The Knowledge of God and Sin, and the Provision of the Holy Spirit

A GUEST ARTICLE…

This post grew out of a back-and-forth discussion between a long-time friend of mine, Frank Armstrong, and me over text. Frank is the author of “No Skin in the Game: The God of the Jehovah’s Witness” (available on Amazon). I asked if he would write a post about the discussion and his views pertaining to this issue for the website and he agreed. He had been meditating on Romans 7, particularly verses 7–11, and shared some insights that sparked a deeper dialogue.

What follows is his reflection—deeply rooted in Scripture and Jewish understanding—on what Paul may have meant when he spoke of “being alive once, apart from the law.” His view challenges the common interpretation that Paul is referring to his pre-conversion and post-conversion state, and instead proposes something more universal: the journey every person takes from moral innocence to moral accountability.

After his post, I’ve included my own reflections and challenges in response. Together, I hope these voices bring clarity, provoke thought, and re-center the conversation around what “Wicked Darkness” is all about: exposing the counterfeit and calling the Bride of Christ to return to the simplicity and power of the true Gospel.

Frank’s Premise

In Romans 1:18-19 and 32, Paul claims that everyone knows the truth about God and sin, saying that “God made it clear to them.”

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear to them. […] 32 who, although they know the requirements of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death, not only do they do the same things, but also they approve of those who do them.”

Paul continues in Romans 2:14-15 by establishing the gentile’s awareness of guilt even though they don’t have the Law of Moses.

“For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.”

Thus, according to Paul, everyone is without excuse because God has revealed the truth to everyone, whether Jew or gentile. But the question must be asked, when did God make it clear to them?

Further on in Romans 7:7-11, Paul speaks about the age of innocence before a child is capable of moral discernment (i.e. the ‘age of accountability’). In Jewish thought, this aligns with the idea that before the age of Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a child is not fully responsible for their actions, as they are still developing their understanding of right and wrong.

In the Talmud (e.g., Niddah 45b), it is noted that a child begins to develop moral awareness as they approach the age of maturity, but it is at 13 for boys and 12 for girls that they are formally held accountable for observing the commandments (mitzvot). This is when they are considered to have the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong in a way that aligns with Jewish law.

This concept is spoken of in Deuteronomy 1:39, Numbers 14:29-31, Leviticus 27:1-8, and Isaiah 7:15-16:

“He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows to reject the bad and choose the good. For before the boy knows to reject the bad and choose the good, the land of the two kings whom you dread shall be deserted.”

In the following passage, Paul is talking about every person’s experience of coming into this world innocent with respect to knowing good and evil, and then growing up and being confronted with “the law” or “the commandment.”

Romans 7:7-11 “I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was alive once, apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life 10 and I died, and this commandment which was to lead to life was found with respect to me to lead to death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.”

Therefore, before we reach the age of accountability, we “don’t know sin” (vs 7), and it can be said of us experientially that “apart from the law, sin is dead” (vs 8), because we’re still innocent of sin through our lack of knowledge (the knowledge of good and evil).

It is important to recognize that Paul says, “I was alive once, apart from the law” (vs 9). This statement doesn’t make sense if he’s talking about regeneration or becoming a believer, because that would mean he was alive before he was born again. Instead, he is speaking about the relative innocence of youth, before we know right from wrong. When we mature enough to know right from wrong, that is when “sin seized an opportunity through the commandment” (vs 9), and “when the commandment came, sin sprang to life” (vs9). That’s also when we realize that the knowledge of right and wrong doesn’t empower us to do right, but instead condemns us.

“this commandment which was to lead to life was found with respect to me to lead to death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

Here, Paul is describing every person’s experience of coming of age with respect to knowing good and evil, and then showing that the knowledge of God’s commandments doesn’t save us, because we find that we can’t do it by ourselves because we have conflicting desires.

So if God reveals his truth to everyone through their conscience (Rom. 2:15), why did He also provide the Law of Moses?

The purpose of the Law of Moses was sanctification, specifically for God’s covenant people to be set apart from all the other nations as a people for himself. Toward that end, the law dictated right attitudes and behaviors, and it provided atonement (sacrifices) for wrong attitudes and behavior. New Testament authors sometimes used the abbreviated term “the Law” to refer to just the commandments, and sometimes to refer to the commandments and the sacrifices.

The law wasn’t given to make the Jews righteous; rather, it was a mirror that revealed their sinfulness and need for atonement. The sacrifices required by the law spoke to the fact that they fell short of God’s perfect standard, and it provided a gracious, though temporal (thus imperfect), means of forgiveness and restoration.

Romans 3:20: For by the works of the law no person will be declared righteous before him, for through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Hebrews 10:1–3: For since the law was but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. […] But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

Mercifully, God promised a day when he would provide something more than an external law to obey, and something better than an imperfect sacrifice:

Jeremiah 31:31–34: Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Isaiah 53:1–11: Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? […] 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. […] 10 But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering […] By His knowledge the Righteous One, my servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.

In fulfillment, Jesus confirmed what his role was with respect to the law:

Matthew 5:17–20: 17 “Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For I assure you: Until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass from the law until all things are accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches people to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

In fulfillment, Jesus confirmed what his role was with respect to the sacrifices:

Luke 22:19–20: he took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.”

Romans 3:21–25: But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified about by the law and the prophets—that is, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ […] through faith in his blood

In fulfillment, Jesus confirmed his provision of new hearts and the empowerment by his Spirit to live in newness of life:

John 16:7–15: I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment […]. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

Galatians 5:16–18: live by the Spirit, and you will never carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that whatever you want, you may not do these things. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Romans 6:4-18 (LEB): Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live in newness of life. […] knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For the one who has died has been freed from sin. But thanks be to God that you were slaves of sin, but you have obeyed from the heart the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and having been set free from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness.

Romans 7:4–6: So then, my brothers, you also were brought to death with respect to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, sinful desires were working through the law in our members, to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we have died to that by which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter of the law.

Romans 8:1–4: there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what was impossible for the law, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the requirement of the law would be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

James 1:23–25: if anyone is a hearer of the message and not a doer, this one is like someone staring at his own face in a mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away and immediately forgets what sort of person he was. But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues to do it, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts, this one will be blessed.

But James knows that we are sometimes forgetful hearers:

James 3:2 For we all stumble in many ways.

James 5:15 Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.

John also spoke to the believer’s continued struggle against sin:

1 John 1:5–2:2: And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 2 My little children, I am writing these things to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one, 2 and he is the propitiation for our sins.

Therefore, it should be recognized that having been born from above, given a new heart and the Holy Spirit to help us in our weaknesses, DOES NOT mean that we have the expectation or the ability to be perfect this side of our resurrection, when we will have glorified bodies in a world absent the tempter, sin, and death. But we have an overwhelming desire to love God and live a life of faithfulness, which includes being washed by Christ through continual repentance.

Philippians 2:12–16: work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God. 14 Do all things without grumbling and disputing, 15 in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life.

John 13:6–10: He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.”

✍️ Response by Johnny — Editor of Wicked Darkness

What I appreciate most about this post is its commitment to anchoring theology in Scripture rather than system. It challenges assumptions, especially around Romans 7, and brings the Jewish lens back into Paul’s words—a lens that’s been largely lost in modern theology.

Paul was a Pharisee, raised in Torah. He wasn’t thinking like a 16th-century monk trying to escape legalism—he was describing the tension of sin, covenant, and moral responsibility.

The Real Issue: Rebellion

I agree that Paul is not describing his conversion moment when he says, “I was alive once, apart from the law.” It makes far more sense as a reference to childhood innocence—before moral accountability kicks in.

But here’s where I push further: it’s not only about knowing right from wrong. It’s about choosing rebellion. As I wrote in Wicked Darkness, humanity didn’t just get wounded by Adam’s fall—we enlisted in the rebellion. Darkness isn’t just around us; it’s in us, and we loved it (John 3:19). That’s the heart of Paul’s problem: not only sin as a force, but sin as our chosen allegiance.

Breaking the Western Lens

This is where much of modern theology misses the mark. We’ve inherited a Roman | Western lens—Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Catholic tradition—that interprets Paul through institutional categories instead of his Jewish worldview.

Paul wasn’t building systematic theology. He was confronting covenant infidelity and calling God’s people back to obedience. Lose that lens, and you end up with a Christianity that explains away rebellion instead of confronting it. The result? A rebranded rebellion wrapped in stained glass.

The Call: Holiness, Not Law-Keeping

Peter said it plainly:

“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14–16)

This is the expectation: not endless cycles of failure, but a life marked by holiness, faithfulness, and covenant loyalty.

And let’s be clear — this is not a call to “keep the Law” as though Gentiles were put back under Moses. The Apostles were clear in Acts 15: the Gentiles were given only a few guardrails. What God calls us into through Christ is far deeper — a holiness that flows from love, not legalism. We don’t follow Him out of rule-keeping, but because we love the God of Law and Order, who gave His Spirit to empower obedience from the heart.

Why It Matters for Wicked Darkness

This is why I wrote Wicked Darkness: to expose the counterfeit versions of Christianity that excuse rebellion under the banner of grace. God hasn’t lowered His standard—He’s raised up a people who will walk in the light, not shuffle back into darkness.

We’re called into Spirit-empowered holiness — walking as He walked, not because of “rules,” but because of love for the God of order, not chaos.

Jesus isn’t asking us to live on spiritual rinse-and-repeat. He’s asking the same thing He asked Peter on the water: “Why did you doubt?” Holiness isn’t optional—it’s the expectation.