Rom 7:8 | TNotes | STEP | 7:8 sin used this command (literally sin took an opportunity through this command ): The word opportunity is a military term for a position seized in enemy territory that becomes a base of operations (see 7:11 ). By expressing God’s demands, the commandments stimulate rebellion in sinful human beings. The commandments of God become an occasion for sin to accomplish its deadly purposes. • sin would not have that power: The law, by clearly expressing God’s will, makes people more accountable than they would be without it. The law of Moses did not solve Israel’s sin problem but exposed and exacerbated it. This is always the effect that God’s law, by itself, has on sinful human beings.

‏ Romans 7:8

7:8 ^a sin used this command (literally sin took an opportunity through this command): The word opportunity is a military term for a position seized in enemy territory that becomes a base of operations (see 7:11 ^b). By expressing God’s demands, the commandments stimulate rebellion in sinful human beings. The commandments of God become an occasion for sin to accomplish its deadly purposes.

• sin would not have that power: The law, by clearly expressing God’s will, makes people more accountable than they would be without it. The law of Moses did not solve Israel’s sin problem but exposed and exacerbated it. This is always the effect that God’s law, by itself, has on sinful human beings.