quite the opposite, without the Law, you, me, and Paul would not have known sin. The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12

Paul teaches in Galatians 3:24 that the Law became our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we would be justified by faith. The Law is holy, righteous, and good.

Romans 7:5 teaches that sinful passions are aroused by the Law. The Law is holy, righteous, and good.

Romans 7:7 teaches that Paul did not know that he was covetous until the Law came and revealed it to him. The Law said, “Thou shall not covet.” What happened? Sin took the opportunity through the commandment and produced coveting of every kind in him. Just like you and me, when we are told not to do something, we want to do it. We can call that human nature because it is. Our human nature is sinful all the way through. The sin in us is deceitful and will lead us astray. The Law is holy, righteous, and good.

I believe Romans 7:9-11 is Paul describing the work of the Law in his unregenerate state. Let me tell you why I believe this. Paul says he thought himself to be alive, but when the commandment came, his sin was made alive, and he died. A man in the flesh walks around as if nothing can touch him. He thinks himself alive, but the Law says, you are dead in your trespasses and sins. An unbeliever does not see this. Only those that the Holy Spirit awakens to the understanding of their deadness knows that they are dead. The Law is holy, righteous, and good.

Sin is the Enemy

Paul ended Romans chapter 5 with these words, “the wages of sin is death.” Until we received the free gift of eternal life from God through Christ, we were earning death. Every breath we took was leading us to death and destruction. We coveted, lied, committed adultery, made idols, and worshipped them instead of God. Why? Because it was our nature to do so. I have heard it put this way:

We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. —R.C. Sproul

Game Over

Paul made quite a case didn’t he? There is now no way to blame the law or anything else for our sin. It is the flesh! Praise God for the Law! Like a mirror, it shows us who we really are. Sinners in need of a Savior!

Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. Romans 7:13

The law is holy, righteous, and good!