Title: Sin and the Law
Exposition to Romans 31
sin and law
Romans 5:13
Introduction: It is said that sin existed in the world before the law. But it says that sin was not considered a sin when there was no law. If we look at the relationship between sin and the law, we see that sin is far ahead of the law. We can cite death as the proof. Since death came as a price for sin, even if sin was revealed as sin and condemned by the law, the continuation of death to man is evidence that there was sin. Adam and Eve, who ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, died according to God's declaration that “in the day you eat of it you will die at full age” (Romans 5:12).
1. Sin before the law
The law is the commandment that Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. Like this, before Moses received the commandment, many human beings lived and were living in this world. Then, since there was no law at that time, the question arises as to whether people's lives were not sinful. The Bible says no to this.
(1) The sin caused by Adam's transgression continued. Adam became a sinner because of his disobedience. This Adam's sin was not buried with Adam by Adam's death. Adam's sin has been passed down to his descendants. Because it can be seen from the fact that sin like Adam continued to exist in this world. This is because all human beings could not escape from the state of sin committed by Adam and lived in the same environment caused by the same sin as Adam, and later had to receive the corpse of the curse that was placed on Adam like Adam. This sin continues to this day regardless of the law.
(2) Next, there is a sin against the law written in the heart. Unlike other creatures, humans were created in the image of God. The image of God means the holy disposition of God. God's goodness, God's holiness, and God's wisdom, such as weeping in God's wisdom, are some of these images of God implanted in humans. That is why, after Adam was created, personal fellowship with God was possible. After Adam sinned, this image of God came alive. This is sometimes referred to as the fall of man. However, this fall did not completely destroy the image of God given to Angan. He lost the ability to express the image of God in his person, but his shadow remained alive. This is what we call conscience. It is said, “When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law, although this person does not have the law, he is a law to himself” (Romans 2:14).
2. What does it mean to say that sin was not considered a sin?
He said that sin existed in the world before the law, but sin was not considered sin without the law. What does it mean to say that sin was not considered a sin?
(I) This is not to say that it is not a sin. The word "disapproved" means that it was not recognized, which means legal condemnation. All humans are sinners before God. The proof of this is that the law of conscience accuses each other in the hearts of men, and in the end they have to expose themselves as sinners.
(2) It means that no punishment was instituted for sin. According to the law, retribution and punishment were to be inflicted on the revealed sin. “You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” These words are the punishment for sin as revealed in the Law (Matthew 5:38). A law without punishment for sin is meaningless. But even when there was no law, sin clearly existed. But there was no punishment for that sin. Because there was no provision of law. Even now, crimes that are not recorded in the law cannot be governed by the law, and although it must be a sin, punishment is often exempted. Later, the law is amended to compensate for these shortcomings. Once the law is amended and it is ruled as a sin, it is natural to receive punishment.
(3) It just means that sin is not counted as sin. One of the most distinct missions of the law is to make sin sinful. Human beings try not to acknowledge sin as a sin because the more tolerant of sin in the world, the more polluted the conscience, the law of their heart. This is the state of man who has fallen into slavery to sin. Therefore, in order to clearly reveal their sins to such humans, God wrote His righteous law of exposing sins as sins on a stone that cannot be created and cannot be changed, not on the hearts of men who have sinned and fallen. “But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for a single stroke of the law to fall away,” the Lord said, indicating the eternity of the law (Luke 16:17). Therefore, as long as the law exists, human sins cannot be hidden forever, and there is no way to escape the condemnation by the law.
3. Sin after the Law
The reason the human world needs the law is because it has a deep relationship with human sin.
(1) The law took away man's sins. Although man commits a sin and knows the retribution for it, he seldom admits to the sin and turns away from the fear of sin. “They know God’s decree that those who practice such things are worthy of death, but they not only do them alone, but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 12:28-32). However, after the law existed, people could no longer make excuses for their sins and could not turn away from God's declaration of the penalty for their sins.
(2) The law condemns man's sin. The law gives man what sin is and shows God's judgment for that sin. “Cursed are all who are of the works of the law, for it is written, Cursed is anyone who does not always do all the things that are written in the book of the law” (Galatians 3:10).