AND THIS COMMANDMENT, WHICH WAS TO RESULT IN LIFE: kai heurethe (3SAPI) moi e entole e eis zoen: (Ro 10:5; Lev 8:5; Ezek 20:11, 13,21; Lu 10:27-29; 2Cor 3:7)

 Literally, “the commandment the one for (meant for) life, this was found for me unto death.”

And this commandment - Thou shall not covet. It is representative of all of God's Law which was intended to guard and promote life but man could not keep the law.

The UBS Handbook adds that...

According to the Genesis account, obedience to the command of God meant that life would continue, whereas disobedience meant death would come. But Paul discovers that Adam’s experience and his own are similar: the commandment which was meant to bring life, in my case brought death. (The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series or Logos)

Why was it to result in "life"? If we could keep it perfectly every moment of every day of our life, we would be righteous and have eternal life (see Jesus' words below). The only man who kept it perfectly was the Man Christ Jesus. As we are confronted with the law we realize our own sinful disobedience to the law and have to face up to the awful penalty of a broken Law which is death.

The commandment not to covet was given to help people see how to live, but it actually produced death because of the power of sin that indwelt the human heart.

Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler explains the relationship between Law and Life...

And behold, one came to Him and said, "Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?"  And He said to him, "Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." (Matthew 18:16-17)

In another encounter Jesus reiterates the association of Law and Life...

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
26 And He said to him, "What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?"
27 And he answered and said, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
28 And He said to him, "You have answered correctly; DO THIS, AND YOU WILL LIVE."  (Luke 10:25-28)

Hodge adds that life...

Life includes the ideas of happiness and holiness. The law was designed to make men happy and holy. Death, on the other hand, includes the ideas of misery and sin. The law became, through no fault of its own, the means of making the apostle miserable and sinful. How vain it is therefore to expect salvation from the law, since all the law does, in its working on the unrenewed heart, is to condemn and to awaken opposition!  It cannot change the nature of man. (Hodge, C. Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 1835)

The Law's design and ideal were to promote observance that would lead to divine blessing and consequent human happiness. Moses records a similar declaration by Jehovah as He gives His charge to Israel...

So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them (Lev 18:5; see also Deut 8:1)

One Jewish interpretation of Leviticus 18:5 was that those who keep the commandments merit (earn) eternal life. This misinterpretation of the passage appears in Jewish texts alongside the view that God elects Israel as a whole to be saved.

In a NT "paraphrase" of Leviticus 18:5 Paul writes that...

Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. (See note Romans 10:5)

The practical difficulty, of course, is that man is born with a sin nature and is incapable of perfectly doing the will of God as set forth in the commandments...

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.  (James 2:10).

James is saying that just one sin makes man a sinner and deserving of condemnation that sin brings. No one could never be declared righteous before God by keeping the law, since no one could ever keep it perfectly. One unforgiven sin is enough for condemnation.

PROVED TO RESULT IN DEATH FOR ME: heurethe (3SAPI)...aute eis thanaton:

Proved (2147) (heurisko) means to find either with a previous search or to find out by inquiry. To learn. To discover. In the present context the verb expresses the idea of surprise at such an unexpected result regarding the Law. The passive voice indicates that this was not the result of vigorous search but was disclosed without any initiative on the part of the subject.

This "discovery" would especially “surprise the Jew” who learned for the first time that before God he had no moral superiority over the Gentiles whom he superciliously dubbed “sinners,” while he esteemed himself to be “righteous”!

Paul (pronoun "me") expected his life under law to earn eternal life. Instead he discovered that he was condemned to death, because law reveals sin, and the wages of sin is death (see note Romans 6:23).

Death (2288) (thanatos, English - thanatology) is a permanent cessation of all vital functions. It marks the end of life. In the present verse the reference is to spiritual life.

Guzik (Romans 7) explains the spiritual dynamics of how the law brings death writing that...

Sin does this by deception. Sin deceives us:

· Because sin falsely promises satisfaction
· Because sin falsely claims an adequate excuse
· Because sin falsely promises an escape from punishment

“The trouble with trouble is that it usually starts out as a whole lot of fun.” anonymous

MacDonald comments that...

 Ideally the law promised life to those who kept it. The sign outside a lion’s cage says, “Stay back of the railing.” If obeyed, the commandment brings life. But for the child who disobeys and reaches in to pet the lion, it brings death. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)

Wiersbe brings out a very practical application noting that...

Sin - Note that the following explanation of sin is repeated at several points in the notes on Romans 5-8, because it is such an important truth to keep in mind as one studies this this doctrinally rich section of Scripture.

Sin (266) (hamartia) originally meant missing the mark, and thus missing the true purpose God has for each created man and women. It describes a falling short of His standard of holiness, a departure from doing what is right, and an acting contrary to God's will. Now here is where the definition of Sin as used in Romans 5-8 might be a bit confusing. First note that sin is singular, so it is not sins but sin the significance of which becomes more apparent from the next fact. In many (most) of Paul's uses of hamartia in Romans 5-8, Paul places the definite article "the" before sin (even though the "the" is not translated in most English versions for it would be somewhat difficult to read). The use of the definite article indicates that Paul is not referring to "a sin" (not to just any sin) but "the sin".  In this way Paul is speaking of Sin figuratively, in what is referred to as a metonym (derived from  "meta" = with + "onym" = name") which describes the substitution of a word referring to an attribute for the thing that is meant (eg, the use of the word "crown" to refer to the entire "monarchy").

The Sin in each man makes it impossible for man to live in a way that pleases God. Paul is explaining in Romans 7:14-25 how he came to discover that his best efforts to do good and to obey the Law resulted in defeat and death. The Law, using the Sin, or the  evil nature in him as a base camp, brought out the power of sin all the more, and this condition he calls death. Sin is like a personal enemy within our physical body. God warned Cain of this internal enemy in Genesis 4 declaring...

"If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, SIN is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7).

Taking opportunity (874) (aphorme from apó = from, and horme = a rushing on, onset, impetus, violent tendency) describes an occasion, an opportunity or casual circumstance producing a tendency toward something else.

In context aphorme describes Sin using the specific requirements of the law as a base of operation from which to launch its evil work. Confronted by God’s law, the sinner’s rebellious nature finds the forbidden thing more attractive, not because it is inherently attractive, but because it furnishes an opportunity to assert one’s self-will.

Sin finds its foothold in the flesh (see notes Romans 6:12; cf. notes Romans 8:7), and its soldiers wield “weapons” (hopla) of wickedness rather than weapons of righteousness (note Romans 6:13; 2Cor 6:7).

Sin preys on people, awaiting the opportunity to make the Law a “bridgehead” in humans and “wages war” (antistrateuomai, see note Romans 7:23, cp note 1 Peter 2:11) and “takes prisoners” (aichmalotizo, Romans 7:23).

Deceived (1818) (exapatao from ek = intensifies meaning of root + apatáo = seduce, deceive - see study of related word apate) means to beguile thoroughly, deceive completely or seduce (persuade to disobedience, lead astray by persuasion or false promises) wholly. Exapatao means not just to give a false impression but to actively lead astray. To cause a subject to believe or accept false ideas about something with the implication of that one is led out of the right way into error and especially to sin.

Exapatao is a strong word indicating utter deception. Paul uses the same word on two other occasions when speaking of the deception effected by the serpent in relation to Eve (2Cor 11:3 1Ti 2:14). Sin within Paul, led him to do the very thing the commandment forbade, thus bringing him under condemnation as a lawbreaker.

The writer of Hebrews exposes sin (and also gives an "antidote") writing...

Encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness (apate) of sin. (see note Hebrews 3:13)

Sin deceives by deception! How? Here is the "deception" -- Since the commandment was intended to bring life, Paul expected the commandment to yield life as a result. But instead it became the occasion for sin and subsequently for death. Since the commandment yielded the opposite of what Paul expected, he felt deceived. But the perpetrator of this deception was not the commandment itself, but Sin. The commandment was merely the instrument by which Sin deceived him.

Haldane agrees writing that...

Sin, by blinding his mind as to the extent of the demands of the law, had led Paul to believe that he could fulfill it, and so obtain justification and life, and had thus by the law taken occasion to deceive him. Till the commandment came home to him in its spiritual application, sin was never brought to such a test as to make a discovery to Paul of its real power.  (Haldane, R. An Exposition of Romans)

Daniel Hill asks...

What is the deception? It is the deception that caused Paul to think he could live under the law, fulfill the law, and again experience life unto God through law-obedience. But he found that all his efforts at law-obedience came up short and resulted in defeat...and this defeat killed him. THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE OF PERFORMANCE-BASED CHRISTIANITY, it does not work! The result is often more guilt, more loss, more sense of defeat, more sense of dread and death....

Principles:

1. All mankind go through a state of innocents based on ignorance.
2. This gives way to a state of guilt based on cognizance.
3. The Law makes man cognizant of sins and the sin nature
4. Without the 10th commandment it was easy for Paul, a self-righteous Jewish leader, to see sins on the outside.
5. The 10th commandment, however, placed sin on the inside and with that there was awareness of the Sin Nature.
6. Coveting or Lusting is something no one else sees, no one hears it, but it is there, very real, very much sin.
7. That sin was an evidence of the presence of the Sin Nature
8. And that awareness brought about the recognition of spiritual death. (Romans Notes)

There are other ways Sin deceives. For example, Sin promises satisfaction. Sin is a liar through and through because it falsely claims an adequate excuse (there is never a "good excuse" to commit sin because sin is ultimately missing mark of God's righteousness).  But you may be asking questions like what about Rahab who deceived the men of Jericho when she hid the Israeli spies?  What about David and his men when they ate the bread on the Table of Shewbread in the tabernacle when they were famished?  The basic questions one must ask to determine whether an action is sin or not are, "Does it serve God's purpose or mine?" "Does my conscience tell me that what I am am about to do is wrong (never offend your conscience)?"  Even when we ask ourselves these questions, we may still miss the mark of God's righteousness, and we may sin in ignorance, but  thanks be to God, that the blood of Jesus covers all our sin!

Sin also falsely promises an escape