Are You Experienced?

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, that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. Romans 7:13

Utterly Sinful – How difficult it is for us to read this passage in Romans without the usual Christian blinders! We have been so convinced that Paul sets the gospel of grace in opposition to the works of the law that we no longer read what the text says. We think that Paul is telling us that the law caused us to sin and therefore, the law is a terrible, awful thing. Of course, Paul firmly denies this conclusion (“May it never be!”), but we just can’t see it any other way. We think that grace means being out from under the law, so that must mean that Paul thinks that the law has to be aligned with sin , or at least no longer useful for us. The problem comes because Paul is making a word play on three different uses of the Greek nomos (law). We’re not Greek. We don’t have that first century Gentile believer background. So, we miss it. Let’s see what happens when we recover Paul’s ingenious word play.

Nomos has three different meanings. First, it can mean a law like the laws of the land. This is its legislative sense. Second, it can mean a rule or principle. It is used this way many, many times by the early church in the discussion of the canon, another word that means a standard or rule. Third, in the New Testament, nomos can be used as a proper noun to mean the Torah. Each time you read this word in Greek, you have to determine from the context which meaning fits. For example, Yeshua was accused of breaking the Roman nomos regarding the divinity of the emperor (remember that they claimed that he said he was a king). This is meaning number one. Then there are many verses where meaning number three is clearly the case (Torah). But sometimes Paul uses nomos as a rule or principle. This verse in Romans is one of those times. Paul makes a play on the Greek word. The Torah (meaning #3) is good, but there is another nomos (rule – #2) in my body, a “law” that works against me. This rule comes into being because once I understand the commandment, I am presented with the possibility of disobeying the commandment and when I disobey, I set a “rule” for myself – my own “torah”. So, God’s Torah is set against my own torah (my rule of practice). God’s Torah is not in opposition to God’s grace. They are two sides of the same coin. What is in opposition to God’s grace is my rules, that is, the way that I incorrectly use God’s Torah to define my own rules for living. In Paul’s letters, “works of the law” is not God’s Torah. It is the twisted version of God’s instructions used to earn righteousness. In other words, my torah is nothing more than legalism. Legalism is opposed to grace! But God’s instructions, His Torah, is not opposed to grace at all because it has nothing to do with grace.  Grace is a gift. Torah is instructions after I have received the gift.

In this verse, Paul tells us something very important about the relationship between the real Torah and sin. My own desire to run my life twists God’s perfect instructions into something that is a perverse torah (rule). If I were obedient, I would discover that God’s instructions lead to blessings. But when I disobey, I actually experience the tragedy of sin. I am cut off from the source of life. It is no longer a theoretical potential. Now I know what it means to be separated. Sin becomes utterly sinful. In other words, it becomes real for me.

Every commandment presents me with the opportunity to draw closer to Him. But, at the same time, every commandment contains the potential that I will disobey. There is risk in each one of God’s instructions for life. When I don’t do what He asks, then I change that risk into reality. Then I find that my rule twists His perfect intention into something tragic. That’s what legalism is all about – making Torah do something it was never intended to do. It doesn’t take outright disobedience to discover the sinfulness of sin. All it takes is twisting the commandment so that I do it in order to manipulate God’s favor instead of doing it simply because I love Him.

What is the context of nomos in your life? Which of the three meanings applies to you?

Topical Index: law, nomos, rule, legalism, Torah, Romans 7:13