“For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.”
For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. — Sin exercises ἀπάτη (apatē, "deception"); the law becomes the weapon. The grammar suggests sin is an active power, not merely personal choice. Paul anthropomorphizes sin as a force that perverts God's holy law into an instrument of death. The law itself is blameless; sin is the culprit.
Church Fathers on Romans 7:11
“For I was alive without the Law once.” When, pray, was that? Before Moses. See how he sets himself to show that it, both by the things it did, and the things it did not do, weighed down human nature. For when “I was alive without the Law,” he means, I was not so much condemned. “But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” This seems indeed to be an accusing of theLaw. But if any one will look closely at it, it will be seen to be even an encomium of it. For it…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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