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NASB | Romans 7:19 For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 7:19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. |
Bible Question: Is Paul specifically referring to his current stuggle and condition (practicing evil) even after many years of following Jesus or his condition PRIOR to his conversion |
Bible Answer: I take the opposite position from Tim. I believe that Paul is describing his post-conversion life in Romans 7, and here are MY reasons: 1. Romans 1 through most of Romans 3 treats the spiritual condition of the unregenerate Jew and Gentile. From that point through most of Romans 5, Paul describes the role of Christ in our justification. After that point, Paul is describing why the Christian should not live in sin. In other words, he seems to be describing the sanctification of the believer. The whole thing seems to follow a chronology from unregenerate life to justification through faith in Christ to the "not letting sin reign" in our mortal bodies. 2. It is obvious that a Christian is not free from the struggle with sin, and all of us continue to fail. Paul did not attain sinless perfection in this life any more than I will, so it is not inconsistent with Paul's internal struggle described in Romans 7. 3. Paul writes "For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members." (Romans 7:22-23). The unsaved person does NOT joyfully concur with the Law of God. The pagan does not struggle between serving God and obeying the residual sin in his life, because the unsaved person does not do ANYTHING that pleases God (Romans 8:6-8). 4. Paul is describing a struggle between the flesh (commonly used in the epistles as a description of our tendency -- even as Christians -- to sin) and the mind. Paul even says in the last verse that he is serving the law of God with his mind, another thing not characteristic of the unsaved individual. --Joe! |