15For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I Keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me (Romans 7:15-20 ESV).
Paul makes several points about this human struggle against sin in this passage. He recognizes that sin:
- Is incomprehensible (v. 15a) and incongruous (v. 15 B). He cannot understand why after receiving his new self and loving God and having the indwelling Holy Spirit, he continues to sin. Sin is inconsistent and incompatible with the new self that seeks God’s will, which is the exact opposite of sin. In sum, we do not practice what we desire.
- Violates the law (v. 16). Paul says that when he sins it violates the law which is why he did not want to do it in the first place. He did not want to do it because it violated the law and that is good. The law continually ministers to us by revealing our sin.
- Dwells in us (v. 17). Paul is not denying personal responsibility for his sin and failure to obey God. He is recognizing that he has become a new person in Christ and this is who Paul is. But the new person is not the source of sin. He is pointing out that it is that old inclination to sin from his old fallenness and original sin that remains within him, even though his old self is dead, and this makes him susceptible to the temptation to sin. This is the very thing that his new self is fighting against constantly. The inherent positive inclination toward sin is the sinful state and condition in which men are born and is referred to as “original sin.” We should note that original sin is not part of the original constitution of human nature, which would imply that God created man as a sinner, which He did not. Original sin is imputed to the descendants of Adam and Eve. So, it is the corruption of original sin that remains with human beings until death, and it is the source of their propensity to sin. Berkhof characterizes original sin as follows. “Original sin is derived from the original root of the human race; is present in the life of every individual from the time of his birth; and is the inward root of all the actual sins that defile the life of man.”[i]
- Is contrary to the new self (v. 18). There is no common ground between sin and the new self. Paul states that within him as well as all Christians there dwells a corrupt inclination toward sin. He is not speaking of the old self because the Bible teaches that the old self, after conversion, dies on the cross (Rom. 6:6). He is speaking of that corruption caused by the imputation of original sin to all human beings which makes even a Christian’s body susceptible to temptation from Satan due to the imputed guilt and depraved state that makes us bent on sin. This corruption is antithetical to the new self and explains the constant struggle that Christians have against temptation and sin. Paul says that because of his new self he has the desire to obey God, to go to church, to read and study the word, to fellowship with other Christians, etc. but the new self often cannot do so because of this corrupt inclination to sin. The Christian can only do what the new self wants to do with the help of the triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Christians cannot live according to their new nature through self-reliance alone. Believing Christians must have the assistance of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the grace of God, and they must abide in Christ in order to dominate in this battle against sin.
- Is a powerful force competing with the new self (v. 19). Paul says that even though he has new desires for the things of God and for righteous obedience, the powerful corrupt inclination toward sin that remains in him ensures that he does not always do what is right and many times succumbs to the temptation of sin. And so it is with all Christians.
- Is an evil reality (v. 20). This is really a restatement of verse 17. And Paul is clarifying the source of the sin. He says it’s not the real Paul and his new self that is doing the sin but it is that remaining evil corrupt inclination toward sin that is the stumbling block in the Christian life. When Paul tries to deal with temptation alone, he will sin. But this sinful inclination and the practicing of sin can be defeated on a case-by-case basis with the assistance of the Holy Spirit.
Though this evil propensity toward sin dwells in us, Paul and all Christians can gain the advantage in their battle against sin by putting on the armor of God which Paul wrote about in Ephesians 6:11.
[i] Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 243.
