Sin is deceiving. It’s seductive. It kills, but it always has to have an occasion, or a starting point. So what can we do to identify it? Identification of the beginning of sin is accomplished by authoritive instructions. Use these instructions for they have a great purpose for us to identify deception by knowing the truth.
Here is a verse that can easily be used to deceive. It can be used for deception if verses 12-14 are neglected.
Romans 7:11 (KJV)
[SUP]11 [/SUP]For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
Italicized added, not in the original translation.
I have been enlightened on this verse more times than I can count, trying to put me in the category of a pharisee by the works of the law. It could have been with good intentions, but lately it has been presented with great animosity. The presentation was to prove that the law produces the sin of works without faith if we don’t throw it away. So I thought I would break it down and look up some of the words in the concordance to see if I was really missing something.
Taking=grabbing
Occasion=starting point
Commandment=authoritive instructions
Deceived=seduced
It=the situation
Slew=destroyed
It has always been presented as if the commandment causes us to sin, just like some say that God created sin, relating that to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Eden. I can’t buy that either. The evil is the judgment of God against the sin. Anyway, this is the way it would read using the definitions above. For your edification keep the principle of Revelation 22:18 in mind.
Romans 7:11
[SUP]11 [/SUP]For sin, grabbing a starting point by the authoritive instructions, seduced
me, and the situation destroyed.
It appears that sin is the seducer leading to destruction rather than the authority of the commandment. I wondered about that some, but not very long, because the presentation was filled with a rather unloving nature labeling me as a self-righteousness hypocrite, because I esteem the law as holy, good and Spiritual and very useful to me.
Now, to repeat, because this is very important, every time I have been given this scripture to correct my corrupt way of thinking, verse 12 thru 14 was never mentioned.
Romans 7:12-14 (KJV)
[SUP]12 [/SUP]Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.
[SUP]13 [/SUP]Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.
[SUP]14 [/SUP]For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
Why would anyone ever try to make Christians believe that what is holy, just, and good produces self-righteous works without faith? The truth is that the law identifies this corruption because we cannot be righteous by it. We are the ones that are weak, NOT the law that comes from God.