In the Garden of Eden, man was at peace with God except for one restriction, which was not eating of that single tree. Satan took advantage of that restriction and presented a delusion of being a smart as God.
Eve fell for it, and committed the first sin, and Adam chose for Eve, and committed the second sin. The first delusion was of being smart, the second delusion was for having someone better than God.
And thus all sin is born out of a delusion of some sort, and all delusions are false concepts.
Paul states that there are two aspects with regard to the Mosaic law.
The first is that one is alive without the law, which is a delusion. And the second aspect states that, given the law, the only reality is death, which is a truth, not a delusion.
The Mosaic law describes the perfect life. However, the perfect life is unattainable because man is incapable of keeping all of the rules of perfection. Therefore, living the perfect life is a delusion.
The reality enters into the picture when one realizes that the law makes one aware that life is really centered around sin. And this is true especially when God is not in the picture.
And thus the delusion extends to all religions which promised immortality or equality with God, based on ones own lifestyle, or works, as it were.
And so Paul makes it clear that if you believe you are not bound by the law, which defines life, then you are in a delusion. And when you wake up from that delusion and realize that all you have is sin, then you also realize that all you have is death.
The whole point is, that the remedy for all of this is not the Mosaic law, nor man’s striving to live the perfect life, nor man’s own works, but the remedy is through faith in Christ.
