'Looking at the larger canvas of God's action...we can see that for Paul, God is intimately involved in the history of human sin. In both Romans 1 and 7, he shapes human disobedience so that it serves a purpose in his economy - specifically the purpose of revelation. In Romans 1, the massa perditionis of a humanity under the meta-sin or rejection of the divine glory is all set within the framework of the revelation of his wrath. God's judgement issues forth in the actions of that humanity, so that those actions function to reveal more fully the nature of that meta-sin of the human suppression and exchange of God's glory. In Romans 7, this divine moulding takes a particular form within Israel. God gives the Law so that as Sin surges with all its energy, it is shown up in all its horror.'
Simon J Gathercole, 'Sin in God's Economy: Agencies in Romans 1 and 7' in Divine and Human Agency in Paul and his Cultural Environment (Edited by John MG Barclay & Simon J Gathercole), p. 171.
