with the last member of the preceding one. It is rather co-ordinate with it, and is a virtual answer to the question, Is the law evil 1 To this question Paul replies, in v. 7, No ; on the contrary, it leads to the know- ledge of sin. And then in v. 8, he adds, it is not evil in itself, although incidentally the cause of sin in us. Sin, in this passage, must mean the sinful disposition of the heart, or our corrupt nature, because it is said to produce all kinds of concupiscence ; that is, every kind of evil desire. These desires are the fruit and evidence of this corrupt state of the heart. Taking occasion. The word rendered occasion is used for any thing which affords an advantage for the performance of any thing else. The word occasion or opportunity, referring properly to mere fitness of time, is not so appropriate a translation as the more general term advantage.
The words by the commandment may be connected either with the pre- ceding or the following clause. If the former mode of construction be adopted, the passage means, ' Sin, taking advantage of the commandment, wrought in me,' &c. If the latter, ' Sin, taking advantage, by the com- mandment wrought in me,' &c. Our version is commonly pointed according to the former method, with a comma after commandment. The original, however, is in favour of the latter ; and so is the context. Paul's object is to show that by the law sin is excited and aroused ; and, in the following verses, he uses similar expressions, as " by it slew me," v. 11; "working death in me by that which is good," v. 13. The apostle, therefore, teaches, that the effect of the law operating upon our corrupt hearts, is to arouse their evil passions, and to lead to the desire of the very object which the law forbids. This is a matter of universal experi- ence. The same sentiment is, therefore, often met with in profane writers. ' We strive for what is forbidden, and desire what is denied,' has become a proverb.
For without the law, sin was dead. To say that a thing is dead, is to say that it is inactive, unproductive and unobserved. All this may be said of sin prior to the operation of the law. It is comparatively inopera- tive and unknown until aroused and brought to light by the law. There are two effects of the law included in this declaration, the excitement of evil passions, and the discovery of them. Calvin makes the latter much the more prominent. But the context, and the analogous declarations in the succeeding verses, seem to require the former to be considered as the most important. The law, then, is not evil, but it produces the convic- tion of sin, by teaching us what sin is, v. 7, and by making us conscious of the existence and power of this evil in our own hearts, v. 8.
In the following verses, 9 — 11, we find an amplification and confirma- tion of the sentiment of vs. 7, 8, showing more fully the operation of the law. Paul is here describing his own experience. This is obvious, not only because he uses the first person singular, throughout the passage, but because the exercises here detailed are more or less distinctly those of every true Christian ; and, consequently those of the apostle. Paul describes, in figurative language, his state before the operation of the law