Romans 7:7-11

⁷Someone might object, saying, “◄The laws that God gave Moses must be evil if our sinful desires are increased because of our knowing those laws. MTY/Are not the laws that God gave Moses evil if they stir up our sinful desires?►” MTY, RHQ I would reply that they certainly are not evil, even though our sinful desires are increased. What I would reply is that I, for example, realized that what I was doing was sinful only because of what is written { Moses wrote} in those laws. For example, I realized that coveting is sinful only because he wrote in those laws PRS, “You must not covet.”

⁸And because of what that commandment stated, my sinful desire to have things that belong to others PRS caused me to covet in many ways. Our desire to sin is not stimulated MET when there is no law that prohibits our doing sinful things.

⁹Formerly, when I did not know what God's laws required, I used to live without worrying about what I was doing. But when I became aware that God commanded, “You must not covet,” I suddenly realized PRS that I was sinning,

¹⁰and I realized that I was separated from God. The laws that I thought would enable me to live eternally as a result of my obeying them caused me to realize that I was separated from God!

¹¹My desire to sin found a way PRS to deceive me by making me think wrongly that I could keep on sinning and at the same time obey those laws enough so that I would live eternally, and thus it caused me to be separated from God PRS.