Romans 7:7-13 (Quoted from the NLT)

7-12 “Well then, am I suggesting that the law is sinful? Of course not!  In fact it was the law that showed me my sin.  I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”  (8) But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me!  If there were no law, sin would not have that power.  (9) At one time I lived without understanding the law.  But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, (10) and I died.  I discovered that the law’s commands which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. (11) Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. (12) But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.”

13 “But how can that be?  Did the law, which is good cause my death?  Of course not!   Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death.  So we can see how terrible sin really is.  It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.” 

My comments:  There is nothing wrong with the the old covenant law, the law is good.  But I have heard preachers say that what Paul is saying in this passage, is that when you mix the law that is good with our sinful nature, then the law stirs up sin in us, because we have a rebellious nature.  Any time you tell someone not to do something, then that is the first thing they want to do.  When I worked with kids, the first thing we were taught is to tell them what you want them to do, not what you don't want them to do.   When Jesus came, He did exactly that.  He told us in Matthew 22:36-40 that the law is based on two commandments.   The first is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind.  The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  Paul tells us in Galatians 5:14 that all the law is fulfilled if you love your neighbor as yourself.  He says it again in Romans 13:10 that love is the fulfillment of the law.  So even though yesterday’s passage told us that we died to the law through Christ, and our new covenant is to be led by the Holy Spirit instead of the law, we will still fulfill the requirements of the law if we do what Jesus said and  love God as well as people.  We don't have to worry about all the don'ts.  Just do those two things.   Our actions do not save us, or make us righteous, but we are still supposed to live holy lives by loving God, and loving our neighbors.