The Use of the Law

Romans 7:7–25 ESV

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Introduction

Romans 7 takes us into the heart of the believer’s inner conflict—a portrait of the soul awakened to holiness yet painfully aware of sin’s remaining power. Paul’s words, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing,” echo the cry of every Christian who has tasted grace but still wrestles with the old nature.

John Wesley understood this tension well. In his sermon The Original, Nature, Property, and Use of the Law, he wrote that the Law “convicts us of sin, not to destroy us, but to humble and prepare us for the gospel.” The Law is not the enemy—it is the surgeon’s scalpel that cuts in order to heal. It is the light that exposes the stain, the teacher that points to the Savior.

1. The Law Reveals Sin but Is Not Sinful (vs. 7-12)

“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin.” (Romans 7:7)

Paul anticipates a misunderstanding—if the Law brings conviction and death, perhaps the Law itself is bad. But he insists otherwise. The Law is not the problem; sin is. The Law is holy, righteous, and good. Its purpose is diagnostic, not destructive. It exposes what lies hidden within.

Before the Law, Paul says, “sin was dead”—that is, dormant, unnoticed, unprovoked. But when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, and Paul died. The command, “You shall not covet,” awakened a flood of inward desires he hadn’t fully seen before. The Law made him aware of the rebellion already within.

John Wesley described this awakening as “the first work of the Spirit in the soul.” The Law is the channel of conviction; it holds up the mirror of God’s holiness and reveals our true reflection. “By the law is the knowledge of sin,” Wesley wrote, “and by this knowledge we learn our need for grace.”

Paul echoes this truth in Galatians 3:19:

“Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions…”

The Law’s purpose is to reveal sin — not to cause it — so that grace becomes desirable.

Illustration: Imagine walking into a dimly lit room. At first everything looks clean and tidy. But when you open the curtains and sunlight floods the space, you suddenly see dust swirling in the air and grime on every surface. The light didn’t create the dirt—it revealed it. So it is with God’s Law. It shines into the human heart, revealing what was already there.

Application: Conviction of sin is not a curse—it is a grace. It means the Spirit is at work. When we feel the sting of conscience, that is the voice of mercy calling us to repentance. The Law shows us the wound so that the Great Physician can heal it.

2. The Law Awakens the Inner Conflict Between Flesh and Spirit (vs. 13-20)

“For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15)

Once awakened by the Law, the believer enters into a new kind of warfare—the struggle between the desire to do good and the pull of indwelling sin. The Law not only reveals our sin but also stirs the conscience into conflict. The mind delights in God’s Law, but the flesh resists.

Paul’s cry, “I do not do the good I want,” is not hypocrisy; it is the anguish of an honest heart. The more clearly one sees the holiness of God, the more painfully one feels the distance between aspiration and reality. Wesley observed, “The awakened sinner strives to break the chains of sin, but finds he cannot yet be free.” This awareness is not failure—it is growth. It shows that grace has opened the eyes.

Illustration: Think of a musician learning a new instrument. At first, every note seems fine. But as skill grows, the ear becomes sharper; every mistake becomes intolerable. The problem isn’t that the musician is getting worse—it’s that the light of understanding has grown brighter. So it is with holiness. The closer we walk with God, the more sensitive we become to sin’s discord.

This struggle is part of sanctification. The Spirit and the flesh wage war (Galatians 5:17), and the believer feels torn between two loves—one for righteousness, one for self. The Law exposes this division, not to shame us, but to drive us toward surrender.

Application: Don’t despair in the struggle. Conflict is evidence of life. A corpse feels no battle within. The one who grieves over sin is already under the Spirit’s influence. Wesley reminded his hearers, “The law convicts, that grace may heal; it humbles, that God may exalt.” The very fact that you hate what you once loved is proof of grace at work.

3. The Law Drives Us to Christ for Deliverance (vs. 21-25)

Galatians 3:24 ESV

24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24–25)

The climax of Romans 7 is not despair but deliverance. When Paul finally cries, “Who will deliver me?” he is ready for the gospel’s answer: Christ alone can. The Law has completed its purpose—it has led him to the end of himself and into the arms of the Savior.

Wesley called this “the evangelical use of the Law”—to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. The Law exposes the disease; Christ provides the cure. The Law says, “Do this and live.” Grace says, “It is finished.” The Law condemns the sinner; grace redeems the soul.

When the heart cries out in helplessness, God answers with mercy. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul exclaims. What the Law demanded, Christ fulfilled. What the Law exposed, grace forgave. Through the Spirit, the righteousness the Law describes becomes the life we actually live.

Wesley beautifully summarized it: “The law sends us to Christ, and Christ sends us back to the law.” The Law drives us to faith, and faith restores us to joyful obedience. Once enslaved by sin, we now serve in the “new way of the Spirit” (Romans 7:6), not out of fear but out of love.

Paul describes the same war within in Galatians 5:17:

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh…”

Romans and Galatians together affirm that the struggle between flesh and Spirit is normal — and expected — in the sanctified life.

Illustration: Picture a lighthouse on a rocky shore. Its beam pierces the darkness, warning ships of the danger ahead. The light cannot save the ship—it only reveals the peril. But if the captain heeds the warning, he will turn toward the harbor and find safety. The Law is that light—pointing us away from destruction and toward Christ, the safe harbor of grace.

Application: The journey of salvation moves from conviction to conflict to deliverance. We cannot skip the first two and still find the third. Only when we acknowledge our inability to keep the Law do we cling to Christ, who has fulfilled it on our behalf. The Spirit now writes that same Law upon our hearts, turning obligation into joy and command into love.

Conclusion

Romans 7 is not a cry of defeat but a song of deliverance. The Law reveals our sin—it holds up the mirror. The struggle reveals our need—it awakens us to our dependence. And the gospel reveals our Savior—Christ, who fulfills the Law and sets us free.

John Wesley concluded his sermon by saying:

“It is the design of the law to bring men to Christ, and then to keep them there.”

The Law brings us to Christ by conviction, and grace keeps us in Christ by love. Through this divine partnership, the believer moves from guilt to grace, from bondage to freedom, from despair to thanksgiving.

Paul ends where all true holiness begins—with praise:

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

The Law has done its holy work. The gospel has done its saving work. And the Spirit continues His sanctifying work—until the day when the war within becomes eternal peace in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Final Reflection for the Congregation:

How has the Law revealed sin in your own heart recently?

What current struggle might God be using to deepen your dependence on His grace?

Have you come to that cry—“Who will deliver me?”—and found peace in Jesus’ answer?

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

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