What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
Romans 7:7 NET
What makes something wrong? Is it wrong for a man to get as many women pregnant as possible and then abandon them to raise their children as best they can? Most of us would rightly condemn the man who did that. But what if we were talking about bears instead of humans? Few of us would condemn them. It’s just what they do. But what makes it wrong for humans but OK for bears and many other animals?
Most animals operate on instinct. They have no moral code that guides their conduct. Whether they fight or cooperate, are monogamous or polygamous, solitary or communal, they do what comes naturally to them. And so, we do not generally judge their actions as good or bad in a moral sense.
A Built-in Moral Compass
But why is it different in humans? Why, when humans do what sometimes comes so naturally, do we often judge their actions as wrong? I do believe that Romans 7:7 answers that. It is the law. The law could refer to the Mosaic law of the Old Testament. But in Romans 2:14, Paul identified our conscience as an internal law that we have.
We have a built-in moral compass. A compass that I believe God has planted into each of us. A moral compass, or law, that gives a sense of right and wrong. And this internal law is supplemented by external laws like what is found in the Torah.
And it is this law that now makes us guilty of sin. Not that the law is bad. But because the law defines a standard of conduct that we are answerable to. And what would otherwise be acceptable behavior is now known to be wrong.
This law has been given to us by God. It elevates us above the animals, making us moral agents. Because of this law, I discover myself to be a sinful creature, falling short of God’s righteous standard—something I would not otherwise have known. But in doing that, it prepares me for the coming of the one who can fix the problem of my sin.
