Sin's Sad Use of God's Good Law-Rom 7:7-13

Saint Augustine in his CONFESSIONS tells of a time in his youth when he and a band of his friends went into a neighbor's field at night to steal pears. They shook the neighbor's pear tree, knocking down a large quantity of pears, then carried them off, eating a few but throwing most of them to some pigs. Why did Augustine steal the pears? With characteristic thoroughness, this medieval theologian analyzes the question for many pages. Was it the beauty of pears? They were beautiful, it is true, since they were part of God's creation. But that was not why he stole them. He had others of even greater beauty at home. Was he hungry and needed something to eat? That was not it. Did he want to be approved by others? That was part of the reason, he says. But it does not explain why the others, like himself, should have given approval for such a wrong act. Why should stealing be praiseworthy? At last Augustine gets to the real reason, saying, "I only picked them so that I might steal...I loved nothing in it except the thieving." It is a way of saying that the desire to steal was awakened by the prohibition. And so it has been since the dawn of humanity when Adam was commanded not to do the one thing he wanted to do. Sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in him that covetous desire. The Apostle Paul teaches us in our next paragraph of Romans of the connection of sin and God's Law. Join us for "Sin's Sad Use of God's Good Law"-Rom 7:7-13