We are sinners by the corruption of the heart; and it is a fatal mistake to suppose that we are so only by the commission of sin. Our guilt does not then begin to exist, when it is brought into action, but to appear; and what was always manifest to God, is now become so to ourselves and others. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Paul spoke very clearly to the corruption of the heart and how it is exposed for what it is by the law in Romans 7:7-11. Though Paul was an expert in the Old Testament Law, he did not know the depths of its meaning until God opened his heart and he saw the deep corruption there. It is virtually sure that Paul had studied the commands of God before, but it was not until the spiritual nature of the Law pierced to the depths of the soul that he saw the nature of his heart. It is one thing to see the commands of God and think of them as external, but it is quite another to see them as reaching the depths of the soul and to the very desires of the soul. The Law, when spiritually applied, exposes the depths of the soul and in doing that it exposes the depths of the wickedness of the heart.
What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”
According to Paul, the Law is good. But what did the Law do to him and what does the Law do to all others? It shows us our heart and when the Law is heard the heart rises against it and so it is said that the Law produces sin. In other words, the Law shows the depths of the corruption of the soul and in doing so the soul can see the sin that is pouring out of it and therefore what kind of heart we have. The Law, then, is said to kill and result in death. If a person tries to be saved by the Law, it will result in eternal death which is hell. But if a person bows to God with a broken heart and cries out for grace, God may save that person.
We can see, then, by this example of Paul the nature of the heart and how right Thomas Adam is to say it is a fatal mistake to suppose we are sinners only by the commission of outward sin. Paul was a Pharisee and strove to keep the Law, but he only strove to keep it outwardly or externally. All the Pharisees and anyone else that strives to keep the Law on the outside without dealing with the heart have made or are making a fatal mistake. We simply must see our own hearts and bow before this living God in utter brokenness and helplessness praying for and seeking a new heart by grace. We don’t just need a new set of intellectual beliefs and better external behavior, we need a new heart. The old one is so corrupt that it will use religion as a way to deceive itself and send itself to the everlasting flames.
God Loves... Himself 
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