Reading through Romans-The law illuminates sin

Romans 7:7 "What shall we say then? Is the law sin?"

"Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.""

Is the law sin? If we follow his train of thought we can understand how someone could infer this. Paul insisted that we must die to the law if we will bear fruit to God. Someone must think, "Surely there is something wrong with the law!"

I would not have known sin except through the law: The law is like an x-ray machine; it reveals plainly what might have always been there, but was hidden before. You can't blame an x-ray for what it exposes.

For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." The law sets the "speed limit" so we know exactly if we are going too fast. We might never know that we are sinning in many areas (such as covetousness) if the law did not spell this out to us specifically.

Dear God, thank you for your law and the way it illuminates my sin.  Without it I would not know the depth of my need for my Savior!