Romans 7:10,11 - Sin deceived me and killed me

7:10

“The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me.” If we had obeyed the Law we would have had life, life would have been so much better. One might say then that it would have been better not to give the Law, but this is not so. It is like saying we shouldn’t have any rules, we shouldn’t tell children what to do. One of the many problems with this is that there are good and bad ways of living. There are ways of living that have good effects, and there are ways that have bad effects. So if there are no rules then death is the inevitable outcome. So the Law was a good thing, and laws are needed, but the law cannot deal with the problem of sin. By the way, the argument that Paul is seeing himself as like Adam seems to be further flawed, in that all this argument is in relation to the Law. The Law came in after Adam had sinned. The first sin cannot have been the result of inherent sinfulness, rather sin took hold as a result of the first sin. 

7:11

The Law was not a means of salvation from sin, instead it highlighted the existence and reality of sin. If Israel had obeyed the Law all would have been well, but she did not and could not obey the Law. Now God knew this, so He never thought that the Law would save them, though it did offer some restraint on the effects of sin. The Law highlighted the reality of sin. Sin is not just a matter of doing wrong things, it is an inherent rebelliousness. So when it sees what God wants it seeks to do the exact opposite.  Sin is also deceptive, and it leads to death.