Age of Acountability

Romans 7:9 "For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."

In trying to get a better understanding of this chapter, I've been reading commentaries. I discovered that I have a different take on this verse than some people.

You often hear people talk about the age of accountability, where a young child is not held guilty of sin until they reach an age where they can understand the law. I believe that this verse is evidence of that being the case.

Paul says he was alive without the law. The law was always around, from the beginning to the end of Paul's life. Yet there was a point in his life where he was without the law. Concurrent with this point in his life, he was also alive. From the context of the chapter, we can infer that "alive" means he was not under the condemnation of sin. Looking at Paul's life, we know that this could not be after his salvation (he states it was the law that brought him to Christ). This had to be a time prior to his salvation, but also prior to his understanding of the law (before the commandment came).

Therefore, the conclusion must be that Paul was alive before he understood the law. This would have been at a very early age, where his brain was simply not developed enough to understand. However, when the commandment came, sin revived, and he died. We cannot point to a certain age where this occurs, however, I do believe that Paul here is speaking about the age of accountability.