Romans 7:14-20
14 “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold into bondage to sin. 15 For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 However, if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, that the Law is good. 17 But now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I do the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin that dwells in me.”
Law is spiritual…sold into bondage to sin: The New Testament never describes a Christian as being in bondage to sin. This passage is no exception. Paul is talking about how the law revealed his spiritual death pre-conversion.
I do the very thing I hate: Paul is describing his experience under the law. He could not stop coveting. He could not stop sinning. No matter how hard he tried, the law won every day. Paul is telling the story of his discovery of a parasite: Sin. This parasite enslaved Paul. Sin has its own power and wants to live through us. This means that we are not ultimately the ones committing lust or hatred. Sin is doing these things in us and through us. Sin is the problem that needs to be remedied in Christ and the law reveals this clearly. We need to be set free from the power of sin.
