sinful thing. For example, he had said: “through the law we become conscious of sin” (3:20); “The law was added so that the trespass might increase” (5:20); and “the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies” (7:5). Therefore, he pauses in the development of his argument at 7:7 to ask the question: “Is the law sin [that is, a sinful thing]?” Using his own experience as a Pharisee as his prime example, he answers this question with a resounding “Certainly not!,” developing then