Reading through Romans-The law and sin

Romans 5:20 "Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound."

Paul has shown us that the law does not justify us. Now he shows that in itself, the law doesn't even make us sinners - Adam did that. Then what purpose does the law serve? What good is it at all? Was the giving of the law God's failed experiment? No. There is a clear purpose for the law, and part of it is so that the offense might abound. The law makes man's sin clearer and greater by clearly contrasting it with God's holy standard.

The flaws in a precious stone abound when contrasted with a perfect stone, or when put against a contrasting backdrop. God's perfect law exposes our flaws, and makes our sin abound.

There is another way that the law makes sin abound. Because of the sinfulness of my heart, when I see a line drawn I want to cross over it. In this sense, the law makes sin abound because it draws many clear lines between right and wrong that my sinful heart wants to break. Therefore, the law makes me sin more - but not because there is anything wrong in the law, only because there is something deeply wrong in the human condition.

Dear Holy God, thank you for your precious law...even though it makes my sinfulness more evident!  I praise you and your law!