There are some sinful ideas which most people don't awake to unless we hear about it, first. For example we have all heard of bank robbery, and this inspires in us an imagination of how to rob a bank. What if we had never heard of a bank robbery?
It is a question tangent to Paul's discussions about sin. Romans 7 he says:
[Rom 7:7-11 NIV] 7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death.
Is Paul suggesting that Christians need not learn the law? In his opinion is it only going to awaken us to dark deeds, or is this not his opinion? For those who answer I suggest at least reading chapters 7 and 8 before answering. Remember that this was once a single letter, and chapters have only been added after the fact. Thank you.
This insight of Paul has to do with human nature and how the brain writes to memory and the adverse impact of law type memories. When the brain writes to memory emotional tags are added to sensory content. Our memories have both feeling and content. Our strongest and enduring memories will usually have the strongest feeling tones; marriage or trauma. When we think of the Holidays, of days gone by, this trip down memory lane will trigger strong feelings one way or the other.
The problem with law is law is like a binary type memory, since we need to know what to do and what not to do, with the doing right written to memory with a nice feeling and the doing wrong written to memory with a fear feeling. This one binary memory; law, has two conflicting feelings. If I told you do not speed, period, you would ask why? Now I have to explain the value of going slower; safer, and the risk for going too fast; horrible accident. There is a feeling of safe mixed with a feeling of fear due to the law.
Conflicting feelings are not natural for the brain. These can cause a dam. The analogy is being in a love/hate relationship; two conflicting feelings. If one felt just just love you would approach and embrace. Or if you felt just hate you would yell and leave. But when both play together; love/hate, you cannot approach or leave, but will sort of orbit the person at a mid distance. This wastes a lot energy and is not natural. Law does this to the brain on a large scale. All the laws you know add inertial to this orbit; safe and fear.
The way the brain usually deals with this damming of the brain, due to the mixed feelings, is it will repress the dark side of the law; fear so only the good side is more conscious. In the case of love/hate, we may want to remember the good times and ignore the bad times. In the case of law, it will make us feel just and even self righteous, with violation not part of us. The dark side, although unconscious, is still part of the whole and as long as the conflicting feeling memories of law, exists there is still that potential; orbit. In the case of love/hate after you go back by forgetting the bad, you start to argue again; potential appears.
Periodically, the dark side; zone, will express itself to lower the potential. This can occur in dreams and fantasy. It also can spill over into the conscious world. The term ends justifies the means is when you feel righteous, yet resort to the dark side to seek the end you desire. Light and dark merge to lower potential and then the darkness goes back to the unconscious.
Every law you have been exposed to and learned are divided between these two areas; conscious and unconscious, with the conflicting feelings setting a potential between the conscious and unconscious, which then attempts to lower, causing moods and compulsive behavior to help make the two meet or separate so the orbital can stop.
Paul said sin taking opportunity through the commandment produces sin of every kind; Satan is a subroutine that mediates this energy flow and since this is really about dammed up energy, it can occur in ways creative ways relative to the law; new violations will appear not yet of the law. More law is added which compounds the potential.
When I was younger sex was much more taboo than today. This law had an adverse impact on some people, causing problems in terms of guilt, fantasy and compulsion; ways to lower the potential. Today the guilt has moderated, but the sex compulsion has gotten even more bizarre. This is due to the broader modern law base, with new compulsions a means to reduce the potential. It will get more and more bizarre without nobody considering the consequences, since the release feels good.
If we decided to just stop law, since the matrix of law memories is still there, in our memory along with the controlling subroutine, it would continue to lower the potential until it runs its course. First the darkness would come out to play; more conscious, so the ego can help the Satan subroutine with the energy flow. Like in the Democrat run inner cities in the USA, law was reduced for the criminals and crime got worse because we did not erase the potential that stills lingers in the criminal brain. We are sort of stuck with law, unless one can reduce their inner potential in a controlled way.
Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. Fulfill means to reach a goal. What is the goal of law? It is to differentiate good and evil by setting up a contrast of opposites; see light in the darkness, and then only choose the light. Law cannot do this, since its binary nature and conflicting feelings tone are connected to the brain's memory writing. We need to figure out how to get rid of the polarization; forgiveness of sins, while getting people to know only right. This allows the inner potential to run its course until is it done.